General,Quality of S4 Mini

[robertkoa]

Thinking of getting a Galaxy S4 Mini

because I want a good Android with performance similar to Galaxy S3 but in a smaller package.

Im aware of technical specs but wonder in Practice is overall call quality, speakerphone, web browsing, speed camera , at say 95 % of the Galaxy S3 ?

Are most of you satisfied with the S4 Mini?

Kind of strange that to get high .performance, we need a physically large phone....

 

[richmatthews76]

Love mine...perfect size......nice quality...its just a awesome little phone...its getting so I use it more than my note 3

 

[mdawdy]

+1

I like mine a lot. It is my first smart phone so i have no other experience to compare it to. I have read lots of negative opinions but they all seem to be from users who are used to something larger or whatever that this one is not. I have friends who have the S2 and S3, and i do not want to have that big clunker in my pocket.

I have had mine for just a week; it came with 16 GB and everything works.

 

[pedroc1999]

Coming from an AceII, I love the power, it fits in my hand perfectly, rooted very easily, perfect phone. 10/10

 

[mrsooty]

I just got one yesterday. I wanted the best small sized android I could get. I got this over the HTC one mini due to the HTCs lack of expandable memory. The S4 mini is a great phone, but I'm really disappointed at the non-HD screen. The S3 mini has an HD screen, and I would have thought it was a given on a phone of this price range. It's the most expensive mid sized android on the market. It's significantly more expensive than a full size S3. For me the lacklustre screen is a real let down. It's bright, but low resolution and just looks like someone turned the color up too much. Should have got the HTC and just deleted some music.

 

[mrsooty]

Also, the battery life is a minor concern, but still, if this phone had an HD screen it would be the perfect phone for me.

 

[mdawdy]

I do not understand your problem with the screen. Looks perfect on mine. Is there somewhere in the specs that says it is not HD? Does it really matter?

This is my first smart phone so i have nothing to compare with; and i am perfectly happy with it.

Not expensive here with Rogers. Phone was free, i just had to sign up for two years.

 

[mrsooty]

My last good phone was an HTC desire X, so I'm used to HD. It really looks noticeably inferior to me. But yes it's definitely not HD, as the S3 mini is.

 

[mdawdy]

Checking on-line for spec's ...

• the S4 mini has a 4.3-inch (960

 

[richmatthews76]

A Little off subject but I have a similar situation with my Note 3. To me the quality on my Note 2 was better than it is on my Note 3. Mostly with the speakers on the Note 3 not up to par. Point being newer model is not always better .

 

[richmatthews76]

I have not noticed any issues personally with the screen but, that's just me

 

[mrsooty]

Check out this review. Their list of 'cons' backs me up. 'not full HD'.

http://m.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-s4-mini-1137603/review

 

[richmatthews76]

Still looks like a good rating overall.

 

[mdawdy]

... The S4 mini is a great phone, but I'm really disappointed at the non-HD screen. The S3 mini has an HD screen, ... For me the lacklustre screen is a real let down. It's bright, but low resolution ... Should have got the HTC ..

It is unfortunate that you [or myself] did not see this at the very end of the review before you [we] bought ...

However, we will say this: the HTC One Mini is a better phone that's available for a very similar price at the moment. Its metal unibody, Ultrapixel camera and Boomsound speakers do exactly what its bigger brother does to the S4: prove that getting the basics right is what matters.

Both of these phones are very similar in spec and layout, but try them side by side and we think you'll probably just prefer the One Mini...

The S4 mini screen is qHD which means quarter HD, 960x540. The S3 mini has even fewer pixels, just 800x480. So i do not get why you say that the S3 is HD and the S4 is not, and that the S4 is lower resolution than the S3.

I studied the referenced review especially for comments about the screen and its resolution. I did not find anything to support your negative review of the screen. It makes me wonder if you have a defective unit. Note these from the review ...

• Like: Bright screen
• the screen is ... leagues above the Galaxy S3 Mini screen.
• the 960 x 540 resolution, while not HD, is bright, clear and crisp
• The higher contrast and the bright screen really appeal. While the resolution is noticeably less than the highest end devices, it's no hindrance, the Super AMOLED technology making using the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini all the more pleasant
• the Super AMOLED qHD screen is very bright, making reading text very easy.
• Again, we have to say that the S4 Mini's screen is leagues above the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini's
• The screen was also very exciting, if only because it was so bright and vibrant.

I apologise if i appear to be picking on you; my concern is that a new guy may come along and take your opinion as science. And i am uncertain that it is.

 

[richmatthews76]

To me I am a newbie with the galaxy mini. Please allow me to ask a question? In the end to me it's the person that needs to be happy with their phone. I have a big Note 3 and my Mini. I Actually like the feel of the Mini. My only complaint is actually with the Note 3 the speakers are terrible.

 

[mrsooty]

Yeah my comment that the S3 mini has a better screen seems to be incorrect. But I'm still disappointed that the S4 mini has such average screen resolution. The colors look 'bleedy' to me, and it's like someone's turned the color up too far on an old television. There are some different screen settings that go some way toward correcting this, I find the 'professional photo' screen mode to be the best compromise, the 'movie' mode goes a little too far the other way and the colors start to look too dull. My photos just don't look as good as they did on even the cheap entry level smartphone I was using temporarily before this. I did read those comments about the HTC One mini, and I would have got it instead, except no SD card slot and only 16Gb memory. I would have got a proper S3, which was cheaper than the S4 mini, but they're just so big! I prefer the S4 mini size. It's just annoying because a full HD screen would pretty much make this the perfect smart phone for me, and that's what I was looking for. It's the most expensive phone I've ever bought and I really wanted it to be the best phone I've ever bought. But I kind of prefer the Desire X I used to have.