Unlike most of the top Android phones available today, this model is more compact, so it will be easier to use for most users. And we focus on “more compact” because a year or two ago, the Mini would have been considered very big. But things change and evolve.
The compact format does not entail sacrificing the autonomy and performance of everyday use. And that is why people like Galaxy lot.
Design
The S4 Galaxy Mini is actually a miniature replica of the top model from Samsung, the Galaxy S4. The look identical, they offer the same set of ports and buttons and largely the same facilities. Furthermore, the S4 Mini meets the same glossy plastic casing. The plastic casing helps reduce the weight of the phone, but leaves an impression of fragility. In addition, it will scratch very easily and will crack if dropped, which is why you need purchase a protective cover for your Mini S4.
Buttons
In this department thing look just as on the Galaxy S4 and most Samsung phones, so we won’t go into details.
Screen
The folks at Samsung have mounted an AMOLED panel on this phone and one with PenTile matrix as we usually see. As a result, the display provides excellent contrast and viewing angles, but saturated, slightly unrealistic colors.
Meanwhile, the screen on the Mini receives only qHD resolution, which attracts a relatively low pixel density, translated into not extremely clear images. This will be noticed by those who are already accustomed to higher resolutions screens, but should not be a major inconvenience for most users.
Software and Applications
Like any Galaxy, the S4 Mini runs on Android Jellybean version 4.2.2 to be precise, with the TouchWiz added. The S4 Mini meets most applications and functions offered by the S4, with few exceptions.
In many cases, the Mini is even faster than the more powerful S4, despite the fact that on paper, it is much lower. Synthetic test results are not convincing, the Mini scoring well below its relative stronger big brother. In daily use, however, the video images speak for themselves and are again proof that a phone should not be judged on the basis of paper specifications.
Mini is only available in the version with 8 GB of storage space, of which about 5 are available for applications. Of course, this space can be expanded with microSD cards, but games and applications can’t be installed on them. Yes, you can move parts of subsequent applications to the SD card, but with games, especially large ones, this detail will not help much. So soon you will run out of storage space, an extremely annoying detail.
Another thing worth mentioning is the fact that a lot of specifications included in the S4, like Air View, Air Gestures and Eye Tracking functions are not available for the S4 Mini.
On the other hand, there are some functions that could have been included on the S4 Mini. Multi view mode is probably the most important one, which allowed running two different applications in parallel, sharing the screen together. Other apps are missing as well, such as Optical Reader or S Health, which acted as a virtual assistant to help you in managing your diet and daily exercise.
If the Samsung Mini didn’t convince you, here is a list of best smart phones in 2013.