We were big fans of the original HTC One Mini, a phone which kept the heart and soul of the HTC One but shrunk it down to a smaller size. Now HTC's hoping to repeat the trick with the HTC One Mini 2, but has it managed? And how do the two phones compare?
The One Mini 2 is really a shrunken down version of the HTC One M8, with the same brushed metal exterior and general appearance. This makes sense - why would you not model it on the best phone on the market right now?
That said, it does drop some key, and some might say necessary, features to class it as a true flagship - so let's see if it measures up and is a good enough upgrade from last year.
Screen
Both the HTC One Mini and the HTC One Mini 2 have 720p displays, but the One Mini 2's screen is slightly bigger at 4.5 inches, compared to the 4.3 inch HTC One Mini. It's a small difference which isn't likely to be very noticeable to most people, as is the accompanying pixel density hit.
Both phones have screens that are small enough to just about be considered mini and both of their screens are fairly high quality, they may not be 1080p but they're still pretty crisp and sharp.
Design
The HTC One Mini and HTC One Mini 2 have a similar design too. They both have high quality brushed metal backs and they both have a plastic band running around the edges.
However while that plastic is very noticeable on the HTC One Mini, it's much less so on the One Mini 2 as it's a lot narrower at most points.
Both handsets also have Boomsound speakers on the front, but the implementation has been improved for the One Mini 2, leading to higher quality sound.
The HTC One Mini 2 is 137.43 x 65.04 x 10.6mm and 137g, while the original HTC One Mini is 132 x 63.2 x 9.3mm and 122g.
So both the weight and dimensions are up slightly in the new version, which is no surprise given the increased screen size, the only at all eye raising aspect is its thickness, as it's quite a chunky handset at 10.6mm.
The HTC One Mini 2 has a 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor and 1GB of RAM, while the HTC One Mini has a 1.4 GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor and 1GB of RAM. So the One Mini 2 has twice as many processor cores as its predecessor, a similar processor but the RAM remains the same.
Thankfully in testing this aged chip didn't affect things too much, but it's still a shame to not see something upgraded in there.
Camera and OS
There's a 13 megapixel camera strapped to the back of the HTC One Mini 2 while the original HTC One Mini has a 4 Ultrapixel camera, so they take quite a different approach to photography.
The HTC One Mini is likely to fare better in low light and the One Mini 2 probably being the one to go for if you mostly plan to take photos in well-lit locations.
The front facing camera on the HTC One Mini 2 is a definite upgrade over its predecessor though, coming in at 5 megapixels, while the HTC One Mini has just a 1.6 megapixel front facing snapper. Both phones can also shoot 1080p video.
Both the HTC One Mini and the HTC One Mini 2 run Android 4.4.2 KitKat and both are overlaid with HTC's Sense interface. However while the HTC One Mini 2 comes with Sense 6, which is the latest version of it, the HTC One Mini currently comes with Sense 5.
The difference between the two isn't enormous though, with the look of the interface being the biggest change, and the original HTC One Mini is likely to be updated to Sense 6 at some point anyway.
