Samsung confirmed its anticipated Galaxy S5 Mini, a smaller sibling to its flagship Galaxy S5, which the vendor said offers “the same dedicated fitness tools and enhanced device protection features” found in its big brother.

As usual, the device has a spec list that is vastly different to the Galaxy S5, not just in terms of screen size (4.5-inch, compared with 5.1-inches). In fact, it is better seen as an incremental upgrade to the earlier Galaxy S4 Mini, with some S5 features grafted on to align it with the new flagship.

This is a similar approach to that taken with rivals such as LG and HTC with their ‘Mini’ versions of high-end smartphones. Contrastingly, Sony’s Z1 Compact shares many of the specifications of its larger sibling.

Among the features carried over are the fingerprint scanner and heart rate sensor, with the company also trumpeting “connectivity with the latest Samsung wearable devices”.

“The Galaxy S5 Mini allows consumers to enjoy the iconic design and essential and useful features of the Galaxy S5 through a maximised minimalism approach,” said Jong-Kyun Shin, CEO and president of the IT & Mobile Communications division at Samsung.

Availability in Russia will come early this month, and is “planned to expand to the global market”.

Initially it will be available in four colour options: black, white, blue and gold.

S5 Specs