The Mini is essentially a 4.3” version of the S4, 5” version (Samsung consumer, Developer edition, and naked Android version) and the Active (water and dust resistant).

Technical specifications include:

• Display: 4.3”, QHD 960x540, Gorilla Glass, OLED, 246ppi
• Weight: 107g
• Processor 1.7GHz Dual core
• Memory: 1.5GB ram and 8GB storage with microSD slot to 64GB
• Camera: Rear 8MP with LED flash and 1.9MP front
• Battery: 1900 mAh 12 hour talk time (one day) and 49hr music.
• Carrier: 3G and 4G Optus and Telstra

By virtue of its Samdroid version of Android It has all the usual features that make an S4, well an S4. This includes different TouchWiz skins and much improved functionality over plain Android. Examples of excellent customisation include: mail, contacts, and messages, S Camera, S Voice, S Translate, S Health, S Hub, S Travel.I think you get the meaning.

Opinion

If you are on a good thing stick to it. There are now five variants of the S4 flagship. The Mini is more a ‘purse’ size. Hardware wise it is not as powerful as its big brother is. However, it is still a very good phone and may be of interest to those who want something pocketable.

iTWire’s David Swan commented recently that Samsung may be readying its own OS based on Tizen. He did not go as far as to say that Samsung would swap all its phones to Tizen, but there are strong rumours that at least the S3 and later handsets are easily upgradable by a simple on-line update.

In fact, there are reports that Samsung is already testing a Tizen based S4 and according to Lee Young Hee, executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile business “It [Tizen] will be the best product equipped with the best specifications.”

It's not that Samsung does not like Android but, like Apple, it wants to develop its own ecosystem and Tizen makes commercial sense. Samsung could then concentrate on its own S cloud apps - it already has the store - and making Samsung products even more interoperable, for example smartphones controlling the internet of everything.

Interestingly, Intel is also in the background pushing Tizen, and of course its own processors, which makes the recent Intel powered Galaxy Tab 3, 10.1”, a portend of the future.

It could be a bold move, but no one really cares if it is Android or Tizen, as long as the switch is seamless. Samsung continues to blitz Android by adding considerable value to its apps. Tizen technically can run Android apps, and developers would have no trouble porting these anyway.