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Samsung Galaxy Mini review
To infinity and beyond? You're in for a bumpy ride
Our ScoreLast reviewed: 2011-05-18May 18thMOBILE PHONES REVIEW
The budget offering in the Galaxy rangeSamsung is the only manufacturer that can get away with launching variants of one particular device in a series and pricing them to suit different budgets, as it did five years ago with the D500 and its variants the G600 and D900. Now the Koreans are doing it again with the Galaxy Series.The latest addition to the Samsung Galaxy range - topped by the five star Samsung Galaxy S2 (currently number one in our 20 best mobile phones ranking) - is the Galaxy Mini. Almost identical to the Galaxy Fit, it's slightly lighter and has a lower camera quality.It's clear that Samsung designed the Galaxy Mini to look and feel low-end and when it's up on the shelves on the high street, it will fit in well next to the likes of LG's Optimus One and Orange's San Francisco.This touchscreen phone is definitely affordable, at £10.50 per month on an O2 contract or £129.99 on prepay, but it's clear that you'll have to make sacrifices on performance and looks as a result.
The Samsung Galaxy Mini looks and feels pretty cheap in comparison to others in the Galaxy range. This is a real shame as we were expecting a lot more from this dinky device after being pretty impressed by the low-end Samsung Galaxy Ace, which is miles better in terms of performance and aesthetics.The white variant of the Galaxy Mini that we reviewed looks particularly cheap, and starts to look grubby after a week or so as it attracts the slightest bit of dirt. Again, this is where the Samsung Galaxy Ace is miles better, as it looks and feels like a bigger, better and more robust device.However, it is 3G HSDPA and the download speeds are pretty impressive, all things considered.The Samsung Galaxy Mini is a good size in the hand, weighing 106.6g and measuring 110x60x12mm. But it feels slippery, unlike its brother the Galaxy Ace, which sports a textured back cover making it more grippy in the palm. For those with fat thumbs, the keypad on the Mini may be a bit tricky to operate.There are very few buttons on this simplistic handset, and the side buttons are mostly flush against the surface of the device.
The left side has a volume rocker, while the opposite side sports the power button and SD memory card slot.
The top of the Galaxy Mini includes a 3mm headphone jack and a micro USB charger port with a cover to protect it from nasty dust bunnies.The 3.14-inch capacitive touchscreen is an ideal size for most activities, but it's far less responsive than the Samsung Galaxy Ace and, most of the time, a light touch isn't good enough to launch an app.
It's clear that Samsung decided to save on the screen display quality in order to place this device in the low-end range, as when compared to higher quality screens, such as the Apple iPhone 4's retina display, there's a very, very clear distinction.In other words, the 240x320 resolution is as sharp as the bluntest pencil in the box and makes reading text-heavy web pages an excruciating task – but this is understandable, given the low price.Next Page: Samsung Galaxy Mini: InterfaceSamsung Galaxy Mini review: Interface
There are obvious sacrifices that have been made to the performance in order to offer the Samsung Galaxy Mini at a low price. The 3.14-inch capacitive touchscreen is very slow to respond, sometimes forcing you to press harder and repeatedly until you get any reaction.In fact, on several occasions we experienced software glitches and freezing when jumping between applications, in particular immediately after making a phone call. To be truthful, our experience with the interface was an incredibly bumpy ride.
The Samsung Galaxy Mini comes pre-installed with three Home screens. You can add up to seven, which seems like quite a lot considering it's not a media-rich or app-intensive device.The main menu flows in the same way as the Home screens, ie from left to right instead of up and down, allowing for consistency in the method of navigation, which is a bonus. Generally it's easy to navigate and is standard to Android, so if you've had an Android handset before, you'll find it very easy to navigate this smartphone.
Widgets can be downloaded onto the Home screens, but they're quite simplistic and a little buggy. For example, the news widget provides a list of real-time news stories from various news outlets, but text gets cut off at the bottom of the window and is borderline illegible due to the tiny font.The Samsung Galaxy Mini's saving grace is the Android 2.2.1 Froyo platform, which is easy to use for both Android fanboys and newbies to the OS. It's straightforward and does what it says on the tin, making the whole experience much more pleasing.If this little white number was to be embedded with a clunkier UI, namely Symbian, it would be on top of the recycling pile, for sure.When downloading apps from the Market, they automatically save on the Menu page, but you can drag and drop them into the Home screens to make them easier to find.There are several pre-loaded applications on the device, but thankfully it lacks the 'bloatware' of the Samsung Galaxy Ace, which comes with games and gambling apps that can't be deleted when bought on the Three network.The Samsung Galaxy Mini comes pre-installed with the Samsung Apps application, an app store exclusive to Samsung devices. But we have an inkling that this app store will quickly become defunct, thanks to the fully-stocked Android Market. This is heaps easier to use and generally more fun to navigate.
Samsung's app store only files apps under three categories; Health/Life, Reference and Utilities, and the majority of the apps are currently just foreign language dictionaries.There's one nifty addition to the Samsung Galaxy Mini – the Recent Activity function. Pressing and holding the menu button reveals the most recent activity on the handset, which allows the user to quickly find a frequently used application. It's handy when you're in a rush to launch an app.
However, although the Galaxy Mini may have some nice quirky extras, it doesn't counter the fact that the 600MHz processor is low quality and juddering occurs when flicking through home screens, apps freeze when jumping between programs and all in all it's not a very fluid experience.Although it's very easy to use, the interface is clunky and tends to lag, which makes it lose points in terms of performance.Next Page: Samsung Galaxy Mini: Contacts and calling
Click here to access website: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-mini-930909/review?artc_pg=1
Samsung Galaxy Mini review
To infinity and beyond? You're in for a bumpy ride
Our Score
Last reviewed: 2011-05-18May 18th
MOBILE PHONES REVIEW
The budget offering in the Galaxy range
Samsung is the only manufacturer that can get away with launching variants of one particular device in a series and pricing them to suit different budgets, as it did five years ago with the D500 and its variants the G600 and D900. Now the Koreans are doing it again with the Galaxy Series.
The latest addition to the Samsung Galaxy range - topped by the five star Samsung Galaxy S2 (currently number one in our 20 best mobile phones ranking) - is the Galaxy Mini. Almost identical to the Galaxy Fit, it's slightly lighter and has a lower camera quality.
It's clear that Samsung designed the Galaxy Mini to look and feel low-end and when it's up on the shelves on the high street, it will fit in well next to the likes of LG's Optimus One and Orange's San Francisco.
This touchscreen phone is definitely affordable, at £10.50 per month on an O2 contract or £129.99 on prepay, but it's clear that you'll have to make sacrifices on performance and looks as a result.
The Samsung Galaxy Mini looks and feels pretty cheap in comparison to others in the Galaxy range. This is a real shame as we were expecting a lot more from this dinky device after being pretty impressed by the low-end Samsung Galaxy Ace, which is miles better in terms of performance and aesthetics.
The white variant of the Galaxy Mini that we reviewed looks particularly cheap, and starts to look grubby after a week or so as it attracts the slightest bit of dirt. Again, this is where the Samsung Galaxy Ace is miles better, as it looks and feels like a bigger, better and more robust device.
However, it is 3G HSDPA and the download speeds are pretty impressive, all things considered.
The Samsung Galaxy Mini is a good size in the hand, weighing 106.6g and measuring 110x60x12mm. But it feels slippery, unlike its brother the Galaxy Ace, which sports a textured back cover making it more grippy in the palm. For those with fat thumbs, the keypad on the Mini may be a bit tricky to operate.
There are very few buttons on this simplistic handset, and the side buttons are mostly flush against the surface of the device.
The left side has a volume rocker, while the opposite side sports the power button and SD memory card slot.
The top of the Galaxy Mini includes a 3mm headphone jack and a micro USB charger port with a cover to protect it from nasty dust bunnies.
The 3.14-inch capacitive touchscreen is an ideal size for most activities, but it's far less responsive than the Samsung Galaxy Ace and, most of the time, a light touch isn't good enough to launch an app.
It's clear that Samsung decided to save on the screen display quality in order to place this device in the low-end range, as when compared to higher quality screens, such as the Apple iPhone 4's retina display, there's a very, very clear distinction.
In other words, the 240x320 resolution is as sharp as the bluntest pencil in the box and makes reading text-heavy web pages an excruciating task – but this is understandable, given the low price.
Next Page: Samsung Galaxy Mini: Interface
Samsung Galaxy Mini review: Interface
There are obvious sacrifices that have been made to the performance in order to offer the Samsung Galaxy Mini at a low price. The 3.14-inch capacitive touchscreen is very slow to respond, sometimes forcing you to press harder and repeatedly until you get any reaction.
In fact, on several occasions we experienced software glitches and freezing when jumping between applications, in particular immediately after making a phone call. To be truthful, our experience with the interface was an incredibly bumpy ride.
The Samsung Galaxy Mini comes pre-installed with three Home screens. You can add up to seven, which seems like quite a lot considering it's not a media-rich or app-intensive device.
The main menu flows in the same way as the Home screens, ie from left to right instead of up and down, allowing for consistency in the method of navigation, which is a bonus. Generally it's easy to navigate and is standard to Android, so if you've had an Android handset before, you'll find it very easy to navigate this smartphone.
Widgets can be downloaded onto the Home screens, but they're quite simplistic and a little buggy. For example, the news widget provides a list of real-time news stories from various news outlets, but text gets cut off at the bottom of the window and is borderline illegible due to the tiny font.
The Samsung Galaxy Mini's saving grace is the Android 2.2.1 Froyo platform, which is easy to use for both Android fanboys and newbies to the OS. It's straightforward and does what it says on the tin, making the whole experience much more pleasing.
If this little white number was to be embedded with a clunkier UI, namely Symbian, it would be on top of the recycling pile, for sure.
When downloading apps from the Market, they automatically save on the Menu page, but you can drag and drop them into the Home screens to make them easier to find.
There are several pre-loaded applications on the device, but thankfully it lacks the 'bloatware' of the Samsung Galaxy Ace, which comes with games and gambling apps that can't be deleted when bought on the Three network.
The Samsung Galaxy Mini comes pre-installed with the Samsung Apps application, an app store exclusive to Samsung devices. But we have an inkling that this app store will quickly become defunct, thanks to the fully-stocked Android Market. This is heaps easier to use and generally more fun to navigate.
Samsung's app store only files apps under three categories; Health/Life, Reference and Utilities, and the majority of the apps are currently just foreign language dictionaries.
There's one nifty addition to the Samsung Galaxy Mini – the Recent Activity function. Pressing and holding the menu button reveals the most recent activity on the handset, which allows the user to quickly find a frequently used application. It's handy when you're in a rush to launch an app.
However, although the Galaxy Mini may have some nice quirky extras, it doesn't counter the fact that the 600MHz processor is low quality and juddering occurs when flicking through home screens, apps freeze when jumping between programs and all in all it's not a very fluid experience.
Although it's very easy to use, the interface is clunky and tends to lag, which makes it lose points in terms of performance.
Next Page: Samsung Galaxy Mini: Contacts and calling
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