It's no secret that the flagship Galaxy S4 has already revolutionized the Android smartphone market with sales of 10 million units in a month. But what are the chances of success for his mini-version?
Appearance. Control elements
As in the case with the original version of the smartphone, the body of the S4 mini is made of polycarbonate. The front panel is covered with Gorilla Glass, version 3. The side edges, which at first glance appear to be metal, are actually plastic.
Of course, we managed to make the case of small dimensions by reducing the diagonal of the display. Here it is 4.3-inch, versus 5-inch for the S4. The mini-flagship is slightly thicker at 8.9 millimeters (7.9 for the S4). But, to say that this is strongly noticeable against the general background, it is impossible.
There are no complaints about the fitting of the body elements among themselves. Insignificant gaps, if any, do not go beyond the standards acceptable for a quality product. But the plastic itself creaks a little when squeezed. True, there was an early engineering sample on testing, so it can be assumed that this omission will be corrected by the beginning of sales.
On the front panel, in addition to the 4.3-inch display, there are 3 soft buttons (2 of which are touch-sensitive), light and distance sensors, as well as a 1.9-megapixel camera for video calls. By the way, the feature of the front camera is the ability to shoot video in HD resolution.
On the back panel there is a peephole of the main 8-megapixel camera with LED flash. It also features an engraved 'Samsung' logo and speaker grill. On the right side face there is a button for turning on the device (screen lock). There is a small gap next to it for removing the back cover.
The volume control key is located on the left side. Above is a standard 3.5mm jack, as well as one of the built-in microphones. Plus, there is an infrared port here. The microUSB port along with another microphone is located at the bottom.
Display
The 4.3-inch touchscreen display is based on a Super AMOLED matrix. As for a smaller version of the flagship, it looks quite justified. But at the resolution, it is obvious that they tried to save money: 540x960 pixels. In principle, except for small details, this resolution has little effect on image quality.
The viewing angles are quite good. The touch screen supports multi-touch up to 8 touches at the same time. The display sensitivity is high.
Battery
The smartphone uses a battery with a capacity of 1900 mAh. Recall that the older model is equipped with a 2600 mAh battery. Taking into account the simpler filling and the smaller display, which is also distinguished by an energy-efficient matrix, the device shows quite good autonomy. For example, a video in HD resolution with maximum backlight plays for about 10 hours. In general, with active use, the smartphone will need to be charged once every 1-1.5 days.
Hardware part
The communication speaker is good. The interlocutor can be heard well even in unnecessarily noisy places. The clarity of the transmitted sound also does not fail. In turn, the multimedia speaker has a good volume reserve, but the sound detailing would be better. There are no special complaints about the sound quality in the headphones.
Samsung Galaxy S 4 mini runs on Android 4.2.2 operating system. The smartphone is powered by a Snapdragon S400 processor clocked at 1.7 GHz. The graphics chip used is Adreno 305. The amount of RAM is 1.5 gigabytes. The manufacturer has declared support for Wi-Fi with the Wi-Fi Direct function. Of the wireless modules, it is worth noting Bluetooth version 4.0 and GPS with A-GPS support.
Of the officially announced 8 gigabytes of built-in user memory, in practice, no more than five are available. Memory expansion is possible with a microSD card up to 64 gigabytes. The slot for it is located under the battery, so hot swapping is out of the question.
Galaxy S 4 mini is available in two versions. The difference lies in working with 2 SIM cards. In one version, support for 2 SIM-cards is available, in the other, respectively, no. The device with two SIM-cards can work in active mode. By activating this function, the user will receive calls to both SIM cards, even during a call. Few Dual SIM devices can boast of this these days.
Camera
The main 8-megapixel camera is capable of shooting videos in Full HD-resolution. For shooting in dark conditions, the LED flash comes in handy, which is more useful as a flashlight.
Impression
Samsung Galaxy S IV mini is definitely a good model. Due to its small size, the device is convenient to hold in hand and carry in a trouser pocket. The mini version is not as powerful as the Galaxy S4, but it can handle tasks of varying difficulty with ease. In short, if you want a compact smartphone with interesting features and applications, then the Samsung Galaxy S IV mini is a good candidate.
