The market for top-level mobile phones is already practically incomprehensible without the presence of a squire; of a team that comes to represent the spirit of the flagship of this or that firm, but with a slightly lighter technical profile and, above all, with a size that makes it worthy of the mini surname, even when it may be a little too large. In this line the HTC One Mini moves, the device that takes advantage of the inertia of its older brother rescuing the same design to focus on another type of audience.
Indeed, this HTC One Mini is not geared towards the same user as the HTC One. Price is important to begin with. The small great team of the Taiwanese can be obtained for about 420 euros in free format, while the HTC One costs 600 euros. At the moment, the operators have not started to market it, so the disbursement of that sum is the only way to get hold of it. The benefits go hand in hand with that price difference, determining the nature of the upper-middle-range phone of this HTC One Mini. Let's see what impressions it gets after using it for a few days.
To begin with, the feeling it transmits in the hand is undoubtedly one of the most successful achievements in the transfer that has been intended from the HTC One to the HTC One Mini. The design is, although adapted, practically the same; solid, comfortable and compact, the HTC One Mini has a slightly longer format than the reference terminal in this manufacturer's catalog, defined mainly by a 4.3-inch screen with 720p resolution that successfully passes the test.
It does not equal the excellent experience of the HTC One in this section, but it does not deserve any criticism, given the strategy that this HTC One Mini intends to cover. It also carries the latest HTC Sense layer for Android, which integrates the very interesting feed section. This is neither more nor less than an option to have on screen the news and updates of our contacts in social networks, as well as links to headlines and news of all those contents that interest us most.
Perhaps it is not as fluid as one might wish in the transitions between screens, and this despite (and perhaps precisely because of) the presence of a dual-core processor (the Snapdragon 400 at 1.4 GHz). In any case, this subjective lack of fluidity is not something especially alarming in the HTC One Mini, and just in case we keep too many applications running in the background the situation can become something to take into account.
The configuration and customization options are very good and complete, something that is always to be applauded on HTC phones. From the first moment we can carry out a complete import of data from another computer via Bluetooth, and if for whatever reason we want to postpone this task, from the settings menu we can resume the process whenever we want. On the other hand, the Sense layer allows us to install icons, folders and floating windows ( widgets ) in the main layer, a classic on Android devices.
The multimedia experience also responds with solvency. To start talking about this, turn to review the camera four ultrapíxeles. The ultra-pixel thing is neither more nor less than a technology that uses larger photoreceptors, so opting to better manage light instead of resulting in especially large images. And what kind of results do you get? Pretty good.
The captured photos do not have too much noise, and the contours of the objects are well defined, without excessive blur; the color treatment is reasonably good too. Not that it's a camera to shoot rockets, especially compared to other units on the market, but the answer will satisfy your target audience. In video mode it allows filming up to 1080p, and together with the photographic function you can make smart albums of contents thanks to the Zoe function. It is a really interesting utility, both for storing the captured content and for adding editing resources and improving the results.
One of the points where few reproaches can be made to HTC mobiles "" at least, to those of the highest rank "" is the background of compatible multimedia files. The HTC One Mini responds to practically any need in this regard, and in fact when listening to music, either with Beats headphones or using its integrated stereo output on the front of the device, we will enjoy one of the best experiences in this regard that we can find in today's smartphone landscape: put the HTC One Mini at full volume and with the bass boost activated it is reckless, thundering at a very high level and, most interestingly, without obvious loss of quality "" as long as the source file has sufficient sharpness and a low compression level or null ””.
By using the device in its options focused on the online experience, few complaints about it could be made. The HTC One Mini is very well connected, and the Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G options work with welcome correction. Those who have become accustomed to using NFCto transfer files between terminals, you will notice the absence of the proximity communication sensor. The use of web resources is quite good: the integrated online browser responds without too much latency, and the utilities that require a controlled upload and download of data have a behavior that falls within the expected. In this sense, when we check on any device that something is wrong when using web functions, the experience becomes clear, but it is not the case with the HTC One Mini, so discretion becomes a value in this terminal.
Finally, and before recapitulating, we have to talk about autonomy. The manufacturer assures that it can last more than thirteen hours in conversation, expanding its capacity to almost 700 hours at rest. The truth is that the HTC One Mini can hold us longer than a device from the last generation would, but if we give it moderate use "" some calls, regular consultation of social networks and email accounts, some online browsing and maybe a few minutes dedicated to games or other applications ””, we will not get rid of the daily ritual of putting the phone to charge on the bedside table. Or maybe even before.
In short, the HTC One Mini is a phone that, although it has many advantages "" its design, its multimedia options, the great interface that is installed on Android 4.2 "", also suffers from a series of problems. For starters, its price. Overcoming the barrier of 400 euros places it in a somewhat worrisome no-man's-land: too expensive to be a mid-range and not so solvent as to compete with equipment such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 or Nokia Lumia 925, which already move in that range. of prices. On the other hand, despite the screen size (4.3 inches) being smaller than the HTC One (4.7 inches), it cannot reproduce the same feeling of clarity and quality of this one. Normal, on the other hand: the difference in density is more than obvious. That is, in fact, one of the great assets of the high-end that is lost in the transposition that the HTC One Mini represents.
In any case, and speaking in general terms, the HTC One Mini is an interesting and highly recommended terminal if we are interested in having a powerful device with that size and solid design, although the price is not quite attractive. Its construction is impeccable, and the graphical environment through which we move to use it is comfortable and intuitive, although a little more agility in the transitions between screens or managing the step from application to application would have been appreciated.
