HTC HD Mini: First Impressions

Hi! I'm Michelle and I'm a certified HTC HD Miniholic. I'm a SAHM to a 2-year-old baby girl with an adrenaline addiction, a freelance photographer & videographer of Shutter Count, loves blogging, blueberry cheesecake, froyo and is currently fueling my gadget addiction. Aside from being a self-proclaimed social media addict, I use the internet and latest tech everyday as a consultant, and as a mom, I'm a mobile warrior in my own home. I can't live without my laptop, cellphones, dslr, etc.. They have provided me a comfort zone in which I don’t have to change who I am. I’m painfully shy in public, however, through the internet and with the help of my geeky gadgets and terrific tech toys, I can express myself and blog about my personal experiences and varied topics I am passionate about. Sometimes I can get very passionate about a topic so consider yourself warned.
A s for my first impressions... they say you never get a second chance at a first impression. However, I think my first impression is the most important impression only until I make my second impression, which is the most important until I make my third. I guess it’s the first and last impression that matters most.
Right off the bat, my first impression was that the phone felt so smooth and very lightweight. When I first saw it online, I thought it was too small for my taste but I was wrong. I love the pocket-friendly size cause I just don’t want to walk around with a biggie phone or iPad-like phone which does not even fit comfortably in my shirt pocket or even my pants pocket. I also do not wish to hold up a big pad like device to my ear while making a call. lmao I think the HTC HD mini is just the perfect size for me. It fits comfortably in my small hand and it amazes me because it does so much in such a small package with smashing specs to boot. Holding this baby feels just great but opening it for the first time was scary as it was just a trial unit, I also had to be extra careful with prying open the phone so I had to beg and ask someone to do it. :D
It is beautiful and oozing with cuteness inside and out. I also love the back of the phone, it's a shock of yellow pleasure (I'm not sure why it's yellow, but it sure looks good). The curves and round edges instead of cornered edges look sexy. The black rubber matte finish at the back helps the phone away from being scratched and the bolts slash industrial-looking screws make it look bold, elegant and classic. Not just a mere decoration though because that's what actually holds the phone together, and once you take its clothes off (no pun intended), you can take a peek of its bright yellow inside which is an unexpected but pleasant surprise for me, which I like, in a major way. It was actually my first time to see a phone with a flashy color inside. :D I just hope the rubber backing won't peel off and won't become loose like what usually happens with other phones which start showing signs of wear and tear or loosen up after a dozen or two removals.
Considering that the unit came without a manual, I had to find the slots and I liked it even more when I saw that the SIM and microSD memory card slots are accessible and not hidden under the handset’s battery. Yay to that!

The camera is good enough for taking shots and the cam interface is easy to use. Sadly, it's missing the flash so low light shot is a no-no and shots appear grainy at night. But I guess that's not the end of the world.. there could be an apps for that somewhere. I also did sneak a peek at some pics that were already on the phone and I think they're pretty good.

Also, listening to music on the HD mini is quite enjoyable. I just hope the video quality will be a step up from any other video phone. I could be very happy with that.

What I love is the preloaded apps like integrated Facebook and Youtube and it works a treat because I love using wifi at home. However, there was still the occasional lag, though minimal, during web browsing.

The HTC sense is also a beauty but the qwerty keyboard is clearly smaller than I expected but it's still manageable. I had a hard time using it the first time but I know I can get the hang of it. I could be wrong though but I can always buy a stylus. :) It also has a vibration feedback to let the user know a key has been pressed which is relatively new to me.

Another nifty feature is the uber intuitive weather apps on the HTC HD mini which is something I've never seen before. When viewing the calendar from the tab it will display today's appointments as well as the current weather conditions/ forecast in a lifelike animated wallpaper. I can also add many locations and I get to choose how frequently the weather updates.Tweaking the settings and home tab on the HTC HD mini is pretty simple. I can drag and arrange the icons to wherever I like. It's a good thing because I just hate phones that are super complicated to use.


I really like the stylish chrome accent at the top which hosts the 3.5 mm headphone jack/earpiece out and the power/screen lock key. Though there are times that there would be some kind of distorted quality of the sound coming out of the loud speaker near the camera. The metallic surrounding it or in which the speaker is located could prolly be the cause. On the left, the volume rocker is solid to press while on the right, it's bare and just plain black. Not like the usual phones I've had before wherein there's a shortcut for taking shots or camera key which I think is quite handy.

Even the charger looks bold and futuristic, I love its UFO-like design. Now I'm ready for some alien invasion! Now if you're looking for a place to find a not-so-big-but-incredibly-cute alien like this charger, try the Google Map! It's awesome!



Overall, I really like this baby, from its sleek curves and cute size to its extremely responsive touch interface. Given that Microsoft’s soon-to-be-defunct OS was revealed and that there’s no chance of an WP7 upgrade for the HD mini due to hardware requirements, I still feel that HTC’s Sense UI makes up for that and does make WinMo a more comfortable place to be in. Needless to say, I also believe that good things really come in small packages.

So that would be my first impression and I still have a lot of chance to put my grubby paws all over this baby so let's have fun exploring. I've got to try the Bluetooth... later. :)