Introduction

With the new season well under way, the LG G2 mini is trying to have the last word in the compact class just like the original did last year at the high end. With the same design as the flagship (slim bezel, rear buttons and such) and the biggest screen among the minis, LG's compact smartphone is putting its best foot forward.'

No, the G2 mini isn't a compact powerhouse. It's a well-rounded package still, and one that even does a couple of things better than the flagship, in hope to find a place in the crowded place where minis have to deal with ex-flagships and aggressively priced mid-rangers.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Quad-band 3G with HSPA; Optional Penta-band LTE cat4
• 4.7" 16M-color qHD (960 x 540) IPS LCD, Gorilla Glass 2 display protection
• Android OS v4.4.2 KitKat; LG Optimus UI
• Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 CPU, 1 GB RAM, Adreno 305 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset
• 8 MP autofocus camera with LED flash, geotagging, smart shutter and VR panoramas
• 1080p video recording @ 30fps with mono sound; HDR mode
• 1.3 MP front-facing camera, 720p video recording
• 8GB of built-in storage
• microUSB port, USB host support, USB on-the-go
• Bluetooth v4.0
• NFC (in the LTE version only)
• Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• FM radio with RDS
• Voice commands
• Multi-tasking with mini-apps and optional transparency (QSlide)
• Knock Code unlocks the phone with a screen tap combination
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
• User-replaceable 2440mAh Li-Ion battery
• IR emitter for remote control of home appliances

Main disadvantages

• Screen could've used some extra resolution at that size
• Snapdragon 400 is blatantly midrange stuff
• Below average loudspeaker performance
• No ambient light sensor
• Confusingly comes in different versions with different internal hardware

The qHD resolution is only just enough for the 4.7" diagonal, especially considering the competition will offer 720p screens in the same price range. The Snapdragon 400 chipset places the G2 mini squarely in the Android midrange - in fact, the quad-core variety (four Cortex-A7's at 1.2GHz) is not necessarily better than the dual Krait setup in the Galaxy S4 mini.
What's definitely a step in the right direction is the removable battery and the added microSD card slot - the phone could've been slimmer perhaps without them but we'd have the added flexibility any day over a couple of millimeters less around the waistline. The latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat and the matching edition of the Optimus skin are another point in favor, offering some features that are only available on the premium G2 and G Pro 2.
The LG G2 mini is quite compact for the screen size as well - and handling quite comfortably - the rear-mounted keys contributing handsomely.

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Introduction

HTC has expanded the One family with a new petite member - the HTC One mini 2. Note that it's not One (M8) mini, this is more of a sequel to the One mini from last year. Perhaps most telling of this is the camera, a 13MP shooter rather than the questionable dual-camera of the M8. Still, the HTC One mini 2 looks just the same as the new HTC One M8, so the family relation is more than obvious.

The HTC One mini 2 preserves the qualities that made the original mini great, namely the premium aluminum unibody design, the excellent screen and the stereo front-facing speakers. There are major changes though, the screen grew to 4.5" from 4.3" and the camera more than tripled its resolution to a 13MP. Here's a cheat sheet of One mini 2's specifications.

HTC One mini 2 at a glance:

• General: Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, quad-band UMTS/HSPA, LTE
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone with aluminum unibody
• Dimensions: 137.4 x 65 x 10.6 mm, 137 g
• Display: 4.5" 16M-color 720p (720 x 1280 pixels) Super LCD 2 capacitive touchscreen, 326ppi pixel density; Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 400, quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A7, 1GB RAM, Adreno 305
• OS: Android 4.4 KitKat with Sense 6
• Memory: 16GB storage, microSD card slot
• Camera: 13MP auto-focus camera, BSI sensor, f/2.2; LED flash
• Video camera: Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps with HDR; 720p @ 60fps
• Front camera: 5MP front-facing camera; 1080p @ 30fps video
• Connectivity: dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, DLNA, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, standard microUSB port with MHL and USB host, GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS, 3.5mm audio jack
• Battery: 2,100mAh Li-Po
• Misc: BoomSound stereo speakers on the front, HTC Zoe

The HTC One mini 2 runs the latest software from Google and HTC on a different Snapdragon 400 chipset than the original One mini. It adds a microSD card slot, which is more than welcome, as the limited storage was one of the more common complaints we've heard about its predecessor.

The One mini 2 grew in size as well as features. The original HTC One mini was already taller than most other 4.3" phones, and the new one is even taller. The width of the two though is almost the same.
The in-hand feel is as premium as ever, but flip to the next page for our thoughts on the second generation One mini hardware.

Introduction

Quite a few people were getting impatient at one point but a Sony flagship is well worth waiting for. But then, wasn't it clear well before the impatience started to kick in that owners of the original Xperia Z had a lot more to look forward to than those holding the - still relatively new - Z1?
One can easily blame it on the shorter upgrade cycle that the Sony Xperia Z2 is in many ways an incremental upgrade - like most of the competing flagships of late. A tad bigger screen, a bump in processing power, camera upgrades and the latest software.

Flip that over though - and you'll notice a much-improved screen, actually a brand new IPS LCD. Plus, a bigger screen diagonal of 5.2" hasn't blown the size out of proportion - the Sony Xperia Z2 has managed to keep virtually the same footprint by just slimming down the screen bezel.

And there is more. You get 3GB RAM up from 2GB, a more robust Adreno 330 graphics chip, 4x the video recording resolution, there are now stereo front speakers, and the latest Android 4.4 KitKat.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support; 3G with 42Mbps HSPA; 150Mbps LTE
• 5.2" 16M-color 1080p IPS capacitive touchscreen Triluminos display (424ppi pixel density); X-Reality engine
• Android OS v4.4.2 KitKat with custom UI
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset: quad-core 2.3GHz Krait 400 CPU, 3 GB of RAM, Adreno 330 GPU
• 20.7MP autofocus camera with a 1/2.3" Exmor RS sensor and F/2.0 Sony G Lens; Info-eye, AR effects
• 2160p video recording @ 30fps, 1080p@ 60fps, 720p@ 120fps, continuous autofocus and stereo sound; live video streaming to Facebook
• 2.2MP front camera, 1080p video recording
• IP 58 certification - dust and water resistant
• Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA; Wireless TV out
• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
• 16GB of built-in storage; microSD card slot up to 128GB
• MHL-enabled microUSB port
• Bluetooth v4.0
• NFC
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Stereo front speakers (with improved loudness over Z1)
• Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic, noise-cancelling headset bundled
• Ample 3,200mAh battery

Main disadvantage

• Non-user-replaceable battery
• No proper video playback decoders (XviD, DivX) out of the box
• No wireless charging option

Could the Sony Xperia Z2 have been better? Other recent flagships have failed to make a big splash - as in bringing anything quite impressive or unexpected. But those comparisons have yet to come. The Z2 is in fact better than Z1 - in terms of screen quality and battery life. Not as much better perhaps as some may've hoped? Or maybe the thing is it's just better - when it could've been mind-blowing. Says who?

 

Introduction

The China-bound Sony Xperia C could be the right opportunity to smuggle some big-screened, quad-core goodness into markets where those things usually fetch a high price. It's certainly the right size too. Five-inchers don't necessarily have to come with high-end price tags. There's demand for affordable options too, which the Xperia C isn't the first to address. Sony has obviously been watching the Samsung Galaxy Grand, while HTC and LG aren't indifferent either.
So, the Sony Xperia C has dual-SIM support, which is almost a must-have in the markets Sony's interested in, a massive 5-inch display and a quad-core processor. So far, so good.

It is the company's first smartphone powered by a MediaTek chipset. Sony has so far always opted for either Snapdragons or (when the company still existed) ST Ericsson but, with China being the primary target market, it had little choice really. The latest MediaTek chips support both dual-SIM and quad-core processors, and they are light on the wallet too.
Affordability is, of course, an important reason, considering Asian markets are teeming with sub-$200 quad-core droids and competition is fierce. The likes of Lenovo, Micromax, Xolo, and many more, are ready to offer a big enough screen and decent feature set on a bargain.
What this means is the Sony Xperia C should be preparing for a full-scale war. Let's check the ammo:

Key features

• Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and dual-band HSPA support
• Dual SIM, dual stand-by support
• 42.2 Mbps HSDPA and 11.5 Mbps HSUPA
• 5.0" 16M-color TFT capacitive touchscreen of qHD resolution (540 x 960 pixels) at 220ppi
• Android OS v4.2.2 Jelly Bean
• Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 CPU, PowerVR SGX544 GPU, MTK MT6589 chipset
• 1 GB of RAM
• 4 GB of built-in storage (2 GB user available)
• microSD slot (cards up to 32GB supported)
• 8 MP autofocus camera, single LED flashlight, geo-tagging, touch focus, HDR, hardware shutter key; VGA front-facing camera
• 1080p @ 30fps video capture
• Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
• Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP
• GPS with A-GPS
• Accelerometer, ambient light and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack; Walkman music player with many audio enhancements
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• microUSB port (charging)
• Built-in LED strip provides a breathing light and notification light
• 2,390mAh Li-Ion battery, non-replaceable

Main disadvantages

• Low pixel-per-inch ratio
• No Mobile BRAVIA engine
• No scratch protection for the screen, Gorilla Glass or otherwise
• Limited internal storage for installing apps

  The Xperia C obviously didn't remain confined within Asian boundaries as various European retailers are already shipping it at very attractive prices. It sure isn't the fastest or the most feature-rich of phones, but it sounds like a great bang for your hard-earned buck. Will that be enough to probably forgive the lower resolution screen and the other potential deal breakers?

	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
	4G Network	LTE 800 / 850 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600
	Sim	Yes
	Announcement	Exp. announcement 2014, Q2
	Status	Rumored. Exp. release 2014, Q2

	Dimensions	-
	Weight	-
		- IP67 certified - dust and water resistant - Water resistant up to 1 meter and 30 minutes

	Type	TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	1080 x 1920 pixels, -
	Multitoch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 3
		- TouchWiz UI

	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

	Card slot	microSD, up to 64 GB
	Internal	16 GB (11.2 GB user available), 2 GB RAM

	GPRS	Class 33
	EDGE	Class 33
	Speed	HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps; LTE, Cat4, 50 Mbps UL, 150 Mbps DL
	Wlan	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0 with A2DP, EDR, LE
	NFC	Yes
	Infrared port	Yes
	USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0 (MHL 2), USB On-the-go, USB Host

	Primary camera	16 MP, 3456 x 4608 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
	Features	Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, HDR, Aqua mode
	Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps
	Secondery camera	Yes, 2 MP,1080p@30fps

	OS	Android OS, v4.4.2 (KitKat)
	Chipset	Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
	CBU	Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400
	GBU	Adreno 330
	sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, gesture
	Messiging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
	Browser	HTML5
	Radio	No
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Urban Grey, Dive Blue, Orange Flare
		- S-Voice natural language commands and dictation - Smart stay, Smart pause, Smart scroll - Air gestures - Dropbox (50 GB cloud storage) - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - TV-out (via MHL 2 A/V link) - SNS integration - MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player - Organizer - Image/video editor - Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input (Swype)

Introduction

One of the first phones to launch straight to Windows Phone 8.1, the Lumia 630 is also the first to bring dual-SIM support to the platform. That said, we should note right at the start that we're reviewing the regular, single-SIM version. The difference boils down to just an extra SIM compartment though. There's nothing on the outside to set them apart - the SIM card slot(s) are under the battery cover.
Anyway, the brand new software version and optional dual-SIM aside, the Lumia 630 is nothing out of the usual if you've been following developments in the Nokia low-to-midrange. We can think of at least a couple of phones that have served as an inspiration. Everyone at Microsoft would be delighted if the two versions of the Lumia 630 combined come close to matching the sales of the Lumia 520.

The Lumia 625 has contributed too - perhaps with a lesson learned. Not much point stretching the screen too much when the resolution simply can't keep up. The Lumia 630 does well to reduce the diagonal but boost screen quality with the ClearBlack technology.
So, the Lumia 630 brings a relatively big 4.5" ClearBlack IPS display of FWVGA resolution. It's powered by the popular Snapdragon 400 chipset with a quad-core processor, and runs Windows Phone 8.1 with Nokia Cyan right out of the box. Let's see what else is on offer.

Key features

• 4.5" 16M-color ClearBlack IPS LCD display of FWVGA resolution, Gorilla Glass 3
• 1.2 GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU, Adreno 305 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset, 512MB of RAM
• Windows Phone 8.1 OS with Nokia Cyan
• Optional dual-SIM support
• 5MP autofocus camera with 720p@30fps video recording
• 8GB of inbuilt storage, expandable via a microSD card slot up to 128GB
• Built-in accelerometer
• Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
• Free lifetime voice-guided navigation worldwide with Drive+
• FM Radio with RDS
• Background motion data collection service
• Li-Ion 1,830 mAh battery 

Main disadvantages

• No front-facing camera
• No 1080p video recording
• No LED flash
• No proximity sensor
• 512MB RAM may eventually turn out insufficient for future apps
• No headset or USB cable included in the retail package

 

 Network
    LTE Cat.4 (150/50Mbps)

AP
    LTE: 2.5GHz Quad core application processor

Display
    5.1” FHD Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080), 432 ppi

Dimension
    142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1mm, 145g

OS
    Android 4.4.2 (Kitkat)

Memory
    RAM : 2GB
    16/32GB User Memory + microSD slot (up to 128GB)
    Some places only provide 16GB depending on region/country.

Connectivity
    WiFi : 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac VHT80, MIMO(2x2)
    Download Booster (LTE + WiFi simultaneous reception)
    NFC, Bluetooth®: 4.0 BLE / ANT+
    USB 3.0
    IrLED
    This device supports a USB 3.0 interface as well as lower versions of USB, including
    USB 2.0. A USB 2.0 compatible cable is included in the package. A USB 3.0
    compatible cable is not included in the package, and may be purchased separately.

Additional Features
    IP67 certificated Dust & Water Resistant, Emergency Mode, Ultra Power Saving Mode, S Health, Quick Connect, Private Mode, Kids Mode

Camera
    Main(Rear) : 16MP (1/2.6”, Phase Detection AF)
    Sub (Front) : 2.0MP (1920 x 1080, Wide-angle lens )

Camera Features
    HDR (Rich tone), Selective Focus, Virtual Tour Shot

Video
    UHD@30fps, HDR, video stabilization
    Video Codec : H.263, H.264(AVC), MPEG4, VC-1, Sorenson Spark, MP43, WMV7, WMV8, VP8
    Video Format : MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM

Audio
    Audio Codec : MP3, AMR-NB/WB, AAC/ AAC+/ eAAC+, WMA, Vorbis, FLAC
    Audio Format : MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA

Sensor
    Accelerometer, Gyro, Proximity, Compass, Barometer, Hall, RGB ambient light, Gesture, Fingerprint, Heart Rate Sensor

Battery
    2800mAh

Google Mobile Services*
    Chrome, Drive, Photos, Gmail, Google, Google+, Google Settings, Hangouts, Maps, Play Books, Play Games, Play Newsstand, Play Movie & TV, Play Music, Play Store, Voice Search, YouTube
    Android, Google, Chrome, Drive, Photos, Gmail, Google+, Google Settings, Hangouts, Maps, Play Books, Play Games, Play Newsstand, Play Movie & TV, Play Music, Play Store, Voice Search, YouTube are trademarks of Google Inc.