In 2013, the "truncated" version of the flagship M8 from Taiwanese manufacturer of mobile gadgets HTC first appeared. The model is called the NTS One mini. And a year later, his "elder brother" entered the market - the NTS One mini 2, the characteristics of which will be presented in this article. Actually, we will consider this device in today's review.
Note that brand fans should not be upset. HTC One Mini 2, the characteristics of which will be presented below, is recognizable both in design and in interface. Yes, and according to the philosophy of HTC, everything here is as before, although keeping up with the times.
A bit about the various "mini"
By and large, now all the major manufacturers of smartphones are making "younger" versions of their flagships. Why is this done? The answer is extremely simple - to increase the target audience of buyers. After all, not everyone can afford to lay out 30 thousand rubles, or even more, for the most “sophisticated” phone model of any brand.
And there are practically no expenses for advertising, because the name is well known. And if the manufacturer in advertising claims that this is a completely new model, do not believe it! This is cunning.
By the way, our today's HTC One Mini 2, the characteristics of which you can find a little lower, costs a little more than 20 thousand, which is also a lot. What are similar models? This is actually a simplified version of the flagship. No more.
Everything is relative
The camera is weaker, fewer processor cores, the processor itself is less productive and was developed a couple of years ago, less internal memory and RAM. So much for the “new” model. But not everything is as deplorable as it seems at first glance. Of course, this does not affect the quality of the gadget itself.
If we compare the first Onemini and the device considered in this article, we can note the following: the manufacturer increased the battery capacity, the screen became a little larger by 0.2 inches. And the most important thing (and it has long been painful for NTS) is the rejection of supercosmic pixels in the camera and a return to 13 megapixels, which are traditional for this class of smartphones.
But first things first.
HTC One Mini 2. Specifications
Network: GSM / EDGE / GPRS / WCDMA / HSPA, as well as 4G / LTE with standard operating frequencies. It is worth noting that if you do not often visit the United States, then through the engineering menu it is better to turn off the work at a frequency of 850 MHz. It, by the way, is designed to work only in American networks, turning it off, you will save battery power.
Screen: 4.5 ”HD. Although not 1080 r, 720 is enough for such a diagonal.
Operating System: Newfangled Android KitKat. If in numbers, then 4.2.2. This version has a pretty beautiful interface, although many complain about the excessive diversity of design. But this is an amateur.
Processor: 4 cores of 1.2 GHz. Absolutely justified solution. There is not even a hint of “slowdown”. Everything works quickly and smoothly.
GPU: Adreno Z05. There are no surprises.
RAM: 1 GB, internal: 16 gigabytes. Here is another difference from just a “mini” - a slot for a memory card up to 128 GB.
Camera: 13 and 5 megapixels in, respectively, the main and front. Finally, the manufacturer “played enough” of the incomprehensible (hence the controversial) camera values in past models.
Battery: 2100 mAh, which is the average among “single-gadgets”, although more could be done. But here it is all about the correct calibration of the battery. The more accurate it is, the longer the charge lasts at such values. The battery is not removable.
According to the manufacturer, the smartphone’s talk time in 3G networks is 16 hours 20 minutes, and in standby mode - about 560 hours.
And finally: navigation - and “their” GPS, and “ours” GLONASS. There is a radio. Weight: 137 grams. The length of the smartphone is 137.4 mm, the width is 65, and the thickness is 10.6 mm.
Grace and convenience. Reached?
The design is stylish, no questions asked. Metal is doing its job. Today it is one of the most elegant and at the same time practical smartphones. There are opinions that such a design is akin to a thermos, but this is not so. Against the background of the closest competitors from South Korea, the smartphone HTC One Mini 2, the price of which is about 20 thousand rubles, certainly looks more advantageous.
To simplify and reduce the cost of production, the body was made not entirely metal. At the edges there are plastic linings. But we saw this on the previous model. And although this solution somewhat spoils the view, if you imagine it completely metal, obviously nothing will get better.
The main color of the case is metallic gray. Dark gray, if you speak Russian. But two more colors are available: light silver and amber gold. However, the first option is the main one for the model and it is more common on the device market.
Ergonomic sensations
The HTC One Mini 2 smartphone, the price of which has now reached the mark of 20 thousand rubles, is quite conveniently located in the hand thanks to the pronounced convexity of the back cover. But here are the general dimensions ... Not quite a “mini", because the height is almost the same as the flagship HTC M7, but a bit narrower.
Also visually, the dimensions increase the large frames around the perimeter of the screen. And the bottom bar with the name HTC in general is an incomprehensible solution, because the control buttons are virtual ...
The power button for some reason is made at the top and left. It’s also a strange decision, because it’s inconvenient ... But otherwise everything is standard and familiar. The volume key is located on the right, the charger input is on the bottom, and the 3.5 headphone jack is on the top. SIM slots and a storage card are located on the sides.
Of the amenities - speakers on the front panel, below. You can’t cover it with your fingers. And, of course, chic sound. The best sound in the world of smartphones, no options. Clean and loud, bravo, NTS!
A little about the "stuffing"
Despite the fact that the HTC One Mini 2 phone, reviews of which you can find below, has “insides” not the most advanced, the smoothness of the interface allows us not to notice this. Sense technology is called, and this is another successful development of HTC.
1 gigabyte of “RAM” allows you to play fairly demanding games, without any problems surfing the Internet and social networks. Recall that 16 GB of internal memory can be increased using a microSD card to 128. The first “mini” also had 16 gigabytes of memory, but without the possibility of expanding it.
By default, the user has about 11 GB of memory available, the rest is “eaten up” by the Android operating system.
The processor itself is from the manufacturer Qualcomm, not the most modern, as mentioned above, but with excellent smoothness Sense is imperceptible. And since our beloved company abandoned the infrared port, it will not work to control home electronics through special applications. For better or worse, everyone will decide for himself.
Opportunity management
Thanks to Android KitKat, undoubtedly one of the best versions to date, applications (and the smartphone itself) can easily be customized. Themes and fonts can now be downloaded from PlayMarket. There is an “iPhone” function “do not disturb”, which is very convenient to use on vacation.
Now you can customize the news of your choice, namely the RSS feed. And they can be taken from social networks. It’s quite functional, because you don’t have to look for something of interest. It is enough to set up the necessary sections once.
News and tweets are collected from 1260 sources. There is no doubt that the necessary information will not go unnoticed. It is worth noting one more thing about working with applications: since there is no infrared port, applications like fitness or gesture control will be useless.
Thanks KitKat
The new “mini” has the opportunity to invite friends to your Zoe network. They will be able to share with you their multimedia content - photos, clips and music.
Now you can view video with subtitles. And the player itself is now much more visualized than it was. And if you consider that the sound is the reference for all, absolutely all smartphones, then the developer can safely put 11 points out of 10. And no less! By the way, the owner of the device can always purchase a case for HTC One Mini 2 Gold in a mobile phone salon
A spoon of tar
However, not without losses. For example, the browser no longer supports flash. In addition, the error of data loss during multitasking has not been fixed. That is, by dialing a number, for example, and updating the browser page, you will completely lose information from the first application. Well, he does not save in any way. There is only hope that in future models the manufacturer will nevertheless fix this annoying minus.
Phone HTC One Mini 2. User Reviews
After analyzing a couple of dozens of owner reviews about this phone model, we can note the following: the assembly and materials are at a high level, the screen suits almost everyone. There are some negative reviews about this display, but do not forget that this is an IPS matrix.
In most cases, it is very bright and saturated. This means that this is most likely nit-picking, or users are quite sophisticated in this regard.
Another of the advantages of HTC One M8 Mini 2: excellent, loud sound and a comfortable "fit" in the hand. Many praise the battery.
A bit of sadness
Now the cons that spoil the life of some owners. Sometimes the camera slows down. When using multitasking basically. When playing games and watching online, the back of the smartphone heats up.
Bad T9 dictionary. Scanty and uneducable. Sometimes users are not satisfied with the quality of the microphone. As well as the price of HTC One M8 Mini 2. There are still complaints that the back of the phone is scratched.
With hope for understanding
Fans of the HTC brand can only hope that the manufacturer will heed the comments of the owners, and in the next "reincarnation" will correct at least the basic comments on the "mini". Otherwise, it will be very difficult for them to stay in this niche of gadgets.
For a similar price, there are many pretty good competitors, and purely Chinese manufacturers should by no means be discounted.
Final verdict
Yes, the smartphone is not equipped with the latest hardware inside, but outside it is undoubtedly one of the most stylish and beautiful smartphones. Noble metal will not leave anyone indifferent. But a special balance, we repeat, is not in this gadget. Which is a bit upsetting.
You expect more from a smartphone for its price. And from the camera in general, and from the screen in particular. A feeling of some understatement arises with a closer acquaintance with the phone. It’s as if there is some groundwork for the future from the manufacturer ... But they are buying it now.
Some flaws in the first mini have been fixed. First of all, thank you to the manufacturer for the memory card slot and a more powerful battery. The interface has also been refined, because even on such a weak, frankly weak “inside” smartphone works very, very worthy and smartly.
And yet, the smartphone clearly does not reach its "older" brother, the flagship NTS M8. Neither by the general impression, nor in the “price / quality” ratio. With the latter, you can probably say that it is practically at the level, but not absolutely.
As mentioned above, here is a flaw, then it is inconvenient ... From here the overall impression of the product is formed. Accordingly, it is from ownership of this smartphone is not as rosy as waiting for a purchase. That's how you can characterize the smartphone HTC One Mini 2, the characteristics of which you could read in the article.
And if brand fans are ready to forgive a lot and wait for improvements, then attracting new customers with such shortcomings and price is very, very difficult. The competition in the smartphone market is off the charts, so manufacturers need to respond flexibly and quickly to the comments and desires of their customers. A great addition to the configuration will be the case for HTC One Mini 2, an overview of which was presented in this article.