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HTC One Mini 2
27-May-2014

Technology World

Here we are again. The first in what is expected to be a slew of new miniaturised flagship devices has arrived, and it's HTC first to the shrink ray with the confusingly named HTC One Mini 2.

Okay, so the name does make sense if you look at last year's HTC One Mini, but considering the Taiwanese firm backed itself into a naming corner with the One M8 the One Mini 2 is only adding to the mixed up terminology. Perhaps the HTC One M8 Mini would have been a more sensible name, but it's no more elegant. To be clear the One Mini 2 is a shrunken version of the excellent HTC One M8 - although the design of the handset gives that away almost instantly.

Glance quickly at the One Mini 2 and you'd be forgiven for thinking it's the full blown One M8. It's a lot closer in design to its bigger brother than the original One Mini was to the HTC One.

The plastic band which ran round the circumference of the One Mini persists on the One Mini 2, but HTC has done a much better job of hiding it. You're unlikely to notice it unless you look at the top or base of the handset.

At these two points the plastic rim widens to cover the whole depth of the One Mini 2, but down each side it's pushed into a thin strip by the metal rear cover which hugs either edge.

That brushed metal finish on the rear of the device feels supremely premium and the curved back means the One Mini 2 nestles nicely into the palm while the condensed size makes it a lot easier to hold on to. Interestingly the One Mini 2 is actually thicker than both the One M8 (9.4mm) and the One Mini (9.3mm) coming in at a chunky 10.6mm - although the rounded corners and arched back do well to hide the fact. Owners of the original HTC One will be puzzled to find that the One Mini 2 is actually the same height (137.4mm) thanks to the rounded finish employed in the handset's design, although it is narrower at 65mm.

I found that the reduced width (although it is an increase over the One Mini) made it easier to reach all areas of the 4.5-inch display during one handed operation. The build quality is close to top notch and it really does feel like a smaller One M8, although I did find the nanoSIM tray on the left of the device didn't sit completely flush with the case. It's very slightly raised at one end, and every now and then I'd run a finger over it and it would detract from the overall experience. Not a big issue, and something which may be addressed in future production batches.

Over on the right side of the HTC One Mini 2 there's a volume rocker switch sitting just below another tray. Like the One M8, this second tray is for a microSD card, allowing you to expand on the 16GB of internal storage. Some may find it a little bit annoying that you'll need a tool to pop the tray out and access the microSD slot, as you may not have one when out and about, but again it's a small price to pay for the superior design. With under 12GB of the internal storage available to you, the fact the microSD slot can take cards up to 128GB in size means you won't have to worry as much about running out of space - although apps can make up a pretty meaty chunk quite quickly.

The One Mini 2 arrives in three colours; gunmetal grey, amber gold and glacial silver - the latter being the hero colour for the original HTC One and One Mini. On my gunmetal grey review unit the volume rocker switch on the right is actually glacial silver. Initially HTC said this was a defect that would only effect early batches of the grey handset, but the company has since confirmed that all future gunmetal grey One Mini 2s will have the silver volume key.

HTC's Blinkfeed news and social aggregator makes the transition down from the One M8, and if you've used the original One or One Mini the good news is it has been greatly improved. Blinkfeed is worked into HTC's Sense 6 overlay on the One Mini 2, and it can be easily accessed with a left swipe from your home screen. You can choose to have Blinkfeed set as your default home screen too, so every time you hit the home key you'll be taken there instead of to the more traditional layout of apps and widgets.

There's even an option to jump straight into Blinkfeed from the lockscreen of the One Mini 2 - so you shouldn't have any trouble locating it on the handset.

Don't expect this service to chuck you excellent articles and updates right from the word go though. Blinkfeed, at times, can be a tedious collection of Twitter updates and Facebook statuses, but the more you read and refine the more it will adjust to your tastes and offer up relevant content.

HTC has added more content feeds to Blinkfeed on the One Mini 2, providing a far greater range of articles to read. When you do find something you want to read, tap it and you're taken to a clean layout which removes the annoying page furniture found on websites for a pure reading experience. The side swiping interface feels pleasant under the thumb and I was easily able to skip between articles and access the menu to jump between topic areas. As was noted in the One M8 review, Blinkfeed isn't perfect and the sheer volume of social data that's pulled in from the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube can become a little frustrating at times.

One of the big sticking points with the original HTC One Mini was its battery life, as it failed to impress and limped towards a charger towards the end of the day. In fact the HTC One wasn't particularly brilliant in the battery department either, but things improved considerably with the One M8 - thanks in part to the Snapdragon 801 processor housed inside.