When Samsung confirmed that its 4-inch Galaxy S III mini was real, it promised that it wouldn’t just be another horrible tiny budget phone. But if MobileGeeks’ information about the handset is correct, we may be in for a letdown tomorrow.
https://gizmodo.com/samsung-launching-new-four-inch-galaxy-s-iii-mini-tomor-5950454
It’s not that the device looks actively bad, like some other 4-inch clunkers out there. But the specs—particularly that display—don’t match up with what we’ve come to expect from a premium handset:
Display: 4-inch Super AMOLED, 800×480
RAM: 1GB
Flash memory: 16GB (plus MicroSD slot)
CPU: 1GHz dual-core STE U8420
Camera: 5MP rear-facing (unknown front-facing)
Battery: 1500mAh
There’s nothing wrong with that engine, but the display and camera that it’s driving don’t sound like they quite live up to what one expects from a top-tier Android handset these days. And the quad-core powerhouse processor of the full-figured S III has been switched out for a daintier dual-core option. For what it’s worth, also, MobileGeeks makes no mention of 4G data, although it’s hard to imagine that wouldn’t make the cut. At least, though, the S III Mini will (reportedly) be one of the few handsets to actually launch with Android Jelly Bean. So that’s a mark in its favor.
We’ll know for sure tomorrow after Samsung’s event, so all of this is just idle speculation. But if it does pan out, and this is in fact the S III mini we’re looking at, it’ll just be another elegant nail in the coffin of smaller phones. The big boys get the meat; the scraps go to the scrappers. [MobileGeeks via Engadget]
