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Samsung’s Galaxy S5 Mini has been on our radars for the last few week, even appearing in hi-res photos that were leaked. But today, we have news that the S5 Mini will be available to purchase in the UK from August 7, with its more budget -minded sibling, the Galaxy Young 2 arriving in mid-August. Both handsets will be offered by the usual suspects such as the Samsung Experience Stores or Carphone Warehouse.
Lets start with the Galaxy S5 mini. Firstly, it must be said that the S5 Mini has received a much needed bump in specs over its predecessor, the S4 Mini. And while the Sony Z1 Compact still beats it in terms of hardware, the S5 Mini at least puts up a fight this time round. The display has been upgraded to a 4.5-inch 720 x 1280 HD Super AMOLED screen. The processor has received a boost thanks to the Quad-Core chip that is clocked at 1.4GHz and backed with a reasonable 1.5GB of RAM for multi-tasking. The standard 16GB of internal storage is included, with the option to increase storage by up to 64GB thanks to the inclusion of the Micro-SD card slot. A 2.1MP camera is on selfie and video chat duty, with an 8MP sensor and flash module on the rear of the device. The S5 Mini supports LTE, WiFi AC as well as Bluetooth 4.0 LE and NFC connectivity.
Naturally, being Samsung, the S5 Mini will arrive with it’s custom TouchWiz overlay that is based on the Android version 4.4.2 Kitkat along with the so-called gimmicks handy features such as the fingerprint scanner that can validate PayPal purchases as well as the heart-rate sensor on the rear of the device. Something that is actually useful is the IP67 certification, this means that the device is both dust- and water-resistant. The S5 Mini can be had in White, Black, Gold and Blue for the off-contract price of £389, which seems a little steep to me when considering that you can purchase the older but higher-specced Sony Z1 Compact for £342 from Amazon. Make sure to check the ton of pictures in the gallery below.
On to the Galaxy Young, and this is purely a budget phone that carries a 3.5-inch display with a 480 x 320 resolution, an unnamed 1GHz processor is at the heart of the phone, with a mere 512MB of RAM for multi-tasking. Internal Storage is limited to 4GB with a tiny 1300 mAh battery providing the juice. A 3.15MP rear-facing camera is present. It’s not a phone that will get your blood pumping, but then it’s meant to be an entry-level smart phone. No pricing is available for the Galaxy Young 2 at present, although it is expected to become available in the UK from mid-August.
Let us know in the comments below or at our Google Plus page if the Galaxy S5 Mini or the Galaxy Young 2 moves you in any way, shape or form.
