Samsung Galaxy S5 mini

“The Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini is a reduced version of the Galaxy S5 in terms of performance and features, but there are still several features that let the borders between mainstream and high-end blur: Fingerprint reader, water- and dust-resistant case, great and comprehensive software, convenient handling, good camera, high-quality display, low temperature development as well as the good speaker are advantages of the smartphone. Last but not least you also get great battery runtimes.But the competitors Sony Xperia Z1 Compact and the HTC One Mini 2 are also very good. If you want more performance, you should get the Sony smartphone, which supports 802.11ac WLAN as well. The One Mini 2 has a metal case and the best speakers in this product class. The biggest advantage of the Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini is that it has no real drawbacks in any category, even though the two closest rivals might have the advantage in some details.Small issues would be the fingerprint reader, which is sometimes tricky to operate, the preloaded bloat ware and the screen, which could have a higher resolution. The polycarbonate case is probably going to cause a debate for every Galaxy device, and the design is also not as appealing for the masses compared to many other smartphones. We can still give a purchase recommendation since there is currently no smartphone in this product class that ticks so many correct boxes.We add another point to the overall rating because we are convinced by the comprehensive software with dozens of options to personalize the phone, the comprehensive explanations of the features and the pretty short loading times.”

“On its own, the Samsung Galaxy S5 mini is a merely a good midrange smartphone. Next to it's bigger sibling - it's probably Samsung's best mini to date. It retains what makes the bigger flagship desirable and cleverly mimics its superb performance so that it's easy to think the raw hardware power is equal.Samsung has made this smartphone snappy thanks to good software optimizations. The proprietary feature list is also pretty long as is usual for Samsung smartphones. The motion gestures are here, even if the air ones aren't available, the IR blaster is here as well - we only wish HTC had provided one for their mini smartphone.The camera does a good job, even if it can't compete with the excellent 16 MP snaps from the Galaxy S5, the display is also up to snuff despite the lower resolution. At 4.5 we can't really say the display is small.”

“The Samsung Galaxy S5 mini is a respectable handset that offers ample speed, a bright and colorful screen and good battery life. What lets it down is the build quality, which is chunky and plastic.A year ago this phone would have been a really impressive mid-range handset, but now with more competition on the market - notably the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact and, for a bit more money, the larger Motorola Moto X - it struggles to appeal as much.Sure, Samsung has crammed the S5 mini with impressive features such as waterproofing, a fingerprint reader and heart-rate monitor - but how often will those actually get used? The heart-rate monitor in particular is no stand-in for the likes of Samsung's Gear Live or Gear Fit, one of which you'll likely want to get the most out of the built-in S Health feature.The S5 mini is a more affordable way to get Samsung's latest features and, of course, offers those in a more portable package than the larger-screen direction most of the flagships are headed. It's mini, but with the build quality and changing marketplace it's not as mighty this time around.”

“The Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini is the best mini Samsung has come up with so far. It’s made some big improvements on the S4 Mini particularly in the screen, battery and camera departments. It's not an automatic choice, though.That's mainly because the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, which is rumoured to be replaced by a Z2 Compact in the not too distant future, has a more powerful Snapdragon processor, a better camera and if you shop around can be bought for less. There's little to choose between this and the HTC One Mini 2 either, though the latter looks and feels slicker.If you're determined to go with Samsung and don't want a larger 5-inch phone this is a very good choice, but it's not the best. The honour goes to the Sony.”