The long rumoured and heavily leaked HTC One Mini has finally gone official. Filling the space left by the HTC One S, the One mini will be sporting a smaller display and more modest specs, when compared to its bigger brother and flagship, the HTC One. While the design and the looks are almost exactly the same as the One, the internals are different with predictable cost cutting done in the favour of a lower price. So, in any case, this isn’t a smaller flagship like most people expect it to be. While the camera is the same 4MP UltraPixel camera as the One, it loses the OIS functionality, and if you are keen enough to notice the lack of a vertical band above the camera, which is now occupied by the flash, there is no NFC on this either.
Taking a look at the official picture and several leaked pictures before, it is clear that the One Mini is has more plastic than the One. It doesn’t seem to be that highly polished aluminium slab like the One, but it does sport a similar unibody design with polycarbonate wrapping around to the front more than on the One.
Build quality aside, the One Mini seems much like the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini, may be better, in terms of a specs downgrade from a flagship. Here are the full specifications of the device –
- 4.3 inch 720p LCD – Same as the HTC 8X
- Thickness – 9.25mm Weight – 122g – Lighter than the One
- 1/3″ CMOS 4 MP camera, 1.6 MP front facing camera, no OIS
- 1.4 GHz Snapdragon 400 MSM8930 with Adreno 305
- 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage
- Dual front facing speakers, HDR dual mics, dedicated amplifier for headphones
- Android 4.2.2 with Sense 5
- 1800 mAH battery
Some key things to note here are the good advantages for a mid range phone. 16 GB of memory and the same custom 4MP UltraPixel camera being retained from the HTC One is good, and that includes the dual front facing speakers will boom sound, HDR dual mics and the 1.6 MP Front facing camera. But the 1 GB of RAM, a slower processor and a smaller display are some things compromised for the cost, but having said that, the 4.3 inch 720p display is brilliant, as noted with the HTC 8x. The 1800 mAH rating of the battery is also quite worrying but the One is known for its battery life, and we hope that’s the case on the One Mini too.
Overall, the One Mini seems to be a perfect mass market device that can reach price points the One cannot, and doesn’t need to. The One mini will bring a lot of One’s touted features and that is definitely a good thing, but the availability, which is the most key factor for a much leaked launch, is slated for September for several American and European markets, and there are no details of price. We hope this device comes to India soon, as HTC has almost dried up its portfolio here, and has let way for many countless other manufacturers. Will this revive HTC’s fortunes, at least in India? Lets see.