HTC One mini 2 hands-on: First look

HTC has expanded the One family with a new petite member - the HTC One mini 2. Note that it's not One (M8) mini, this is more of a sequel to the One mini from last year. Perhaps most telling of this is the camera, a 13MP shooter rather than the questionable dual-camera of the M8. Still, the HTC One mini 2 looks just the same as the new HTC One M8, so the family relation is more than obvious.

HTC One Mini 2 official photos
The HTC One mini 2 preserves the qualities that made the original mini great, namely the premium aluminum unibody design, the excellent screen and the stereo front-facing speakers. There are major changes though, the screen grew to 4.5" from 4.3" and the camera more than tripled its resolution to a 13MP. Here's a cheat sheet of One mini 2's specifications.

HTC One mini 2 at a glance:

• General: Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, quad-band UMTS/HSPA, LTE
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone with aluminum unibody
• Dimensions: 137.4 x 65 x 10.6 mm, 137 g
• Display: 4.5" 16M-color 720p (720 x 1280 pixels) Super LCD 2 capacitive touchscreen, 326ppi pixel density; Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 400, quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A7, 1GB RAM, Adreno 305
• OS: Android 4.4 KitKat with Sense 6
• Memory: 16GB storage, microSD card slot
• Camera: 13MP auto-focus camera, BSI sensor, f/2.2; LED flash
• Video camera: Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps with HDR; 720p @ 60fps
• Front camera: 5MP front-facing camera; 1080p @ 30fps video
• Connectivity: dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, DLNA, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, standard microUSB port with MHL and USB host, GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS, 3.5mm audio jack
• Battery: 2,100mAh Li-Po
• Misc: BoomSound stereo speakers on the front, HTC Zoe

The HTC One mini 2 runs the latest software from Google and HTC on a different Snapdragon 400 chipset than the original One mini. It adds a microSD card slot, which is more than welcome, as the limited storage was one of the more common complaints we've heard about its predecessor.

HTC One mini 2 joins the original One mini in our office
The One mini 2 grew in size as well as features. The original HTC One mini was already taller than most other 4.3" phones, and the new one is even taller. The width of the two though is almost the same.
The in-hand feel is as premium as ever, but flip to the next page for our thoughts on the second generation One mini hardware.

Hardware

The HTC One mini 2 takes its design cues almost entirely from the big One (M8), it will even inherit its color options: Gunmetal Gray (the one we have), Glacial Silver and Amber Gold. Here's a quick hardware tour and a comparison between the One mini 2, the original One mini and the One (M8).

The metal unibody has been updated and now there's less plastic around the sides than before. It's a matte black plastic that's very unobtrusive. The screen grew to 4.5", but the smartphone remains nicely compact; it's only as wide as the old One mini.
The stereo speakers make it rather tall though, standing at 137.4mm - over 5mm taller than the previous model, it's even a millimeter taller than the Samsung Galaxy S5, which has 5.1" screen. HTC made the move to on-screen buttons this generation, but this didn't help the height problem.

HTC One mini 2 (left) and HTC One mini (right)

HTC One mini 2 (left) and HTC One (M8)
The new One mini 2 (a winning name, isn't it?) is a tad heavier though metal phones feel better when they have a bit of heft to them. The curved back lets the device rest comfortably in the palm of your hand.

HTC One mini 2 in the hand
The phone is also a just over millimeter thicker than the previous model, but the Li-Po battery grew to 2,100mAh.
HTC promises over 16 hours of 3G talk time with the battery, but we'll do our own tests to verify that. The One mini 2 also features an Extreme power saving mode, which can be enabled automatically at a preset battery charge. It disables the most power-hungry features and switches the launcher with a simplified one that only allows access to the remaining features.

Extreme power saving mode turns the One mini 2 into a feature phone but extends battery life
Let's move away from physical size, obviously it will be an issue for some but the improvements HTC made to the new device should balance that out.
Screen resolution went unchanged, 720p, but pixel density remains in Retina territory at 326ppi. It's a high-quality LCD with great image quality and viewing angles.

The HTC One mini 2 has a high-quality screen
The BoomSound stereo speakers that surround the display no longer have Beats, but they have individual amps, the same ones used in the One (M8).
The HTC One mini 2 features a 13MP camera on the back that records 1080p video, while the camera on the front shoots 5MP stills and also records 1080p videos. There's only a single-LED flash on the back, rather than a dual-tone flash like on the One (M8).

5MP camera above the screen • BoomSound speakers above and below • 13MP camera on the back with LED flash
Unlike last time, here you shouldn't worry about storage when recording 1080p videos - the HTC One mini 2's 16 gigs worth of built-in storage is expandable with a microSD card. The second card slot, which you can spot bellow is for the nanoSIM. The previous generation used the larger microSIM.

Card slots on either side of the One mini 2, nanoSIM and microSD
It's hard to notice but the first batch of Gunmetal Gray phones (like ours) have a volume button that doesn't quite match the brushed metal look of the rest of the phone. HTC says it has reconsidered the design and will change the button to match the back.
The 3.5mm audio jack is on top, near the power key, not at the bottom next to the microUSB 2.0 port like it is on the HTC One (M8).

3.5mm audio jack and power key on top • microUSB 2.0 port on bottom

Software

The HTC One mini 2 will launch with Android 4.4 KitKat and HTC's latest Sense 6. The software runs snappily and feels virtually identical to the One (M8).

The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 400 chipset once again, but unlike the dual-core Krait of last year, this one packs four Cortex-A7 cores at 1.2GHz. The GPU is still an Adreno 305, though considering the screen resolution had seen no change, it should be good enough.
This is essentially the same chipset as the one in the Moto G and the LG G2 mini. It's nowhere near the Snapdragon 800 of the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact though.
BlinkFeed is part of the homescreen (the leftmost pane) and it combines social networks and news sources into one stream. Regular-looking homescreen panes are available too.

BlinkFeed on Sense 6 • mostly-standard Android 4.4 KitKat interface
Kid Mode allows you to create restricted profiles for several children, giving each access only to several apps. Car mode is available too. It has a simplified UI, but when behind the wheel you should tap the One mini 2 with three fingers to activate voice commands.

Kid mode • Car mode • voice commands
The HTC One mini 2 is no longer saddled with a stripped down version of the current One camera. True, it lacks the second camera for effects but it comes with a 13MP BSI sensor, which we consider an upgrade. The difference should be especially noticeable in daylight and with an f/2.2 aperture, it should do okay in the dark, too. The sensor is 4:3, unlike the widescreen sensor of the One (M8).


The camera interface
The front-facing camera is a 5MP shooter with a BSI sensor, which should make the One mini 2 as good at taking selfies as the HTC One (M8). The Touch Up feature will smoothen your skin, adjust the contours of your face and remove red eye.
Both cameras can record 1080p video, which is what we can expect from a device in this range. Even the mighty mini that is the Xperia Z1 Compact tops out at 1080p and for what matter, so does the One (M8).
The updated HTC Zoe is on board, even though there's no dedicated Zoe mode in the camera UI. It can create Highlight videos from your photos, share them with your friends and let them add their own shots and videos with the Remix functionality.

HTC Zoe for sharing photos with friends
The phone has LTE connectivity, dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX audio codec and NFC (which was missing on last year's model). DLNA can be used to beam multimedia to supported devices using a three finger swipe gesture.

A three swipe gesture triggers DLNA sharing

First impressions

This has been a very brief encounter with the HTC One mini 2. The metal unibody offers a premium feel that is unmatched this side of the Apple/Android divide, though some of the specs don't scream flagship.
When we say that we're looking mostly at the chipset as even the venerable Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (the best equipped mini around) comes with only 720p screen resolution. Still, this chipset fared quite well in the Moto G and LG deemed it good enough for its own mini, the LG G2 mini.
The 13MP camera is a major update, maybe it can't compete with Sony's 20MP shooter, but the One (M8) camera felt like a letdown and this is HTC's chance to redeem itself. The addition of a microSD card slot is another thing people will be happy about.
The HTC One mini 2 is a prized addition to Android's mini lineup. The "mini" moniker will certainly come under fire though - not because of the 4.5" screen but because of the height. Is it worth it though? After all width and thickness are usually bigger considerations when it comes to handling, but we shouldn't forget that the power button on this one is still placed on the top.
Well, you can see we've got a lot of burning question to answer in our full review. Stay tuned!

Source
GSM Arena HTC One mini 2 Reviews (Design 8.5/10, Features 8.0/10, Performance 7.9/10)