Review: The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini

Unless you’ve living under a rock for the past few years, you might have noticed that mobile phone screens are getting bigger. Bigger screens to display all that multimedia content in high definition glory, or tackle work projects on the move.

Bigger screens means bigger battery suck though, and a more bulky phone overall, which may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Bringing in the Galaxy S4 Mini is a route Samsung has already gone done with previous Galaxy handsets, and one that had paid off for its brand. Not only do the devices tap into the demand for more compact devices, but they are also significantly cheaper than the full-size counterpart.

Out of the box, it’s obviously smaller than the Galaxy S4, but it is a little thicker; the smaller size doesn’t give it very much room to play with when it’s cramming advanced electronics into a compact package.

Screen size

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini comes with a 4.3 inch touch screen. That’s a little less than the 5 inch screen on the regular S4, but it doesn’t feel like you’re getting short-changed. The display is Super Amoled, which is Samsung’s way of saying it’s high definition.

The pixel density of the screen is slightly lower, at 256 pixels per inch compared with 441 for the full size S4. It’s also not full HD, but it’s high quality enough that this may not be the step down that it looks on paper. Colours are bright and vibrant, and although tiny details may be less crisp than with the full-size S4, it’s difficult to muster up much of an objection to the change.

If you have smaller hands, the S4 Mini doesn’t feel quite as much a stretch to carry out tasks one-handed. It’s easy to text, browse and generally interact with the phone without it being a two-hand job. While the full-size S4 isn’t the most taxing of phones to use in the same way, it is just a touch outside of my usual comfort zone after extended periods of use. The S4 Mini feels like you haven’t really lost out that much on screen size, but you’ve gained a lot more on comfort.

Weight

The mini version weighs in at 107g, to the regular sized S4’s 130g. Both are quite lightweight, although the S4 Mini obviously wins out here.

Processor

The slimmed down version of the S4 comes with a 1.7GHz dual core processor, which feels more than up to the task of what the average smartphone user would ask of it. It’s not noticeably slower than the S4, which has a 1.9GHz quad core chip, as long as you don’t try to ask too much of it.

Memory and storage

The Galaxy S4 Mini was obviously going to make cuts somewhere more important than screen size and camera. The RAM has been cut to 1.5 GB compared to the S4’s 2GB, while the internal storage is 8GB, about half of the Galaxy S4. The latter matters less when you realize you can still up it with a removable Micro SD card, up to 64GB.

Camera

The original S4 came with a whopping 13 megapixel main camera, raising the bar for mobile makers. The front facing camera, meanwhile, clock in at 2 megapixels. The 13 megapixel camera may have been overkill for many people – we can quite easily make do with 8 megapixels these days – but that front facing camera is crucial for video chats over Skype, and the obligatory “selfies”, if that’s what you’re into.

The S4 Mini bumps the rear camera down to 8 megapixels, but the front facing camera stays at a similar level, at 1.9 megapixels.

The compact version comes with some of the same bells and whistles the original does: Sound & shot to capture sound clips alongside images and Panorama shots make it into the slimmer handset. An LED flash and autofocus are probably more useful to the average phone user though; both have been included.

Software

Both phones run on Android’s Jellybean, and have the TouchWIz interface. Where the S4 pulls ahead though is in the extras. When the S4 launched, much was made of its advanced features, such as Air Gestures, which allow you to control the phone without touching it, and Smart Scroll, which uses eye tracking to recognize when you are reading the screen, and allows you to scroll through a page by tilting your wrist. The S4 Mini ditches some of these extras, although it keeps Smart Stay, which keeps the screen active as long as the front facing camera detects you are looking at it. Smart Pause, which controlled video content, is also gone.

For most users, these features would have been an added extra that they won’t lament too strongly their loss.

The health applications for the Galaxy S4 are present on the Mini, so you can use your phone as a pedometer. And group Play, which allows you to listen to the same music or play the same games as your friends at the same time, made the cut for the Mini.

The verdict:

The Galaxy S4 Mini certainly feels like a stripped down version of the S4 at times, with certain features noticeably absent and the hardware profile a bit of a step backwards for users. However, the more compact handset may well find favour among consumers who aren’t buying into the trend for bigger, more high quality screens. It’s still pricey enough for prepay users though.

Price: From free on billpay; €399 on prepay