HTC HD Mini review

HTC HD Mini is a smaller version version of the earlier release HTC HD2 device. Announced at the Mobile World Congress this year, this device was released soon after the launch of HTC Smart and HTC Desire in India.

Similar to HTC Legend and HTC Desire, HTC HD Mini too is powered by Android OS and it certainly is a device to look forward to for its miniature design and fine tech specs.

As evident from the name, this device is a lot smaller than the HTC HD2 - the HD Mini's older sibling, at just 103x57.7x11.7mm, compared to the HD2's much beefier 120.5x67x11mm measurements. The rear is a soft touch panel with screw details on the back. It's a lovely looking device, but not as attractive as HTC HD2.

The HD Mini's screen is much smaller and lower resolution that the HTC HD2's - not surprising as the the HD2 is so much larger. At 3.2-inches, it takes up most of the front, although there is a fair amount of space below the screen.

This makes it a little tricky for comfortable browsing, although the multitouch goes some way to make it more usable. Like on the Legend and Desire, you can pinch to zoom into the web page, although you can't press and hold a word to look it up in Wikipedia or translate it.

Along the bottom of the HTC browser, there’s a toolbar that allows you to refresh the page, head to your homepage, view your history, view page controls, tools, copy and paste. If the HTC browser isn't your cup of tea, you can use the preloaded Internet Explorer browser located in the Windows Start menu.

Below the screen, there are five touch sensitive buttons for taking and ending calls, heading to the homescreen from any app or sub menu, the Windows Start key to head to the menu, a back button to rewind a step. All five are equally responsive, although if you have large fingers, you may accidentally tap the wrong key.

Take the back off the back of the HTC HD Mini to access the battery or SIM card and you'll be stunned by the bright yellow interior. It's not particularly necessary and almost feels as if HTC is having a joke on you.

The HTC HD Mini integrates HTC's Sense UI overlaid on the Windows Phone 6.5 OS. This is another aspect that isn't as intuitive as it is on the Desire or Legend, despite both of them using the Sense UI.

There's no widget-like interface as on Android Sense devices which is one thing we miss from Windows Phone 6.5 devices.

As a result, our favourite live view feature of the renewed Android HTC Sense UI has been omitted, meaning you can't pinch the homescreen to see mini versions of all your homescreens in one place.

One aspect we particularly like though is the slider at the bottom of the homescreen allowing you to to scroll through the different highlights. One of the tabs you can slide your way to is the People tab.

It allows you to add your favourite contacts for fast access to the people you call most. You can add browser shortcuts or bookmarks to the Internet homescreen which is a good idea and quick to use if you always access the same websites such as the BBC.

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