We were big fans of the original HTC One Mini, a phone which kept the heart and soul of the HTC One however shrunk it down to a smaller size. Now HTC’s hoping to repeat the trick with the HTC One Mini 2, however has it handled? And how do the two phones compare?
The One Mini 2 is really a reduce down variation of the HTC One M8, with the exact same brushed metal outside and general look. This makes sense – why’d you not design it on the best phone on the market right now?
That stated, it does drop some key, and some may state needed, features to class it as a real flagship – so let us see if it measures up and is a good enough upgrade from last year.
Screen
Both the HTC One Mini and the HTC One Mini 2 have 720p displays, but the One Mini 2’s screen is a little bigger at 4.5 inches, compared to the 4.3 inch HTC One Mini. It’s a little difference which is not really most likely to be really noticeable to many people, as is the accompanying pixel density hit.
Both phones have screens that are small sufficient to just about be thought about mini and both of their screens are relatively high quality, they mightn’t be 1080p however they are still quite crisp and sharp.
Design
The HTC One Mini and HTC One Mini 2 have a similar design too. They both have high quality brushed metal backs and they both have a plastic band running around the edges.
However while that plastic is really obvious on the HTC One Mini, it’s much less so on the One Mini 2 as it’s a lot narrower at the majority of points.
Both handsets also have Boomsound speakers on the front, but the application has actually been enhanced for the One Mini 2, resulting in greater quality noise.
The HTC One Mini 2 is 137.43 x 65.04 x 10.6 mm and 137g, while the original HTC One Mini is 132 x 63.2 x 9.3 mm and 122g.
So both the weight and measurements are up somewhat in the new version, which is no surprise provided the increased screen size, the only at all eye raising facet is its density, as it’s rather a chunky handset at 10.6 mm.
The HTC One Mini 2 has a 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor and 1GB of RAM, while the HTC One Mini has a 1.4 GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor and 1GB of RAM. So the One Mini 2 has two times as many processor cores as its predecessor, a comparable processor but the RAM continues to be the same.
Thankfully in screening this matured chip did not affect things too much, but it’s still a shame to not see something upgraded therein.
Camera and OS
There’s a 13 megapixel video camera strapped to the back of the HTC One Mini 2 while the initial HTC One Mini has a 4 Ultrapixel video camera, so they take rather a different strategy to photography.
The HTC One Mini is most likely to fare much better in low light and the One Mini 2 probably being the one to opt for if you primarily prepare to take images in well-lit places.
The front dealing with cam on the HTC One Mini 2 is a definite upgrade over its predecessor though, can be found in at 5 megapixels, while the HTC One Mini has simply a 1.6 megapixel front facing snapper. Both phones can likewise shoot 1080p video.
Both the HTC One Mini and the HTC One Mini 2 run Android 4.4.2 KitKat and both are overlaid with HTC’s Sense interface. However while the HTC One Mini 2 comes with Sense 6, which is the current variation of it, the HTC One Mini currently comes with Sense 5.
The distinction between the 2 is not massive though, with the look of the interface being the biggest change, and the original HTC One Mini is most likely to be upgraded to Sense 6 at some time anyhow.
Battery and storage
The One Mini 2 has a 2100 mAh battery which HTC claims can last for up to 16.2 hours of calls or as much as 556 hours on standby. That’s an improvement on the 1800 mAh battery in the HTC One Mini, which was estimated for 13 hours and 20 minutes of talk time or 692 hours of standby.
A bigger battery is certainly a good thing, specifically as we just were not extremely impressed with the efficiency of the original’s juice pack.
Both the HTC One Mini and the HTC One Mini 2 have actually 16GB of integrateded storage, but there’s a big distinction because on the original that’s all you get, however on the Mini 2 there’s also a microSD card slot with support for cards of up to 128GB, so it can possibly have much more storage.
Price
Currently the HTC One Mini is available for around ₤ 320. There’s no price yet for the HTC One Mini 2, however we are expecting it to introduce for simply under ₤ 400, as that was around what the original One Mini started at. So you are most likely taking a look at ₤ 60 or ₤ 70 even more than the One Mini currently costs.
Early verdict
We enjoyed what HTC accomplished with the initial One Mini, incorporating a premium develop with a smaller sized footprint and while the specs were lower than its flagship namesake it had a lower cost in turn.
Exactly the very same strategy has been considered the HTC One Mini 2 and just as the HTC One M8 is much better than the HTC One the Mini 2 looks like a considerable upgrade over its predecessor, with a more premium build, a processor boost, a larger battery, a larger screen and a microSD card slot, all which must make it well worth the additional ₤ 60 or ₤ 70 that we are anticipating it to cost.
The electronic camera is a bit of a wild card, the CPU is older than we ‘d like and some will miss out on the duo video camera that’d have given this the ‘M 8 Mini’ tag, but that aside the HTC One Mini 2 looks like a really appealing handset certainly.