On paper, the naming of the HTC I mini makes perfect sense. The mini is a mid-to-high-end aluminum-clad smartphone with a 4.3-inch display, designed for those who want a premium device without the massive size that's oft associated with its bigger and faster blood brother, besides as other Android 'superphones'.

HTC Ane mini - $480 (unlocked)

  • 4.3", 1280 x 720 IPS LCD display (341 ppi)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC
  • 1.4 GHz dual-core CPU, Adreno 305 GPU
  • one GB RAM, 16 GB internal storage
  • four MP "UltraPixel" camera, 1/3" sensor, f/2.0 lens, 1080p video
  • BoomSound, Zoe, BlinkFeed
  • one,800 mAh, 6.9 Wh battery
  • LTE, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
  • Android 4.2 'Jelly Bean'
  • 122 grams, nine.25mm thick

Of course, there are some tradeoffs that too assistance bring the price downwardly. Although the One mini includes an Ultrapixel camera, information technology doesn't take optical prototype stabilization; and despite the body mostly being formed from aluminum, some plastic has crept into the pattern. For the more technically minded, HTC has also dropped down the SoC from a Snapdragon 600 to a Snapdragon 400, which naturally will affect its operation.

But will HTC's tradeoffs have too much of an effect on the overall product, keeping information technology from being a great four.3-inch device? Or will the price exist just correct for what you're getting out of the box?

The HTC One mini used in this review was kindly provided by Negri Electronics. No matter where you lot are in the world (including Commonwealth of australia, Us, and abroad), Negri will provide you unlocked smartphones and tablets offset and for very competitive prices.

Blueprint

Fitting right into the One line-up, the HTC I mini is styled in a like fashion to the HTC One. The back panel is a curved piece of zero-gap aluminum, while the front sees aluminum covering the speakers. The brandish is protected past the usual Gorilla Glass, with the only primary divergence between the 1 and 1 mini – apart from the size - beingness the textile used around the edges.

Instead of the forepart and back of the handset coming together as one zero-gap unit of measurement, with plastic injected around the edges, the 1 mini has a less refined wait. HTC has ditched the injected polycarbonate for a Samsung-like gloss edge that appears to exist a bulwark around the phone, rather than part of a unified design. While it doesn't look every bit swish as the HTC I, the white plastic surrounds match the device'due south other highlights, and information technology's still quite functional.

A change in border cloth also brings a modify in buttons. Once again, the design feels less refined with the separated metallic volume buttons and the metallic ability push on top, only the positioning is yet good, especially for a device of this size. On the bottom the microUSB port is plant, still upside-down for some bizarre reason, and the top sees the 3.5mm headphone jack.

At 9.25mm thick, the mini isn't the slimmest phone going around, simply the natural curvature of the design hides a lot of this thickness. By and large speaking the phone feels great to hold, particularly due to the aluminum and drinking glass that makes upwards the bulk of the build. It may be a smaller and more affordable phone, but HTC hasn't skimped on incorporating a premium design, fifty-fifty if they did alter the plastic used in some sections.

Perchance the almost surprising aspect of the HTC One mini is that it'due south actually not all that mini. It'southward 5mm shorter and skinnier than the HTC Ane, and the 4.iii-inch display with a 16:ix attribute ratio, paired with BoomSound, keeps the device rather tall. The mini is considerably (9mm) taller than the iPhone 5s with its four-inch screen, and even compared to a range of other 4.3-inch devices like the Galaxy S II, the 1 mini is simply a larger device.

I know a lot of people claim 4.iii-inches (or smaller) is the perfect size for a smartphone, and the Ane mini is certainly a very nice size, but for a small footprint increment you lot tin can snag yourself a 4.seven-inch (or larger) brandish. I might understand the necessity for people to opt for the 1 mini if information technology was closer in size to an iPhone, just it isn't. In my mind, this puts the size – and in some respects the whole signal – of the One mini into question, as the phone doesn't quite live upwards to its name. Just for some, the 5mm size reduction may exist perfect.

Display

HTC has included relatively high quality displays in well-nigh of their smartphones of tardily, and the One mini is no exception. The handset includes a 4.iii-inch Super LCD two display with a resolution of 1280 10 720, giving it a pixel density of 341 ppi. Super LCD displays are an IPS TFT variant used exclusively in HTC devices, although companies such as Sony and Sharp are often responsible for their production.

IPS technology allows these displays to produce a picture with better quality than you tin can get with a TN console, while also delivering better contrast, viewing angles and ease of utilise outdoors. Super LCD displays, especially the Super LCD ii and 3, are some of the meliorate displays I've used: the HTC I features a Super LCD 3 display, and it'southward a spectacular, well-baked console to utilise, perhaps even the best I've seen. With the One mini'south panel being smaller, less pixel dense, and using engineering that's a yr old, it'south not quite upwards to the standard of the HTC I, but it'south still very practiced for its class.

The Ane mini's display, packing a 720p resolution into an area of 51 sq. cm, still features a density above 300 ppi, so individual pixels will be hard to spot unless the display is a few centimeters from your face. Photos and videos wait very crisp on the panel, and text is considerably sharper than HTC's concluding generation of devices at this size. I've been spoiled by using a range of 1080p displays recently on flagship smartphones, which are naturally a step above this brandish in terms of quality, but even directly up against these devices, the One mini's screen looks great.

I reason it looks then great is due to the colour reproduction, which in typical Super LCD manner, is true to life merely also vibrant. HTC has tuned this panel to perfection, delivering ideal white residual and deep blacks for a strong dissimilarity ratio. Like many other IPS LCD's, the color gamut is broad, and the viewing angles are very good, making it extremely like shooting fish in a barrel to come across the brandish from all angles without significant color baloney.

The area I continue to be impressed by Super LCD displays is in their ability to exist very readable outdoors, due to a combination of filter layers and minimal gaps between the brandish crystals and the Gorilla Glass. When trying to apply the HTC One mini at full effulgence in directly sunlight, bated from the small portion of the brandish that is reflecting the sun, the rest of the console is quite readable.

The display on the HTC One mini is one of the phone's best features. Even though it's smaller than a lot of the current high-end Android handsets, HTC hasn't skimped on quality, which won't leave anyone disappointed.