HTC has finally revealed the next generation of its Mini handsets, in the form of the HTC One Mini 2, which will bring many of the features of the current flagship HTC One M8 smartphone, but in a smaller more budget friendly shell.
As per usual HTC has seen no end to the leaked pictures, specs and information about the handset, so the release was far from a shock, but we thought we would take the time and see just chat changes the HTC One Mini 2 has compared to last year’s model, the HTC One Mini.
Screen:
HTC One Mini: 4.3 inches 720 x 1280 pixels (~326 ppi pixel density) Super LCD2 capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors. Corning Gorilla Glass 3
vs
HTC One Mini 2: 4.5 inches 720 x 1280 pixels (~342 ppi pixel density) Super LCD2 capacitive touchscreen, 16M colours. Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
The HTC One Mini 2 comes in with an extra .2 inches on the older phone, but seeing as the screens share the same Pixels this actually leaves the One Mini 2 at a disadvantage over the older handset as the Pixel density is lower.
Other than this the screens both offer a very sharp image, but the One Mini will technically give you a better screen sharpness.
Design and Size
HTC One Mini: 132 x 63.2 x 9.3 mm (5.20 x 2.49 x 0.37 in). Weight – 122 g (4.30 oz)
Colour Variants: Glacial Silver, Stealth Black, Blue
vs
HTC One Mini 2: 137.4 x 65 x 10.6 mm (5.41 x 2.56 x 0.42 in). Weight – 137 g (4.83 oz)
Colour Variants: Gunmetal Gray, Glacial Silver Amber Gold
The design of each handsets reflects that of its Flagship counterpart, the One Mini 2 shares the One (M8)s aluminium design and updated look on the last generation, both handsets feature front facing speakers, solid one piece design and a sleek look.
The Mini 2 comes in as the larger handset, thanks to its increased screen size and larger Li-Po 2110 mAh battery, plus the HTC One Mini 2 takes a smaller Nano SIM vs the One Mini taking the Micro SIM.
Power and Specs:
HTC One Mini: 1.4 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 dual-core Cortex-A7 processor. 1GB Ram. Non-removable Li-Po 1800 mAh battery.
vs
HTC One Mini 2: 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 Quad-core Cortex-A7 processor. 1GB Ram. Non-removable Li-Po 2110 mAh battery.
Once again, not a lot of difference between the two insides of the smartphones, however the One Mini 2’s 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 Quad-core processor should handle multitasking faster that the older Dual core processor on the One Min, even though the processor is 1.4GHz faster.
Both share the same 1GB of RAM so no changes there, but the quad core processor should also help out with the One Mini 2 in its speediness. The battery capacity on the One Mini is also larger, but due to the increased screen size, this may negate the extra stamina provided by the newer handset.
Camera:
HTC One Mini: Back facing 4 MP, 2688 x 1520 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Front Facing: 1.6 MP, 720p
vs
HTC One Mini 2: Back facing 13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Front Facing: 5 MP, 1080p@30fps 1.6 MP, 720p
Now this is where you start getting your money’s worth with the HTC One Mini 2, its massively increased camera is a offers a huge pixel increase on the One Mini with 13MP.
However the original HTC One Mini did come with a UltraPixel sensor which allowed the phone to use the HTC Zoe capture features. This basically means the One Mini 2 will technically have a better camera, but this may not always be noticeable.
The front facing camera on the One Mini 2 also gets a hefty upgrade to 5 MP with 1080p@30fps capture.
HTC One Mini: 16 GB, 1 GB RAM
vs
HTC One Mini 2: 16 GB, 1 GB RAM with expandable microSD slot up to 128 GB
The two phone come carrying the same internal Memory at 16GB built in, but the HTC One Mini 2 comes with a much needed MicroSD Card slot for expansion, which allows and additional 128GB of memory to be inserted.
Software:
HTC One Mini: Came with Android OS, v4.2.2 (Jelly Bean but has upgrade to v4.4.2 (KitKat) coming soon. Sense 5 UI
vs
HTC One Mini 2: Android OS, v4.4.2 (KitKat). Sense 6 UI.
The HTC One Mini 2 comes with the newer Android 4.4.2 OS pre-installed, and with the latest HTC Sense 6 UI, but the One Mini has already been tipped to have the 4.4.2 upgrade on its way too, so there really will be very little in the OS terms.
Special Features:
HTC One Mini: Beats Audio sound enhancement, stereo speakers, built-in amplifiers
vs
HTC One Mini 2: stereo speakers, built-in amplifiers, TV-out (via MHL A/V link), Amber Gold Varient
The HTC One comes off the back of the now defunct HTC/Beats Audio partnership, so fans of the Beats branding and layout got a few extra sound enhancements, which the One Mini 2 will not get. However both sport the front facing stereo speakers which come with built-in amplifiers.
The One Mini 2 however comes with a new TV-out feature allowing it to be connected to a TV HDMI using a separately bought MHL A/V link cable.
Finally, for fans of the Bling, the HTC One Mini 2 comes in the “Amber Gold” colour variation of its bigger brother (the One M8) which always excites the technology world.
Price:
Unfortunately HTC have yet to produce the prices for the HTC One Mini 2, so a comparison cannot be made. However the HTC One Mini RRP’s for £320 when it was first released last year, so we would expect a similar price point when the newer version is released.
Conclusion
HTC Have stuck to what they know with the HTC One Mini 2, the handset does not veer very far from the original One Mini smartphone with similar processing speeds, build quality, design and Screens but the newer handset does excel when it come sto the camera department.
Both are stylish, well-built and offer a quality package, but very little defences can be seen in the two phones to say that its worth upgrading from the HTC One Mini to the HTC One Mini 2.
That is, unless you really want a Gold phone!