I was an Apple user for years before my first foray into the Android market with the Samsung Galaxy S4. It was intuitive, ‘smart’ and could multi-task like no ones business. It was also the largest (although lightest) phone I had ever had. A few years ago the thinnest, lightest phone was the must have item but today the trend seems to be going towards ‘phablets’.
Obviously trends have moved to the other end of the spectrum, but I prefer to keep it somewhere in the middle. My S4 was great, but the Samsung Galaxy S4 MINI was made for me in terms of size and weight – it’s exact dimensions are 4.9” x 2.4” x 0.4.” It actually fits in my back pocket and even fits in the ridiculously small front pocket women’s jeans are notorious for.
Despite the title of S4 Mini, it actually has a respectable 4.3-inch qHD display and it runs on an Android 4.2 a dual-core processor, allowing it to easily keep up with my Samsung Galaxy S4 for daily use. While the Mini only has 8GB of memory, it does have an SD Card slot allowing for expansion. As for physical appearance, just like the original, this Mini places the volume rocker on the left spine, the power/lock button on the right, the Micro-USB charging port on the bottom, and the headset jack and IR blaster up top.
It’s rear camera isn’t mini either. While I can’t say that I love 8 megapixels, it’s very comparable to other phones in it’s size and price range. The Mini also features many of the same handy shooting modes as the S4 including my favorites – beauty face, best photo and sport mode among others. The megapixels may not be the highest, but I am very satisfied with the photo quality. Even on a gray, overcast day, it had no problem shooting without a flash.
While the Mini is missing some of my favorite features of the Samsung Galaxy S4 such as hover-touch, multi-window and S Health, it does offer a good many of the other favorites including: Group play, S Translator, Flipboard and even S Voice – which allows for more hands free options.
At the end of the day I found the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini to really holds it own. Even with a few trimmed areas it stills offers a great package for the value and you can’t beat the size.
You can find the Samsung S4 Mini at Sprint. Be sure to check out their new super flexible smart Framily Plans too!
Thank you to Sprint for providing the Samsung S4 Mini for purposes of review. All opinions remain my own.
I was actually thinking about getting this one! I just hadn’t gotten a good chance to take a look. They all confuse me.
I am desperately in need of a new phone! I just can’t afford to buy a new one. I kind of need one that makes and takes calls. I don’t even care about size! lol