Many mobile enthusiasts hold the HTC One up has the best smartphone on the market right now. HTC have responded to this accolade by snipping bits off to create the Mini. Has it worked? If we were to look at specs alone then many will be disappointed. The HTC One Mini has a dual core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. The screen is a 4.3-inch option, running at 720p rather than the Full HD level of the original One.
The HTC One Mini has still retained the looks of its bigger brother but the biggest change has got to be the price tag, £330 - £380 depending on the contract bought with. Although this is obviously cheap for what you are getting it would have been a lot more compelling if this came in under the £250 mark. Still, in the hand it still feels every bit as premium as the HTC One.
Usually when a manufacturer makes a cheap small version everything gets just a little too watered down and you end up with a bit of a wet lettuce. Here, the Mini isn’t packing the same punch as its brother but functionality isn’t compromised and flicking between screens and apps didn’t produce any degradation in speed.
On the speaker and camera front I was amazed, both were still excellent quality which is important as these were two major selling points of the HTC One. In all this is a great device for the mid market, is it the best...it may well be! Although at the pricier end of the mid market it certainly delivers on the functionality side of things.
Positives: Camera, Size, Premium feel
Negatives: Screen not HD, Storage, Price
Nokia Lumia 625
The eye catching Lumia comes with 4G and a large screen (4.7 inches), but is it enough to woo users? If you take into consideration the £200 price tag then it might just! Now one of twelve other Lumia devices picking out this one from the crowd is going to be a difficult task.
Although a cheap price for a Windows Phone there is something rather underwhelming about the device. It comes with 512MB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage which seems a little too low for our modern world. Colours on the device seem dull and web browsing was particularly patchy in the vision department. On the flip side you can change the colour of your cover if you get bored of your particular shade of garish.
The best thing I can say about this phone is the 4G functionality, unfortunately being a citizen of the UK means unless I live in a particular place and am with EE I can’t test this out. Although this is only a temporary situation in the UK in terms of coverage it has been suggested that the British just aren’t that fussed about 4G right now.
So, who is this phone for? I would be surprised if it rattled the business market but I have been wrong before. If we have established that 4G and interchangeable covers aren’t really a USP then what else is there? Not much unfortunately.
Positives: Price, 4G, MicroSD slot (64Gb)
Negatives: Feel, Sluggish, No NFC