The HTC One is one of the most Apple-like Android phones ever made. Its unified design, high-quality build materials, and attention to detail harken back to some of Apple's finest products. So when HTC released a variant of the One that's closer in size to the iPhone 5, we wondered how the two would stack up. Read on, as we compare the specs (and other features) of the HTC One mini and iPhone 5.
Size
Even though it's "mini," HTC's new phone is still quite a bit larger than the iPhone 5. It's six percent taller, seven percent wider, and 22 percent thicker than the iPhone 5.
Weight
Considering it's the bigger phone, HTC did a great job of keeping the One mini in the iPhone's same general weight class. Its fighting weight is just nine percent heavier than the ultra-light iPhone 5.
Build
You won't likely find two finer smartphone designs in 2013. Adjectives like unified, elegant, and high-end would all describe these two. Much of that can be traced back to the seamless construction and aluminum build materials.
The One mini does have a band of plastic around its edge. The standard One had that too, but it was much thinner there.
Display
The One mini has a bigger and sharper display. The iPhone 5 only gives you 87 percent as much screen area, and 79 percent as many pixels as the One mini does.
With that said, apart from your size preferences, there shouldn't be anything to worry about with either display.
Processor
Just looking at CPUs on paper, it's hard to say who has the advantage. There are many factors other than cores and clock speed that determine actual performance, so we'll reserve judgment until we get these two side by side.
RAM
Each handset's RAM rings in at 1 GB.
Storage
This could be a disadvantage for some potential One mini buyers. 16 GB is plenty of storage for many people, but if you're the kind of person who likes to hoard full HD movies, your entire music collection, and albums of photos, that ain't going to cut it.
Apple will let you pay more to upgrade the internal flash memory in the iPhone 5, up to 64 GB.
Wireless
No surprises here, as both phones have LTE radios. We're getting to the point now when nearly every mid- to high-end smartphone has LTE.
Battery
On paper, the One mini has more capacity. But there are too many other factors that play into actual battery life to draw any conclusions from that. The iPhone 5 has solid battery life (an estimated eight hours for 3G/LTE internet), and so does the standard HTC One. Take that as you will.
Cameras
On paper, this looks like a win for the iPhone, but the One mini's "UltraPixel" camera could sneak away with this category. You can expect quality low-light photography and sharper pictures than you'd expect from its mere four megapixels. The secret: larger pixels.
Front-facing speakers
This isn't a category we've ever focused on in these comparisons, but with the One mini, it makes sense. It has "BoomSound" speakers much like in its big brother. Not only are they facing the right direction, they're also loud and relatively bassy.
Release cycle
If you're wrestling between these two, this might be the most important category to pay attention to. The One mini measures up pretty well with the iPhone 5, but remember we're talking about Apple's 2012 flagship phone. If rumors are true, then we'll be seeing an upgraded iPhone 5S within the next several months. If you can wait it out, you should get more bang for the same buck.
Wrap-up
If nothing else, you'll be hard-pressed to find two phones as absolutely stunning as these two. And though the One mini loses some of its big bro's higher-end specs, we suspect many customers will appreciate its smaller, easier-to-hold form factor. It could also see some nice budget pricing, though that will vary by carrier.
But we can't stress enough that this might not be a great time to buy the iPhone 5. The HTC One mini hasn't even launched yet, so if it gets a sequel, it's still a long ways off. The iPhone 5, however, could potentially be pushed aside by the 5S before September is over.
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Will Shanklin covers mobile technology for Gizmag. He's previously written for Android Central, Geek, GottaBeMobile, Android Police, and The Huffington Post. He lives in New Mexico, U.S., with his lovely wife, Jessica.All articles by Will Shanklin
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