HTC One mini Review

Design
A huge part of the HTC One's appeal is its premium build quality. Chiseled from a solid hunk of aluminum, the One doesn't flex, bend, or creak when gripped -- something lesser phones have done in my hands. The HTC One Mini definitely exuded the same level of sturdiness when I dropped the little guy into my eager paws. That sense of strength shouldn't come as a surprise, since HTC told me the One Mini also leverages unibody construction for increased durability.

The One Mini departs from its bigger brother's design in another area: its edges are lined by less expensive polycarbonate and not polished metal. The upside, says HTC, is that it takes less time and effort to create the smaller phone, which will translate into a lower expected price for consumers.

At 122 grams (4.3 ounces), the One Mini is 21 grams (0.74 ounce) lighter than the HTC One. Even so, the One Mini didn't seem to have less heft, perhaps because the gadget is more compact.

A major drawback to shaving inches off the HTC One Mini's chassis is a smaller screen. It wasn't that long ago when phones with screens larger than 4 inches across were considered gargantuan. Boy, have those days gone by. At 4.3 inches, the One Mini's display is decidedly midrange compared with the monsters now occupying store shelves.

Features, components, and camera
Despite its shrunken size the HTC One Mini offers a feature set almost identical to the HTC One (specifically the global model). The device runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with the freshest version of the company's Sense UI slathered over it. That means the BlinkFeed news aggregator still occupies the first home screen, whether you want it or not, and HTC's weather animations are sprinkled across the UI.

Be advised that the One Mini is powered by a dialed-down 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 CPU as opposed to the HTC One's beefier 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor. The scrappy gadget also has half the RAM, 1GB instead of 2GB. While the One Mini handled smoothly during my short test-drive, the watered-down processor and diminished memory are bound to negatively affect overall application speed and performance

The camera app itself is just as jam-packed with shooting modes, filters, and settings. It also has HTC's Zoe image capture and sappy video highlight abilities (which I like, by the way) onboard.

Outlook
I'm glad to see the new HTC One Mini hit the scene, since it looks to pack many of the HTC One's premium features and its design into a smaller, more manageable size. What's really interesting here is that with the entrance of the One Mini, we very well might see a repeat of the titanic battle between Samsung's Galaxy S4 and HTC's One.

Samsung has already unveiled the Galaxy S4 Mini, which, like the HTC One Mini, packs in a great many of the company's top-tier abilities but in a scaled-down and pocketable form. The S4 Mini also uses a slower dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor, though at a faster 1.7GHz compared with the HTC One Mini's 1.4GHz chip. Additionally, the S4 Mini relies on less RAM than its more powerful sibling (1.5GB instead of 2GB) but more than the HTC Mini (1GB).

The Galaxy S4 Mini takes a comparable step down in screen size and resolution as well, featuring a 4.3-inch qHD AMOLED display (960x540 pixels). Frankly it's shaping up to be a really close and interesting matchup of mini smartphones.

I do have concerns whether the One Mini is up to the task. I really hope the device won't prove too underpowered or overly pricey. I'm thinking a fair subsidized price range for the One Mini would be $89 to $129; anything higher would never fly. I also hope HTC will have the bargaining power to ensure that the One Mini will make it to multiple carriers here in the U.S. It could really beat Samsung to the punch if it can get the surly American carriers to play ball. Of course, only time will tell.