[Samsung Galaxy W I8150] arsradu:
You would be surprised with the SGS4 Mini. The SGS3 Mini, in my opinion, makes more sacrifices in terms of features than SGS4 Mini does. None of them is perfect, don't get me wrong. But, for what I need, the SGS4 Mini was a perfect choice, at the moment. It still is. But with all the devices out there, this time I might go with a Sony (if it's easier to unlock and root, like Samsung usually is). Their flagships (or at least the newer ones), don't seem to make much sacrifices in terms of functionality compared to the bigger version of that phone. Plus, I kinda like their designs. I'm not a big fan of the cheap plastic that Samsung has been using for ages with their phones. But it doesn't bother me that much either. I'm more interested in what that phone can do for me rather than how it looks. The looks are a relevant part in choosing the phone, for me, but I will always choose something that does more over something that just looks better without bringing any usefulness to the table.

And don't get me wrong, I personally prefer the look of the SGS4 Mini compared to the one of the SGS3 Mini. It feels really thin in the hand. And the thing that I didn't like at the beginning about it (same as the bigger SGS4) is the back cover. Maaan that hyper-glazed finish...might look good in the pictures but it's not the most pleasant thing to hold in your hand every day. So, as soon as the Black Edition SGS4 and SGS4 Mini came out, I order the back cover of the SGS4 Mini Black Edition. And I couldn't be more happy with it. It's still plastic. But it feels A LOT better in the hand. It's black, which I love, and the plastic has a rubbery feeling to it, making it very easy to grip.

So, if you're in the market for a mid-range device, and you like the SGS4 Mini, go with the Black Edition one. And if you've got LTE in your country, go with the LTE variant. Looks awesome and you have the same functionality of the first SGS4 Mini.

Now, the reasons why I chose this particular device are:

1. Performance (Dual-core 1.7 GHz Krait + 1.5 GB RAM + Adreno 305)

2. Cameras (8MP on the back, 1.9 MP on the front). Video recording in 1080p at 30fps.

3. Stereo FM radio with RDS. Yes, some people still like to listen to the radio sometimes. So it's good to have it. The S4 doesn't have it. So, that was a plus for me.

4. The display. Though it's not super high-res (a 720p would have been perfect), it's a 540x960, you can't really see the pixels unless you stick your eye ball to the screen. Literally. :)) Otherwise, at 256 ppi , it might not be a Retina competitor, but it's close enough and you won't have any troubles in reading something or watching a movie. By the way, you should ALWAYS check the pixel density, rather than just the resolution. Cause if it's a 1080p, on a 10' screen, it's gonna look a lot less sharper than the same resolution on a 5' screen. Because it's the same number of pixels on a larger surface. Which is not great for the sharpness.

Also, it's a Super AMOLED panel. Which, some might not prefer, but I actually do. A lot. I like the more vibrant colors and the higher contrast. Plus, since it's an AMOLED, no power is required for blacks. The screen simply doesn't turn those pixels on. Which makes the blacks really black. And also translates into more battery life, if you like dark wallpapers.

5. Gorilla Glass 2. I am usually a very careful person when it comes to my phones. And though I don't like using cases (unless they are really slim and tight to the phone), I do take care of them so that I don't drop them or scratch them or things like these. But, in the past, my experience showed that, even if I'm super careful not to scratch the screen, just because it's rubbing the interior of my pocket all day long, mini scratches will appear over time. So I also wanted something more resistant than regular glass. And yes, it does make a difference. Gorilla Glass it's not impact resistant, and it wasn't designed to be, which means that, if you drop the phone on it's face, on a concrete surface, the glass will most likely shatter, but it is scratch resistant.

6. MicroSD card expansion. I don't like to keep all my data on the internal memory, so, for me, a memory card expansion means quite a lot. And this one has it (up to 64GB). So, after a while, I bought a 16GB Sandisk (class 10) and I'm very happy with it.

7. The size. I don't like phablets. And I think that says it all. :)) I think that, unless you're buying bigger hands too, a bigger phone is not really the best solution. If you want a bigger screen, a tablet might be a better choice. And even though, the SGS4 has a 5' screen, it's still not as comfortable for me to hold, as the 4.3" on my SGS4 Mini. And I don't have small hands, by any means. So, if you want a bigger screen and you don't care about the fact that many times, you will be forced to use a second hand to operate the phone, then you might like the SGS4, especially since the display is also high-res, as well.

8. The looks. As I said, I held the SGS4 in my hand and it felt really thin. The SGS4 Mini has almost the same thickness (it's 1mm thicker than the SGS4), but on a smaller chassis. And I really like the metal rim surrounding the screen. Or at least it looks metal. Anyway, the actual frame, even though it might also look like brushed metal, it's not. But it's ok. I don't mind it. And I like the general look and feel of the device, it feels a lot more substantial and premium in the hand than the S3 or the S3 Mini.

9. The battery. Even though I wish it was bigger, it's not bad. With lower to mid usage, should be able to get you through about 1.5 - 2 days of usage. Which, for me is enough. I don't need to charge it every night. And although it's been a while since I got the device, and even though, at the beginning, it used to get me thorough 2 days of usage, I think that 1.5 days after this time, it's not so bad.

So these were my reasons.

But everything depends on your needs.

Notes:

1. I'm not a gamer, but I do play racing games sometimes, like Asphalt 8. And it does work very well on the SGS4 Mini.

2. I'm running CM11 right now, so I'm sure that part of the smoothness is because of that.

3. TouchWiz sucks, in stock 4.2.2, stock 4.4.2 and on powerful devices like SGS4, as well. It sucks because it's not optimized and because it has a lot of bloatware you will most likely never use. So if you think you want more powerful devices because they will be able to run TouchWiz better, think again. It might be better, but not by much. And the power you sacrifice for TouchWiz to run ok, can be easily used to run anything else a LOT more smoothly, by installing a close-to-stock-Android kind of ROM, like CM.

4. If you haven't heard of Samsung's Knox bootloader, I recommend you to Google it before attempting to root a new SGS4 Mini.

Now, enough about my phone. Let's keep this thread about CM10.2 discussions. :)

If you want to discuss this further, I would be very happy to discuss it in the off-topic zone.