Samsung Galaxy Mini Smartphone Reviews and Deals

Samsung Galaxy Mini review

Good

Light; fully functioned; great value 

Bad

Slippery; not the most stylish; low quality screen

Overview

We need to get this out of the way first - if you're looking for a top of the range Android smartphone, you're on the wrong page. Also, if you're looking for a handset that's small - like the Sony Ericsson 'Mini' range - then you're also out of luck. If you're after a budget handset that does everything a smartphone should do though, stick around.

First, the good stuff - the Samsung Galaxy Mini is a fully functioned smartphone from a reliable and respected manufacturer that can be picked up for less than £100 for prepay customers, or free on contracts as cheap as £12 per month (as of July 2011) that even include free unlimited data (with a fair usage policy, naturally).

Perhaps mini was meant to describe the price, but it's an odd choice of word - as is 'Galaxy'. Far be it from us to criticise Samsung's naming department, but this handset has very little to do with its all-star hero handsets and at 110x60x12mm it is hardly small either. It's practically the same size as a BlackBerry Curve.

The Galaxy Mini does fit nicely into the hand - but the cheap plastic exterior on the version we trialled (the white one) was a little slippery. To be honest, especially for a Samsung, it does look pretty cheap. It isn't ugly by a long shot, but if you're looking for a really stylish smartphone you may want to look elsewhere.

Work

The Samsung Galaxy Mini has a 3.1-inch capacitive touchscreen, Android's simple and effective email client and simple but effective web browser. We found the screen to be more than adequately responsive to the touch, although the response time seemed slower than other 600MHz processor powered smartphones we've used.

Unfortunately the screen resolution is only 240x320 pixels, making text a little hard to read and long stints staring at the screen a pretty unpleasant chore. You really wouldn't want to be typing long emails or editing documents on this handset. That said, pinch to view and browsing work fine, so in short bursts you have nothing to worry about once you get used to the slight delay.

If you do have to look at some work files, Quickoffice comes supplied and can handle Word, Powerpoint, pdf and Exel documents - again, we had no issues with the on-screen keyboard, although you wouldn't want to write your autobiography on it. In the sat nav department Google Maps works surprisingly well, dragging and zooming with gusto. The 1200mAh battery coped fairly well too, giving us a comfortable day's charge as long as we weren't hammering the Wi-Fi.

Play

As you have to expect from a sub £100 android smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Mini isn't blessed in the memory department. You'll need a microSD card if you want to play any music on ity al all, although there is an FM radio on board. Once you put your tunes on your memory card, the music player is simple and basic, doing the job just fine.

With such a low res screen, video isn't really a strong point either. There is a YouTube app, but don't get too excited about it. The camera is three-megapixel with no flash, but it's not the worst we've seen and there are some shot modes available. Again though, the lack of memory means you'll need an microSD memory card inserted before it will even let you take a happy snap.

There is access to both the Android and Samsung marketplaces, so you'll not go wanting in the extra app department. Don't worry - Angry Birds downloads and plays just fine (we only checked for research purposes, of course). There's a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top of the handset and volume controls on the side, again keeping things simple and covering the bases. 

Connectivity

You'll also find no problems with social networking with your Samsung Galaxy Mini, as all your needs are comfortably catered for from the Android Market (if not already installed). As always, getting online via Wi-Fi with an Android handset couldn't really be any easier - drag down the control panel, click 'Wi-Fi', find your connection on the list and type in your password.

Elsewhere you'll find the call quality is more than adequate, while you'll have no problem picking up a 3G signal while roaming (as long as there is one of course). It also has Bluetooth for your other accessory needs, plus GPRS for sat nav.

Performance

A sub £100 smartphone such as the Samsung Galaxy Mini is never going to shine in the performance department, so we won't linger here. As already mentioned the handset takes a while to respond to your touch on the touchscreen and can also slow down at times. However, it was certainly no worse than we were expecting.

If you're downgrading from a flashier handset, or coming from a well-honed feature phone, this may jar with you a little and it may be worth considering a slightly more expensive model. If you want to perform relatively complex tasks, or have multiple apps on the go, again you may want to consider other options.

Verdict

So what are our final thoughts on the Samsung galaxy Mini? I have to say I'm a little surprised. While it's cheap looking, slippery in the hand, sports a pretty poor screen and has non-existent memory, I found myself warming to it. In short, I have no problem recommending it.

I keep coming back to the fact it's a fully formed Android 2.2 smartphone that you can find in high street retailers or online stores (such as Three's) for under £90. Sure, if I had the choice I would take the LG Optimus One - it's an all over better phone - but you're looking at paying at least an extra £40 for it. Is it really 30 or 40 per cent better for your extra money? In look and feel yes - in performance, I wouldn't say so.

The Samsung Galaxy Mini certainly isn't for everyone and very much has its limitations, but you won't do a lot better right now at this price point.

Samsung Galaxy Mini specification and features

Model

Samsung Galaxy Mini

Manufacturer

Samsung

Operating system

Android

Colours

Black, white, green, silver

Mobile internet

WiFi

Yes

3G

Yes

HSDPA

Yes

Size

Size

110mm x 61mm x 12mm

Weight

105g

Features

Touchscreen

Yes

QWERTY keyboard

No

Camera

3 megapixel

Video

Yes

GPS

Yes

Bluetooth

Yes

Music Phone

No

FM Radio

Yes

Quad Band

Yes

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