Knee-jerk score: 4.5
Dan - Associate Editor
WOOOOOOOOO! That's pretty much my view of the original HTC One. I think it's a terrific smartphone, and if I wasn't so embedded in iOS, it's the phone I would have. But I feel like the Mini is an unwelcome sullying of the HTC One's supreme wonderment - not to mention the fact I think all this Mini-ing of handsets is a bit of a snoozeworthy idea. The spec sheet just shouts COMPROMISE. In the end though, it will be the (hopefully decent) price that dictates whether the HTC One Mini is a phone you should consider. After all, it still has the great HTC One aluminium unibody, so it looks the part at least.
Knee-jerk score: 3.5
James - Reviews Editor
I don't like this new trend for 'mini' versions of mobile devices. It's a similar phenomenon to Hollywood's sequelitis and assumes that we're all too stupid to choose a midrange phone unless it's equated with a flagship product. But maybe the truth is that we are all that stupid, because if the iPad mini and Samsung Galaxy S Minis hadn't sold well, and if we weren't all gullible enough to go and see predictably terrible Terminator sequels at the cinema, they wouldn't exist. So yeah, the HTC One Mini looks like a pretty great midrange handset – the best, even. But I'd wait for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Mini if I were you, rumour has it it'll come with free tickets to see Sharknado 2.
Knee-jerk score: 3
Alex - Associate Editor, Reviews
Right off the bat, I agree with Kate. Even though I have big old banana hands, I've always found phones like the One and the S4 to be too big. That's why I was fond of the HTC First; finally an LTE Android device that didn't feel like having a paperback book in my pocket. I personally don't care much about big screens because I don't watch a lot of videos on my phone, that's what my Nexus 7 and my 47-inch TV are for.
I've often said that if I could have a flagship Android device the size an iPhone 5, I'd have my perfect phone, but unfortunately that's not what we're getting here. The big step down in battery size is worrying, as battery life has never been an HTC strong suit. The loss of NFC chip actually bothers me more than the drop down to dual-core, because the NFC-enabled PayByPhone app saves me from having to carry meter change here in San Francisco. While I'm glad that there hasn't been a drop down in camera quality, unlike the S4 to the S4 mini, the 16GB of storage will probably be a deal breaker for me, as my Google Play All Access subscription has me recklessly downloading new albums. That, combined with my impulsive picture snapping, would likely fill this mini up fast.
Knee-jerk score: 3.5
Total knee-jerk score: 4
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