HTC One Mini 2 review

HTC's premium design arrives in a smaller suit

HTC One Mini 2 review
Same on the outside, not so on the inside

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One of the big sticking points with the original HTC One Mini was its battery life, as it failed to impress and limped towards a charger towards the end of the day.

In fact the HTC One wasn't particularly brilliant in the battery department either, but things improved considerably with the One M8 - thanks in part to the Snapdragon 801 processor housed inside.

HTC One Mini 2 review

Sadly that processor doesn't make the leap into the HTC One Mini 2, and while things are slightly better than the original Mini it's still not particularly great news.

The One Mini 2 does sport a bigger power pack than its predecessor, up from 1800mAh to 2110mAh, which helps towards the marginally better performance.

The higher than expected standby drain witnessed on the One Mini appears to have been addressed on the One Mini 2, as it doesn't lose life at a rate of knots when not in use.

When I powered up the screen on the One Mini 2 and started to push it a little bit things were more disappointing.

One morning the One Mini 2 managed to drop 15% in an hour and a half during which time I was streaming music via Spotify and did around half an hour of web browsing and social networking.

HTC One Mini 2 review

The signal jumped between 3G and 4G which may go some way to explaining the relatively rapid drain in the battery.

Something else I noticed during my time with the One Mini 2 was my Jawbone Up application was zapping a lot of power with regular wireless updates from my Jawbone Up24.

If you're someone who has a fitness band you may want to bear this in mind when looking at the One Mini 2, as it seems to struggle a little. I haven't noticed this problem with other handsets I've used the Up24 with, and they include the One M8, LG G2 and OnePlus One.

With moderate usage however, a few calls, a few texts and some online activity including web browsing and social media the HTC One Mini 2 was able to see out almost a whole day, although I found that power saving mode tended to kick in at some point during the evening to help it stagger towards bedtime.

Hit the One Mini 2 hard though and you'll find you'll be running out of juice by mid afternoon.

I ran our full HD, 90 minute battery video on the One Mini 2 with the screen at full brightness and accounts syncing in the background and the handset lost 29%.

HTC One Mini 2 review

That's a greater loss than the One Mini which saw a drop of 27% in the same test, while the iPhone 5S lost 16% and the Xperia Z1 Compact dropped by 25%.

It's safe to say then that if you plan on watching films on the HTC One Mini 2 you'll want to make sure you're near a charger.

If you know you won't be using social media, watching videos or playing games for a while you can always flick on Extreme Power Saving Mode - a function which has been passed down from the One M8.

In this mode you get a simplified tiled user interface giving you access to calls, texts, emails, calendar and calculator - but that's your lot. It also reduces screen brightness and CPU power to eke out as much battery life as possible.

I found battery life greatly improved when in this mode and I'd recommend switching it on if you know the One Mini 2 will be sitting idle for an extended period, but you want it kept on just in case you get an important call or text message.

John McCann
Former Global Managing Editor

TechRadar's former Global Managing Editor, John has been a technology journalist for more than a decade, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He’s interviewed CEOs from some of the world’s biggest tech firms, visited their HQs, and appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC, and BBC Radio 4.

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