Samsung has finally launched the Galaxy S III Mini and it is safe to say the launch was overhyped.

Although Samsung had promised a competitive, yet small phone, the Mini is nothing more than an average mid-range phone. It’s powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor and it features a 4-inch 800x480 display. NFC is also on board, along with 8GB or 16GB of storage and a microSD slot. The CPU is apparently a NovaThor U8420, not exactly what we’d call state of the art.

With all that in mind, we really don’t understand why Samsung chose to slap its premium Galaxy S brand on it. It’s a bit like a short bus version of the Galaxy S III.

Granted, the phone looks rather nice. It is a pretty good design for an entry level device and Samsung has had a bit of trouble designing attractive low-end and mid-range phones in the past. Better yet, it will ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which is also nice to see on a mid-range device.

However, we are still baffled by Samsung’s decision to use the Galaxy S III branding on thing. Looking past the design, it has more in common with the original Galaxy S from 2010 than the S III.

Now for the most ridiculous part of the story. For some reason Samsung believed it would be a good idea to price the Mini at €399, which is truly an obscene amount of money for an unimpressive mid-range phone. It might have been a good deal at €199.

In any case you can check out the listings here, although we don't see why anyone would buy it.