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HTC’s miniature metal marvel is within touching distance. The HTC One Mini is due in the UK next week, with online retailer Unlocked Mobiles undercutting rivals with a £365 pre-order price-tag.
If you’re desperate to get your hands on the One Mini, Carphone Warehouse reckons it’ll be in stock from 9 August — next Friday — three days ahead of Unlocked. Carphone’s charging more though — £380, which seems to be the most common price online.
The One Mini left us considerably impressed in our recent review. Its 4.3-inch screen means its much easier to use (and slip into a pocket) than its 4.7-inch big sibling, and it loses nothing in terms of its stylish design and classy metal chassis. Its 720p screen is terrific too.
Where it does underperform is its performance — it’s a mediocre dual-core effort, rather than the blockbusting quad-core bruiser in the proper One. Some more graphically impressive Android games, such as GTA: Vice City and N.O.V.A 3, just wouldn’t install. That’s possibly because the phone’s new and there’s some unforeseen software problem, but don’t expect it to be a gaming powerhouse.
We certainly preferred it to Samsung’s mini-me flagship, the Galaxy S4 Mini, which is also £380 but a much more mid-range affair. Still probably the best option if you don’t want a top of the line phone is the Nexus 4, which starts at £239, has a smashing 4.7-inch screen and a beefy quad-core processor.
Are you tempted by the One Mini? Would it need to go even cheaper? Are you waiting for a next-gen Nexus instead? Hit me with your chit-chat in the comments, or on our reasonably sized Facebook page.
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HTC One Mini hands-on
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