Mobile phone users thinking of getting the newly announced Galaxy S III mini because it has 8GBs of RAM may need to look again. The official specifications on the Samsung Web site lists the model as having 8Gb of RAM, which could misleading because that actually stands for gigabits, and not gigabytes. Eight gigabits is equivalent to 1 gigabyte, or 1GB.

That's how much RAM the S III mini actually has, which is quite good, all things considered. A quick check on other handsets such as the Galaxy Note 2 shows that Samsung uses the normal GB unit of measurement. Giving that amount of RAM with a dual-core 1GHz processor is overkill just to make up for its virtual memory.

Since this is a smartphone with mini to its name, other smartphones like this one are in stores or may have been, and have great specs on them. Even if all of them are tiny and mini, they can perform multitasking and do heavy applications like their big brothers. For new users who want to carry pocket-size smartphones there are tons available to choose from. Three of them are listed below.

HTC Desire C

It was released June 2012 and still available in stores. This small device weighs 100g, has the dimension of 107.2x60.6x12.3mm. Its 3.5-inch display has 320x480 pixels (165ppi), supports multitouch and has the HTC Sense UI v4.0.

It runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with 600MHz cortex A5. It has 512 RAM, 4GB internal storage, and expansion slot for up to 32GB of microSD card. Other features include Beats Audio sound enhancement, 5MP camera with 2592x1944 pixels, Adobe Flash support, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections.

LG Optimus Me

It was released in February 2011 and has been a bestseller because of its compact size and cheap prize compared to other brands during its time. LG Optimus Me weighs 110g with a dimension of 108x57.5x12.2 mm. It has a display screen size of 240x320 pixels, 2.8 inches under 143 ppi and supports touchscreen capacity.

The device runs on Android 2.2 Froyo with 600MHz ARM11 processor, has 140MB RAM, and expansion slot for microSD card that supports up to 32GB capacity.

Other features include 3.15MP camera (2048x1536), VGA video capture of 24fps, YouTube, DivX video codec and multimedia player. This last year's smartphone is a less expensive example yet decent device with its features and specs.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini

The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini, which is being anticipated by a lot people, is considered a small and powerful younger brother of the S3. Compared with the other two above, this has the latest technology for smartphone devices. Though powerful, since it is the latest, potential buyers should think twice because its price is way over the two above.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 mini weighs 111.5g with a dimension of 121.6x63x9.9mm. The display is composed of 480x800 pixels with 4.0-inch screen sizes (233 ppi) which support multitouch.

It runs on Android OS 4.1 Jelly Bean, the latest Android version with dual-core 1GHz NovaThor processor. It has 1GB of RAM, microSD slot up to 32GB. Special features of this new mini in the market are the Super AMOLED touchscreen, 5MP camera with autofocus, LED flash under 2592x1944 pixels with video capture @ 720p in 30fps plus a secondary front camera under VGA type.

These are just three among a lot out there of similar sizes. What is different across these models are not just the operating system used but also the features a user really needs or wants, specifications such as endurance and durability, and the price as well if it is worth shelling out hard-earned money.

RELATED STORIES