HTC One mini 2 Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Joshua Ho on May 26, 2014 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- HTC
- Mobile
- One mini 2
Final Words
The < $400 smartphone market is expected to grow tremendously over the coming years. With the One mini 2, HTC targets the upper end of the midrange segment - betting on the style and materials that sell its high end smartphones working at lower price points as well.
The One mini 2's design, material and build quality are all excellent. For some, the mini 2's size may even be preferrable to the bigger M8. In the transition to a lower price point, the mini 2 does lose a good amount of metal but the device doesn't feel substantially worse for it. I don't know that there's a better feeling smartphone priced below $400. It's clear that the One mini 2's design is its biggest selling point.
While the industrial and material design is equal to the One (M8) and great for the asking price, the value proposition loses strength once we look at the rest of the components. Starting with the camera, although promising on the surface, it's underperforming compared to last year's flagships. While the camera quality is most definitely better than what you can find in the Moto G, it’s a far cry from the LG G2, and is slightly worse than the Samsung Galaxy S4 in this department. It’s hard not to suggest that the OmniVision sensor may also have a part in this, as low light sensitivity is quite poor. Overall, for the price that HTC is asking, the LG G2 is a far better choice when it comes to camera.
It’s not just the camera that has issues for the asking price, the display is too. In short, the poor color accuracy across the board, excessively blue white point, and obvious oversaturation makes this display a disappointment. This is especially surprising because for the longest time in the Android space, HTC led the way when it came to display quality. Now, rather than continuing to push the bar in display accuracy, HTC has stagnated in this department, and even regressed. It’s obvious that HTC is still using high quality panels with low color shift with viewing angle changes and generally high brightness, but the accuracy simply isn’t there. At the same time, Google, Samsung, LG, and others in the Android space continue to push their displays towards even higher standards of accuracy and panel quality. Even if the calibration out of the box isn’t intended to be accurate at all, most of these OEMs provide some way to get an accurate calibration in the display settings. HTC would do well to offer the same options.
In the SoC department, while performance is good, it’s not much of an improvement from last year, and compared to the other phones in this segment, it’s just not enough. Snapdragon 410 would’ve been much more interesting and likely a better fit for the price, but as it is, this should be priced near the Moto G LTE, not the LG G2.
It may just be that I am too demanding. After all, this is ultimately a decent phone. The sound experience is still just as good as it is on the One (M8), battery life is solid, the display’s panel quality is still good despite the poor calibration, the in hand feel and design is one of the best on the market, and performance is acceptable, although not great. The biggest issue that this phone has is price. I started this section with the assertion that this phone is emblematic of the problem that HTC has with the One mini line, and this is where it shows. The One mini 2 is torn between high end materials and lower cost internals, what it's lacking is balance. Give the mini 2 a better calibrated display, a slightly better camera and a higher performing SoC, and I think we'd be closer to a balanced device at this price point. Alternatively, at a lower price point the One mini 2 would be an obvious upsell over a Moto G LTE. As it stands, the One mini 2 is stuck between those two worlds.
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devione - Monday, May 26, 2014 - link
Why, oh why, can't more manufacturers follow the Sony Z1 Compact route..Johnmcl7 - Monday, May 26, 2014 - link
I'd be interested to see the sales figures for the Z1 Compact in Europe where the phone is widely available to see if Sony's strategy of producing a flagship phone with a smaller screen has worked out for them. On paper the phone looks pretty much exactly what everyone has been wanting for a while in Android with a top end SoC, camera, micro SD, decent screen even weather sealing and without much compromise either as the price is reasonable as is the batterylife. It makes a complete mockery of the HTC Mini 2 as they both appear to be a similar price despite the Sony being a much more capable device.Yet I've not seen anyone with a Z1 Compact despite plenty of other Android phones and I've hardly seen any second hand for sale (I want a cheap one for going out cycling) whereas there's quite a few S5's around even though it's only recently released. I realise none of that's statistically relevant hence I'd like to see the sales data.
I do think Sony were too slow releasing the Z1 Compact, I think if they'd released it around two years after the Galaxy S2 they'd have been in the perfect position to catch those who wanted a similar sized phone with top end specs. I knew quite a few people who had S2's and didn't want an S4 due to the increase in size however as there wasn't anything suitable in a smaller form factor with Android they went with the S4 and find the size is fine.
A few friends and family have 'mini' phones particularly the S3 Mini and S4 Mini but they didn't just want a smaller phone they also wanted a cheap phone so wouldn't have considered a Z1 Compact if available.
Laxaa - Monday, May 26, 2014 - link
My brother just bought the Z1 Compact, and it's an impressive piece of kit. I only wish it had OIS and a better camera app(like Nokia Camera on the Lumias)Death666Angel - Monday, May 26, 2014 - link
From the article: "HTC then proceeded to launch the One mini, a phone that was the size that everyone had been asking for"From Johnmcl7: " On paper the phone looks pretty much exactly what everyone has been wanting for a while in Android".
Really? Everyone wanted a phone like that? I didn't. I was fine with 4.3" in my SGS2 when the iPhone established the 3.x" form factor. I liked my 4.65" Galaxy Nexus when that was becoming the norm and I like the 5.2" LG G2 which is doesn't feel much larger than the GN. So count me out of that "everyone" group, please. Not everyone is looking for smaller flag ship phones, just like not everyone is looking for microSD card slots, replaceable batteries or phones made out of aluminum. Some are, others aren't. I'm someone who is fine with lugging around his Nexus 7 when I'm wearing a jacket. The 5.2" G2 fits perfectly fine in all my trousers and I have never thought "bly me, that size is really bothering me".
Johnmcl7 - Monday, May 26, 2014 - link
OK, wrong turn of speech - my own phone is a Sony Z Ultra (6.4in screen) so I certainly appreciate the benefits of a larger screen.fokka - Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - link
i'm really happy for you and you're right, not "everyone" wants all those things you list. the problem is that for people who are happy with 5"+ phones there already are many options - the whole flagship-segment caters to them.but for those who want all the power in a slightly smaller form factor there is exactly one viable offering - not much considered the dozens/hundreds of models on the market. and even this lonely smartphone will be "obsolete" in a matter of months, considering the specs of current and coming flagships.
in a market like this, i think it's clear and also warranted, that people are complaining. but even if we aren't "everybody", it's still important that we voice our opinions. sorry if you felt collateralized ;)
sfuzzz - Monday, May 26, 2014 - link
I feel exactly the same. Z1 Compact is a great phone (with some flaws like other) and the right size for everyday life, you don't have to carry a bag or a jacket only for your phone. I own a Nexus 5, coming from a Xperia U (perfect size for me) and this summer will see if i go mad feeling it in my pockets all day. As for the sales (of Z1 compact) It's difficult to tell the real figures, here in Italy is available for 450/420 euros or less, but anything that is not Samsung or iPhone is a "niche" phone. I own a N5, my sister owns a Moto G, and we are considered some kind of "geeks" only for that :)Gich - Monday, May 26, 2014 - link
4xCortex-A7 can't keep up with 2xKrait 200 on benchmarks that do stress all core... and it should be worst on "normal" apps.Isn't this... very bad?
Gich - Monday, May 26, 2014 - link
Also "it’s not much of an improvement"? I feel is more of a step back.tipoo - Monday, May 26, 2014 - link
Yeah, I'd take dual krait over any number of A7 cores any day.