Samsung Galaxy S4 has broken a number of sales records since its launch but the premium price tag it comes with, not everyone can afford a S4. Quite understandably Samsung decided to come up with a more affordable version of Galaxy S4 i.e Galaxy S4 Mini, a stripped down version of its big brother. In this article we take a look at Galaxy S4 mini.
Design Language
The entire Samsung Galaxy S series as well as Galaxy Tab, carry the same design. The same applies to Galaxy S4 mini, place it besides Galaxy S4 and there isn’t any noticeable difference. Both of them share the same set of attributes.
At the front, the display is nicely proportioned to body of device thus creating essentially a flat front end. On sidelines, corners are rounded complimented with silvery looking plastic bezel elegantly making the device look “neat” at best.
In terms of build quality, I felt though the device in itself is stacked well with almost zero flex (try squeezing it), however the use of plastic type material (some amalgamation) does make the device look cheap and fragile. Apart from that Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini feels comfortable in the hand and it’s easy to operate courtesy 4.3” inch end to end display.
Display Power
Measuring 4.3” inch, Super AMOLED display panel is incredibly bright and saturated. As a result viewing experience is equally good indoors as well as outdoors, use it under moon light or shining sun, the device copes up very well with auto brightness settings. The resolution is 960×540 at 256 ppi (pixels-per-inch) which makes the screen display clarity excellent. The Galaxy S4 Mini also does well when it comes to viewing from different angles.
With all the topping ppi, AMOLED, software tweaking, the device delivers intriguing experience especially whilst watching videos, images and playing games.
Hardware Inclusion
S4 Mini sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 dual-core chip clocked at 1.7GHz, 1.5GB RAM, Adreno 305 GPU and 8 GB internal storage (roughly 5 GB available to user). In terms of performance, all I can say is brilliant! The phone simply operated flawlessly and multitasking is at its best.
On connectivity front, it has NFC, microUSB, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, Wi-Fi (includes Direct, Hotspot) and DLNA. All the connectivity options an average user would ever need.
As far as camera performance is concerned, even though is keep clear from discussing shooting capabilities however quickly going through the specs sheet, S4 mini carries a 8 megapixel rear camera with LED flash capable of full HD 1080p video recording. The front facing secondary camera is capable of capturing 1.9 megapixels screens. The camera is at best good enough for clicking quick snaps.
Battery Performance
Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini packs a mediocre 1,900mAh battery. With Wi-Fi enabled, Sync turned on (multiple Gmail accounts, couple of corporate accounts, Facebook, Twitter), display set to automatic brightness, couple of hours of music playback via Bluetooth streaming and 15-30 minutes of video watching, I was able to extract approximately 13 hours. For an average user I am guessing Galaxy S4 Mini will be able to survive for longer duration.
Wrapping Up
The hardware specs, software performance, ergonomics all sound good however the price tag it comes with and the feeling of holding a “plastic toy” take away the charm. Retailing at Rs. 27,000, I consider it as an overpriced smartphone which could have done better had marketing department of Samsung been more thoughtful. This phone should have been priced less to get through many hands who would compromise on many features of star preformer -Galaxy S4.
