HTC HD Mini review (2)

The HTC HD Mini features HTC's Windows Phone 6.5 Twitter app that is preinstalled on another screen. All you need to do is to slide along to get all your Twitter updates on one screen. It's nothing groundbreaking, but quick to check what's going on in the world.

The device presetns Music app which is easy to use and attractive. You can scroll up and down through cover art - an attractive way of navigating through your music collection.

However, the speaker on the back means it's not ideal to listen to music out loud. We recommend you make use of the 3.5mm earphone jack instead.

The photos and videos interface is same as on other Windows 6.5 devices – photos show as a stack, and you can swipe up and down to shuffle through them.

In terms of taking photos and videos, they're simple enough, but with no hardware shutter button you have to use the touchscreen to focus and take snaps.

Touch focus is fast to respond, but we wouldn't say the photos are the best we've seen from those taken on an HTC device. The camera shoots at 5-megapixels and in some photos, almost every pixel was visible. Others were better, but with no flash, you're pretty lost when taking photos in the dark.

The HTC HD Mini comes preloaded with Office Mobile that gives you mobile versions of Word, PowerPoint and Excel. They're pretty basic, but fine for viewing documents and making quick notes.

The keyboard however, doesn't make writing long essays easy. It's too small to type comfortably and screams for the use of a stylus. It was fine on the HD2 because there was so much space for the keys, but the HD Mini’s screen is too small.

The HTC HD Mini is a perfect device for someone who wants a Windows Phone 6.5 device that'll just slide into their pocket.

It's a well-featured phone, but shouldn't be purchased if you're going to be writing a lot of long emails or documents on it because the keyboard is too fiddly.

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