HTC One Mini 2 review

While its name may suggest this phone is the successor to HTC’s original One Mini, the One Mini 2 is the diminutive follow-up to the HTC One (m8). With no Mini version of the Samsung Galaxy S5 currently in sight, the One Mini 2 is an enticing prospect for those that want a great-looking handset for much less than the full-size version.

Cosmetically, the One Mini 2 and the (m8) look very similar. They both have the same gorgeous aluminium design and each runs Android 4.4 KitKat with HTC’s latest Sense 6 interface laid over the top. This means the One Mini 2 benefits from all the same HTC-exclusive apps as the (m8), including Blinkfeed and the forthcoming Zoe camera app. The only notable app missing on the One Mini 2 is HTC’s TV app, which turned the (m8) into a remote control and TV listing screen for your home cinema system.

As with most cut-down versions of flagship handsets, there’s always a concern that these phones are all style and no substance. The original One Mini managed to strike a good balance between top-class design and decent hardware, but we feel the One Mini 2 may have taken one too many shortcuts in order to justify its price.

The One Mini 2’s 4.5in 1,280×720-resolution screen is one of the more immediate changes compared to the (m8)’s larger Full HD display, but this is still more than enough pixels for this kind of screen size. With a pixel density of 326 pixels-per-inch, the screen is just as sharp as an iPhone 5C, and the One Mini 2’s Sense 6 UI looked sharp and crisp. We weren’t able to read text on desktop-based websites without squinting, though, so you’ll probably have to zoom in when browsing the web.

Sadly, the screen’s overall image quality was less impressive. We measured sRGB colour gamut coverage to be just 85.9 per cent, which is what we’d expect to see from a budget phone, not a mid-range handset. Colours looked noticeably more washed out when we compared it side by side to the Motorola Moto X’s AMOLED panel, and whites had a bluish tinge to them despite a high peak brightness of 450.2cd/m2. Blacks also appeared a little grey with our measured black level of 0.35cd/m2, but this is around what we’d typically expect from an LCD panel.

Thankfully, the screen’s contrast levels were better. We measured a contrast ratio of 1,289:1, and our darker test images showed plenty of detail. This didn’t help the screen’s narrow viewing angles, though, as the screen became noticeably darker when we set it down on a table compared to when we were looking at it face-on. It was still bright enough to see the screen clearly, but we found it difficult to read lots of text on HTC’s Blinkfeed news reader, for instance, unless we were holding the phone in our hand.

PERFORMANCE

The One Mini 2’s biggest compromise is its internal hardware. While its quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor is by no means slow, the Snapdragon 400 is also used in the considerably cheaper Motorola Moto G. Admittedly, the One Mini 2 was slightly faster in the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark, completing it in 1,185ms compared to the Moto G’s 1,410ms.

We could see the difference in day-to-day web browsing. When scrolling through desktop-based sites such as The Guardian, we noticed a perceptible lag between us swiping down on the screen and the One Mini 2 responding accordingly. Panning around zoomed in pages was also a little jerky, but our biggest annoyance was how the browser kept highlighting text when we simply wanted to move round the screen. This didn’t happen very often, but it was frustrating nevertheless.

The One Mini 2’s graphics performance was also sub-par for a phone at this price. With a score of 5,634 (roughly 23fps) in 3DMark’s Ice Storm test and 2,855 (about 15fps) in Ice Storm Extreme, the One Mini 2 should be able to handle most apps in the Google Play Store, but it pales in comparison to the power of other mid-range handsets such as the Moto X and Nexus 5. In Epic Citadel, for example, the One Mini 2 struggled to produce more than an average frame rate of 34.4fps on Ultra High quality settings at a 1,200×720 resolution. This is around the same as the Moto G, but the Moto X and Nexus 5 both scored over 54fps on the same quality settings.

CAMERA

The One Mini 2 has a single 13-megapixel camera rather than the HTC One M8’s unique Duo Camera. While it may not be one of HTC’s Ultra Pixel sensors, it has a huge range of settings which make it almost as flexible as a traditional compact camera. With eleven different picture modes available, including HDR, Night, Sweep Panorama and Macro modes, we were also pleased that you could adjust the ISO settings, EV, lighting conditions and add filters to your shots.

In Auto mode, the colours in our outdoor shots were murky and underexposed compared to shots we took on the Moto X at the same time. Shadows were much darker and even shots we took in bright sunshine looked dim and overcast. The sky was exposed much better than other mid-range cameras we’ve tested, though, showing plenty of cloud detail without too many patches of blinding white light. There was also very little noise present. However, we did notice that object outlines weren’t as sharp and defined on the One Mini 2 as the images we took on the Moto X. Outlines had been smoothed out slightly and almost looked a little blurred, giving everything less of a defined edge.

In overcast conditions, the HTC One Mini 2’s camera produced very dark, murky colours

Colour accuracy improved in sunnier weather, but shots still looked quite muted

This was shot at the same time as the photo above, but with HDR turned on, producing much brighter, more natural looking colours

When we switched to HDR mode our pictures looked a lot brighter, with more natural colours. We didn’t see too many signs of artificial compression, either. It’s a shame we had to enable HDR to get decent pictures, as we think the Moto X took better photos using its default mode when we compared them side by side with the One Mini 2’s HDR shots.

Shadows were gloomy even in bright sunshine

With HDR turned on, images brightened up considerably

BATTERY LIFE

Battery life was good but not exceptional. The HTC One Mini 2’s 2,110mAh battery lasted 11 hours and 14 minutes in our continuous video playback test, which is roughly two hours less than the (m8). This is great for a mid-range handset, but it’s beaten once again by the Moto X which lasted for twelve and a half hours.

The HTC One Mini 2 is certainly a good looking phone, and is far more desirable than any other mid-range handset, but when its underlying hardware is essentially the same as a Motorola Moto G, it feels overpriced. The One Mini 2’s camera is a definite step up from most lower-end phones, but ultimately the One Mini 2 is a pale imitation of the original One M8. If you’re looking for a great value phone, the award-winning Motorola Moto X and Google Nexus 5 are much better buys.