Camera
For the One M8, HTC stuck with the same 4 Ultrapixel camera as it equipped the original HTC One with.
The increased pixel size makes it great in low light but not quite a match for its competitors in bright light. HTC also gave the phone a Duo Camera set up, with a second sensor used to judge depth, which lets you change the focus of a shot after shooting it and add background blur to images.
The HTC One Mini 2 sticks with a more conventional 13MP camera which is likely to be met with mixed reactions, much like the Ultrapixels it eschews.
Some will likely jump at the increased megapixel count, but then the pixels are smaller. More pertinently the One Mini 2 also lacks optical image stabilisation and the second sensor found on the HTC One M8, so there's no ability to mess with depth and focus. It also lacks some other camera modes, such as panorama.
HTC's most famous camera feature, Zoe, will be making it across, but not at launch, instead you'll have to wait until the universal Android app arrives this summer, all of which leaves the camera feeling a little crippled.
At least the front facing snapper is up to scratch, with a 5MP sensor matching that of the One M8 and which is seemingly designed explicitly for selfies, complete as it is with a selfie countdown timer. Both handsets can also shoot 1080p video.
OS
There's no real difference between the operating system on the two phones. Both are equipped with the latest version of Android, 4.2.2, and both are overlaid with HTC's Sense 6, complete with Blinkfeed. Whichever handset you experience it on it's a slick, attractive interface.
Battery
The HTC One M8 has a 2600mAh battery, which HTC quotes for up to 20 hours of talk time or 496 hours of standby time and it's a battery which we were impressed by in practice too.
The HTC One Mini 2 has a 2100mAh juice pack, which HTC reckons can last for up to 16.2 hours of talk time or 556 hours of standby time, which if true isn't bad at all, though suggests that it won't have quite the life of the One M8 when in active use.
Storage
The HTC One M8 comes with a choice of 16 or 32GB of built in storage, but it also has a microSD card slot which can expand that by up to 128GB more, so you're never likely to run short.
The HTC One Mini 2 only comes in one size, 16GB, but it too has a microSD card slot with the same capabilities.
Price
The HTC One M8 currently hovers around £520 SIM free, making it a serious investment. The HTC One Mini 2 might not be able to match its muscle but it's likely to be substantially cheaper.
No prices have yet been announced, but we'd expect it to launch for under £400, just like last year's model.
Early verdict
The HTC One Mini 2 looks to be a compelling little device, with a top flight design married to a relatively small screen which could make it a genuine competitor to the iPhone 5S.
It looks like a great choice for anyone who liked the look of the HTC One M8 but wanted a smaller screen size, which is surely the whole point.
Unfortunately it's more than just the screen that's been shrunk down as the specs are inferior to the HTC One M8 too, making it hard to pretend this is a high end phone, even if it looks like one.
It might have been nice if HTC had taken a leaf out of Sony's book and delivered a top tier device at a smaller size point, but at least this way it should be a lot more affordable than the HTC One M8.
- Samsung's working on a mini marvel too.
