Galaxy S III mini review: A compact spin on the S III name, sized for one-handed use.
A small phone with a big name.
The Galaxy S III mini borrowed the look and branding of the hit S III but with mid-range internals in a compact body. It started the "mini" trend of selling smaller, cheaper phones on a flagship's name — a marketing pattern that became widespread.
01Display
58/10058/100 trails the 61-point cohort average for mid-range phones of 2012.
02Camera
48/10048/100 is one of the weaker camera results among mid-range phones of 2012 — 6 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
03Performance
42/10042/100 is one of the weaker performance results among mid-range phones of 2012 — 8 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
04Battery
52/10052/100 is one of the weaker battery results among mid-range phones of 2012 — 7 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
05Build
54/10054/100 is one of the weaker build results among mid-range phones of 2012 — 8 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
06Value
52/10052/100 trails the 57-point cohort average for mid-range phones of 2012.
- Compact 4" Super AMOLED, one-hand friendly.
- Carried the S III look at a lower price.
- Removable battery + microSD.
- Light 111 g.
- Dual-core NovaThor was only mid-tier.
- WVGA resolution.
- "Mini" in name, not flagship-spec.
- Mono speaker.
How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 17-phone cohort of mid-range devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .