HTC One Mini 2 android smartphone
The small screen alternative iPhone 5 owners have been looking for
Pros
- HTC Sense 6 with Android 4.4 KitKat
- Metal body
- BoomSound speakers
Cons
- Too tall for a mini smartphone
- Watered down specs
Bottom Line
The One Mini 2 will meet the needs of any iPhone 5 owner who relished the small form of their Apple smartphone. Sculpted from metal, studded in black and wearing the marks of precision craftsmanship, the Mini 2 truly is a sight to behold. Knowing HTC could have made this smartphone smaller yet is disappointing, but it’s a gripe easily overcome.
-
Price
$ 528.00 (AUD)
The task ahead of HTC’s One Mini 2 is borderline insurmountable. The smartphone is charged with making the technology found in HTC’s flagship One (M8) available in a pocketable 4.5-inch form factor. The miniature smartphone has big shoes to fill as the HTC One (M8) earned a 4.75 rating after its stint in the Good Gear Guide labs, and that’s the highest rating given in all of 2014.
The best looking smartphone, only smaller
Trickling down the DNA pool from the One (M8) to the Mini 2 is a metal-clad body finished in brushed stainless steel. Few signs tell the Mini 2 is kinder to wallets: a plastic alloy rims the face of the smartphone, and the inserts running across the back are raised ever-so-slightly for a finish that’s less polished. Otherwise the design retains the same charisma defined by the 5-inch One (M8).
The Mini 2 cuts down on the One’s height by a centimetre, is thicker by a millimetre and lighter by 23 grams. Turning on the screen reveals this smartphone could’ve been smaller yet.
The One Mini 2 will meet the needs of any iPhone 5 owner looking for an upgrade
HTC smartphone’s are undeniably tall, but we forgive the smartphones nonetheless because behind the growth are BoomSound stereo speakers. These front-firing speakers are wired to amplifiers and deliver unparalleled audio from a smartphone. However, the Mini 2 adds to that height with an alarming surplus of bottom bezel.
From where the screen stops to where the smartphone ends measures 2 centimetres, with a whole centimetre in height dedicated to displaying the HTC badge. Using this black strip to house capacitive buttons would’ve freed up some of the screen’s real estate and justified its presence. Unfortunately this wasted space serves only as a nameplate.
“What’s 2 centimetres, anyway?” some might be asking. This 2 centimetres is the difference between the Mini 2 resting in pockets and disappearing altogether. Frankly, the ‘Mini’ moniker is a misnomer as this smartphone stands as tall as Samsung’s towering 5.2-inch Galaxy S5.
Get past the contradiction of a tall-mini smartphone and the Mini 2 will prove a worthwhile companion. The 4.5in screen has a high definition resolution and the same 326 pixel-per-inch density found in Apple’s iPhone 6. Brightness levels are spot on and viewing angles are ripe. Coupling the screen with the aforementioned BoomSound speakers lends itself to an enjoyable multimedia experience.
Balanced hardware meets balanced software
Inside is hardware less promising than the bigger One (M8). There’s a 1.2GHz quad-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 4G modem and 16GB of internal storage. Adding more memory is possible with the Mini 2 taking MicroSD memory cards up to 128GB in size.
The camera on the Mini 2 serves as a strongpoint
HTC’s software has grown economical in time and, working with this hardware, the One Mini 2 continues to run smooth. Its Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system is overlaid in HTC’s Sense 6 user interface. Some manufacturers discount Android’s appeal with their overlays, but HTC certainly isn’t one of them. Changes include a different design aesthetic and a news aggregator called BlinkFeed. Missing is the company’s SenseTV as the Mini 2 lacks an IR blaster.
Powering the Mini 2 is a 2100 milliamp-hour battery. The smartphone will last a day without charge and, if the occasion calls for extra stamina, simply enable ‘extreme power saving mode’. The mode deactivates all functions other than calls, messages and emails, in order to deliver extended battery life. Good Gear Guide’s testing found the office’s HTC One (M8) could last for 10 days in standby when extreme power saving mode was enabled.
13 megapixels, What DuoCamera?
Further differentiating the Mini 2 from the One (M8) is its rear 13 megapixel camera. The high resolution rear camera replaces HTC’s 4MP Ultrapixel and DuoCamera combo found on the One (M8). This, we believe, is not to the detriment of the miniature smartphone.
Photos captured with the Mini 2 impress for a smartphone in its price point. It benefits from HTC’s camera user interface, which is advantageous for its simplicity and range of shooting modes. Most photos at full resolution are sharp, well coloured and have little image noise. The flash is surprisingly quick in dark environments; however, image noise is prevalent in these photos. Overall, the camera on the Mini 2 serves as a strongpoint.
Nestling alongside the front speaker is a rich camera. The front camera can capture photos at 5 megapixels and, like the rear camera, can record videos in Full HD resolution.
Final thought
Just this week Apple, defender of small smartphones, launched two jumbo variants of its iPhone 6. Meanwhile, Samsung continues to enlarge displays with its 5.7in Galaxy Note 4. Even LG’s flagship warrants the “phablet” colloquialism with its 5.5in screen. Finding a smartphone that feels more phone is getting tougher.
The One Mini 2 will meet the needs of any iPhone 5 owner who relished the small form of their Apple smartphone. Sculpted from metal, studded in black and wearing the marks of precision craftsmanship, the Mini 2 truly is a sight to behold. Knowing HTC could have made this smartphone smaller yet is disappointing, but it’s a gripe easily overcome.
Brand Post
Most Popular Reviews
- 1 Dell U3223QE review: A winning debut for an IPS Black monitor
- 2 HP Spectre x360 16 review: The right 2-in-1 at the wrong time
- 3 Acer K242HYL review: An affordable monitor for any occasion
- 4 GeForce Now review: You bring the games, Nvidia streams the hardware
- 5 Asus ProArt PA279CV monitor review: The go-to for content creators on a budget
Latest News Articles
- Bizarre iOS bug swaps out Spotify for Apple Music in the iPhone dock
- Fortnite returns to the iPhone (sort of) courtesy Xbox Cloud Gaming
- Want to go watch the WWDC keynote at Apple Park? Here’s how to apply
- iPad buying guide 2022
- Apple to support ‘passwordless’ iPhone logins on Android phones and PCs
Resources
Macworld
What's new, plus best mac-related tips
and tricks
Business Centre
The latest business news, reviews, features and whitepapers
Videos
Watch our video news and reviews from around the world
Guides
Comprehensive buying guides, features, and step-by-step articles
PCW Evaluation Team
Pedro Peixoto
Aruba Instant On AP11D
Set up is effortless.
Cate Bacon
Aruba Instant On AP11D
The strength of the Aruba Instant On AP11D is that the design and feature set support the modern, flexible, and mobile way of working.
Dr Prabigya Shiwakoti
Aruba Instant On AP11D
Aruba backs the AP11D up with a two-year warranty and 24/7 phone support.
Tom Pope
Dynabook Portégé X30L-G
Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.
Tom Sellers
MSI P65
This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.
Lolita Wang
MSI GT76
It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.
Featured Content
- Which Lenovo Laptop Should I Buy?
- Every TV in Samsung's 2022 line-up: OLED, Neo QLED and more!
- Top 10 best Android and Apple phones for under $600
- Everything you need to know about Smart TVs
- What's the difference between an Intel Core i3, i5 and i7?
- Laser vs. inkjet printers: which is better?