S5 Mini review

The Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini was quietly announced via press release at the beginning of July, and it's now finding its way into stores around the world, so how does the pint-sized smartphone shape up?

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As far as design goes there's no mistaking this is a close relative to the Samsung Galaxy S5, with the S5 Mini sporting the familiar ribbed faux-metal band around its circumference and the dimpled polycarbonate rear linking it directly to its bigger brother.

It's got the HTC One Mini 2, Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, iPhone 5C and the LG G3 Beat in its sights, as these shrunken smartphones look to do battle a couple of tiers below their flagship brethren.

SIM-free you'll need at least £360 (about $600, AU$650) for the Galaxy S5 Mini, while on contact it can be had for free on two year deals starting at £24.99 in the UK.

When it comes to design it really is a mini version of the Galaxy S5, although there's no annoying flap over the microUSB port at the base of the handset.

Now you may think that the omission of this protective flap means the Galaxy S5 Mini has lost the dust and water resistant features of Samsung's flagship, but you'd be wrong.

In fact the Galaxy S5 Mini holds the same IP67 water and dust resistant rating, meaning you can drop your phone in the bath without it dying. (Galaxy S5 owners who still have to manipulate the fiddly flap every time they want to charge their device may feel some early-adopter frustration at this.)

It's not the exposed connection port at the base of the S5 Mini that's got me worried if the phone hits water though - it's the removable rear cover.

The thin piece of dimpled polycarbonate snaps snugly onto the rear of the Galaxy S5 Mini, but it's not exactly difficult to remove and the slender rubber seal that runs around part of the inside doesn't fill me with confidence.

I'll be sure to put the Galaxy S5 Mini through its watery paces in its in depth review, so make sure you check back to see how it gets on.

Behind that rear cover you'll find microSIM and microSD slots as well as removable 2100mAh battery - a strong offering, considering the recently announced Galaxy Alpha only packs a 1830mAh power pack.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini measures 131.1 x 64.8 x 9.1mm, meaning it's a little chunkier than the 8.1mm Galaxy S5, but its smaller 4.5-inch display means that in terms of height and width it's easier to manage.

I found the Galaxy S5 Mini sat in the palm nicely, but the metallic effect band and plastic rear offered very little in the way of grip and I did come close to dropping the handset during my brief stint playing around.

At 120g the S5 Mini is a comfortable weight, and it's certainly not overbearing on the wrists allowing you to hold and operate it one-handed with relative ease.

The S5 Mini does feel solid and capable of taking a few knocks, but it fails to ooze premium quality, with the overly noticeably plastic body making it feel pretty cheap in the hand.

There are a couple of clever tricks built into the body of the Galaxy S5 Mini that it's inherited from its big brother. The first of which is the fingerprint scanner that resides under the home key.

You'll need to head to the Finger Scanner section in settings to set it up, and once you've registered a digit or two, you'll be able to unlock the S5 Mini and approve PayPal payments without a password.

Trouble is the system isn't all that great. TouchID on the iPhone 5S can read your finger at pretty much any angle without the need for swiping - it's quick and easy to use.

On the Galaxy S5 Mini I had more trouble. Your finger has to be straight on the home key, which isn't a natural position when you're trying to use the thumb of the hand you're using to hold the handset.

Secondly you can't go too quickly. During my short time with the handset the Galaxy S5 Mini failed to recognise my swipe on several occasions. It's certainly satisfying when it finally does register, but I'm not sure it's worth the effort.

The other hardware feature Samsung has passed down to the S5 Mini is the rear-mounted heart rate monitor.

This is accessed via the S Health app on the Galaxy S5 Mini, and you can measure your heart rate by holding your finger over the sensor on the rear of the device.

Source : techradar.com