Score: 6/10 (Okay)
Pros Extremely light, relatively fast for a mid-range handset, rear-facing camera takes pretty good pictures. | Cons Boring and ugly design, display is fuzzy and soft, outdated version of Android 4.2, TouchWiz feels slow and bogged down, other (and better) options available for same or slightly higher price. |
Not every smartphone is made to be a top-tier device. There are handsets out there like the LG G2, Samsung Galaxy Note 3, and HTC One that strive to be the best, but there are also devices like the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini that try to be good smartphones. Not great, not revolutionary, but good. Why do we need smartphones like this? Because they generally offer a much lower price tag than other competing smartphones, while still offering a relatively good experience. While the Galaxy S4 Mini isn't the worst phone I've ever reviewed, and although it isn't the most expensive, Verizon (carrier we got the S4 Mini from) is currently selling handsets like the LG G2, Moto G, Moto X, and more for the same or lower price. Should you shell out your money for the S4 Mini if you're looking for a simple, mid-range handset? Let's find out in my full review!
Design/Build Quality
Being a mid-range smartphone, I wasn't expecting the S4 Mini to have that great of a design. That's because it doesn't. Unlike the Galaxy Note 3 and new line of TabPRO and NotePRO tablets which all feature Samsung's fresh and comfortable faux leather backing, the S4 Mini retains the infamous hyperglaze plastic which Samsung has been using for far too long. In regards to other looks of the S4 Mini, just imagine the original Galaxy S4, but with a shrunken down body and a 4.3-inch display. You still have your same physical home button with two capacitive navigational buttons, faux chrome wrapped around the frame of the body, 3.5mm headset jack and IR blaster on top, volume rocker on the left, power/lock button on the right, microUSB charging port on the bottom, and camera and speaker on the back. One aspect of the S4 Mini's construction that really surprised me was just how light it was. Samsung phones are never known to be heavy devices, but weighing in at just 3.77 ounces, the S4 Mini has just about nothing to it. I often forgot that the phone was in my pocket when going about my day. Unfortunately, the Galaxy S4 Mini suffers from the same fate that many of Verizon's other products suffer from: Logos. My God, does the Galaxy S4 Mini have a lot of branding on it. On the front, you'll see a Samsung logo placed just above the screen, while Verizon has decided to slap their own branding right on the physical home button. Going onto the back, you'll see two more Verizon logos placed just below the LED flash, and additional Samsung branding added above the speaker. I understand that OEMs and carriers need to place their name on these products, but I can't help but feel that five logos is just a bit overkill.
Hardware
With phones being released with 6-inch+ screen sizes nowadays, it's sometimes easy to forget where phone screen sizes were like just a couple of years ago. With its display measuring in at 4.3-inchs diagonally, the Galaxy S4 Mini is absolutely tiny when compared to what else is currently on the market. Personally, I am not a big fan of the smaller screen real-estate found on the S4 Mini. While it is nice to be able to easily access all four corners of the display without having to stretch my hand much at all, I found that I had a not-so-pleasant time typing text messages, watching video, or playing games. Part of this is also due to the S4 Mini's screen resolution. With a 960 x 540 qHD display and just 256ppi, the S4 Mini's screen just doesn't look that great. While the Super AMOLED technology helps with being able to produce high color saturation and deep blacks, I still found that text was soft and fuzzy, app icons were pixelated, and videos looked underwhelming. I do realize that since this is a budget handset it isn't going to have the best specs, but there are other phones out there for about the same money that offer much better displays all around.
As for processing speeds, the Galaxy S4 Mini is powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 CPU and 1.5GB of RAM. In normal day-to-day use, the S4 Mini performs fairly well. Although lag is noticeable when swiping through home screens and opening applications is usually met with some form of delay, normal usage usually runs pretty good. Even games like Beach Buggy Blitz ran surprisingly smooth on the handset.
In regards to its optics, Samsung has thrown an 8MP rear-facing camera with LED flash and a 1.9MP front-facing camera on the Galaxy S4 Mini. Despite being a mid-range handset, pictures taken with the S4 Mini turned out pretty good. Colors were accurate, details were fairly sharp, and the S4 Mini still has a good handful of picture-taking software. You won't get the image quality or features found in the original S4, but Samsung definitely could have done worse with the cameras on this phone.
The Galaxy S4 Mini that I reviewed is the Verizon Wireless variant. Call quality on the phone was okay. Folks I talked to were loud, but I've definitely heard better audio quality on other competing handsets. Data speeds were just as consistent as we usually see on Verizon as well.
To last you through using the phone, the Galaxy S4 Mini is packing in a 1,900 mAh removable battery. For the type of phone this is, battery life was pretty good. With moderate to heavy usage throughout the day, I never had any issues getting through an entire full day with the phone.
To last you through using the phone, the Galaxy S4 Mini is packing in a 1,900 mAh removable battery. For the type of phone this is, battery life was pretty good. With moderate to heavy usage throughout the day, I never had any issues getting through an entire full day with the phone.
Software
The Samsung Galaxy S 4 Mini is running Android version 4.2.2 Jelly Bean out of the box with Samsung's TouchWiz layered over it. With 4.4.2 KitKat now the latest and greatest version of Android currently available, 4.2.2 Jelly Bean is feeling mighty old at this point in time. There is an update to Android 4.3 that is just starting to hit handsets via OTA updates, but my review unit never did receive said update. Android versions aside, Samsung's TouchWiz does just as fine a job as ever make Android feel childish and like a toy. If you recall our review of the original Galaxy S4, you'd remember that I really liked TouchWiz on that handset. The features of MultiWindow, Air Command, Smart Scroll and more really did enhance the overall experience for me. However, on the Galaxy S4 Mini, none of those goodies are found anywhere on the device.
Final Verdict
Even though it's being marketed towards first time smartphone owners and anyone really looking for a relatively cheap smartphone option, it feels like Samsung made a few too many cuts with the Galaxy S4 Mini. It may be light, run fairly smooth, and take decent photos, but those are just about all of the redeeming factors I can conjure up when I think about the S4 Mini. The S4 Mini has an ugly design, bad display, an outdated version of Android, and a price tag that is far too high for what it brings to the table. Verizon Wireless is currently selling the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini for $49.99 with a new two year contract. While that may not sound like a lot, consider this: You can currently pick up the Moto X, LG G2, and DROID MINI, for the exact same price with a new two year contact with Verizon. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini isn't the worst phone out there, but it just can't meet or beat the competition it has going against it. If you're new to the smartphone world, and just want something that's small, easy to use, and covers all of your basic smartphone wants and needs, the S4 Mini should serve you just fine. Just keep in mind that there are better choices out there for the same cost, and even more awesome gadgets out there for just a little bit more money.
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