Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini to be unveiled on 11th October?

by Mark Tyson on 3 October 2012, 17:00

Tags: Samsung (005935.KS)

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A batch of press invitations has come from Samsung which hint heavily towards the unveiling of a Samsung Galaxy S3 (or S III) mini. The South Korean industrial giant is holding an event in Germany on 11th October (next Thursday) and has issued invitations with the headline “SO GROSS KANN KLEIN SEIN” which translates roughly as “Small can be so great”. The event takes place in the rather low key setting of the Samsung Mobile Store in Frankfurt.

Other sites have translated the headline and subheading on the invite as “something small will be really big” and “get ready for a little sensation” so unlike me, they must have a knowledge of German beyond how to type it into Google Translate. Sharp eyed readers will also notice the invite has the familiar Galaxy S brand watermarking in the background.

What constitutes a Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini?

It is speculated that the Galaxy S3 mini would be a smaller brother to the extremely popular Samsung Galaxy S3 which is quite a large, hand-filling device featuring a 4.8-inch screen. As well as the obvious screen reduction, to make the smaller brother a “mini” version, there would be another few rumoured cuts. According to Phones Review the snips will be in the screen size/res (reduced to 4-inch,  480x800 pixels), the CPU (reduced to dual-core) and the camera (reduced to 5 megapixels). On the positive side of things it’s likely the new mini Galaxy will come packing Android Jelly Bean and fit in your wee mittens a little bit better. When Apple launched the iPhone 5 recently they did explain that it was a single-hand-operation-friendly design. Now here is a new single-hand friendly Galaxy S3 variant to fit that requirement.

A small selection of Galaxy smartphones

It does look like Samsung are happy to pepper the market with smartphones in lots of sizes and form factors hoping that anything will stick. Some people might say Samsung have a scatter gun approach; producing Galaxy devices with large and small screens, hard and soft keyboards, touch and stylus control, budget and premium prices, even one with a built in projector. Perhaps this strategy does fit consumer needs well. More choice is good, usually.

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Posted by fusioned - Wed 03 Oct 2012 17:20
About time there are smaller variations - phones are getting far too big to be comfortable to hold - sometimes you just need to write on the screen one handed!

However, if they really are putting in a lesser camera/processor in, I have one gripe with the whole bigger=better spec. It doesn't increase choice - it just constrains it to those who can compromise on features.

If the iphone can sell so many at the ‘lesser’ size (note I'm no iphone fan), there is a market for it!

What I would like to see are manufacturers putting out phones with identical feature sets, but at different sizes. Anyone with me?
Posted by Finners - Wed 03 Oct 2012 17:21
interested! 4inch screen is about the sweet spot imo, shame if the specs are reduced though.
Posted by brasco - Wed 03 Oct 2012 17:43
fusioned
About time there are smaller variations - phones are getting far too big to be comfortable to hold - sometimes you just need to write on the screen one handed!

What I would like to see are manufacturers putting out phones with identical feature sets, but at different sizes. Anyone with me?

100% agree. I prefer a phone with no more than a 4“ screen size. It just gets too clunky to handle with ease. I personally don't see the need for the larger screen, how far do people hold it away!?

So this actually looks quite appealing, I was game for a 920 but it's even bigger than my HD7 (4.5” vs 4.3") which is way too big already. If it didn't have the chipping issue, I'd probably be after an iPhone 5, simply because it's the best for it's size.
Posted by Biscuit - Wed 03 Oct 2012 19:26
fusioned
About time there are smaller variations - phones are getting far too big to be comfortable to hold - sometimes you just need to write on the screen one handed!

However, if they really are putting in a lesser camera/processor in, I have one gripe with the whole bigger=better spec. It doesn't increase choice - it just constrains it to those who can compromise on features.

If the iphone can sell so many at the ‘lesser’ size (note I'm no iphone fan), there is a market for it!

What I would like to see are manufacturers putting out phones with identical feature sets, but at different sizes. Anyone with me?

I certainly am, bigger isnt necissarily better. I dont mind the size of my One X too much but at the same time, i would like something smaller.
There is definitely a hole in the android market for something small yet still just as powerful as their bigger brothers.

I suppose the other issue you get is less space for battery capacity :(
Posted by TheAnimus - Wed 03 Oct 2012 19:47
brasco
So this actually looks quite appealing, I was game for a 920 but it's even bigger than my HD7 (4.5“ vs 4.3”) which is way too big already. If it didn't have the chipping issue, I'd probably be after an iPhone 5, simply because it's the best for it's size.
I think there should be a range of sizes, because I have size 13 feet, and *ahem* yes, large hands. They also should make lady ones, obviously coloured only pink. With flowers. And hello kitty.

I would suggest thou that you look at the 820 if you where looking at the 920, its a great value phone. I hate spending much money on phones, I dunno why, looks at 2 tablets, kindle, 3 laptops + desktop, + 2 printers in study. I just can't see the rational for expensive phones!

The iPhone 5 one I find strange, its res is just awkward for vids, and after finally getting to play with one, I didn't like the balance in landscape for games, obviously YMMV.

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