HTC HD MINI REVIEW

Finally, here's a mini smartphone we can actually say we need, because the screens on the HTC HD series are actually really big - the HD2 display measures 4.3".

The HD Mini measures just 103.8mm x 57mm x 11.7mm which isn't the slimmest phone you'll find. And those of you who want all the power of an HD series phone but fits in your pocket, should read on now.

Despite the miniature size of the phone, it still packs a 3.2" capacitive screen that adorns the front of the black metal HD Mini device. It's got the slick multi-touch of the HD2, the home screen widgets (though not as many - namely the weather app, Twitter and Facebook) but - let me break the bad news - the HD Mini runs on Windows Mobile, not Android. Its the 6.5.3 version though that is the most advanced version of Windows Mobile that is more responsive and user friendly than previous Windows Mobile OS.

HTC HD Mini's capacitive touchscreen is expectedly slick and ultra-responsive, except the on-screen QWERTY keyboard which took a while to type out a message on and was somewhat inaccurate at times (a case for the Windows Mobile phone we presumed, or ungraceful degradation to the smaller screen). The Sense UI is used which allows pinching and zooming whilst browsing though unfortunately this became a little lost and purposeless on a smaller screen.

The HD Mini really isn't quite up to the grade of the HTC Legend and HTC Desire which were also launched at MWC 2010. This was just because we felt the phone suffered the setbacks of the Windows Mobile OS and also the miniaturisation of the HD series struggled to translate. The HTC HD Mini will launch in Spring 2010.

SEE ALL DETAILS ON THE HTC HD MINI UNLOCKED - £329.99

by Richard Armitage