Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini review

Apple's phones may have stuck with a maximum screen size of four inches but in the world of Android anything goes, as the unveiling of the absurdly proportioned HTC One Max - which comes with a gargantuan 5.9-inch display - proves beyond all doubt. However, not everyone wants to own such a monstrous mobile and manufacturers are thankfully producing pint-sized versions of their leading handsets in an attempt to cater for this sector of the market.

Enter the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, which follows hot on the heels of the Galaxy S4 Zoom and Galaxy S4 Active - just in case you thought there weren't enough handsets with "S4" confusingly inserted into their names. Taken at face value, this looks almost identical to the original S4, save for more modest dimensions. Eschewing the whopping five-inch screen seen on its bigger brother, the S4 Mini has a 4.3-inch, 960x540 pixel resolution Super AMOLED panel. Built around this screen is a smaller, slimmer and lighter device which sits comfortably in the palm in a way that larger Android mobiles can only dream of. With an overall weight of just 107g, it's as dainty as they come and won't make your pocket sag when not in use.

The design is pure Samsung - which means lots of glossy plastic and no metal trim in sight. The checkerboard-patterned back panel is rounded at the corners to improve grip, but remains slippery, especially when your palms are sweaty. The faux-metallic edging remains as plastic as it was on the original S4, while the front of the phone is also very similar.

While the Galaxy S4 Mini is part of the same lineage that spawned the powerful S4, under the hood it's packing less impressive hardware. The dual-core CPU is clocked at 1.7GHz, which is below most cutting-edge Android handsets right now. Even so, the smaller screen resolution means fewer pixels to push, and as a result the S4 Mini is better at running 3D games than you might expect.

• Dimensions: 124.6 x 61.3 x 8.9mm


• Weight: 107g


• Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8930 Snapdragon 400


• Processor: Dual-core 1.7GHz Krait


• Graphics Core: Adreno 305


• RAM: 1.5GB


• Screen: 4.3-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 960x540 pixels, 256ppi


• Storage: 16GB internal, Micro SD card slot (up to 64GB)


• Camera: Rear-facing 8-megapixel, LED flash, 1080p video recording. Front-facing 1.9-megapixel camera


• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n dual-band, Bluetooth v4, 3G, 4G


• Other Features: Android 4.2.2, 1900mAh battery, NFC, IR sensor

Standard Android UI navigation works pretty well - there's a single Home button, flanked by Back and Menu capacitive buttons, which only make themselves known when the screen lights up. Despite the sheer volume of plastic used in the S4 Mini's construction, it feels solid and sturdy enough, and the overall design is eye-catching and appealing.

The aforementioned display is an exact match for the one used on the Galaxy S4 Zoom, which means you get excellent colours and viewing angles but have to make do with a pixel density of "just" 256ppi. While it's certainly naive to expect a mid-range handset to pack the same amount of pixels as a device like the full-blown S4, the fact that HTC has managed to give its One Mini a 720p screen puts the cat amongst the pigeons somewhat. The S4 Zoom could be forgiven for cutting corners in this regard because it had a massive camera on the back, but the S4 Mini has no such excuses.

The S4 Mini doesn't maintain parity with the standard S4 when it comes to internal tech, either. There's a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset onboard - comprised of a dual-core Krait CPU clocked at 1.7GHz and a Adreno 305 graphics processor - aided by 1.5GB of RAM. While this can hardly be deemed cutting edge, it offers a smooth ride for the most part. Moving around the phone is relatively lag-free, although there are moments of stutter when Android is doing a lot of work behind the scenes.

Android 4.4 may be around the corner, but Samsung's Galaxy S4 line ships with 4.2.2 - a revision behind Google's "vanilla" Nexus devices, which are currently on 4.3. Samsung's own TouchWiz user interface is present and correct, offering custom apps, widgets and enhancements over the stock Android experience.

However, the pared-down nature of the device means it's not quite as feature-rich as the S4 itself; various "smart" features - such as Air Gesture and Smart Scroll - are absent, but seeing as these were relatively pointless additions it's not a massive loss. S-Voice - Samsung's answer to Apple's Siri - makes the cut, although we found ourselves ignoring it in favour of Google's more accomplished Google Now service.

Benchmarks are useful tools for measuring relative performance between handsets, but for the time being we have suspended all benchmark testing on Android devices, following recent revelations that phone manufacturers, including Samsung, have been running their chipsets at maximum performance levels when benchmark tools are detected by the OS. As this is not in any way indicative of processor speeds in general functions, we don't feel that the scores are worthwhile, so these tests are suspended for the time being.

With a smaller screen and fewer pixels to push, the Galaxy S4 Mini proves surprisingly decent as a gaming platform. 3D games like Real Racing 3, Crazy Taxi and Riptide GP2 all run without any major hitches. The smaller screen size of the S4 Mini - when compared to its top-flight Android brethren - means there's more chance of your digits obscuring the on-screen action, but it's important to remember that the screen is still larger than the iPhone 5S's, so it's not the end of the world by any means.

On-board memory is limited to just 8GB, of which the end user has access to around 5GB. When you consider that games like Asphalt 8: Airborne and Real Racing 3 occupy 1.51GB and 1.47GB respectively, that's not a massive amount of space for downloads. Thankfully, there's a MicroSD card slot included which allows you to cheaply augment the amount of memory available. The card slot is located underneath a removable 1,900mAh battery, that comes with a NFC chip attached and allows the phone to perform all kinds of contactless communication magic.

Despite the entry-level nature of the S4 Mini's chipset, the supplied power cell is only capable of getting you through a single day before it needs topping up. During a day of moderate usage - which included surfing the web, answering emails, playing a few games and generally testing things out - our review unit was gasping for breath by tea-time. Actual mileage may vary, but don't expect exceptional stamina from this handset.

The S4 Mini's 8-megapixel camera takes quality photos and is capable of recording 1080p video footage. There aren't as many pre-set shooting modes as on the original S4, but the HDR mode is still as good as ever. Shooting in low-light conditions with the flash gives better than expected results.

Thankfully, the S4 Mini's photographic capabilities make up for the average battery life. The 8-megapixel snapper captures decent shots with plenty of impact and vibrancy, although shooting in environments where there's a strong contrast between light and dark areas causes issues - a common problem with most mobile cameras. Using the HDR feature solves this problem to a degree, but it takes longer to actually snap the shot, thanks to the post-processing that is involved. 1080p HD video capture is also included, and this again exceeds expectations with colourful and detailed footage.

via http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-samsung-galaxy-s4-mini-review