The reason we've got those elements out of the way early on is that they're rather irrelevant to the review - the internal storage issue aside - as the HTC One Mini does what you'd hope it would. Namely, it makes the One more pocket-friendly, both literally and from a financial perspective.
HTC One Mini Review
The aluminium back is still present and correct, but is joined by a plastic rim, the same as sported by the HTC One X+. It diminishes the overall effect of the phone, but only slightly; we actually saw someone gasp when they picked up the One Mini, such was the effect of putting that aluminium chassis in the hand.
It certainly makes the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini look underpowered and underspecified by comparison, and does well to come in at the same price point - in short, the screen on the HTC One Mini is a real stunner and should be a consideration point for anyone thinking about buying this phone.
Several months after the first market availability of the original HTC One, the HTC One mini emerges as a compact amalgamation of everything that was right about its predecessor. Working with a smaller body, a lower resolution on a sized-down display, and a processor that's not quite as powerful as the Qualcomm SoC on the HTC One, can this miniature second wave of a smartphone strike true for those of us with a smaller palm?
While it would appear at a glance that the HTC One mini's plastic ring around its edges were placed there only to be a differentiator for the final build between this and the original, it does serve to make one feel less fearful of dropping the whole unit. It's not as if this ring is going to do a whole lot more to protect the front or back of the smartphone from a concrete slab ground, but there's more of a sense of safety here, even if it does dare us to suggest that it makes the device feel more like a Samsung handset (it doesn't).
The left side of the HTC One mini holds this device's single microSIM card slot which can be popped out with an HTC-provided pin, while the bottom holds one of two mic holes (the other is on the back panel) near an off-set microUSB port for power and PC connections. This is an offset port in that it's not right in the center, where many major smartphones' usb ports tend to find themselves.
The software is nearly a perfect replica of what's found on the original HTC One here on the international edition of the HTC One mini. The big differences come in the app selection and the compatibility (or lack thereof) with certain functions due to hardware changes. No IR-blaster means no Sense TV, no NFC means no Android Beam. These are compromises you should be willing to make when you jump in on this miniaturized version of the full-sized hero.
The first page you see when you enter past your HTC One mini's lockscreen is a system called HTC BlinkFeed. This first appeared with the HTC One and continues here with its entire set of abilities still ready to roll.
The system is set by default to refresh only when on wi-fi, but you can change it to work with mobile data if you wish. By all eyeballing accounts, this and every other part of the UI in the HTC One mini appear to be moving every bit as swift as the original, despite the lower capacity for processing power in this smaller device's interior architecture.
The HTC One mini works with a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400. This means it's not quite up to the task of taking on the HTC One's Snapdragon 600 with its four CPU cores, but here on a device with a smaller device with a smaller display with a lower resolution, the results appear the same. We've noticed no slowdown in everyday use, and we've not yet seen lag even when opening some of the most demanding games on the market. It would appear that we've reached a point in the smartphone chip-making world where the power has out-run the demand.
What you've got is a system that shoots photos and video as well as the HTC One, with one difference: the HTC One mini does not work with Optical Image Stabilization. The big place this takes effect is in filming videos, which here can be a bit more "shaky" as a result. If you've never used the HTC One and felt that bump in quality, this change-over won't make a difference to you.
The HTC One mini works with a non-removable 1800mAh battery which, paired with Qualcomm's battery conservation features in its Snapdragon processor and HTC's own battery saver mode in this phone's settings, you'll be getting a massive amount of battery life on standby. In fact, if you leave your device in your pocket and turn off data altogether, you might just get a few days' worth of life out of it.
In the end you'll have to base your decision to purchase this device on whether or not you're willing to make a trade-off in size and for a few odd features for a lower price point. If you're not seeing this decision between the HTC One and the HTC One mini as a trade-of, and instead simply want a smaller device that fits your hand better than the original, then you'll be good to go! In the end, this machine takes everything that was great about the HTC One and jams it into a smaller package.
Moving past basic hardware impressions, the One mini 2 is in many ways a side-grade from the One mini. The SoC is still under the Snapdragon 400 branding, but is now a quad core Cortex A7 rather than a dual core Krait. The amount of RAM stays the same, as does display resolution. The camera is now a standard 13MP sensor with F/2.2 optics, although the front facing camera is borrowed from the One (M8) and is a good jump up from the 1.6MP camera from the One mini. A table of the hardware specifications can be seen below, along with a comparison to the One (M8) and One mini.
The One mini 2 is, as you would expect, smaller than the flagship M8. But not by much, shaving around 5 mm off the width and 10 mm from the height. That is enough to make it a more manageable phone, though, especially on the one-handed front.
Tech Advisor's Reviews Editor, Chris has been reviewing all kinds of tech for over 10 years and specialises in audio. He also covers a range of topics including home entertainment, phones, laptops, tablets and more.
On paper, the naming of the HTC One mini makes perfect sense. The mini is a mid-to-high-end aluminum-clad smartphone with a 4.3-inch display, designed for those who want a premium device without the massive size that's often associated with its bigger and faster brother, as well as other Android 'superphones'.
Of course, there are some tradeoffs that also help bring the price down. Although the One mini includes an Ultrapixel camera, it doesn't have optical image stabilization; and despite the body mostly being formed from aluminum, some plastic has crept into the design. For the more technically minded, HTC has also dropped down the SoC from a Snapdragon 600 to a Snapdragon 400, which naturally will affect its performance.
The HTC One mini used in this review was kindly provided by Negri Electronics. No matter where you are in the world (including Australia, US, and abroad), Negri will provide you unlocked smartphones and tablets first and for very competitive prices.
Fitting right into the One line-up, the HTC One mini is styled in a similar fashion to the HTC One. The back panel is a curved piece of zero-gap aluminum, while the front sees aluminum covering the speakers. The display is protected by the usual Gorilla Glass, with the only main difference between the One and One mini - apart from the size - being the material used around the edges.
Instead of the front and back of the handset coming together as one zero-gap unit, with plastic injected around the edges, the One mini has a less refined look. HTC has ditched the injected polycarbonate for a Samsung-like gloss edge that appears to be a barrier around the phone, rather than part of a unified design. While it doesn't look as classy as the HTC One, the white plastic surrounds match the device's other highlights, and it's still quite functional.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the HTC One mini is that it's actually not all that mini. It's 5mm shorter and skinnier than the HTC One, and the 4.3-inch display with a 16:9 aspect ratio, paired with BoomSound, keeps the device rather tall. The mini is considerably (9mm) taller than the iPhone 5s with its 4-inch screen, and even compared to a range of other 4.3-inch devices like the Galaxy S II, the One mini is simply a larger device.
IPS technology allows these displays to produce a picture with better quality than you can get with a TN panel, while also delivering better contrast, viewing angles and ease of use outdoors. Super LCD displays, especially the Super LCD 2 and 3, are some of the better displays I've used: the HTC One features a Super LCD 3 display, and it's a spectacular, crisp panel to use, perhaps even the best I've seen. With the One mini's panel being smaller, less pixel dense, and using technology that's a year old, it's not quite up to the standard of the HTC One, but it's still very good for its class.
There's a lot of good going on in the HTC One mini 2. For many it will be perfectly powerful, the battery performance is reasonable if not exemplary, and its software experience is one of our favourites in the current market.
That's the biggest barrier we see to the HTC One mini 2: you have to really want that design and Sense 6.0 software to justify the price. It's a phone that doesn't do anything inherently wrong, but you can buy yourself a phone that will offer a similar experience for half the price.
It's also pitching into a mid-range smartphone market that's now dominated by substantially cheaper devices. With Motorola Moto G getting a timely 4G update and costing just 149, the HTC One mini 2 has to really sell itself on its strengths: it needs to appeal to your taste in design and your desire to have HTC Sense 6.0 in your pocket to justify the 379 price tag. But in these two very areas - design and user interface - it's equipped to offer some of the top-spec HTC One M8 experience, which is very good. 2ff7e9595c
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