14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung has quietly launched an updated version of its old Galaxy S III mini smartphone, but the device is only available for purchase in the Netherlands for the moment.
Dubbed Samsung Galaxy S III mini Value Edition, the smartphone can be purchased for around $250 (€180), which is a bit steep for what it has to offer, GSMinfo.nl reports.
Although it’s a different device, Samsung did not make any changes when it comes to design, so you will hardly be able to tell that this is in fact a new smartphone and not the old Galaxy S III mini.
Sadly, Samsung made only slight improvements regarding the hardware configuration of the Galaxy S III mini Value Edition, which means that those who own the older model will basically have no reason to upgrade to the new one.
Software-wise, the new Galaxy S III mini Value Edition has been confirmed to ship with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box, as opposed to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean that powers the Galaxy S III mini.
That’s not much of an improvement especially that neither has been confirmed to receive an upgrade to Android 4.4 KitKat platform.
The same goes for the processors inside. The Galaxy S III mini Value Edition can barely be considered an upgrade over the standard model, as the smartphone comes with a 1.2GHz dual-core Cortex A9 CPU inside, while the Galaxy S III mini is powered by a slightly lower 1GHz dual-core processor.
It’s unclear if the Value Edition version packs the same NovaThor chipset as its predecessor, but considering the speed of both CPUs, this should not matter too much.
Another small difference between the two smartphones would be the fact that the old Galaxy S III mini offers HSDPA 14.4Mbps, whereas the new model supports HSDPA 21Mbps.
The rest of the handsets’ specs sheet is similar, despite the fact that they have been released two years apart from each other.
So, expect the Galaxy S III mini Value Edition to sport a decent 4-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display that supports 480 x 800 pixels resolution, as well as 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus, LED flash and HD (720p) video recording.
On the inside, the smartphone is equipped with 8GB of storage and 1GB of RAM. Users will be able to add more internal memory via microSD memory card. A secondary VGA camera for video calls is included as well.