HTC has found itself at the vanguard of mobile design in 2010, with the Legend especially taking plaudits for it Apple-esque looks and rock solid style. But now the Windows Mobile-packing HTC HD Mini is here. How does this slimmed down superphone look and feel? Read our complete HTC HD Mini review: design and build to find out.
Read the rest of our HTC HD Mini review:
HTC HD Mini review: overall verdict
HTC HD Mini review: screen
HTC HD Mini review: user interface
The HTC HD Mini feels remarkably solid in the hand, in spite of the fact it’s a pretty dinky handset. It’s noticeably shorter than the HTC Legend, but a tad wider. At just 11.7mm, it’s one of the thinner phones out there, and its harshly tapered sides mean it never feels like it’ll sip out of your palms.
Like the Legend, the earpiece sits flush to the top of the device, a move which cuts down on any unnecessary black plastic at the top of the phone. But it’s round the back that the real design flourishes sit. The camera looks the part with a chrome surround, although the lack of a flash does help keep things nice and minimal, even if this does stop the snapper working well in low light conditions.
The screws in each corner of the back give the HTC HD Mini a nicely rugged look, although you’ll be glad to know you don’t need to break out a Phillips to yank off the rear and access your SIM and the battery. The casing actually sits right around the device, almost up to the screen and is actually a real pain to take off. You’ll need nails and an iron will to whip it off first time. This is becoming an increasing bugbear for us with a number of devices, but one which HTC had seemingly escaped with the HTC Legend and HTC Desire.
Up front, the keys down at the bottom are touch sensitive rather than hard. They’re easy to use and sit in decent order. However, the inclusion of a homepage button next to the Windows key does cause some confusion. The latter is essentially a menu key for accessing the honeycomb system of Windows Mobile 6.5. The former takes you back to the front HTC Sense screen. This is more of a Windows issue than an HTC one, but perhaps the buttons should be spaced differently to prevent accessing the wrong function.
As a piece of design, the HTC HD Mini doesn’t live up to the HTC Legend. But then neither does the iPhone. What you have here is a good looking phone with some minimal buttons that’ll make your mates jealous when you whip it out. HTC’s design’s just get better.
Read the rest of our HTC HD Mini review:
HTC HD Mini review: overall verdict
HTC HD Mini review: screen
HTC HD Mini review: user interface
