Samsung GALAXY mini 2 Pro Reviews

Overall at £150 it's difficult to knock the Samsung Galaxy Mini 2, which offers up a budget smartphone experience and carries it off with relative ease. The lower end of the mobile market is getting rather busy and the Galaxy Mini 2 has some stiff competition with the likes of the HTC Desire C, Sony Xperia U, Nokia Lumia 710 and Ascend G300 all vying for position. However the Galaxy Mini 2 doesn't disgrace itself and while it doesn't rise head and shoulders above the competition it least gives them something to think about.

The original Samsung Mini, released almost exactly a year prior to the mini 2, had very few points in its favor and the level of equipment wasn't among them. But it was cheap and it had Android. This made it a good option for anyone looking to see what all this smartphone business was all about, but wasn't ready to sell their firstborn in the process. The mini 2 finds its market niche in the same vicinity as its predecessor, although this time around Samsung have boosted the specs to something more respectable, adding a higher-resolution screen, more storage and RAM, and a faster processor. As is usually the case when recommending a device which is clearly aimed at the budget market, the most important question is: how budget is budget? Right now, the mini 2 can be had for about €160 in most markets. While this is fairly cheap, it's not the lowest price we've seen on an Android-powered entry-level device from Samsung. The Samsung Galaxy Pocket costs around €100, and is a safe bet if you're looking for a new smartphone and low price is your only criteria. The screen has poor resolution and pixel density, making it a bit of a hard sale (not to mention its QVGA video recording at 15fps), but if you want cheap, it's a hard price to beat.

After giving it a thorough examination we can conclude that the Samsung Galaxy mini 2 is a very respectable entry-level Android smartphone. It is suitable primarily for those users willing to have a taste of the smartphone experience without spending too much cash, but a teenage kid will be very happy with it as well. However, whether getting the Galaxy mini 2 is a good deal or not greatly depends on how much you can buy it for. We fear that its price is currently too close to some very decent smartphones from last year – smartphones that are superior both in terms of hardware and software. For example, the Sony Ericsson Xperia ray, Xperia neo V, Xperia mini, and LG Optimus Black are available online for well under $300 from several reputable retailers. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy mini 2 will be the one to choose over devices like the HTC Wildfire S, HTC Explorer, LG Optimus L3, or the Samsung Galaxy Y.