A new Samsung smartphone silently crept in the market and may be quite popular among consumers due to its cheap price and amazing features.

The new smartphone is the Samsung Galaxy Axiom, which resembles the design, specs and features of the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini. However, the catch is that the former supported 4G/LTE Connectivity, which the latter did not support.

This new smartphone comes with similar specifications with the Galaxy S3 Mini and sports a 4-inch, 800 x 480 pixel screen, a 1.2 GHz dual-core CPU, 4GB of storage (further expandable via a microSD memory card), as well as a 5-megapixel camera on the back and a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front. The device also supports NFC and Google Wallet.

However, the Samsung Galaxy Axiom runs with Androidv4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, while the Galaxy S3 Mini comes with the latest Android Jelly Bean out of the box.

Samsung Galaxy Axiom is now available in the United States via US Cellular, which Americans can get for free with a 24-month contract. The unlocked version of the device costs $400, which is slightly (if not the same price) that of the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini.

On the other hand, the unlocked version of the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini made its way in the US via Amazon for $400. Samsung Mobile has launched its mid-range Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini to the global market early this month and it aims for the new smartphone users.

The miniature version of the Galaxy S3 sports a 4-inch display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. The retail listing only features the available options, but does not provide any official pictures of the purported device. The handset is expected to have a WVGA display, a 5-megapixel camera, a dual-core processor, and the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean right out of the box.

According to sources from third-party retailers, the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini is sporting the tag price of $450 for the 8GB model, and $530 for the 16GB model.

For comparison, the cheapest Samsung Galaxy S3 with larger display and quad-core processor costs $550 to $575, and cheaper if purchased with 2-year contract agreement with US operators.