When it comes to smartphones, especially in the realm of devices that run on the Android operating system from Google, HTC used to be a major player that forged a path ahead for the rest to follow. Somewhere along the way, however, HTC seemed to have lost their way, and now they are playing catch up, with numbers from each quarterly earnings report being far from encouraging. They desperately need to get back into the game (and in the black, too), and their most recent flagship, the HTC One, has proven itself to be quite the high end smartphone to beat – although there is still the company’s perception issue among the masses to be dealt with, we do hope that the HTC One is the path to HTC’s recovery in the long run. Having said that, HTC too, has embraced the “mini” culture, with AT&T having announced plans to introduce the HTC One mini. The HTC One mini happens to be a smaller model of the HTC One, sharing most of the iconic design as well as must-have features of the HTC One, and will be an AT&T exclusive from August 23rd onwards for $99.99 a pop with a 2-year contract.
Do not think that this is the HTC One, except that it has been shrunk down in size, with everything else remaining the same. That is not quite so, as some sacrifices to its innards would need to have been made, but this does not mean that the HTC One mini is a bad phone at all, or a poor cousin to the HTC One, far from it. It will definitely be shorter and lighter than the original, sporting a striking aluminum body with a 4.3-inch Super LCD 2 HD 720p display, a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 dual-core 1.4 GHz processor, and HTC’s UltraPixel Camera with backside illuminated sensor which allows it to capture 300% more light compared to traditional smartphone camera sensors.
Other features include HTC BlinkFeed, HTC Zoe, and HTC BoomSound, just like the HTC One, making it a decent addition to your smartphone experience if you are currently looking to make a switch without breaking the bank.
It was back in June when it was confirmed that HTC One Mini would be coming over to AT&T. Then late last month we saw the first unofficial press render of the AT&T HTC One Mini leak out. The carrier had not announced back then when it would be launching the device. Today, it finally made the announcement. The HTC One Mini will be available from AT&T starting August 23rd for $99 coupled with a two year contract.
The One Mini is a compact version of HTC’s current Android flagship, the HTC One. It has a 4.3 inch 720p display, a 1.4 GHz quadcore Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor as well as HTC’s famed UltraPixel camera that has an illuminated sensor on the back which is said to capture 300 percent more light than conventional smartphone camera sensors. This allows users to take better photos in low light conditions. HTC BlinkFeed, Zoe and BoomSound, which were first introduced with the One are all on-board the One Mini as well. An interested thing we noted in the leaked render was that the Beats Audio logo had given up its bright red shade in favor of grey, which made it blend in with the casing instead of making it pop. The official press image confirms the color change.
While it’s not entirely unlikely that the HTC One Max (still not confirmed to exist in and of itself) would be delivered with a fingerprint scanner aboard, images appearing today appear slightly less finalized than past iterations. What we’re seeing in the HTC One Max thus far is a test phone, one aimed at the […]
This week the folks at AT&T have unleashed the smallest member of the HTC device family in the HTC One Mini. This device is the same size as the international release of the HTC One Mini, here coming with a few software modifications and connectivity with AT&T’s mode of 4G LTE inside the USA. This […]
As HTC prepares to launch “big things” in the very near future, rumors of a dual-launch of two machines, one rather large and the other quite tiny, aim directly at the UK. The larger of these in the HTC One Max is tipped by Expert Reviews as quite possibly headed for a UK release right […]
While just a couple of bits and pieces were spilled yesterday, overnight it would appear that HTC made with the full-length video spot for their newest campaign entitled “Big Things Ahead.” They also use the tag #HTChange, a single iteration of the multi-word collection of possibilities for what H.T.C. could stand for. It’s also been […]
If you’re not all about the smaller iteration of the HTC One in the most recent release from the company in the HTC One Mini, it would appear that HTC is also headed in the opposite direction with a bit more of a palm-filler. This device is tipped as the HTC One Max, bringing a […]
Close to a fortnight ago, we got word that the HTC One mini has already received approval from the good people over at the FCC, and here we are two weeks down the road with press renders of the AT&T-bound HTC One mini spotted. How do we know that this shrunken version of the flagship HTC One (with some changes in the hardware too, of course, as it is not only cosmetic alterations on the outside) is headed towards AT&T? The answer is simple, really, as the press render leak did show off the AT&T name where the carrier name is normally displayed. The thing is, it remains to be seen just when will the HTC One mini be released for AT&T, so we will have to play the patience card this time around.
Interestingly enough in the press render leak, the Beats Audio logo has shed its normal bright red shade, turning grey in the process. As for the Blink Feed home screen that is depicted in the render, the location is Atlanta instead of London where the international version of the HTC One mini is concerned. Do these have any bearings on the final version? Not likely if you were talking about a huge impact, but at least we do have high hopes that AT&T will eventually make this puppy available.
Several months after the first market availability of the original HTC One, the HTC One mini emerges as a compact amalgamation of everything that was right about its predecessor. Working with a smaller body, a lower resolution on a sized-down display, and a processor that’s not quite as powerful as the Qualcomm SoC on the HTC One, can this miniature second wave of a smartphone strike true for those of us with a smaller palm?
Hardware
This machine’s 720 x 1280 display (across 4.3 inches of screen real-estate) does not disappoint. While the HTC One is slightly sharper mathematically, we’re well into the “I wouldn’t have noticed if you’d not said something” zone. This machine’s display is so close to the surface of the glass that protects it, it’s difficult to tell that they are, indeed, two separate pieces of hardware. Right from the moment you turn this smartphone on, you can feel HTC’s efforts continue to hit top-notch.
The HTC One mini comes in at 132 x 63.2 x 9.25 mm in size and 122g in weight, shaving off just about as much on its left and right as it does on its top and bottom, feeling in the end to be essentially the same thickness – even if it is a smidgen different (0.05 mm thinner, to be exact). Where the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini feels like a shadow of the full-sized Galaxy S 4, the HTC One mini feels like a companion to the HTC One – more like an alternate reality approach.
While it would appear at a glance that the HTC One mini’s plastic ring around its edges were placed there only to be a differentiator for the final build between this and the original, it does serve to make one feel less fearful of dropping the whole unit. It’s not as if this ring is going to do a whole lot more to protect the front or back of the smartphone from a concrete slab ground, but there’s more of a sense of safety here, even if it does dare us to suggest that it makes the device feel more like a Samsung handset (it doesn’t).
Instead it would seem that the aluminum back panel and two speaker grill-filled front panels serve, with the single pane of Gorilla Glass up front, to keep this device well in the premium build universe. Up front you’ve still got the double-dose of sensors peeking out at you on the left up top, and one of two high-powered cameras up on the right.
There’s also a notification light up in the topside speaker grill – 12th hole in from the right, second row from the bottom – one single pin hole and a world of difference for those who demand such a shiner. This light serves to tell you the HTC One mini is being charged up, for the most part, but you’ll also find a set of checkmarks you can toggle in settings under “Notification flash”, including Calls, Voice mail, Messages, Calendar, Mail, and Alarms.
Behind the speaker grills up front are stereo speakers, working with HTC’s own branded audio setup BoomSound and sounding every bit as powerful as they do on the HTC One. It’s surprising, really, that HTC brings this premium feature to devices other than the HTC One – you’ll find it in HTC 8XT as well – though we’ve yet to test that unit for comparable ear-shattering. Here on the HTC One mini you’ve got the same best-in-glass speaker setup first delivered with the HTC One, top and bottom both.
On the right side of this smartphone you’ll find two volume buttons instead of a rocker – this is modified from the HTC One which used a single piece of metal with a circular pattern through its form. Up top is a standard-sized headphone jack alongside a power / lock button that, instead of having an IR-blaster built in, is simply a bit more aluminum this time around.
The left side of the HTC One mini holds this device’s single microSIM card slot which can be popped out with an HTC-provided pin, while the bottom holds one of two mic holes (the other is on the back panel) near an off-set microUSB port for power and PC connections. This is an offset port in that it’s not right in the center, where many major smartphones’ usb ports tend to find themselves.
The back panel of the HTC One is split into three – there’s a top section that’s roughly the same size as the bottom, then a center single panel that takes up the majority of the machine. This center panel holds the 3D alternate-shade of aluminum spelling out HTC as well as the second of two HTC One mini-bound cameras and a single LED flash. The second of two microphone holes sits on the left between the top and middle panels, the opposite side of the hole on the HTC One.
You’ll also find the Beats Audio brand intact here, this time a bit more subdued (at least on this light silver edition) than the original (which blasts the logo out in hot red). FCC and other certification data finishes out the package at the bottom in a silver so light you can barely see it.
Inside you’ve got 4G LTE and HSPA compatibility with Wi-Fi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 (ready for LE/ Bluetooth Smart in Android 4.3 eventually) as well as aptX support for high-powered wireless audio. You’ll not be getting any NFC this time around, unfortunately – not a deal-breaker for most, but as the NFC universe expands, one must consider such a thing.
Software
The software is nearly a perfect replica of what’s found on the original HTC One here on the international edition of the HTC One mini. The big differences come in the app selection and the compatibility (or lack thereof) with certain functions due to hardware changes. No IR-blaster means no Sense TV, no NFC means no Android Beam. These are compromises you should be willing to make when you jump in on this miniaturized version of the full-sized hero.
The HTC One mini adds Mocana’s KeyVPN app right out of the box – this allows you to connect to secure networks, of course, and does so as one might expect. Google’s full suite of Google Play apps is here, including Play Movies, Play Music, Play Magazines, and Play Books, these running alongside HTC’s iterations with additions like “Music”.
HTC’s music app is the same as it was on the HTC One, here delivering the ability to play lyrics from songs and show wild animations during track playback. HTC also includes a simple PDF Viewer that can access the device’s own storage as well as cloud apps like Dropbox. Editing of PDFs is done by Polaris Office.
Dropbox is also – once again – included with the basic build of this HTC smartphone. You’ll also be seeing music sales with 7digital, music identification with SoundHound, and internet radio with TuneIn Radio. These along with Play Movies and YouTube have HTC making sure you’re going to be putting your BoomSound speakers to good use.
The first page you see when you enter past your HTC One mini’s lockscreen is a system called HTC BlinkFeed. This first appeared with the HTC One and continues here with its entire set of abilities still ready to roll.
You’ll be able to collect news sources and updates from your social networking profiles to create one big image-intensive collection of quick-views. Each of these rectangles is able to be tapped to expand, and you’re able to turn each of your news sources on/off at will.
The system is set by default to refresh only when on wi-fi, but you can change it to work with mobile data if you wish. By all eyeballing accounts, this and every other part of the UI in the HTC One mini appear to be moving every bit as swift as the original, despite the lower capacity for processing power in this smaller device’s interior architecture.
Performance
The HTC One mini works with a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400. This means it’s not quite up to the task of taking on the HTC One’s Snapdragon 600 with its four CPU cores, but here on a device with a smaller device with a smaller display with a lower resolution, the results appear the same. We’ve noticed no slowdown in everyday use, and we’ve not yet seen lag even when opening some of the most demanding games on the market. It would appear that we’ve reached a point in the smartphone chip-making world where the power has out-run the demand.
Have a peek at the benchmarks above and see what you think. While this device doesn’t make too much of an effort to break down any top-tier barriers, it’s well ready to do its own job, and do it well.
Camera / Battery
The camera here continues to work with HTC Zoe, Full HD (1080p) video recording and high-quality results on both the front and back-facing camera. The back-facing camera continues to work with the full HTC One-born UltraPixel setup, complete with results just as impressive as the original.
While it might seem that working with a slightly less powerful processor might result in lower-quality results in image processing, or at least slower processing therein, the differences are minor, if noticeable at all. This device has the same f/2.0 aperture in play as well as the same dedicated ImageChip 2 image processor – this is in addition to the main device processor, mind you.
What you’ve got is a system that shoots photos and video as well as the HTC One, with one difference: the HTC One mini does not work with Optical Image Stabilization. The big place this takes effect is in filming videos, which here can be a bit more “shaky” as a result. If you’ve never used the HTC One and felt that bump in quality, this change-over won’t make a difference to you.
Have a peek at a collection of sample shots above and let us know what you think of the system compared to the original. It certainly feels the same, and as always, it’s as much about the photographer as it is about the camera.
Battery
The HTC One mini works with a non-removable 1800mAh battery which, paired with Qualcomm’s battery conservation features in its Snapdragon processor and HTC’s own battery saver mode in this phone’s settings, you’ll be getting a massive amount of battery life on standby. In fact, if you leave your device in your pocket and turn off data altogether, you might just get a few days’ worth of life out of it.
If you’re a heavy user, on the other hand, this phone will need a charge by the time the day is through. If you’re doing nothing but streaming video and playing games, you’ll get no more than 8 hours out of the HTC One mini, while light users – email, chat, and the like, will easily get a full work day without plugging this machine in to the wall.
Wrap-up
In the end you’ll have to base your decision to purchase this device on whether or not you’re willing to make a trade-off in size and for a few odd features for a lower price point. If you’re not seeing this decision between the HTC One and the HTC One mini as a trade-of, and instead simply want a smaller device that fits your hand better than the original, then you’ll be good to go! In the end, this machine takes everything that was great about the HTC One and jams it into a smaller package.
Let us know if there’s anything else about this device that you’d like SlashGear to test – this is a living review, after all, and we’ll continue to update as you, the reader, would ask us to. We’re here to provide you with the information you want on the HTC One mini – the same being true of all our reviews – stay tuned!
Every single company would do well to release a flagship device of their own – it is not only a matter of technological achievement, but one of pride as well. After all, what is the point of tooting your trumpet if you do not have a flagship that is capable of duking it out with the best of the rest out there? HTC knows that they have a winner with the HTC One on their hands in the recent past, where it has picked up mainly rave reviews from the masses as well as the press, but still, the HTC One was unable to help HTC deliver a stellar quarter when it comes to earnings. Having said that, this has not stopped HTC from moving in the right direction, and they have just announced the HTC One mini, keeping in vein with the “mini me” theme that smartphone manufacturers, Samsung especially, just love to play with these days.
The HTC One mini is said to be HTC’s ultimate 4.3” smartphone, after all, it does come with HTC BlinkFeed, HTC Zoe and HTC BoomSound, all features that are available on their HTC One flagship, too. The HTC One mini would continue in the same iconic design flow of the HTC One, where you will find that the 4.3” display is easy on the eyes, while a powerful dual-core 1.4 GHz processor helps run proceedings from underneath the hood. Not only that, it will also be powered by the most recent version of the Android operating system, where it will be accompanied by HTC Sense.
Coming in Glacial Silver and Stealth Black colors, the HTC One mini boasts of a striking aluminum unibody in a slim profile, looking premium regardless of which angle you’re starting it down from. Not only that, there is also HTC BoomSound, which is HTC’s dual frontal stereo speakers that deliver less distortion and finer detail, and headphone lovers will love the Beats Audio integration that delivers immersive audio to the next level. It remains to be seen just how much the HTC One mini will sell for, but it is tipped to arrive in select markets from August onwards, before a global rollout in September.
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When it comes to smartphones, especially in the realm of devices that run on the Android operating system from Google, HTC used to be a major player that forged a path ahead for the rest to follow. Somewhere along the way, however, HTC seemed to have lost their way, and now they are playing catch up, with numbers from each quarterly earnings report being far from encouraging. They desperately need to get back into the game (and in the black, too), and their most recent flagship, the HTC One, has proven itself to be quite the high end smartphone to beat – although there is still the company’s perception issue among the masses to be dealt with, we do hope that the HTC One is the path to HTC’s recovery in the long run. Having said that, HTC too, has embraced the “mini” culture, with AT&T having announced plans to introduce the HTC One mini. The HTC One mini happens to be a smaller model of the HTC One, sharing most of the iconic design as well as must-have features of the HTC One, and will be an AT&T exclusive from August 23rd onwards for $99.99 a pop with a 2-year contract.
Close to a fortnight ago, we got word that the HTC One mini has already 
