Dubai: HTC’s One Mini 2 is a miniature form factor of the flagship HTC One (M8) and it should have been named as HTC One (M8) Mini 2.

The brushed metal finish on the back of the device has the same premium finish as the One (M8) and it neatly fits into the palm and the condensed form factor makes it easy to hold also. But Mini 2 is thicker than the original M8. It weighs 137 grams.

Mini 2 brings premium design into the mid-level smartphone market that’s more sensitive to price.

The 4.5-inch Super LCD2 display has a 720p resolution with 326 pixels per inch density. The panel has excellent viewing angles and can be seen under bright sunlight without any issues. It sports 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage and the microSD slot supports up to 128GB of external storage capacity. It is powered by Qualcomm’s 1.2GHz quad-core processor and an Adreno 305 GPU and runs on Android KitKat operating system.

The dual Boomsound speaker grills sit above and below the display produce rich stereo sound to the ears. The Mini 2 uses the same internal amplifier as in the M8.

HTC’s Blinkfeed social and news aggregator home screen has improved a lot from last year’s One Mini with HTC Sense 6 user interface. It has added more content feeds into Blinkfeed with a clean layout but it can be frustrating for some as it pulls all the Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google + social data on the screen.

It can be turned off by tapping on a blank home screen and tap “manage home screen panel”. From here the Blinkfeed page can be removed.

The notification bar has 12 slots available and users can pick their own apps from the 24 options available. The stock Android has nine slots available. Swiping the notification bar with two fingers will take you to the quick setting area.

The phone handles multitasking with ease and many demanding apps opens at the same time and without any lag.

It handled Temple Run 2, Sonic Dash and Real Racing 3 at flawless frame rates.

The biggest change comes in the camera segment where HTC has opted out of the 4MP ultrapixel sensor found in M8 and instead opted for a 13MP BSI sensor with a balanced f/2.2 aperture and a single LED flash. It does not have the Zoe feature as in its flagship phone which captures three seconds of video before and after the shot.

The front 5MP BSI sensor also captures decent snaps and good for selfies.

The rear and front cameras can record videos in Full HD format. It can record Full HD at 30 frames per second and 720p at 60 frames per second while the front camera can record Full HD at 30 frames per second.

Mini 2 captures good photos in rich details and vivid colours in bright light and with an array of effects and beautification filters, users can create unique shots. It struggles somewhat in darker shots.

Even in bright daylight shots there is lot of noise when images are viewed up close and it gets worse when you’re using it indoors or outside in darker conditions.

The camera tends to overexpose on outdoor scenes but with its built-in HDR mode on, it can handle the situation with ease.

Regarding connectivity, it has WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, 4G LTE and NFC.

The 2110mAh non-removable battery can give more than one-day of power for moderate users for making or receiving calls, web browsing, social media on WiFi. It played Full HD videos for more than eight hours. For heavy users, it can last up to 16 hours depending on the usage. Users can extend the battery life with the power saving features. It is priced at Dh1,799.