The iPhone 5C, Apple's inexpensive variant was launched in September 2013, whereas the compact version of HTC One, the HTC One Mini was released in the month of July last year.

For readers who are planning to buy either one of the aforementioned handsets, here is a specification and price comparison pertaining to Australia.

Display and Size

The HTC One Mini comes with a 4.3 inches screen, while the iPhone 5C has a relatively smaller 4 inches screen. The HTC One Mini handset boasts of an aluminium body, while the iPhone 5C is made of polycarbonate material. The HTC One Mini has a resolution of 720 x 1,280 pixels with a pixel density of 341 ppi, whereas the iPhone 5C has a relatively lesser screen resolution of 640 x 1,136 pixels, with a pixel density of 326 ppi.

The iPhone 5C handset has a thickness of 0.35 inches when compared to the HTC One Mini with 0.36 inches. In addition, the iPhone 5C weighs 132 g, while the HTC One Mini weighs relatively lighter at 122 g.

Hardware, Software and Storage

The HTC One Mini is powered by a dual-core Krait (Qualcomm Snapdragon 400) processor clocked at 1.4 GHz, with a 1 GB of RAM. The iPhone 5C, on the other hand, is powered by a dual-core, Apple A6 processor clocked at 1.3 GHz and it houses the same 1 GB of RAM.

The HTC One Mini runs on Android 4.2 JellyBean (upgradable to higher versions) on top of HTC's Sense UI, whereas the iPhone 5C runs on Apple's proprietary iOS 7 software.

The iPhone 5C comes with a 16 GB and 32 GB of built-in storage, whereas the HTC One Mini comes with a 16 GB of built-in storage. Both the handsets do not support microSD card.

Camera

The HTC One Mini houses only a 4 megapixel rear-facing camera unit with LED Flash, whereas the iPhone 5C houses a superior 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with LED Flash. Also, the iPhone 5C comes with a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera, when compared to the slightly better 1.6 megapixel secondary camera unit of HTC One Mini.

Battery

When it comes to battery life, HTC One Mini trumps the iPhone 5C marginally. The HTC One Mini houses an 1800 mAh battery unit, while the iPhone 5C houses a 1507 mAh battery unit. The HTC One Mini can pack 13 hours of 3G talk-time, whereas the iPhone 5C can provide 10 hours of 3G talk-time. In addition, HTC One Mini churns out a whopping 3G stand-by time of 692 hours, while the iPhone 5C can only provide 250 hours of 3G stand-by time.

Sim

The HTC One Mini supports micro-sim, while iPhone 5C supports nano-sim type.

Color

The iPhone 5C comes in five shades pink, blue, white, yellow and green, whereas HTC One Mini comes in silver and black shades.

Connectivity

Both the phones support Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and USB charging. Additionally, the iPhone 5C supports TV-Out and mobile hotspot.

Price

The iPhone 5C 16 GB is priced at AU$659.95, while the HTC One Mini 16 GB with 4G LTE is priced at AU$449.95 in Australia.