I wished HTC can get their act together esp in the camera department. I wished HTC didn't scrap the One mini 3. Reason why the One mini 2 interested me so much was because of its size and it might actually look better than its bigger brother M8, with black plastic trim and all. What I would like with HTC IF they ever did make another One mini is better price, better cam, 4.7 inches, 720p, same height as One M7/mini 2, and 2500+ mAh.
While I don't have the highest favorable view with HTC anymore, I do miss a few things from them...
- Great design. I think the gunmetal One mini 2 looks better than M8 and iPhone 6. Basically similar size and front look (same cam and sensor placement) of the M7.
- Class-leading external and internal sound. BoomSound (front facing speakers) makes total sense (no pun intended). The back and rear placements get obscured alot depending how you hold the phone, play a game, or rest it on a table or bed.
- SLCD display is usually excellent
- Gallery app is excellent esp for trimming videos.
- I miss BlinkFeed even though Flipboard makes a good alternative.
What they need to correct -
- Improve battery life to class-leading
- Improve camera to class-leading
- Lower their prices. They build premium quality phones but don't offer better value like from Chinese OEM's, LG, or Nokia. Like Sony, HTC isn't a top-tier phone maker.
- Improve customer service here in my country which seems non-existent and terribly bad when you finally get connected to a service rep.
If Apple and Samsung weren't ruling the roost, these are the FIVE underdog companies I would root for...
HTC - Because their design and sound quality still appeals to me. But people can easily forget how innovative HTC thinks. Maybe they can blow us all away again next year after one of the most underwhelming updates and disappointing sales with the M9.
LG - Because G4 stands alone as the only 2015 flagship with removable battery but also because (sans Google Nexus) LG have raised their game and have been making solid phones since the Optimus G. LG is one of the few companies with weaknesses that aren't quite as evident like say Sony or HTC. They seem to be above average in all areas.
Nokia - Like LG and Xiaomi, they offer good solid hardware for a good price. And like LG, Nokia doesn't seem to show a glaring weakness. They seem to excel in all areas. Except they focus too much on WP. The software they chose is what held them back. Across the board like battery life, call quality, price value, and camera, they seem to be no worse than above average. Siding with Microsoft is what set back Nokia for years and to lose their throne to Samsung. Thz, Elop!
Sony - Because even though they aren't the Sony of the 1980's and 1990's, they seem to appeal to me when it comes to design, water resist, and long battery life. They do suck with TFT screens, call quality, and value. Sony isn't Apple but they price their phones just as high. I just wished they ditch the glass rears already. Apple already moved away from it in 2012 and Sony is still using the material since 2013. I also love Sony video game consoles. The PS4 is on top of my Christmas list once Metal Gear Solid V gets released in Sept. No thanks to Nintendo or Microsoft...
Xiaomi - Even though the burden of having only 12 GB avail while I added several hundreds of videos onto the 32 GB micro-sd card for my G3 Beat yesterday, I still think my Mi 3 is still my all-time favorite phone ever for every day use. I actually considered swapping it for a HTC One mini 2 with its paltry Snapdragon 400 because that closely matches the size of the G3 Beat and has micro-sd slot, but I love the speed of the Snapdragon 800 and Wi-Fi ac. I can barely log onto Wi-Fi at the mall with my LG. The Xiaomi is just INSTANT even in slow and congested networks. The Redmi 2 probably wouldn't be as fast. If the battery degrades, I will replace it as I doubt their services cost that much. Xiaomi offers good value. I want to see them expand. I think they can take out Gionee/BLU in the lower ranks. They have good products for a good price all across the board. One of the few QUALITY Chinese brands to me.
Meizu, Huawei, and ASUS are the brands to watch in the midrange segment. HTC and Sony should try to appeal to that market more but they overprice and under spec their midrangers because they still think they can appeal to the premiums ruled by Apple and Samsung.