But the HTC One Mini 2’s 13 megapixel camera ignores some of the cool interactive editing functionality that the HTC Ultrapixel concept brought when paired with HTC Zoe, an idea which captured a few seconds of video and allowed you to remove elements from the frame, changing the image altogether than just applying small edits.
Also not here is the extra camera lens on the back of the handset, meaning you won’t get to play with any of the cool depth technologies the One M8 shipped with.
On the upside, though, you have a 13 megapixel sensor, which is more likely to be used stock and standard than with some of HTC’s neato effects that you’ll get tired of quickly on the One M8, so it’s no big loss, anyway.
While this is basically an updated and stronger One Mini, there are the odd performance lags here and there, and something missing from the One M8 that would have been a welcome inclusion.
First is the performance, and while the quad-core Snapdragon is an increase from two cores to four, there’s still lag here and there to report, with delays when you jump from apps, and a few more if you’re scrolling up and down on webpages.
It’s minor, but still noticeable, and something we suspect is happening from the 1GB RAM, which has stayed around from last year with no increases, which is a shame.
Another thing bugs us, and that’s the omission of infrared.
It wasn’t in the first One Mini, and it’s not in this one either, meaning you can’t use the pint-sized HTC One in 2014 as a remote, which is a genuine shame if you like the look and feel of the 5 inch One, but want it in a smaller size, which we’re sure there are a few people who do.
At least the company has thrown NFC in the new One Mini, something that just didn’t exist at all in last year’s, but the lack of infrared is still a touch frustrating, and is one of the things that stops the One Mini from really being what its name suggests: a miniature version of HTC’s famed One.
There’s one final thing that gets to us, and it bugs us because it was a cool feature on the One M8 that is missing here: standby gestures.
On HTC’s One M8, you could double tap the screen to wake the phone up, or swipe in from different sides in standby to turn the phone on, but those features are missing on the Mini 2. They simply don’t exist here, and neither does HTC’s cool albeit gimmicky Dot View case, which turns the One M8 into a retro pixel display that you can use the phone through.
That doesn’t exist for the One Mini 2, however, and that’s sad, since that was one of our favourite little accessories for the One M8.
Conclusion
While the name isn’t quite accurate, the HTC’s One Mini 2 gets close to offering a miniature version of HTC’s One.
If you love the look and feel of HTC’s 5 inch One but the size doesn’t quite match up, we’d look at the One Mini 2.
If that extra half an inch doesn’t matter much, the features and build differences make the HTC One M8 a better deal altogether, but if 5 inches is a deal breaker, this is one phone you’ll want to check out.
