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
WiFi
This go around, HTC hasn't particularly focused on improving WiFi in any specific way. While some internal documentation references a WCN3680 part inside the phone, some experimentation clearly shows that the WiFi chip used doesn't support 802.11ac. Therefore, while there isn't a direct reference to the module used, there's enough circumstantial evidence to suggest that the part used is Qualcomm's WCN3660, a dual band part that supports 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0, along with FM radio reception, which works fine on the One mini 2 courtesy of the Sense 6 FM radio application. As always, you must plug in earbuds to use FM radio.
As seen above, the One mini 2 posts a relatively strong showing for 802.11n but it isn't as fast as the WCN3680 that is found in the One (M8).
ICs
After doing some more digging on the One mini 2 and One (M8), I've found quite a bit of commonality in many areas. The first point of commonality is the NFC chip, which is an NXP PN544, which is a chip that lacks secure element capabilities in hardware and is the same chip found in the international HTC One (M7). On the speaker amplifiers, we see another NXP design win, with two TFA9887 amps that are shared with both the One (M8) and One (M7). The headphone amp is the same part on both the One (M8) and One mini 2, and I suspect that this part is the Richtek RT5506, but I haven't been able to find any information on this. I suspect that this is the same 2.55V amplifier that has been advertised in spec sheets and marketing literature by HTC, but I haven't been able to track this over a long period of time. HTC appears to be sharing the same light and proximity sensors between the One (M8) and One mini 2 as well, which is a CM36282 part by Capella Microsystems. I suspect that all of these part commonalities were used in order to try and drive down cost across the board.
GPS
GPS on the One mini 2 remains relatively fast. In my experience, from a cold start without any data connection on airplane mode, the HTC One mini 2 acquires a lock in around 20 seconds. It appears that this is using Qualcomm's gpsOne gen 8B, which is the GPS module located on the modem. Using a data connection, time to first lock is almost instantaneous as it leverages data from the modem. I see both GLONASS and GPS satellites in use, with a minimum error circle of 10 feet. It seems now that GPS is generally good across the board, so this performance is relatively unsurprising.
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beardybuck - Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - link
I just cannot understand why the Z1 Compact isn't even mentioned in reviews?Okay, I understand that as a US site the penetration of Sony is considerably less than other markets, but as an enthusiast site, it surely merits some reference?
fokka - Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - link
this article, especially the conclusion, sums up my thoughts about the mini 2 nicely. for what you get it's just priced too high and for what it should be, it just makes too many compromises.i would be extremely interested in a smaller flagship phone and think the design of the m7/m8/mini2 is second to none. but the m7 lacks expandable storage (i just ordered a 128gb sandisk...), the m8 is just too big for my taste and needs and the mini 2 has its own set of problems, as we can clearly see.
it's still a very nice phone, but for me it is too compromised (1gb of ram? really??) and much too expensive.
also, with those internals it has no right to be about the same size as the m7, plus htc would have done good if it would have implemented optional capacitive buttons on the black bar, like the 1+1. at least then we would have more available space on-screen.
AnnonymousCoward - Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - link
Why the heck did you measure camera shot time, instead of the IOPS transferring then? I mean that's your SSD measurement strategy. Just give a graph of IOPS for each model.Archipelago - Thursday, May 29, 2014 - link
I too just do not understand the lure of metal and faux metallic cellphones. Quality plastic (such as the Lumias polycarbonite) is cheaper and better and probably tougher.jnkweaver - Sunday, June 1, 2014 - link
How do you do a smartphone review and not even mention call quality? I can find no mention of using it as a phone.RDR99 - Friday, May 15, 2015 - link
I am voting with my feet .. after using HTC since their first smartphone, the HTC Mini 2 really disappointed me and HTC refused to admit that the Mini 2 is totally crippled and underpowered as a phone .. but after trying to use it for over 3 months I had enough .. recently I have delays of 15-20 seconds switching apps .. turning on the phone .. and it keeps freezing .. uninstalled loads of apps .. same result ..So .. HTC Mini 2 is such a bad phone that I just changed to a Sony Z3 compact, after switching to Sony for my Tablet (from a Samsung Note 2 which also was as slow as a crippled dog) and have been incredibly impressed by both products that all I have to say is ... Bye Bye HTC !!