The small cruisers of the Stettin class were very similar to their predecessors, the Bremen class. There was only a slight increase in size and engine performance, but this did not lead to a higher top speed.  The obvious difference to the older ships was a increased space between the second and third funnel.
This ships show a different philosophy than its British counterparts - while German small cruiser had a large number of relatively small guns (10 - and later ship classes had even more), the British favored lesser, but bigger guns (15,2 cm instead of 10,5 cm ones).