HTC One mini vs Samsung Galaxy S4 mini

Yes, you can call it Round 2 but we don't think it'll be up to the minis to sort out any unfinished business between the flagships. What we do know though is that taking the dispute to the junior league doesn't mean there'll be less pain in losing and less honor in victory.

This doesn't have to be a rerun - the minis don't necessarily have to repeat the result of the flagships. Just like smartphones don't necessarily have to be huge to have premium specs and push the limits of comfortable single-handed use to just prove a point or get noticed.

What we have here is two smartphones that try to deliver a premium experience without getting in the way of their seniors or venturing too far beyond the 4" screen diagonal. However there's a clear difference in how the two makers go about downsizing their flagships.

HTC decided in favor of screen resolution whereas Samsung skimped there. 720p is obviously better than qHD, at around 342ppi versus 256ppi in favor of the One mini. The S4 mini's 4.3-incher on the other hand is a Super AMOLED, which partially makes up for the lower resolution.

Then there's processing power where the two devices share a Snapdragon 400 chipset but the Samsung mini has the upper hand in terms of clock speed. It also gets 1.5GB of RAM against the 1GB of the One mini but more on that in the benchmarks chapter.

   
HTC One mini and Samsung Galaxy S4 mini

The S4 mini goes for 8 gigs of onboard storage but offers a microSD card slot, while the One mini only has 16 gigs on tap. As to software, it's Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 either way but the One mini has the elaborate visuals of Sense 5 against the feature-packed TouchWiz on the Galaxy S4 mini.

The cameras are opposites too. The Galaxy S4 mini goes for an 8MP unit with plenty of TouchWiz bells and whistles, while the One mini has the 4MP UltraPixel camera with 2µm pixels, F/2.0 aperture and a wide-angle 28 mm lens. The HTC One mini has Zoe but not the optical image stabilization of its bigger brother, the full-sized One. Both devices have 1080p video recording too.

Then there's build quality and looks. Both devices traditionally reflect their manufacturer's design philosophies: the One mini looks the flagship part with its aluminum unibody, while the S4 mini goes for a hyperglazed all-plastic case, which is nowhere near aesthetically, but a user-replaceable battery and memory expansion earn it usability points.

Here are all the points neatly compiled in lists.

HTC One mini over Samsung Galaxy S4 mini

• Aluminum unibody
• Higher screen resolution
• HDR and 60fps video
• More built-in storage
• Better audio quality
• Stereo speakers with Beats audio amplifiers

Samsung Galaxy S4 mini over the HTC One mini

• Faster processor
• Higher resolution camera
• Expandable storage
• More RAM
• Cheaper
• User-accessible battery
• NFC support
• Lighter

So, there's enough to compare in these two but one thing that sees them equal is the desire to fit as much of the flagships' features into more compact bodies at more affordable prices. And we love them for it. But we'll need to sort them out feature by feature, break them down to parts and pit them against each other.

   
The HTC One mini and Samsung Galaxy S4 mini at HQ

It's a battle in which most of you already have a side to root for, or a downright favorite. HTC and Samsung have always managed to attract different sorts of crowds and the same scenario plays out here too. In any case we're going all in over the following pages so get comfortable - next stop is the hardware checkup.

Apple iOS 7 beta review

The last couple of iOS updates were hanging on the wrong side between too little and too late. The user interface is six years old now and while it has been repeatedly polished in every revision so far, it was decidedly starting to look stale. And it's not just a matter of visuals either. iOS 5 brought little to nothing in terms of new features and some would even argue that iOS 6 was actually a step back. It seems though that Apple has found inspiration again and is ready to take the game to the opposition.

The UI that launched on the original iPhone way back in June 2007 has finally been put to rest. Android has stepped up in big strides since Gingerbread to dominate the smartphone game. Meanwhile, Windows Phone keeps bringing new features, and even the conservative BlackBerry broke with the old ways and completely redesigned its platform. It was about time Apple did something different with the iOS.

The iOS 7 is among the largest upgrades the OS has ever been given - not quite the game changer that the iPhone OS 2 and the App Store were, but it certainly took a lot of effort. It not only brings some key new features and a few cool system apps, but it also completely overhauls the user interface and tweaks the right things under the hood.

Key features

• Complete UI overhaul with adaptive colors and system-wide Back swipe gesture
• New system icons and folders, animated icons available
• System-wide parallax effect
• Dynamic wallpapers
• Control Center with toggles, multimedia controls and shortcuts
• Updated Notification Center with three tabs
• All apps multitasking with new card interface
• Updated Safari browser with unified search filed
• iTunes radio
• AirDrop file sharing
• Inclinometer within the Compass app
• Camera filters with live preview and new square mode
• New Photos app with better photo organization, picture editing
• Weather app with live weather animations
• Updated Maps with Night mode and Turn-by-Turn walking directions
• New Siri interface, new supported commands, new voices
• Contact Blacklist
• FaceTime audio
• Activation lock
• Automatic app update
• Cellular data usage breakdown
• Chinese-English, Italian, Korean and Dutch dictionaries
• iOS in the Car coming in 2014 in selected cars

Main disadvantages

• Very iTunes dependent for uploading files and multimedia
• No open file system means you often have to duplicate files
• Limited integration of 3rd party social networks and services
• No widgets
• Air Drop works only between selected iOS 7 or later running devices
• No lockscreen shortcuts (besides those in the Control Center)
• Very basic camera UI with limited features and settings
• Limited codecs support
• iTunes radio only works in the US

The iOS 7 indeed has gone flat, but brings dynamic wallpapers and parallax view to make those flat icons pop to life. Indeed, the parallax effect is one of the few among the newly introduced features that is truly unique to iOS (yes, it is available as an app for Android, but here it's baked right into the OS). There is lots of transparency throughout the iOS, brand-new flat theme, all-new system apps, live icons, and a lot more.

From a functionality perspective, Apple has finally decided to give us connectivity toggles organized within the new Control Center, iTunes radio streaming service, the notification center has been completely redesigned, there is AirDrop for easy sharing between different iOS devices, and even more capable Siri.

Of course, there are still missing features. And while our prayers of an open file system were always likely to remain unanswered, those for better utilization of the lockscreen (with widgets and shortcuts) had a chance. Well, you can't have it all, they say.

The iOS 7 update will be seeded to iPhone 5, 4S and 4; iPad 2, 3, 4 and mini; and iPod Touch 5 generation. But not all features will become available on all devices. We also believe the iOS will be the last upgrade for the iPhone 4 and iPad 2.

To help you quickly identify what you'll be getting on your iPhone, iPad or iPod, we've got a handy table that lets you see everything at a glance.

		Updated Siri	iTunes Radio	AirDrop	Panorama	Square photos	Camera filters	Photo filters
	iPhone 4		•			•		•
	iPhone 4S	•	•		•	•		•
	iPhone 5	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
	iPod touch 5G	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
	iPad 2		•
	iPad 3	•	•			•		•
	iPad 4	•	•	•		•	•	•
	iPad mini	•	•	•		•		•

Enough small talk though, let's get down to it and see what the new iOS is capable of.

Galaxy Mega 6.3 vs. Ascend Mate

Back when phones were just phones, a couple of buttons and an earpiece were enough. Now we try to pump our entire lives through our smartphones and a big screen is a must. With the new 6+ inch phablets happy to oblige, pocket size is bigger than ever before.

   
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 • Huawei Ascend Mate

Two in particular - the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 and the Huawei Ascend Mate - caught our eye as potential competitors, so we thought we'd let them take a few swings at each other and see which one is still standing at the end.

We should note that both of these are clearly midrange devices. They won't challenge the 5" 1080p flagships or premium phablets. The Galaxy Mega 6.3 and Ascend Mate go by the "big screen, passable specs" formula.

Here's a blow-by-blow report of how each phone is better than its competitor:

Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 over Ascend Mate

• Larger screen - 6.3" vs. 6.1"
• Optional LTE
• Newer Android out of the box - 4.2 vs. 4. 1
• Thinner (about 2mm)
• NFC
• IR remote
• Air View (the touchscreen detects a hovering finger)
• 8GB/16GB version vs. 8GB only (but both have microSD card slots)
• Wi-Fi 802.11ac connectivity
• Hardware keys leave all of the screen for the UI
• MHL-enabled microUSB port
• Multi-window multitasking

Huawei Ascend Mate over Galaxy Mega 6.3

• Quad-core processor (but Cortex-A9 vs. dual-core Krait 200)
• More RAM - 2GB vs. 1.5GB
• Bigger battery - 4,050mAh vs. 3,200mAh
• Gorilla glass
• Faster HSDPA on base model - 42Mbps vs. 21Mbps
• FM radio
• Office document editor (Kingsoft Office vs. Polaris Office viewer)
• Better video codec support
• Mini apps

Big items like LTE and battery capacity stand out, but there are other differences that might make or break a phablet. Depending on your habits, NFC or an FM radio might swing from irrelevant to must-have.

Phablets went from niche to mainstream in no time, but even so, a 6+ inch screen clearly isn't everyone's cup of tea. Still, both the Ascend Mate and Galaxy Mega 6.3 are reasonably pocketable while being perfectly able to stand in for a 7" tablet.

   
Huawei Ascend Mate • Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3

Anyway, we've done plenty of these head-to-head articles before so the plan is clear - check the hardware (with a focus on the screen and the battery), review the software (paying attention to benchmark performance) and round it all off with the camera.