SpecEagle
SpecEagle review · Samsung

Galaxy S5 Mini review: Compact, water-resistant version of the Galaxy S5.

SpecEagle Editorial·Jul 2014·$450
Overall
54/100
Class rank
#7 of 33
Tier
Mid-range
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

The S5, made small and tough.

Galaxy S5 Mini kept the flagship S5's IP67 water resistance, fingerprint scanner and heart-rate monitor in a compact 4.5" body — one of the few "mini" phones to retain real features rather than just shrink the shell.

01Display

66/100

66/100 puts it above the 64-point average for mid-range phones of 2014.

TypeSuper AMOLED
Size4.5 inches
Resolution720 x 1280 px
SensorHeart-rate monitor + fingerprint (from the S5)

02Camera

58/100

58/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2014.

Main8 MP, f/2.2, LED flash
Selfie2.1 MP

03Performance

50/100

50/100 trails the 54-point cohort average for mid-range phones of 2014.

ChipsetExynos 3470 (quad-core 1.4 GHz)
GPUMali-400 MP4

04Battery

60/100

60/100 trails the 64-point cohort average for mid-range phones of 2014.

Capacity2100 mAh removable

05Build

64/100

64/100 — right at the average for mid-range phones of 2014.

What works
  • IP67 water resistance + heart-rate sensor
  • Compact 4.5" / 120 g body
  • Removable battery + microSD
What doesn't
  • Weak Exynos 3470 + 1.5 GB RAM
  • qHD resolution
  • Mid-range internals despite S5 name
Cross-shop it against
OnePlus X
$249 · score 64/100

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 33-phone cohort of mid-range devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .