Rumors of the HTC One Mini have been doing the rounds for quite some time now. Previous reports indicated that the company will launch the handset in August this year and now another report suggests that the handset will launch in Q3 2013.
A DigiTimes report says "Samsung Electronics will launch the Galaxy S4 mini, a 4.3-inch mini version of the flagship smartphone model Galaxy S4, in the third quarter of 2013, and Taiwan-based vendor HTC will launch the 4.3-inch HTC One mini, a mini version of flagship model HTC One, in the same quarter as well."
Even though Samsung has officially launched the Galaxy S4 Mini, the company has released the handset only in select markets thus far.
The DigiTimes report also cites supply chain makers and says "Mini versions previously launched by international smartphone vendors were significantly inferior to corresponding flagship models in hardware specification and intended to cater to entry-level and mid-range market segments. The Galaxy S4 mini and HTC One mini are only slightly less competitive with Galaxy S4 and HTC One respectively in screen, processor and camera specifications and have the same industrial design and software functions."
Currently, both the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One are placed well in the smartphone space and are amongst the top-selling Android smartphones around. However, not everyone wants a smartphone with a bigger screen. Many customers still prefer to use a handset with a smaller screen size. The HTC One Mini is expected to be positioned as mid-range to high-end smartphone but with a smaller 4.3-inch 720p HD display.
If rumors are to be believed, then a Qualcomm 1.6GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor is expected to power the handset. The smartphone is expected to have 16GB of internal storage and 2GB of RAM.
The HTC One Mini may be equipped with a 4.3-UltraPixel rear-facing camera, front-facing stereo speakers with Beats audio technology, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS. The handset may have a similar anodized aluminum unibody case like the original HTC One.
