Popular with those who want something slightly smaller and cheaper, but with many of the same positive qualities as Samsung's flagships, the Mini series started life in 2012 with the introduction of the Galaxy S3 Mini.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini will be the Korean firm's third iteration of this product line, and while no concrete details are known yet the rumors and leaks are starting to paint a picture of what to expect.
There's little doubt that we will be seeing the Galaxy S5 Mini soon however, after Samsung New Zealand leaked details of the handset online. Samsung Finland also wants in on the act after a support page for the SM-G800F appeared online.
The Galaxy S5 has the model number SM-G900, so the SM-G800 handle would fit the bill for the Galaxy S5 Mini and the "F" suffix denotes it's the European version.
While the model numbers appear to match up, there could be a name change on the table for the S5 Mini as the Galaxy S5 Dx briefly appeared on Samsung's website.
We've seen the S3 Mini and Galaxy S4 Mini turn up with severely cut down spec lists compared to their full fat brothers, but the introduction of the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact saw it inherit the same processor, RAM, GPU and 20.7MP camera from the flagship Xperia Z1.
Could Samsung take a leaf out of Sony's book for the Galaxy S5 Mini? We sure do hope so, but it's pretty unlikely.
Cut to the chase
What is it? A cut down version of the flagship Galaxy S5
When is it out? Possibly May/June 2014
What will it cost? Expected to be £350-£400 (around $550, AU$650) SIM free
Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini release date and price
It's not known when the Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini will be released, but it is expected sooner rather than later. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini for reference arrived at the end of June and there's a good chance we'll see its successor around then too, with some reports suggesting an earlier May release.
Don't expect a big fanfare around the Galaxy S5 Mini launch though, as Samsung tends to prefer a soft launch in the way of a press release. There aren't any price rumors yet but the S4 Mini launched for around £350 / $520 SIM free, so we'd expect the S5 Mini to be around the same, putting it at the upper end of the mid-range.
With increasingly fierce competition from the likes of the Motorola Moto G and the Google Nexus 5 you can always hope that Samsung might bring the price down, but we reckon chances are slim.
Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini display
With mini in the name it's a given that the Galaxy S5 Mini's screen will be smaller than the display on the full size Samsung Galaxy S5 - that is after all, the point of this product category - but by the looks of things it won't exactly be tiny.
SamMobile reports that the handset is set to ship with a 4.5-inch 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED screen, so it won't be full HD but if these rumors are accurate it will be both higher resolution and slightly bigger than the qHD (540 x 960) Galaxy S4 Mini.
It's looking like SamMobile might be on to something, as the Galaxy S5 Mini also popped up on Indian import/export site Zauba, where it states that the phone has a 4.47-inch screen.
If that wasn't enough a third screen size has been touted for the S5 Mini, this time via GFXBench which pegs the display at 4.8 inches with the same 1280 x 720 resolution.
That's not exactly "Mini", and means the Galaxy S5 Mini would still be bigger than the 4-inch iPhone 5S, but considering the LG G2 Mini has a 4.7-inch display Samsung will actually be a little more sensible if it sticks to 4.5 inches.
Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini power
For Samsung, mini seems to mean both smaller and lower powered and the Galaxy S5 Mini will probably be no exception. So if you're expecting something along the lines of the Z1 Compact you're likely to be disappointed.
Having said that, current rumors point to a device that's rather more capable than the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini.
Sam Mobile's insiders claim that the Galaxy S5 Mini has a quad-core Snapdragon processor and 1.5GB of RAM, so while it will hardly be high end it could seriously show up the dual-core Galaxy S4 Mini.
What model the processor will be is unknown but Snapdragon 400 seems to be the processor of choice for mid-range phones at the moment so that seems likely - a leak via GFXbench backs up this theory with a 1.4GHz quad-core 400 chip and 1.3GB of RAM.
The speed the processor will be clocked at is unclear, however a user agent profile for a device named SM-G750A popped up on Samsung's servers in March and the profile revealed that the device had a 2.3GHz quad-core processor.
That would be pretty speedy, but it's possible that this is the Galaxy S5 Neo rather than the S5 Mini, especially as the most recent model number rumors point to the S5 Mini being the SM-G800.
Plus a Snapdragon 400 chip wouldn't support speeds that fast, so if it really is going to be 2.3GHz then we'll be looking at a different processor model - perhaps the Snapdragon 800 which features in the Galaxy Note 3.
