Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini: Android’s most powerful phone slims down

The Gadget Show  Friday 12 October 2012

We’d heard whispers that the Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung’s giant, super fast and super successful Android smartphone, was about to get a sibling. And now it’s here: the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini has just arrived in officialdom, for those without paws so big they can pick up a basketball one handed. Read on to find out what’s new.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini takes the curved “pebble” design of the hit 4.8-inch Galaxy S3 phone, but dials just about everything else back a bit. The screen’s a much more manageable 4-inch panel (Though at 800×480 resolution, it isn’t HD), and it’s powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor instead of the screaming quad-core chip in its bigger brother.

How to get the new Android update now

That lower screen resolution might mean you won’t see much difference in speed though, especially since the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini runs Android 4.1 “Jelly Bean” out of the box, which packs in a whole host of speed improvements. Around the back, there’s a five megapixel camera instead of the original’s super 8MP sensor, one of the more unfortunate cost cutting procedures Samsung’s had to make.

Thinking about a new, non-oversized Android phone? Stay tuned for our HTC Desire X review very soon, as the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini looks to be a direct competitor to it. It’s out on 2 November, and available for pre-order form Phones4u now. Let us know what you make of it in the comments.

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