HTC has released a small, less capable handset to accompany one of its oversized, perhaps overly capable smartphones, according to a report from Slashgear. The HTC Mini, which resembles a candybar feature phone, connects to HTC’s oversized Butterfly smartphone via NFC so that owners need not be embarrassed or encumbered by their giant Android slab.

The HTC Mini has a number pad and small screen and can be used as a handset companion to the Butterfly (the non-US version of HTC’s Droid DNA) as well as a remote control when the Butterfly is connected to a larger display. The Mini can make calls, display messages and calendar events, and control the shutter on the Butterfly when connected.

Let’s not mislay the point entirely, here: 5-inch-plus phones can be cumbersome to use, especially one-handed, given that a thumb’s reach only extends so far. Customers who may be enticed by that big, pretty 1080p display may not come to terms with that reality until it’s too late, return-policy-wise. But releasing a companion device to fill in the gaps where big phones fall short makes the big devices seem like all the more of a dirty trick.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the practice of carrying two cell phones of complimentary sizes is not unheard of: in Asia, women who carry big phones in their purse may carry secondary cellphones in their pockets. This still strikes us as perhaps being too accommodating of the phablet trend, but it’s hard to argue with the millions of people who have already bought in.