We've been hearing rumors of a "mini" version of the HTC One M8 almost since the flagship phone itself started leaking, and today we've seen some of the first concrete evidence that it's nearing completion. Perennial mobile Deepthroat Evleaks posted the renders/press photos below, showing the new device in three different colors. It preserves the style and materials of the current HTC One line.

Metal body? Check. Dual front-facing speakers? Check. But there's at least one feature that's not there: the much-ballyhooed Duo camera from the One M8, which uses a secondary rear camera sensor for various quality-enhancing photo functions. Earlier leaks from less reliable sources also omitted the Duo camera (though the design on those leaks was somewhat different - note the placement of the proximity sensor on the front). The Evleaks post also shows a single LED flash module on the back, as opposed to two on the M8. HTC's change to virtual navigation buttons, not to mention an annoying center-placed logo on a big bezel, seems to be here to stay.

A previous post from Evleaks gave the standard specs: 4.5" 720p screen, a Snapdragon 400 processor, Android 4.4.2, an anemic 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of storage plus MicroSD card slot. The rear camera is an alleged 13MP with the front-facing camera being 5MP, meaning that the "Ultrapixel" camera design is reserved for the flagship. Based on the disappointing results from our review, that might be a blessing. Also note that a phone with a 4.5" screen is stretching the definition of "mini."

Price and release date for the HTC One Mini 2 are currently up in the air, but "summer" and "slightly cheaper than the M8" seem like pretty obvious bets.

Source: Evleaks