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Samsung announces Galaxy S5 mini, release tipped for mid July

by Mark Tyson on 1 July 2014, 12:00

Tags: Samsung (005935.KS), PC

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qacf7j

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Samsung has finally announced the inevitable mini version of its current flagship smartphone. The Samsung Galaxy S5 mini is a mid-range phone which features most of the hardware from its bigger sibling in a more compact form.

"We always strive to develop devices that appeal to a range of consumer tastes and styles," said CEO and Head of IT & Mobile Communication at Samsung Electronics, JK Shin. "The Galaxy S5 mini allows consumers to enjoy the iconic design and essential and useful features of the Galaxy S5 through a maximized minimalism approach."

Unexpectedly, the S5 mini will retain all the sensors seen on the Galaxy S5 including the fingerprint sensor and a heart rate monitor. It also features power-saving modes and is IP67 rated, making it dust and water resistant. These functions were originally predicted to be omitted to keep costs down for this mid-range device.

Hardware specs wise, the device is powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core processor paired with 1.5GB of RAM, it runs Android 4.4 KitKat, and has 16GB internal memory which is expandable by up to 64GB via microSD card. The Samsung Galaxy S5 mini will also feature a 4.5-inch 720 x 1280 pixel Super AMOLED display, a 2,100mAh battery and measures just 9.1mm thick. The device comes with an 8MP autofocus LED flash equipped main shooter and a 2.1MP front-facing camera and is said to be 4G LTE ready, with NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 and GLONASS GPS support.

The chassis of the S5 mini possesses a similar look to the S5 with the perforated pattern on the back cover and it will be available in Charcoal Black, Shimmery White, Electric Blue and Copper Gold colour options.

The device will start shipment in Russia in early July but UK availability and pricing have not been confirmed yet. Sammobile has reported that the device will go up for sale in markets worldwide in mid-July, according to their sources, which correlates to the Galaxy S4 mini's launch last year.

Plus three new affordable Galaxy handsets

Samsung has also, in the last few minutes, emailed HEXUS with the details of three new "affordable" smartphones which will shortly join its Galaxy range. These are the Galaxy Trend 2, the Galaxy Young 2 and the Galaxy Core 2. As you can see from the nomenclature they are all sequential updates of existing smartphones. (The Galaxy Trend 2 will also be called the Galaxy Ace 4 in certain markets). Samsung doesn't have any online details for these affordable phones right now but this evening you will be able to check out the full specs of these models in the HEXUS press-release section on the lower right of the main page, if you are interested.



HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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1.5GB of ram isn't enough. I often run out of ram and I have 2GB. Why can't they put good specs, in a smaller phone? Is it so much to ask for? Only company that does it is Sony, and I'd rather eat feces than deal with their customer service (which is clearly the work of Satan's evil brother)*

*owner of 2 Xperias (Z & Z1) which have both broken. Having screen issues on the Z1,and sonys response was ‘it’s a software issue so you'll have to wait' - even though I've been waiting since Jan… Honestly..

Back on topic though, it's another mid range phone with a (most likely) high end price tag, much like the One M8 mini
1.5GB RAM isn't enough ? What are you doing ?
On my old S2, with even less RAM, I don't face any issues?!
1.5GB of RAM Isn't enough?! I've had database servers with less memory, serving 100+ connections.

1.5GB of RAM isn't enough, kids these days don't know they are born, in my day I was lucky to get physical memory, and even then the scheduler would beat us with a stick and page it, but we were damned grateful.
Why is it that Samsung can't make a ‘mini’ phone that is high end? My S4 mini is ok, but I really didn't expect that important things like a notification light were left out. Their only high end phone is the size of a tablet. I just want a smaller phone that hasn't had the the quality sucked out of it and I will glady pay the price, even if it cost as much a the bigger models.
Is the moto g still the best you can get?