‘ With the launch of the four-inch iPhone SE widely expected to be taking place next week, Apple will be updating the ‘mini’ handset in its smartphone portfolio. This refresh to the iPhone 5S design, with internal hardware looking to match the performance of the iPhone 6S, will be a welcome option to many iOS fans who don’t want the size of the 6S Plus (or even the 6S). Given Apple’s slowing sales performance, many are expecting the missing upgraders to return to Cupertino’s fold with this smaller handset.
But the competition will not be as complacent as it was last year. Samsung is tipped to be launching a rival to the iPhone SE and a return of the Galaxy Mini brand in the form of the Galaxy S7 Mini.
The South Korean company has used the ‘Mini’ handset format previously with the Galaxy S3 Mini, S4 Mini, and S5 Mini. Although there were indications that an S6 Mini was in the works last year, it never showed up. What did show up was the Galaxy S6 Active, although the IP68 waterproofing has now made the jump to the main flagship handsets.
The last week has seen a number of reports indicating that an S7 Mini is being considered. Sammobile suggests that a model with a 720×1280 display, powered by a SnapDragon 820 (or Exynos 8890) with 3GB RAM is on the cards. Unlike the mini handsets of previous years which were underpowered when compared to the mother handset, these specs (screen size aside) would hand the S7 Mini the same sort of power and potential as the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge.
That would be a new approach from Samsung, but would mirror the success of other manufacturer’s ‘Mini’ handsets, such as the Sony Xperia Compact range.
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