SpecEagle
SpecEagle review · Samsung

Galaxy S III mini review: A compact spin on the S III name, sized for one-handed use.

SpecEagle Editorial·Oct 2012·$400
Overall
38/100
Class rank
#1 of 1
Tier
Mid-range
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

A small phone with a big name.

The Galaxy S III mini borrowed the look and branding of the hit S III but with mid-range internals in a compact body. It started the "mini" trend of selling smaller, cheaper phones on a flagship's name — a marketing pattern that became widespread.

01Display

58/100

58/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2012.

TypeSuper AMOLED
Size4.0 inches
Resolution800 × 480 px (WVGA)

02Camera

48/100

48/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2012.

Main5 MP, autofocus, LED flash
Video720p
FrontVGA

03Performance

42/100

42/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2012.

ChipsetST-Ericsson NovaThor U8420 1 GHz
RAM1 GB
Storage8 / 16 GB · microSD

04Battery

52/100

52/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2012.

Capacity1,500 mAh (removable)
Standby~ 570 hours

05Build

54/100

54/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2012.

06Value

52/100

52/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2012.

What works
  • Compact 4" Super AMOLED, one-hand friendly.
  • Carried the S III look at a lower price.
  • Removable battery + microSD.
  • Light 111 g.
What doesn't
  • Dual-core NovaThor was only mid-tier.
  • WVGA resolution.
  • "Mini" in name, not flagship-spec.
  • Mono speaker.

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 1-phone cohort of mid-range devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .