The HTC One (M8) is my current pick for best smartphone of the year (so far). The premium metal design, coupled with the BoomSound speakers and top of the line specs had me sold as soon as I saw it. I actually went out and bought two of them! I did wonder about the necessity of all of this expensive hardware for someone who doesn’t use their phones as much. There wasn’t a smaller option, if you wanted the latest from HTC with the slick design and BoomSound speakers, you had to go big or go home. Thankfully, HTC has come up with another oddly named device to fit the needs of those who just don’t need as much phone as the M8 provides.
The Little Brother
The device is called the HTC One Mini 2 because it is the second Mini version of the HTC One flagship. At least the M8 hasn’t been included, that would have been an outright mess. Despite this, the Mini 2 does truly shine as a budget smartphone to compete with the likes of the Moto X and Nexus 5. It actually sacrifices very little in the way of looks, it retains the mostly aluminum chassis and the BoomSound speakers, although HTC claims there is quite a percentage difference in regards to the amount of metal in the actual phone. Even with such a discrepancy, you wouldn’t notice just by looking at it. It retains the nice subtle curve of the back while losing the functionality of the depth sensor. Even though you lose the adaptive focus of the camera, it actually makes the back of the phone look a bit better than the M8.
The Specs
Now, the Mini 2 does not keep the same specs as the M8 simply because there’s not enough room to keep all of the high powered components. That said, with the smaller screen size with lower resolution help it to run with just as much fluidity as its big brother. Coupled with the still included microSD slot and 5 megapixel front facing camera, you still get to keep most of the basic functionality that was so nice on the M8. The rear camera is now a 13 megapixel standard lens, not the Ultrapixel that HTC loves so much. In the end, you are sacrificing a few things but you already know about that caveat because it is a less expensive phone overall. You have a great looking phone running the latest software on specs that aren’t the top of the line but definitely work well for the size of the phone. If you want the looks of the M8 but don’t like the size or the price, the Mini 2 is the phone for you!