We're huge fans of the Samsung Galaxy S4 -- it is, hands down, one of the best premium smartphones in the market today. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini takes the S4, shrinks it down to a more compact size, and trades in the high-end guts for a selection of midrange components. SEE SPECS BELOW...
Design
Physically, it's a near-exact copy of the S4, just with more compact dimensions. Everything from the rounded edges, silvery sides, and glossy plastic is completely reminiscent of the Samsung flagship, except smaller, lighter, and much easier on the pocket.
Display
Screen is a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED with 960 x 540 resolution. While that's not awfully sharp (and things can get fuzzy sometimes if you're used to screens with higher resolutions and pixel density), it is very bright with vivid colors that make it plenty functional.
Camera
Front-facing camera is absolutely mediocre -- you can use it for crappy-quality video calls, butwill have to rely on the rear shooter for everything else. The 8.0 megapixel camera is a solid performer, with features like continuous autofocus, HDR mode, and more. Photo quality is excellent, with the onboard app providing a very intuitive experience. Video is also very good, although it struggled picking up audio from a few feet away.
Features
It runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz running on top, bringing useful new features, alongside Samsung's roster of proprietary apps. All essentials are onboard, including NFC and LTE, so you shouldn't have any problems doing any of the usual smartphone tasks. Do note, there's only 8GB Of onboard storage, so you'll definitely want to throw in a larger capacity SD card.
Performance
A 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 powers the action. Performance is very middle of the pack as you can imagine, which makes it good for majority of tasks. Expect performance degradation with resource-heavy games and apps, though.
Call quality is good on both ends of calls, with voices sounding natural and clear. It's a little lacking in volume, so holding calls in noisy outdoor spaces might end up difficult. Same goes for the speakerphone. Battery is rated at 12 hours of talk time.
Overall
If you're in the market for a midrange smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is a solid choice, with a great camera, decent performance, and the full set of Samsung's apps. It's available from Sprint, priced at $99.99 with a new two-year agreement
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