14 DAY TRIAL // Canadian carrier Public Mobile still breathes. The operator has just added a new mid-range Android smartphone to its portfolio, the Samsung Galaxy S III mini.
Unfortunately, nothing is new about the smartphone except for the fact that Public Mobile customers can now get it for the first time.
According to Public Mobile, existing customers can purchase the Samsung Galaxy S III mini for just $119 (€81) outright. However, new customers will probably need to fork out another $10 (€7) for the SIM card in addition to the phone’s upfront price.
Aside from that, Public Mobile also claims that the Galaxy S III mini is only available in limited quantities, so those who prefer Samsung’s mid-ranger over the Motorola Moto G, which is a newer device, should hurry up and reserve their units.
Samsung Galaxy S III mini is a rather old smartphone that reached end of life status in most countries, but Public Mobile seems to have decided to add a slightly newer version of the handset.
For those unaware, Samsung launched the Galaxy S III mini on the market back in November 2012, but Public Mobile is now selling the Galaxy S III mini Value Edition, which is an improved version of this particular smartphone.
The older Galaxy S III mini variant was powered by the Jelly Bean platform, but Public Mobile’s model ships with Android 4.4 KitKat operating system right out of the box.
In addition, the smartphone sports a more than decent 4-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display that supports 480 x 800 pixels resolution and 233ppi (pixel per inch).
Public Mobile has also confirmed that the Galaxy S III mini is equipped with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor inside, whereas the original model was powered by a 1GHz dual-core CPU.
The phone packs 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up to 32GB via the microSD card slot. Samsung Galaxy S III mini also features a 5-megapixel photo snapper on the back, which offers autofocus, LED flash and HD (720p) video recording. There’s also a secondary VGA camera for video calls on the front.
Connectivity-wise, the Galaxy S III mini doesn’t stand out from the crowd, but offers quite decent options, such as 3G HSDPA (21Mbps), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB and GPS with A-GPS support.
The smartphone includes FM Radio function as well and is powered by a 1500 mAh battery, which should provide up to 320 hours of standby time or up to 8 hours of talk time.