Today has seen the official unveiling of the HTC One Mini 2. It’s a bit of a mouthful, yes, but what it essentially is is a compact version of the HTC One M8. It’s no surprise that it’s come along so soon, as HTC did the same with its flagship predecessor to the One M8, the original One (M7, if you want to get technical).
Seeing as we loved the M8 so much, this miniature edition has an awful lot to live up to. Apart from being reduced in size, with a 4.5-inch display compared to the M8’s 5-inch screen, it’s also seen a reduction in specs. It has a 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 2,100 mAh battery, and its 4.5-inch display is in 720p HD resolution.
Whilst it has the dual front-facing Boomsound speakers and HTC’s Sense 6.0 UI, the One Mini 2 has noticeably done away with the M8’s duo-camera setup. Instead, there’s a single 13-megapixel camera. Whilst this will remove a load of the M8’s cool camera features like selective focus, camera purists may prefer a more conventional lens (plus a move away from HTC’s divisive ‘UltraPixel’ setup).
There’s 16 GB of internal storage, plus a microSD slot that supports up to 128 GB. It also supports 4G, as you would expect. HTC has managed to cram all of this into a handset weighing just 137g, versus the One M8’s 160g, although it’s slightly thicker than the One M8 too – 10.6mm vs 9.35mm.
All in all it’s an intriguing prospect. Part of what made the One M8 so special was its superb build quality and attractive UI, both of which are present on this shrunken handset. Whether its smaller processor can still handle day-to-day activities as silkily as its bigger sibling remains to be seen though.
The handset is to be released in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and North Asia this June with other regions to follow later. No price has been announced yet (which could be a very big factor in any potential success), but we should know for sure by the time we publish our review in the August issue of What Mobile magazine (on sale early July).
UPDATE: We now know that, come the handset’s June UK launch, it will cost £360 to buy SIM-free. Vodafone is offering it for free at £25 per month, with similar deals from rival networks to also be expected. Phones4U is also promising to have the device delivered on June 13th should you pre-order.
