Samsung will be launching a smaller version of its popular Galaxy S III Android phone, Galaxy S III Mini. We have been hearing rumors about Galaxy S III Mini for quite a long time but today The Verge confirmed that the company is going to launch a 4-inch version its popular smart phone.
“We’ll be launching a 4-inch Galaxy S III on the 11th in Germany,” JK Shin, head of Samsung Mobile Communications confirmed today. “There’s a lot of demand for a 4-inch screen device in Europe. Some call it an entry-level device, but we call it ‘mini.” he added.
The Galaxy S III is Samsung’s most popular Android phone packed with a 4.8 inch Super AMOLED 720p HD display, quad-core processor, 8-megapixel camera and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Though most consumers are happy with the big Galaxy S III screen, which is great for watching videos and playing games, but for others, the Galaxy S III is barely pocket-able. To reach this audience, Samsung is providing a 4 inch variant.
According to folks over at MobileGeek, they received information from reliable sources claiming that the Galaxy S III Mini will have a 4″ Super AMOLED screen with an 800 x 480 resolution, dual-core processor clocked at 1GHz, 1GB of RAM, 5-megapixel camera, front facing VGA camera, 1GB RAM, internal storage expandable via microSD with up to 32GB, NFC support and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with Samsung’s TouchWiz interface. With Galaxy S III Mini announcement, Samsung will try to place its Mini version of Galaxy S III in direct competition with redesigned the iPhone 5 which has same 4-inch display. However if the leaked Galaxy S III Mini specs are believed to be true, then S III Mini falls well short of iPhone 5 and even many low end Android phones, in term of specs. It’s more like a cheaper version of Galaxy S III than a smaller version.
There is no information regarding the price of Galaxy S III Mini, but the leaked specs suggest it will bea budget smart-phone so we can expect the price to be around $400 however everything will be cleared tomorrow when Samsung makes the official announcement.