Performance and Battery Life
If you jump straight to the section
"What's difference?" above, you may have skipped right to this
section? After all, this really is where you should stay if you are in the club
"I want a small Galaxy S III". Specifications are one thing, but
could it do well? The answer is yes. And no. When using the original Galaxy S
III with this phone, you can point out the difference immediately. Exynos
processor in our comparison model will not glance before anything you throw at
it. However, the dual-core NovaThor (1GHz) let you know it's there from time to
time with a slightly slower response. Not bad, but we have frequently hit the
home button and there is a noticeable pause before we are brought back to the
home screen. Sometimes you press the standby button to wake the phone, it
showed the home screen for one second before the lock screen suddenly appeared
on it, as if it just started acting.
Samsung
Galaxy SIII Mini - Battery
In general use, it's actually pretty
smooth, though still slower than its elder sibling. Beside those comparisons,
the Galaxy S III mini doing pretty well when we use it as a daily phone for an
entire week without any problems. This includes playing game normally, which
had quite a lot of laps on Asphalt 7 with heavy graphics, video, take photos
and using applications (certainly we would love to check email). If you are
switching to this phone from another phone with lower specifications, then it
is very interesting to use, and will serve you well as a daily phone. If you
just want to compare with its bigger brother which clearly have higher
specifications, then it's never be good enough. On the other hand, if you
compare it to other mid-range phones - because it really is - it starts to
stand out from the crowd a little bit. HTC Desire X is a good example. Similar
specifications, and Samsung S3 mini feels much faster when placed next to each
other. Sony Xperia U, which runs on the same NovaThor chip, also feels like its
direct competitor when you understand its reality. Compared with this phone,
Galaxy S III mini began to seem more plausible on its position in the market. However,
for those who want a performance analysis in pure data, here are the results
for you (the lower the score,
the better):
Samsung
Galaxy S III mini (i8190)
·
Quadrant (v2.0): 3,048
·
Vellamo (v2.0): 1,389
·
AnTuTu: 4,539
·
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms): 2,021
·
GLBenchmark 2.5 1080p Egypt Offscreen (fps): 6
·
CF-Bend: 4,572
Samsung
Galaxy S III mini
HTC Desire X
·
Quadrant (v2.0): 2,682
·
Vellamo (v2.0): 1,147
·
AnTuTu: 4,938
·
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms): 3.448
·
GLBenchmark 2.5 1080p Egypt Offscreen (fps): Not
Work
·
CF-Bend: 5,460
HTC
Desire X
Samsung Galaxy S III (i9300)
·
Quadrant (v2.0): 5,875
·
Vellamo (v2.0): 1,626
·
AnTuTu: 10,344
·
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms): 1,194
·
GLBenchmark 2.5 1080p Egypt Offscreen (fps): 15
·
CF-Bend: 12,922
Samsung
Galaxy S III
There is one area
where the Galaxy S III mini side by side with its elder sibling, it was the
battery life. When considering the high-end phone back in May, we are surprised
that it lasted from 8.5 hours to 9.5 hours. We conducted a similar test battery
(repeat video, fixed at 50% brightness, Wi-Fi open but not connected) and we
have nearly the same results, a bit more than 9 hours (exactly is 9 hours 14
minutes). We have to admit it's quite good, especially for a loss of 600mAh
battery compared with 2100mAh battery of the original version. Samsung probably
calculated the reduction rate of the screen too accurately so it can maintain
this excellent run time. Or maybe it's just a classic coincidence. No matter
how, we all love it. A lot.
In general, good battery life, even when we
are not trying to drain the battery. We have been going through two days with
regular usage (occasional phone calls, text messaging, games, photos, etc.)
without any problems and has reached more than 1 day with a higher usage (for
example, switch between data connections, working in poor signal areas). If you
hang in there with this phone, then you will be pleased to know that it handles
the traditional phone call quite good, with clear consistent sound no matter
where we are (regardless of those extremely poor signal areas). HSPA/data
connection in and around London is processed at a rate similar to its elder
sibling, with figures ranging from 2.8Mbps to 4.3Mbps in London on the O2
network.
Conclusion
Oh Samsung, what have you done? We think
we know what you thought you were doing. A cheaper phone for those who want a
little Galaxy S III experience, for less money, in shape that was easier to
handle. And that is the real mini Galaxy S III. We know there is nothing to not
like this idea, right? Surely, some people will understand everything literally
and expect a high-end device in a smaller package – although it’s not. However,
what you have is a pretty good mid-range phone with high-class designs. For
those who are looking for something like that, Galaxy S III mini would be
desirable, and we are sure that there will be many people like it. However, if
it is different, it may take the Galaxy S III "brand" to a completely
new direction. If this had come with specifications similar to its elder
sibling, it really is something worth to behold.
We can understand if some people will be
disappointed because it's not like that. Unfortunately, what Samsung has done
is try to take advantage on the identity of the phone for some cheap scavenged
segments along with those who are eager to taste a bit of luxury experience.
For these people, the decision will be a little harsh. What we are left here is
a perfectly good mid-range phone that can never really get the attention it
deserves - after all, compared to most real competitors (HTC Desire X had
similar price and specification, Sony Xperia U ... etc.), obviously it has its
own position. Finally, maybe Samsung has played a gamble with its biggest
brand, Galaxy S, and it is not clear whether it will be rewarded or not.
|
Info
·
Product’s name: Samsung Galaxy S III mini
(i8190)
·
Price: $450
Advantages
·
Excellent battery life
·
Software experienced similar with Galaxy S3
(i9300)
·
Modern, attractive design.
Disadvantages
·
Disappointed specification with a "Galaxy
S III" phone
·
The price is still high for a mid-range phone
Verdict
·
If you were hoping for a small version of
Galaxy S III, it would not. If you want a good mid-range phone with beautiful
design, this is a wonderful choice.
Samsung Galaxy
SIII Mini specifications
·
Dimensions: 121.6x63x9.9 mm (4.79x2.48x0.39 inches)
·
Weight: 111.5 g (3.92 oz)
·
Display Type: Super AMOLED capacitive
touchscreen, 16M colors
·
Display Size: 480 x 800 pixels, 4.0 inches (~233
ppi pixel density)
·
Memory: 8/16 GB internal storage, 1 GB RAM
·
Card Slot: microSD, up to 32 GB
·
WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, DLNA,
Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
·
Bluetooth: Yes, v4.0 with A2DP, LE, EDR
·
NFC: Yes (Market dependent)
·
USB: Yes, microUSB v2.0
·
Camera: primary, 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels,
autofocus, LED flash, with geo-tagging, touch focus, 720p@30fps; secondary,
VGA.
·
OS: Android OS, v4.1 (Jelly Bean)
·
Chipset: NovaThor U8420
·
CPU: 1 GHz dual-core Cortex-A9
·
GPU: Mali-400
·
Battery: Li-Ion 1,500 mAh battery
|
