HTC Mini Makes Taking Calls On Big Phablets Less Embarrassing

By Jimmie Geddes email: j.geddes@mobilenapps.com | Jan 26, 2013 06:10 PM EST

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Do you feel like your smartphone might be too big to hold up to your face to speak on? Holding a 5-inch-plus device to make calls the normal way is looking to be a problem for some consumers. But fret not. HTC has got you covered with their smaller phone smartphone accessory.

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As more and more smartphones are taking on tablet sizes, it's inevitable that there's going to be some consumers who wish their smartphone was a little bit smaller without having to give up a 5+inch, 1080p screen in the process. HTC has come to the rescue with their HTC Mini smartphone accessory. The HTC Mini looks like the kind of candy bar cellphone you might have had a few years ago but isn't a standalone cell phone. The device actually pairs up with your smartphone via NFC (near field communications) so you can enjoy the smaller form factor to speak on without giving up your precious new phablet in the process.

It's unclear if there's a market for this type of device, but can you really blame HTC for trying to see if some people are willing to carry two phones to speak on because they feel one is just too big? Steve Jobs even preached that 4-inch smartphones were just too big to use comfortably. So leave it to HTC to come to the rescue with the HTC Mini.

The device has only been released in China and is marketed as an accessory to HTC's Butterfly smartphone, the same 5-inch device HTC released in the U.S. known as the Droid DNA on Verizon's network. Slashgear even posted a video HTC made explaining their thought process in creating the HTC Mini (if you can understand Chinese).

The smaller phone acts as a wireless headset and remote control to the smartphone. It can be used for calls and can display messages, calendar alerts, and notifications all on its smaller monochrome screen. The monochrome screen is where this type of accessory escaped my mind of actually being practical if I were to even contemplate carrying around a second device to make calls on. HTC could have gone an extra step in adding a simple color screen to the device as to not even take a chance in getting ridiculed for releasing a device with a monochrome screen. I guess that's planned for the HTC Mini 2...

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