Hasta La Gadget!

At long last, HTC finally confirmed what we all already knew to be true — the HTC One mini is a real mid-range smartphone, and it’s going to start hitting store shelves across the globe shortly.

Given HTC’s track record with this sort of thing so far, it’s no shock to see that images of the device leaked one last time before HTC made its official announcement. The company was still cagey on when exactly the device would launch and where — as usual, it’s leaving those proclamations up to the carriers, but HTC plans to launch the One mini in a handful of markets in August with a more widespread launch to follow in September. Fortunately for U.S. One fans, that last batch of photos very clearly indicates that AT&T will carry the device when it makes it to our neck of the woods.

But all this commotion raises an important question — what is it like using the One mini? I spent some time with the device earlier this week, and came away impressed considering its mid-range aspirations.

First things first: for a device that bears the “mini” moniker, the One mini isn’t all that much smaller than the flagship phone that preceded it. It’s just a few millimeters shorter and narrower than the full-sized One, and almost exactly as thick. The end result is a phone somehow manages to feel nicer in the hand than its slightly larger counterpart — the first One wasn’t unwieldy by any stretch, but its little brother fit more comfortably in my hefty mitts.

In case you were concerned that HTC had to cut corners when it came to design, well, don’t be. The aluminum unibody design that wowed fans of the original One has only been slightly tweaked for the One mini — perhaps the most notable physical differences are the lack of trim around the camera lens and the inclusion of a sort of polycarbonate bezel that runs around the mini’s face. Different, sure, but I doubt anyone but the most persnickety phone addict would take issue with these changes.

But aesthetics only account for part of the package. As you’d expect from a smaller (and almost definitely cheaper) device meant to appeal to the masses, HTC has had to dial back on some of the niceties that garnered the original One so many fans. Most of the goodies are still there — the BoomSound speakers remain, as does the Ultrapixel camera (albeit without optical image stabilization) around the back, but HTC needed to compromise on horsepower. Rather than running with a power hungry quad-core chip, the company instead chose to load up the One mini with a 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 and 1GB of RAM.

It’s a modest spec sheet by today’s standards, but I didn’t notice any lag or slowdown as I put the (admittedly non-final) phone through its paces. If anything, the most worrisome change is that there’s only 16GB of internal storage available to users, an issue that’s compounded by the now-expected lack of a microSD card slot. Naturally, the screen had to be downsized as well — the One mini sports a 4.3-inch display running at 720p, which is an adequate (if mildly underwhelming) replacement for the 1080p panel that graced the original One.

And of course, HTC’s Sense 5 UI is back, only this time it runs atop Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. Minor bugfixes and improvements have been added to the overlay for its next big (or small, I guess) outing, so don’t expect anything shockingly new on the software front if you take the plunge.

I’m waiting to get my hands on some final hardware before passing judgment, but so far the One mini seems like a worthy little brother to one of the great Android devices of our time. HTC clearly hopes that this thing will be able to penetrate markets in a way that its flagship One can’t, but only time will tell if the company finally has a mass market hit on its hands.

HTC isn’t just relying on the One to turn its 2013 around: the company has the HTC One mini to help with that, a new 4.3-inch version of the aluminum smartphone. Slimming the flagship down – as well as some of the core specifications – the One mini is fronted by a 720p touchscreen where the One has 1080p, but still keeps the UltraPixel camera and Zoe photography system, among other things. We caught up with the new smartphone to see if the One’s undoubtable charms have been distilled down to a more hand-friendly size.

We made no bones about how appealing we found the original One, and in many ways the One mini is the same phone. At first glance you could mistake them for each other – at 132 x 63.2 x 9.25 mm and 122g the actual difference between the two unibody aluminum casings is surprisingly small – and the 4.3-inch screen isn’t far off the 4.7-inch of the first One.

Nonetheless, there are aesthetic changes, most noticeably the plastic frame that runs around the One mini. It combines both matte finishes – on the back – and gloss – on the edges – which is something HTC tells us prompted no small amount of discussion internally. We’re not quite convinced by it, however; considering it’s where your fingertips generally land when you’re holding the phone (which is, otherwise, nicely sized for the palm and shows exemplary build quality), it feels a little cheap, certainly in comparison to the smooth aluminum back and the toughened glass fascia.

HTC One mini gallery:

It’s a rare blip in the design, however, and in comparison to the Galaxy S4 mini for instance, the One mini is still leagues ahead in aesthetics. With the smaller size, though, you get a shrinking of power: the processor is now a 1.4GHz dualcore Snapdragon 400, paired with 1GB of RAM (versus the 2GB and quadcore of the full-sized One), and there’s just 16GB of storage with no microSD expansion.

There’s LTE and HSPA – complete with a 4G version suitable for AT&T’s bands in the US – along with WiFi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX support, but no NFC since, HTC tells us, there simply wasn’t room for the necessary antenna. HTC BoomSound is accommodated, though, with the stereo speakers upfront, flanking the 341ppi Super LCD display, though the front camera is now down to 1.6-megapixels, and there’s no clever IR blaster integrated into the power button.

HTC One mini hands-on:

Thankfully, there’s still HTC’s UltraPixel technology, which trades megapixels for low-light performance. On paper, the 4-megapixel resolution should be underwhelming, but in practice the physically larger pixels themselves make for an impressive camera; the One mini gets the same f/2.0 aperture and dedicated ImageChip 2 processor, along with 1080p Full HD video recording and HDR video support. What you don’t get is optical image stabilization, which is a disappointment.

There’s also HTC Zoe, the company’s photography system which snaps both twenty full-resolution stills and a 3.6s Full HD video simultaneously. The HTC One mini gets the new Zoe highlight video presets included for the original One in the recent Android 4.2.2 update – in fact, it runs v4.2.2 out of the box – as well as the ability to use 30s of music from a track of your own choosing for the backing. If you opt for your own music, Zoe automatically beat-matches the transitions to the audio.

The obvious comparison, perhaps, is the iPhone 5 – something many smartphone users point to when they request a smaller device without compromising on specifications. The HTC One mini is still bigger than Apple’s phone, though (plastic ring aside) it feels on a par with its premium construction. Of course, HTC has diluted the specs somewhat, though the One mini still feels swift, with only minimal slow-down when processing the Zoe highlight reels.

HTC One vs iPhone 5:

There’ll also be various accessories to go with the One mini, ranging from flip-cases (with brightly colored internal lining) to a car kit. That works with the phone’s in-car interface, complete with larger buttons offering access to common features like hands-free calling, navigation, and media playback.

HTC One mini car-kit:

HTC tells us that the One mini is expected to begin its global roll-out in August 2013, in silver and black. There’s no word on which carriers will get the handset – nor which specific countries – though HTC tells us that North American partners will be “announced soon”. Pricing is also unconfirmed, though HTC told us it expects the One mini to come in “two price points below” the original One.

HTC One mini vs HTC One:

HTC One mini hands-on is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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