SpecEagle review · Samsung

Galaxy S3 Mini review: 4-inch compact 2012 Samsung — the original "mini" flagship.

Item: Galaxy S3 Mini
Rating: 36
Author: SpecEagle Editorial

SpecEagle Editorial·Nov 2012·$340

Overall

36/100

Class rank

#1 of 1

Tier

Mid

Buy?

Look elsewhere

The verdict, up front

The original Galaxy S Mini — compact 2012 nostalgia.

Galaxy S3 Mini wasn’t really a Mini S3 inside — it was a separate mid-range phone in S3 styling. A 2012 collector piece today.

01Display

56/100

56/100 — right at the average for mid phones of 2012.

TypeSuper AMOLED

Size4.0 inches

Resolution800 × 480 px

02Camera

36/100

36/100 — right at the average for mid phones of 2012.

Main5 MP, f/2.6

SelfieVGA

03Performance

26/100

26/100 — right at the average for mid phones of 2012.

ChipsetST-Ericsson NovaThor U8420

RAM1 GB

Storage8 / 16 GB + microSD

04Battery

38/100

38/100 — right at the average for mid phones of 2012.

Capacity1,500 mAh (removable)

05Build

56/100

56/100 — right at the average for mid phones of 2012.

06Value

46/100

46/100 — right at the average for mid phones of 2012.

What works

Truly pocketable 4″ design.
Super AMOLED rare at this size.
Removable battery + microSD.
Light at 111 g.

What doesn't

No LTE.
qHD resolution.
Limited to Android 4.4.
Modest specs even for 2012.

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