Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini hands-on, benchmarks

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is probably going to be a hit the same way the S3 Mini was when it arrives in the Philippines. We got a quick hands-on of the device back in London during the global launch last week.

As tradition goes, the Galaxy S4 Mini is the smaller and less powerful version of the Galaxy S4. Aside from the size, the hardware was also cut down to mid-range category.

Here’s the complete hardware specification of the Galaxy S4 Mini.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini GT-i9195 specs:
4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display @ 540×960 pixels, 256ppi
Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon 1.7GHz dual-core
Adreno 305 graphics
1.5GB RAM
8GB and 16GB internal storage
up to 64GB via microSD card
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, dual band
Bluetooth 4.0
LTE Cat 3, up to 100Mbps
3G, HSPA+ up to 42Mbps
NFC (for LTE version)
8MP rear camera with flash
1.9MP front-facing camera
GPS w/ aGPS support
Android Jellybean 4.2.2
Li-Ion 1,900 mAh battery
124.6mm x 61.3mm x 8.94mm (dimensions)

There are similarity in the design and finish but it all ends there. What could be its biggest redeeming feature would be the inclusion of NFC and LTE (actually, more of the latter).

The use of the Qualcomm MSM8960 chip, despite being just a dual-core processor puts it almost in the same league as the Galaxy S3 in terms of performance.

What’s odd with the specs is that based on device info, it is a combination of an MSM8960 1.7GHz and an Adreno 305. However, Qualcomm’s MSM8960 chip should have an Adreno 225 while the MSMS 8960T should have Adreno 320.

We took both Quadrant and Antutu Benchmarks and got a score of 6,697 and 13,163, respectively. Not bad for a mini.

We heard that Samsung is a bit torn whether they should ship both the Galaxy S4 Mini and the Galaxy S4 Zoom in the country since they both have retail prices that are very close to each other. One device might cannibalize the other in sales. It’s likely the Galaxy S4 Zoom will get preferential choice of the distributors. However, there’s still a chance that local telcos will import and carry them directly.

The expected suggested retail price of the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is about Php23,000. It will be available in Frost Wite and Black Mist.

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