Our friends over at AT&T have sent us the Samsung Galaxy S III Mini for us to review. It is another Galaxy device from Samsung, but it costs only $0.99 with a 2-year contract. While it has some features from the Galaxy S III, it is more of just a lower end device. Will the Galaxy S III Mini on AT&T be your next device? We will answer that in our full review, which begins right now!
Design
One thing about the S III Mini that is similar to the original Galaxy S III would be the design. For the most part many of the Galaxy devices look similar to the flagship. It comes in at a thicker 0.39 inches and heavier as well. It comes in the Pebble Blue color and still features a plastic build. Similar to the One Mini for AT&T it is easy to hold in one hand, even though it is thicker, and can be used with the same hand it is held in. The power/sleep button is on the right, while the volume rocker is on the left. You can listen to music via the headphone jack on the top and charge your S III Mini with micro USB port on the bottom. A AT&T logo, Galaxy S III Mini logo, speaker, and a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash is on the back. Below the display you will find the menu, home, and back buttons. While above the display you get the Samsung logo, earpiece, some sensors, and a VGA front camera.
Software
The Galaxy S III Mini is running Android 4.2.2 with a Samsung user interface. The S III Mini does a nice job running the software, it is certainly not the fastest device on the market. At times animations and opening applications can be a slow process. For a first time smartphone user, you should be fine. Having features like S Beam is a nice bonus, this will let you send files via NFC to other S Beam devices. Voice control, Smart Screen, Motions, and Gestures are all on board as well. They are pairing many high-end software features with some lower end hardware. Pre-loaded on the device you will find Amazon Kindle, AT&T Code Scanner, AT&T DriveMode, AT&T FamilyMap, AT&T Locker, AT&T Navigator, AT&T Ready2Go, AT&T Smart Wi-Fi, Battery Manager, Google App Suite, Google Chrome, Downloads, Data Manger, Device Help, Group Play, Memo, Messages, Mobile Hotspot, Mobile TV, Music, myAT&T, Google Play Suite, S Voice, YPMobile, YouTube, and a few others.
Hardware
A 4-inch 800 X 480 Super AMOLED PenTile display is on board and it is similar to the arrangement on the Galaxy S III. Colors and images are vibrant and very life-like, but at times texts is not the sharpest. A smaller but large for this device 217dpi are here. For a first time smartphone user, the 4-inch AMOLED display will get the job done.
The 5 megapixel back camera is average and the LED flash can help for shooting in darker conditions. The shutter speed takes a few seconds to focus and then it will snap your photo. In terms of the different modes you have auto, night, sports, panorama, sound & shot, and beauty face. You have a few settings like focus and flash as well, not the many different features that were found on the Galaxy S III. The quality of the shot is average, similar to other lower end devices. As you zoom in the image quickly becomes blurry. For a shot here and there, you should be okay.
Inside the S III mini is a 1GHz dual core processor with 1GB of RAM. It does get the job done and it was not as slow as I thought it would be. Unless you are running very large applications, you should be okay. Multitasking takes a few seconds, but it is on par with other lower end devices.
Bottom Line
The AT&T Galaxy S III Mini is a very interesting device and its coming at an interesting time. Launching over a year after the Galaxy S III was announced and when the S 4 is already on the market, it seems like this is just another Galaxy device. For a newer device it comes in at a great price point of just a $0.99 with a 2-year contract, Unless you are a Samsung die-hard looking for a first time smartphone, I think you might be better looking else where. While you may have to spend some more money for a better camera, faster processor, and better screen, the end result is a better experience. You might want to look at the HTC One Mini or maybe even the Moto X. For More Information On The AT&T Galaxy S III Mini, Please Click Here. We would like to thank AT&T for providing us with a copy of the “AT&T Samsung Galaxy S III Mini”.
