Samsung recently launched its Galaxy S3 Mini in October and is looking to capture the smaller smartphone sector with its 4-inch offering. Nokia too released its budget friendly Lumia 510 in October, which will head to the Asian and South American markets.

Even though the phones are presently catering to different markets, both the 4-inch devices pack in user friendly features. Here is a round-up of the specifications of the two new devices on the block - the Galaxy S3 Mini and Lumia 510.

Processor

The Galaxy S3 Mini features a 1GHz dual-core processor, which easily outpaces the 800Mhz Snapdragon S1 processor on the Lumia 510.

Display

Both the handsets have a 4-inch screen size; however, the Galaxy S3 Mini sports a Super AMOLED WVGA display vis-à-vis the Lumia 510's WVGA display.

Both devices offer the same pixel resolution of 800 x 480; however, the Lumia 510 betters the Galxy S3 Mini with 233 pixels per inch (ppi) versus 223 ppi.

Weight, Thickness, and Body

The Lumia 510 measures 4.75 x 2.56 x 0.45 inches, compared to Galaxy S3 Mini's 4.8 x 2.48 x 0.39 inches. The Lumia 510 is slightly wider and thicker than the Galaxy S3 Mini. Weight wise, at 4.23 oz, the Galaxy S3 Mini is marginally lighter than the Lumia 510, which weighs 4.55 oz.

Storage and Memory

Memory-wise, the Galaxy S3 Mini has an advantage over the Lumia 510. The Galaxy S3 Mini offers both 8GB and 16GB of internal storage, compared to Lumia 510's only 4GB option. Moreover, the Galaxy S3 Mini has the option to expand the memory (up to 32GB) using a microSD card, whereas the Lumia 510 does not. However, Lumia 510 offers 7GB of free storage on Microsoft SkyDrive account.

The Galaxy S3 Mini also scores on memory and has 1GB of RAM compared to Lumia 510's 256MB of RAM.

Camera

Both handsets feature a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera (2592 x 1944 pixels) with autofocus, and both the Lumia 510 and the Galaxy s3 Mini have a front-facing VGA camera.

Software

The Galaxy S3 Mini will come with the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box and the Lumia 510 will run on Microsoft's Windows Phone 7.5 Mango and not the latest Windows Phone 8 operating system.

Battery

A 1500mAh battery powers the Galaxy S3 Mini versus a 1300mAh battery of the Lumia 510. The Lumia 510's battery supports 6.2 hours and 8.4 hours of talk time on 2G and 3G, respectively. The Lumia 510 will support 653.2 hours of standby time. Details of the Galaxy S3 Mini's standby and talk times are not currently known.

Connectivity

Both smartphones Wi-Fi enabled. The Galaxy S3 Mini offers Bluetooth 4.0 unlike Lumia 510, which offers Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. Additionally, the Galaxy S3 Mini packs in NFC capabilities unlike the Nokia offering.

Availability, Pricing, and Colors

The Galaxy S3 Mini will initially be available only in white. The Lumia 510 will be available in white, red, yellow, black, and cyan.

The Galaxy S3 Mini is speculated to cost around $350 for a non-contract version and will likely be available in November in the UK. The Lumia 510 is also slated to launch in November in India and China, followed by South America and other Asia-Pacific countries. The phone will cost approximately $199 before taxes.