HTC One Mini – Review
Thanks to our good friends at Clove, we have had the chance to use the HTC One Mini exclusively now for 2 weeks and thought we’d share our thoughts and feelings on the HTC Ones little brother. We’ll try to break things down into what we think are the key areas when buying a phone. We also have a HTC One in the office, and will be using it to compare features and see if it matches up.There are a lot of positives with this device, though we did find some negatives too. We’ll also be using our scoring system to show you at a glance our view on this device.
| HTC One | HTC One Mini | |
| Dimensions | 5.4 x 2.7 x 0.36 inches | 5.2 x 2.5 x 0.36 inches |
| Sense Version | Sense 5.5 | Sense 5 |
| Weight | 142g | 128g |
| OS at time of review | Android 4.3 | Android 4.2.2 |
| Total Storage | 32 GB | 16 GB |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 Quad-Core | Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 MSM8930AA Dual-Core |
| Processor Speed | 1.7 GHz | 1.4 GHz |
| Screen Size | 4.7 inches | 4.3 inches |
| Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels | 1280 x 720 pixels |
| Screen Type | Super LCD 3 | Super LCD 2 |
| Screen Pixels Per Inch | 468 ppi | 341 ppi |
| Camera Resolution | 4 MP Rear; 2.1 MP Front-Facing | 4 MP Rear; 1.6 MP Front-Facing |
| Video Camera Resolution | 1080p Rear; 1080p Front-Facing | 1080p Rear; 720p Front-Facing |
| 802.11x/Band(s) | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac | 802.11 a/b/g/n |
| Bluetooth Version | 4 | 4 |
| GPS | Yes | Yes |
| NFC | Yes | No |
| MicroSD Slot | No | No |
My first thought when I got the phone out was Honey, I’ve shrunk the HTC One! The HTC One Mini is HTC’s attempt at producing a midrange smartphone that squeezes in the features of its flagship phone into a smaller device, selling for around £100 less. The great thing about the One mini, is that it is a HTC One, but just shrunk down. The noticeable difference is the slightly cheaper body, this is due to them using polycarbonate sides instead of wraparound aluminum, the back is still aluminum. Due to the smaller size, the build fits right in.
I was happily surprised by the One minis screen, at 341 ppi it’s lower than its bigger brothers 1080p screen. Though after using it for two weeks you forget the 27 ppi difference between the One and the One mini. The mini has a lot of the same hardware as the HTC One, this includes the dual front-facing speakers, so when I play Psycho Killer by Talking Heads its just as loud as the One. The special 2.55V headphone jack amplifier from the One is here, too. The mini also runs the same Sense/Android skin as the One . As its still running Android 4.2.2 you do have to deal with the non-removeable BlinkFeed, but hopefully a 4.3 release will be out soon.
The One mini shares the same 4-ultrapixel camera as the One, which uses bigger-than-usual pixels to achieve solid low-light performance. I took a photo with the Mini and the One, compared the two, both have their good and bad points. The colour (in my opinion) is better in the One shot, but the overall photo appears to be better for the Mini.
One Mini shot:
HTC One shot:
Like the One the Mini is a unibody phone, this means there’s no memory card slot or removable battery; So your stuck with the 16GB and an 1800mAh battery. I was a little disappointed to see that HTC ditched the IR remote in the Mini. Though not a heavily used feature, its still a good one. I was worried about using the Mini’s Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 400 processor at 1.4 GHz rather than the faster Snapdragon 600 of the One, but I found the performance solid and didn’t run into any major performance woes. The Mini will never match up the the S4 or or the One, but it doesn’t have to. Its a midrange phone and beats devices like the HTC First. The great feature of the Mini is its size. After using so many larger phones, its quite nice to have a phone that fits in your hand. Its the perfect one handed phone, and I had no issues reaching all the corners with my thumb. If your not the kind of person to concentrate on the specs of a device, this is the phone for you. It has all the elements of the One that people like, and fits it into a nice small package.
The HTC One mini is going up against some pretty good phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini and the Apple iPhone 4S, the Mini beats the S4 Mini with its processor power. The S4 Mini is 960-by-540, has 8GB of storage and a standard 8-megapixel camera, again the One mini wins with its tighter screen, better build quality and more built-in storage. But the S4 mini pushes ahead with its bigger battery and removable MicroSD slot. The Mini uses the same OS as the One when it first came out, Sense 5. When I used it, there where no differences between the two at all and as a fan of Sense, I found this a bonus.
I did a side by side comparison between the One and Mini, the size difference is slight and at times difficult to see. But that difference is what makes the Mini a much better fit for your hand, compared to the One. Another difference is the volume rocker, the One has a very nice embedded silver block, where the Mini has two buttons poking out. I’ve already noted the difference around the side of the phone, though in my opinion I actually prefer this as it feels better when your holding the device.
Its difficult to not compare the Mini to the One, they both look the same, sound the same and can perform as well as each other. The One is obviously the flagship powerhouse from HTC, but if I ended up just having the Mini I wouldn’t be disappointed. Its everything you could hope for from HTC, for a lower price. I wouldn’t recommend this phone to the kind of people that want the big battery, big space, big screen and big performace (like me). But if you’re after a solid, low price midrange phone, then then HTC One mini is the one.
Can we recommend any potential buyers to our very good friends over at Clove Technology.
Clove Technology are a trusted business based in the UK who supply worldwide and stock all the latest handsets and accessories including the HTC One Mini.
