Samsung officially unleashed the Galaxy S4 Mini, a scaled-down Jelly Bean smartphone that aims to further strengthen its bigger sibling's, the 5-inch Galaxy S4, unstoppable climb to the top.

The GS4 brand has already collected 10 million buys and should easily march into 80 million sales milestones within a 12-month cycle. Included to this onslaught are other GS4 variants yet the spotlight is currently trained on the 4.3-inch Mini.

The Android handset boasts of a qHD Super AMOLED display with a dual-core CPU that steams roll to 1.7GHz as top speed. The connectivity covers everything from Bluetooth to LTE while the camera mix is decent enough - 8MP on rear and 1.9MP for the front sensor.

Samsung has yet provide specific pricing but the question now begs: Is this a worthy buy in light of the wealth of (more) deserving alternatives out there?

The HTC One Mini option

One strong contender that Android lovers should seriously consider is the rumoured HTC One Mini, which according to Gotta Be Mobile is a 720p device that inarguably is far better than the GS4 Mini.

Codenamed as the HTC M4, the Mini One is thought to flex the same muscle that the GS4 Mini will deliver - Android, Snapdragon CPU of the same spin ability and near-identical size that is allure to many who still prefers wielding a regular-size handset.

Yet the key advantage of the One Mini lies on its built, which reports said will carry over the same solid craftsmanship seen with the HTC One. Power and other gadget users would most likely pick the One Mini's unibody chassis over the dominantly plastic-wrapped GS4.

The iPhone 4S alternative

Nearing its second year in circulation, the 4S remains an iOS force to reckon with, still commanding millions of sales at the last count. The Apple handset's main selling point is its DNA, which is an imprint present to hundreds of millions of devices currently in use.

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, iOS devices are sexy to many due to the tight integration of hardware and software. While the iPhone 4s hardwares may be outdated now, they are not necessarily underwhelmed. The same goes for the iOS 6xx, which benefits from clock-work updates that deals with bugs and security concerns. Android, on the other hand, is left to bear with fragmented upgrade process that makes devices vulnerable to attacks plus a non-optimal smartphone environment.

Or the 2012 Flagship stable

This choice is sensible. The leading gadgets last year - the iPhone 5, the Galaxy S3, the Galaxy Note 2 and the Nokia Lumia 920 - still sit in store shelves and exude the same power and capabilities that won them many fans.

But the most exciting prospect for buyers is the price tags, which were significantly slashed this year and should get more cuts in the coming months as other key flagship like the iPhone 5S, the Galaxy Note 3 and the Nokia Lumia 928 make their way to various markets destinations.

So while Samsung guns to snare a sizeable smartphone market share by offering the GS4 in various flavours, its efforts will be met by stiff challenges from rival handsets. The Galaxy S4 Mini, in particular, needs to prove on release date that it is a dynamo of a package despite its miniscule size and offerings.