A few years ago, as recently as 2014 (3 years ago), Samsung had a tradition of releasing “mini” versions of its flagship Galaxy S smartphone. We’d previously had the Galaxy S III mini, the Galaxy S4 mini and even the Galaxy S5 mini (which Samsung is still updating this year, surprisingly). As much as there was not much on those devices to suggest that they were really “mini” versions of the bigger and better premium smartphone that Samsung was pushing to the top market segment, they at least existed.
From 2015, the company has concentrated, instead, on having a strong budget lineup with the Galaxy A series taking care of upper mid-range user needs and the Galaxy J series taking care of the rest. There hasn’t been much room for a Galaxy S6 mini or a Galaxy S7 mini and as such, they haven’t existed.
According to several reports, that may be about to change this year as Samsung is said to be having a “mini” version of its newly-unveiled Galaxy S8 smartphone ready to be announced for emerging markets a few weeks after the Galaxy S8 and S8+ hit the market.
Unlike in previous years where the “mini” version of a Galaxy S smartphone has had pretty much compromised and watered down specifications, this year’s Galaxy S8 mini is said to be identical to its larger siblings in everything but the few components that need to be stepped down for the sake of the device’s physical size staying compact. Like the display, which will be capped at 5.3-inches, and as a result the battery, which will be smaller. Other key specifications like the processor, the memory and the like are set to remain the same. Of course it is not really a “mini” version of a flagship device if there were no savings to be made from the pricing so that is expected to be reduced from the Kshs 75,000-88,000 range that the Galaxy S8 and S8+ are starting at globally.
Should the Samsung Galaxy S8 mini really exist then we can count on it being made available in the Kenyan market as soon as it is announced since this is a very budget-conscious market.
