HTC One M8 Mini may be short on big brother's features

sincity · May 14, 2014

They don't call it "mini" for nothing! A reliable gadget leaker claims HTC may be pulling a few features from the unannounced, junior-sized version of its latest flagship smartphone.

@evleaks filed a brief Twitter post earlier today that potentially puts a damper on enthusiasm for the as-yet unofficial HTC One M8 Mini, a diminutive model of the Taiwanese smartphone maker's popular HTC One (M8).

By all accounts, the improvements made to Sense 6 have garnered a fair amount of praise from critics and customers alike for HTC's most recent Android handset, although many of the best features won't be making the leap to older One models.

Judging from the latest rumors, a similar fate could also befall the forthcoming HTC One M8 Mini, which appears to be related to hardware sacrifices being made to keep the device at an attractive price point.

Not so dynamic Duo

The Wednesday morning tweet specifically notes the lack of a second Duo Camera, which HTC One M8 owners can use to create images with depth perception and selectively apply such effects to foreground or background subjects.

Equally unfortunate is the loss of HTC Zoe, the manufacturer's highly touted feature that allows up to 20 photos plus a three-second video to be captured with a single press of the shutter button.

Shutterbugs will also likely lament the loss of Panoramic photos, which allow users to capture images from a 360-degree view, something that will apparently remain exclusive to the larger HTC One M8.

Last but not least, the HTC One M8 Mini will also lose built-in support for Fitbit, as well as the ability to wake up the device with a wave of the hand, courtesy of the Motion Launch feature.