If you like the look of the LG G3 (and who wouldn't? The camera uses lasers!) but your wallet is less keen, then meet the LG G3 S, also known as the LG G3 Beat, or the LG G3 Mini.
As we've seen with phones like the Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini and the HTC One Mini 2, the G3 S takes the design and name of the flagship but shrinks it down into a slightly more manageable package.
Note the emphasis on slightly there -- the G3 S is a 5-inch phone, barely reducing the size of the 5.5-inch G3. It hardly qualifies as a mini phone, and with a weedy 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 8-megapixel camera and 720p screen, it doesn't match its big brother in anything other than design.
Don't be fooled into thinking the S in the G3 S name stands for "small". At 5 inches, it might be slightly smaller than its 5.5-inch big brother, but in no way can a 5-inch phone get away with being called mini. It measures 138mm long and 70mm wide, which is only marginally smaller than the Galaxy S5. It's more comfortable to use in one hand than the standard G3, but if you're after something much more palm-sized, check out the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact, or Samsung Galaxy Alpha.
Design-wise, it's identical to the standard G3. It has the buttonless front and curved plastic back panel that has the same brushed effect. It's not a bad-looking phone, although up close, that back panel is unmistakably plastic rather than a more premium metal -- which isn't helped by the scratchy sound it makes when you run your nails over it. The curve to the back at least feels good to wrap your hand around. Like the G3 and G2 before it, the volume and power buttons are on the back, rather than the side.
LG reckons it's more comfortable this way as it's where your index finger will naturally sit. I'm personally not all that keen on this change -- I really don't believe that volume button placement was a problem that needed fixing to begin with -- but you'd probably get used to their location after using it for a few weeks.
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