HTC One mini

Available now
18th July 2013

The existing HTC One is one of the clear leaders in the smartphone market, with an impressive combination of good looks and advanced features that make it quite a bit different from more mundane rivals. However, it's quite a big device and with a retail price of around €550 it is pretty expensive too.

So, a smaller and presumably cheaper alternative is the HTC One mini. Although it looks very much like the HTC One, the mini has a 4.3" display rather than a 4.7" one and is about 10% smaller and 15% lighter. And although HTC haven't said, we think that the mini will be €100 or more cheaper too.

Inside is a dual-core 1.4GHz CPU with 1GB of RAM, which is a lot less than the HTC One and even the rival Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini manages better than that. On the other hand, the display is a 720 x 1280 pixel HD panel which is much better than the Samsung. The 4 megapixel "ultrapixel" camera on the back is essentially the same as the HTC One and despite the relatively low pixel count it has been given very positive reviews as being one of the best on the market, and there's a 1.6 megapixel one on the front for video calling.

The HTC One mini is a fair bit bigger than the Samsung, but where the One mini retains the gorgeous design of the One, the S4 Mini looks like every other Samsung and is quite bland. However, the Samsung is more compact and does come with a bigger battery.

The operating system is Android 4.2.2 plus the enhancements from the One, including Blinkfeed, HTC Zoe and enhanced audio playback through the front-facing speakers. The operating system has been given a unique HTC makeover and looks very fresh compared with stock installations.

Although this is an attractive and capable device, it really isn't just a shrunk down version of the HTC One. Instead, this is a premium midrange device which competes directly against the Galaxy S4 Mini. Which one you choose is up to you, although the 720p display and attractive design would swing us behind the HTC.

HTC say that the One mini will be available in some markets from August and then worldwide from September. No guidance was given on price, but our estimates are that the One mini should cost between €400 and €450 SIM-free.