The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini has finally turned up at stores and the handset is being shipped from today.

Announced at the beginning of October, the Galaxy S3 Mini brings the styling of its older, larger brother the Galaxy S3, but don't expect to find the same power and performace.

Online retailer Unlocked-Mobiles has confirmed it is now shipping the Galaxy S3 Mini, which can be yours for the rather princely sum of £294.98 SIM-free, while elsewhere on contract you can pick it up free starting at £25 per month.

Sure you want this?

Why do we reckon the Galaxy S3 Mini price is a little on the steep side? Well thanks to Google and LG, there's a more powerful alternative on the market.

That handset is the Google Nexus 4 – which is £55 less, although you'll have to wait until November 13 to get your grubby little mitts on it.

If you're still interested the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini sports a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 5MP rear camera, NFC and comes running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

On paper it doesn't sound like a bad phone, but it's got the almost impossible task of trying to match the excellent Nexus 4.

You will be able to find out how well it does in our Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini review, which we'll have up soon.