Bellevue, Wash. – HTC plans a Mini version of its new HTC One (M8), which will be rolled out starting in June outside the U.S.
A shipment date in the U.S. for the second-generation Mini wasn’t revealed, and neither were many phone details.
The One Mini 2, however, will be available with curved back and aluminum housing in gray, silver and gold like the bigger One (M8). The device will feature a 4.5-inch HD display, compared with the M8’s 5-inch screen, and it will sport a 5-megapixel front camera, the same as the M8’s. Processor speed, RAM, video-capture capability and other key features weren’t disclosed.
The phone’s camera technology will change. It will feature a 13-megapixel main camera in contrast to the original Mini’s Ultrapixel camera, positioned as offering larger pixels to take in more light in low-light situations than standard-size megapixels.
A spokesman said HTC remains committed to Ultrapixel imaging technology, “but in the case of this particular model, announced for select countries in EMEA and Asia, it was more important to focus on other imaging features such as the front-facing camera and Zoe Highlight videos.” The decision, he said, “allowed HTC to maintain the HTC One Mini 2’s sleek profile and affordable price point.”
Like the M8, the Mini will feature BoomSound dual front speakers and HTC Sense 6 UI with BlinkFeed, which funnels information feeds on multiple topics from multiple sources to the home screen.
The Mini 2 will also pick up the M8’s HTC Zoe, which lets users simultaneously capture a picture and three-second HD video. The feature turns a photo gallery into a gallery of photos and moving images. Zoe Highlights will also filter down into the Mini to automatically stitch together multiple Zoe photos and videos into a Highlights Video with background music, transitions and effects.
A Zoe sharing app due in the summer will let a user’s social-media followers add their own photos, videos and soundtracks to create new Zoe Highlight videos.
The flagship One (M8) sports a 5-inch 1080p display with 440 ppi, a quad-core 2.3GHz CPU, 2GB RAM, 32GB embedded memory and a 128GB MicroSD slot.
The original Mini sports a 4.2-inch 720p display with 341 ppi and a dual-core 1.4GHz processor in contrast to the original One’s quad-core 1.7GHz processor and 4.7-inch 1080p screen with 468 ppi. The original Mini also features HTC’s UltraPixel camera with f/2.0 aperture, 1080p video capture with HDR, and backside illumination.