Samsung Announces the Galaxy S5 Mini
by Joshua Ho on July 1, 2014 10:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Samsung
- Galaxy
- Mobile
- Galaxy S5
Today Samsung announced the Galaxy S5 mini, which continues the Galaxy S mini line the same way that the One mini 2 continued the One mini line. Interestingly enough for the international variant the Galaxy S5 mini uses a Samsung Exynos 3470 SoC for the LTE variant, along with an Intel XMM7160 modem. There are a few areas where the GS5 mini bests other similar mini branded devices, such as the 1.5GB of RAM instead of the 1GB found on the One Mini 2. As with the One mini 2, there’s no 802.11ac support. Fortunately, Samsung has improved the display panel to a 720p SAMOLED with 4.5” diagonal compared to the qHD panel of the GS4 mini. I’ve included a table of the specs released below.
| Samsung Galaxy S5 mini | |
| SoC | Exynos 3470 4x1.4 GHz Cortex A7 |
| RAM/NAND | 1.5 GB LPDDR3, 16GB NAND + microSD |
| Display | 4.5” 720p IPS LCD |
| Network | 2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Category 4 LTE) |
| Dimensions | 131.1 x 64.8 x 9.1mm, 120 grams |
| Camera | 8MP rear camera, 1080p30 max. 2.1MP F/2.0 FFC |
| Battery | 2100 mAh (7.98 Whr) |
| OS | Android 4.4 with TouchWiz UX |
| Connectivity | 802.11a/b/g/n + BT 4.0, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, MHL, DLNA, NFC |
| SIM Size | MicroSIM |
For those unfamiliar with the Exynos 3470, this is a quad core Cortex A7 solution running at 1.4 GHz, along with a Mali 450 GPU. Based upon the amount of Broadcom design wins in Samsung devices it’d be reasonable to infer that the WiFi/BT combo chip is a Broadcom design win as well. The Intel modem is something that we’ve seen before on the Galaxy K, so it’s no surprise to see the same on the Galaxy S5 mini. The phone is also IP67 resistant like its larger cousin, although the USB flap is no longer needed for this variant. Overall, this phone seems to be intent on keeping the mini moniker to its roots. It’s definitely designed to target a more midrange audience, although it'll take a review to see whether it does this effectively.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
33 Comments
View All Comments
ZeDestructor - Tuesday, July 1, 2014 - link
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact would like a word. Yes, it's not "Mini", but most people suspect (probably quite correctly) that Sony went with "Compact" to distance themselves from the shoddy practice of "Mini" variants being cut-down parts.The only downscaled bits are the screen (1080p 5" -> 720p 4.3"), battery (3000mAh -> 2400mAh) and, well, physical size.
Mr Perfect - Friday, July 4, 2014 - link
Oh really? Count me interested then. I'd like a small phone that isn't also a cut-down part.phoenix_rizzen - Monday, July 7, 2014 - link
The Sony Compact phones are just that: the same innards as the flagship in a more compact form, generally with a smaller screen being the only real difference. Xperia Z1 Compact, Xperia Z2 Compact. Don't recall if there was an Xperia Z Compact or not.They're the only one doing the "mini" phone correctly.
Laxaa - Tuesday, July 1, 2014 - link
The One Mini 2 has 1GB of RAM, actually.Brandon Chester - Tuesday, July 1, 2014 - link
I just fixed that up and fired off a message to Josh to let him know.JoshHo - Tuesday, July 1, 2014 - link
Sorry about that. I definitely screwed up there.Nintendo Maniac 64 - Tuesday, July 1, 2014 - link
Implying that a 4.5" screen is "mini". Heck the Galaxy S2 in smaller than this supposedly "mini" phone in every dimension (including thickness@!) except width (this: 64.8mm vs S2: 66.1mm)emn13 - Tuesday, July 1, 2014 - link
Yeah, this thing's huge. Frankly, I wouldn't mind an actually decent smartphone that's easily pocketable - say more like 3.2 or 3.5 inch rather than this monster non-mini phone.Alexey291 - Friday, July 4, 2014 - link
Iphone 4s? I don't even use apple but surely its a glaringly obvious suggestion :)KaarlisK - Tuesday, July 1, 2014 - link
The sad thing is, S4 mini probably performs better in most tasks. It has two Krait 300 cores at 1.7GHz – probably WAY better at web browsing.