Samsung Galaxy Mini review

Samsung Galaxy Mini review: Battery life and connectivity

The Mini comes with a standard Li-ion 1200 mAh battery, which Samsung claims lasts for up to nine hours 30 mins (talk time) and 570 hours (standby). In fact, by the end of a day begun on a full charge, the battery was already in the red.

This was mainly thanks to the email and social networking apps we downloaded, which pushed data to the device. Google Maps and Navigation both drain the battery very quickly, which is a real shame as the ease of use of these GPS apps means you'll want to use them more frequently than the battery allows.

To ensure your battery is being preserved, make sure programs have been shut down correctly in the Task manager app. This handy app tells you what apps are currently open and how much RAM they are consuming, plus CPU. The summary tab lets you know how much storage space is available on the handset too so you can keep track of memory and upgrade the SD card when necessary.

Connectivity via the SIM card is excellent on the Samsung Galaxy Mini, considering its price. Speeds are fast and it claims to be capable of connecting speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps. In reality speeds probably wouldn't top 5Mbps, even on the best of smartphones. However, the internet connection did feel rather speedy, and allowed us to do super-fast Googling on the go.

The Wi-Fi capability is also good and stays connected, even when metres away from the router. We tried the Wi-Fi at home in the back garden, with the router near the front door, and found the Wi-Fi flawless, working just as well as it did when used next to the router.

To the dismay of the mobile operators, tethering is encouraged on this handset as it can be turned into a Wi-Fi hotspot. But it is buggy and doesn't always connect a new device on the first try. On occasion, it would disconnect after a few minutes, forcing you to try to reconnect again.