REVIEW: What Happens When You Take The Best Android Phone In The World, Shrink It, And Sell It For Half The Price?
Now it has a smaller, cheaper version of that phone called the HTC One Mini. It's half the price of its big brother, but it still has most of the same software features along with that gorgeous metal design. You can get it on AT&T for $100 with a two-year contract.
The HTC One Mini is nearly identical to the full-sized One, just a bit smaller. It has a 4.3-inch screen, versus the 4.7-inch screen on the big One. (Yes, the "mini" version of the HTC One is still bigger than the iPhone. So if you want a bigger screen for half the price of an iPhone 5S, this is a pretty good option.)
The downside? The Mini's screen has a lower resolution and isn't as bright and vibrant. There's also bit more plastic trim on the One Mini, but it's still solid and well-built. The One Mini is easily one of the most beautiful smartphones you can buy today.
Hardware-wise, the only major things missing are the infrared blaster that can double as a universal remote for your TV and the NFC chip that lets you tap your phone against special sensors for mobile payments or swapping photos. But both are features most people won't care about anyway. Other than that, it's pretty much the same device as before.
Like most Android manufacturers, HTC took Google's software and added its own modifications. The biggest change is called Blinkfeed, an app that acts as your default home screen and pulls in stories and photos from your social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. HTC's feeling is that people want to see news and social updates first instead of accessing their individual apps.
Blinkfeed is pretty. It pulls in stuff in an attractive photo-intensive feed and makes it easy to jump in and catch up on news. But I'm still not a fan of the app as the default for the home screen. I prefer for my home screen to be full of my favorite apps, not news and tweets and photos that I may not care about. Fortunately, you can hide Blinkfeed as your default home screen in the settings menu.
The One Mini also has the same camera features as the big One. It takes good photos in low-light environments and has a feature called Zoe in the camera software that stitches together images and video into a sort of living album. The camera is only 4 megapixels, but it has a special sensor that pulls in more light to help you take better photos. (Megapixels refers to the size of the image, not necessarily the quality. In this case, 4 megapixels is good enough for most people.)
In conclusion, the HTC One Mini is a great phone and a tremendous value. If you want to save yourself $100 and enjoy most of the same features as HTC's bigger flagship phone, you'll be tickled with the One Mini.