Samsung confirms Galaxy S III mini: a mid-range version of its flagship

Like the look of Samsung’s Galaxy S III, but find its huge 4.8-inch screen a bit much? You’ll soon have a smaller option.

Samsung mobile head JK Shin confirmed earlier this morning that the company is working on a 4-inch Galaxy S III mini, according to Korean news sites. Even better, Samsung will unveil the smaller phone tomorrow (October 11) in Germany.

Shin said there’s plenty of demand for 4-inch smartphones in Europe, and he doesn’t view the Galaxy S III mini as an entry level device, as translated by the Verge. Flagship Android phones these days don’t dare offer screens below 4.5-inches, but with the success of Apple’s 4-inch iPhone 5, it may be worth it for Android manufacturers to refocus on smaller phones.

By announcing the Galaxy S III mini tomorrow, Samsung will also steal a bit of “mini” limelight from Apple, which is expected to announce the iPad Mini in the next few weeks.

You won’t have to wait until tomorrow to get the full skinny on the Galaxy S III mini: German tech site Mobile Geeks has gotten its hands on the first image of the new phone (above), as well as a full rundown of specifications. In addition to the 4-inch screen, the Galaxy S III mini will sport a 1 gigahertz dual-core processor, 1 gigabyte of RAM, 16GB of storage, and will run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

As you can see, the smaller phone looks very similar to its larger sibling, so you can expect a similar plastic build and removable rear battery case. It’d be a nice surprise if Samsung stepped up its manufacturing process, but I wouldn’t count on that since it’s likely trying to offer this phone at low cost.