When Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S III mini back in October, it was unclear whether the device would hit U.S. store shelves. But now, the Galaxy S III's little brother is available for purchase in the U.S.
Amazon has quietly begun selling an unlocked version of the Galaxy S III mini starting at $409.95, as TechCrunch first noticed. If that price seems steep, remember that the benefit of paying the higher upfront cost for an unlocked version is that you won't be locked into to a lengthy carrier contract.
The handset works with AT&T and T-Mobile's networks. But if you're looking to get one through Amazon, you better act fast, as it looks like supplies are quite limited. As of Tuesday morning, there were only 11 left in stock.
The Samsung Galaxy S III mini sports a 4-inch Super AMOLED display with a WVGA resolution of 800-by-480 pixels. It runs the latest version of Google's mobile operating system, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and has a dual-core 1GHz chip.
The mini comes with 1GB of RAM, and either 8GB or 16GB of internal storage, expandable up to 32GB via microSD. The phone sports a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera as well as a VGA-resolution camera on the front. Other specs include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, HSPA, NFC for mobile payments and Android Beam, and a 1,500 mAh battery.
The phone looks similar to the Galaxy S III but in a smaller body, measuring in at 4.8 x 0.4 x 2.5 inches and weighing 3.2 ounces. Spec-wise, the mini is a bit of a downgrade from its big brother. The flagship Galaxy S III boasts a higher-resolution display, better camera, and support for super-fast 4G LTE networks.