Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Smartphone Reviews and Deals

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini review

Good

It’s tiny! All Android’s goodness in one stylish, tiny parcel

Bad

It’s tiny! Hard/uncomfortable to use for big hands/fingers

Overview

There’s always been a decidedly blokey bias in the smartphone market, which is understandable to a point. The gadget market is heavily male oriented, yes, but as the market for smartphones grows this is swinging back towards the centre. But with the exception of a few colour variants and some some stylish, slick designs, the smartphone has largely been a man thing - until the mini phones came along.

The Xperia X10 Mini had a 100 per cent ‘want one’ hit rate with those of my female friends that saw it - my other half was genuinely gutted that it had to go back. Coming packed with six alternate casings (red, pearlescent, pink etc that easily snap on), the Mini is the same height and width as a credit card (while also being satisfyingly chunky). It’s properly handbag (even purse) sized, feels great in the hand, can match any outfit, but is also a fully equipped Android touchscreen smartphone.

Work

If you’re used to using Android phones, the Mini may take a bit of getting used to. While it uses the Android 1.6 OS, the tiny touchscreen has forced Sony Ericsson to come up with some innovative solutions to make it a smooth user experience.

Luckily, it has done this with aplomb. From the customisable home screen a quick ‘up’ flick of the finger takes you to a three-by-three grid of apps - the more you have, you can just just scroll left and right for more pages of them. It’s a simple and intuitive system, while the three-inch touchscreen is receptive and clear. Most screens have four touch ‘buttons’ in the corners of the display, which works really well without seeming intrusive.

One down side of the small screen is the on-screen keyboard is a standard numeric keypad. If you have pointy enough fingers you can download one of the numerous apps that add a QWERTY keyboard to your screen without too much fuss (I used the fantastic SwiftKey app). I don’t exactly have delicate fingers, but I still found downloading a QWERTY preferable to a numeric keypad, even taking all the mistakes into account.

Battery life is a bit of a concern too. I found it didn’t hold up too well to extensive hammering (Google Maps, web browsing etc) and the battery itself is hidden away inside the unit where you can’t get to it, so getting a spare isn’t an option. However, it’s got a USB connector that means you can charge it on the move via a laptop etc (the same cable acts as the main charger, thanks to a plug add-on). In fairness, some other reviews I’ve read have praised the Mini’s battery life, so I may have had a bit of a dud.

Play

When it comes to music and camera phones, Sony Ericsson has proved its quality in the past with the Walkman and Cybershot ranges. So how did it fare with the Xperia X10 Mini squeezing it all into such a tiny device?

The answer is remarkably well, especially in the camera department. The five-megapixel autofocus snapper takes a really good, sharp and colourful picture, while the interface is intuitive. Just remember to have a microSD card in though, as the camera won’t work at all without one. It’s safe to say the 128MB of internal memory wasn’t exactly designed for storage. Also, if you’re the sort of person that likes to get a good grip on a camera to keep your hand steady, the Mini’s size means you’re out of luck.

The media player is basic, but is again intuitive and does the job without fuss. Again, you’ll need to throw everything onto a microSD card, but it’s a simple process to transfer music from your PC. There’s also an FM radio, plus a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. you can watch video, but it’s not advisable - the screen is tiny and low res, so what’s the point? There’s a really snappy little YouTube app as standard too.

Connectivity

No connectivity corners have been cut on the X10 Mini. There’s full 3G, aGPS (Google Maps is already in place, alongside Wisepilot) and Wi-Fi, plus Bluetooth and a microUSB port, so transferring files and getting online is a breeze.

There’s a whole bunch of social networking and email apps in place from the get-go too, with Google Talk and Gmail (of course) as well as Facebook on hand. And as it’s an Android smartphone, there are thousands more apps to download from Android Market.

Performance

In the two-weeks I had the Xperia X10 Mini, it didn’t crash at all - a stark difference from the two Windows Mobile devices I’d had previously. In fact, it performed every task I asked of it without a fuss. The stripped down Android interface really helps in this respect, making fantastic use of the 600MHz processor.

However, despite all of its many qualities, it’s not a smartphone I would want to own simply due to its diminutive stature. I haven’t got big flappy (or pudgy) man hands, they’re probably about average, but the Mini was still too mini for me. It felt a little uncomfortable when making long calls and it was hard to manoeuvre in my palm when operating the touchscreen. I often felt I was about to drop the handset on the floor.

Verdict

I can’t recommend the Xperia X10 highly enough, with one basic caveat: before you order one, grab your credit card and see if you think its big enough to be used as a touchscreen handset! If it is, and the idea of a tiny, well spec’ed and eye-catching phone (with multiple fascias) appeals, go for it. Sony Ericsson’s take on the Android 1.6 operating system works beautifully and reliably, the camera works a treat, and everything else you need in a handset is in place (or downloadable). A real gem.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini specification and features

Model

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini

Manufacturer

Sony Ericsson

Operating system

Android OS 1.6

Colours

Black, lime, pink, red, silver, white

Mobile internet

WiFi

Yes

3G

Yes

HSDPA

Yes

Size

Size

83mm x 50mm x 16mm

Screen size

2.6"

Screen Resolution

240x320

Weight

88g

Features

Talktime

4 hrs

Standby

285 hrs

Touchscreen

Yes

QWERTY keyboard

No

Camera

5 megapixel

Video

Yes

GPS

Yes

Bluetooth

Yes

Music Phone

No

FM Radio

No

Quad Band

Yes

Videos featuring Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini smartphone reviews by real users

• 

  by Hussain at 16:31 on 19 Feb 2011Report abuse

  The best small smartphone ever .
  nice design , tiny size and 666 mhz processor .
  the camera's the quality is very good but the problem is you can't zoom while capture photos or videos .
  
  I bought this phone 2 weeks ago and I'm happy with it now

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