HTC HD Mini Announced - HD2 in a Tiny Body

By Phil Nickinson
last updated

HTC has announced the HTC HD Mini today and it's exactly what the name implies: the HTC HD2 shrunk down into a more manageable size. Ok, technically you have a more average screen resolution of 320x480 and a more average processor speed at 600Mhz. Still and all: the HTC HD2 experience on a comfortably small device sounds pretty good, don't it?

Specs: 

  • Size: 103.8 X 57.7 X 11.7 mm (4.09 X 2.27 X 0.46 inches)
  • Weight: 110 grams (3.88 ounces) with battery
  • Display: 3.2 inches, 320 X 480 HVGA, Glass
  • Processor: 600 MHz
  • Battery: 1200,  400 mins talk time on 3G
  • Camera: 5mp
  • 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, Standard micro-USB
  • Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional with HTC Sense
  • ROM: 512 MB RAM: 384 MB
  • Bands: 900/2100 3G, Quad band Edge
  • WiFi, Bluetooth

We're really digging the design on this one - check out those fancy screws on the back and the glass screen on the front. As has become (sadly) typical for HTC announces at MWC, this too is a European-and-Asian-only-to-start kind of deal. "Broadly" available in the beginning of April, it looks to keep the flame alive for Windows Mobile 6.5 just a little longer.

Phil Nickinson
Phil Nickinson

Phil is the father of two beautiful girls and is the Dad behind Modern Dad. Before that he spent seven years at the helm of Android Central. Before that he spent a decade in a newsroom of a two-time Pulitzer Prize-finalist newspaper. Before that — well, we don't talk much about those days. Subscribe to the Modern Dad newsletter!

19 Comments
  • not a HD2 in any way except look of casing. less resolution
    less RAm
    less CPU speed (not to mention not even same architecture. shall we call a pentium2 a low-end Core2Quad now? ) so really this is a low end phone like many others in HD-looking case. nothing inside is similar.
  • I agree. I'm honestly surprised that they even put WM Professional on there. With the step down in all specs, they might as well slap standard on there, or WM 6.0. Yawn.
  • Why oh why thoose low specs?
    600Mhz CPU + ROM: 512 MB RAM: 384 MB.
    It's 2010 FOr crying out loud! But it's one beautifull device, thats for sure.
  • What's beautiful about the massive bezel that takes up a third of the front of the phone.
  • BTW: No GPS / G-Sensor / Prox sensor / Light sensor, or any of the goodies from the HD2. I'm on p3ngwin's side here, nothing in common with the HD2.
  • Where are you hearing that the Mini has no GPS, G-Sensor, Proximity or light sensor? Check out HTC's UK site and it clearly shows that the Mini has all these bells and whistles. You can find the full list of specifications here. Granted things may change a little when (and if) this hits the States but I doubt HTC would strip it bare.
  • Processor: 600 MHz
    Display: 3.2 inches, 320 X 480 HVGA, Glass
    ROM: 512 MB RAM: 384 MB No GPS, no fast CPU, no lot's of RAM
    You must be kidding?
  • exactly. why is this article even claiming: "HD2 in tiny body" ? it is clearly the same body form as the HD1 (flush buttons at bottom) "worse than HD1 in Mini HD1 body" would be more accurate this is the HD Mini and has NOTHING to do with the HD2. can't the writer even read the source? also, HTC must be mad for announcing a mini version of a device over a year old with WORSE specs than the original.
  • I agree, comparing this to the HD2 is absurd. Yet this isn't the only blog making that comparison.
  • For all of the comments about this not being on par spec-wise with the HD2 to be called an HD2mini, think about it business-wise. If the specs were virtually the same, but just smaller, it would likely cannibalize a lot of HD2 sales. Basic business sense tells you that much. Just like the differences between Toyota and Toyota-based Lexus models. You can't make them too close in all aspects so you kills your own sales of the higher priced model. Sent from my TouchPro2 wondering what to move to next...
  • then why call it a HD2 mini? this is a mini HD, with WORSE specs ! i could understand if there was a miniHD with same specs, slightly better specs...but worse over a year later than original HD ? as for what a mini HD2 could have been, they could have gone with a 3.7" screen, same resolution, 600 or 768Mhz Snapdragon, and maybe less ram. it may not be upgradable to WinMo7 later in the year. an in-between device, compared to the upgradable full-blown HD2 which would cost a lot more. THAT'S how you do a cut-down version of a product. you have a high-end version, and a cut-down version with very similar features, but less performance. the PC graphics card industry brings out the high-end new architecture, which only accounts for less than 8% of the market, but generates all the buzz. then you take that product and carve out the mid-range and the budget range by keeping features that consumers can identify with (halo effect) but with cheaper price and performance. this device is nothing like a HD2 as the writer seems to think, and it's not even a real relation to the original HD as it is missing important features.
  • Sorry, didn't realize you guys had talked to HTC about what phone it might or might not be like. Our mistake. :-/
    Actually, save for the screen size and processor -- which isn't at 1GHz because you don't NEED a 1GHz processor to drive that size screen -- it share a great number of details with the HD2. They didn't do a cut-down version of the HD2. They did a MINI version.
  • You beat me to it. WM 6.5 is snappy on the Touch Pro 2 and Touch Diamond 2 out of the box, and i'd imagine it would be even moreso with more RAM, and even moreso with some tweaking and/or flashing. This has the (stated) RAM of the HD2, which is more than the aforementioned devices, as well as a capacitive screen, a 5MP camera and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Thanks to a lower-clocked proc, battery life will be in line with those devices as well. My biggest gripe is the screen res. Anything less than VGA is suspect to me, but heck, even the Sony Aspen looked pretty good in videos and it's got a slightly lower res than this. i'd love to give this a shot. It's a pity we'll never see this in the US, else i might opt to get it over the AT&T Pure or eXpo. Screen res is a downer, but it's the iPhone's res in a slightly smaller size, so it'll appear a little sharper.
  • It's HTC selling out the hordes of low end qualcomm processors in any package they can wrap it up in. It really is a sad day to see this, HTC should dump this old carp an move ahead, they are just re-wrapping same junk in new candy wrappers, and floggin it onto their customers.
  • The uproar/frustration/superciliousness about this device is strange to say the least. Are we supposed to throw hissy fits at every phone that doesn't match our personal preferences now? It says HD2 ***EXPERIENCE*** in a compact form, not "the HD2 in a compact form." It resembles the HD2 in form with the 5 buttons on the bottom. It uses the same HTC Sense UI with a capacitive screen as the HD2 and seemingly does it pretty smooth, as well. So, what's the problem? Just because a phone's not for you, doesn't mean it won't fit a lot of other people. It's one of the beauties of WM phones; there are a lot of specs+form factors to choose from that suit different people's different needs and/or wants.
  • The main part of the HD2 experience is a super-fluid UI made possible by a 1 GHz Snapdragon on a large 4.3" super-high res 800x480 screen. The Mini most likely uses a lowly 600 MHz ARM11 on a low-res 3.2" 480x320 screen. It will NOT provide the same experience as the HD2. If they had named this the Touch 3 (ie. the successor to the Touch 2), we wouldn't we so annoyed. The Nokia N97 Mini is essentially the Nokia N97 in a smaller body. The HTC HD Mini is NOTHING like the HTC HD (or HD2).
  • wtf the MINI version of a phone has a bigger screen than my palm pre tho...... But the pre with webos destroys windows mobile any day of the week tho.
  • Why would HTC do this? Why would they even put HD in the name? 320x480 is by no means "HD", maybe if it was 480x640. The killer of this device is that it is not upgradeable to WP7S. Tis might be what microsoft is calling"windows Phone Starter".
    I was thinking of getting it but, after i saw the specs it became a no. Very simular size to the Diamond but a smaller resolution. So Iguess im moving to the HD2 untill something else comes.
  • Well i have a HD mini so i can tell you about it.. When you have upgraded it to get rid of a radio problem it is absolutely great. Crisp and clear screen (of course only 32x480) but with that size it is enough. Great capacitive screen, very exact at your touch. It has all the bells and whistles.. A-GPS, Prox sensor, G Sensor etc. Great built in video codec, plays a lot that my former pda refused to handle correctly. Superb GPS accuracy, uses it with GCZII for geocaching.