Our Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Review

It’s obvious that this cute little phone is being marketed to fashion-conscious teenage girls. It’s not manly in any way, except for the power inside. The fact that it’s tiny – the screen is just 2.55 with a display resolution of 240mm x 320mmm and the whole thing measures 83mm x 50mm – is one clue. The fact that it comes boxed with five differently coloured snap-on back panels really gives the game away.

So it won’t be tempting anyone away from their Blackberry or iPhone, but it’s perfect for its target market. That Sony Ericsson have opted to use the Android 1.6 operating system, instead of the later 2.1, will make little difference.

It’s unfussy and stylish. Below the screen are just the Three menu, home and back buttons. On the side are dedicated camera button and volume up/down toggle switch. On the bottom edge sit the micro USB port and standard 3.5mm headphone jack. The phone comes with a 2Gb microSD card and headphones with inline pause control.

The homescreens are invitingly tweakable and make the best of the Android technology. Users can have up to 20 widgets open at one time and navigation is straightforward enough to compensate fro the small screen. The web browser includes a useful magnifying square for faster scrolling or zooming in to web pages. The four corner shortcuts help to speed things up even more.

One drawback of this tiny screen is that a QWERTY keyboard just won’t fit, so it’s back to the T9 keypad for texting. I would suspect most of its target market are faster at texting anyway than they would be at a traditional keyboard, so this won’t be much of a drawback.

The four corner shortcuts come into their own when using the impressive camera function, allowing you to quickly delete or share straight after the picture is taken. Even more welcome is the camera’s macro feature, which really works. You’re blessed with crystal clear close-ups and not something blurred or unintelligible, which was the case in older camera phones.

The Sony Ericsson X10 mini comes pre-loaded with loads of apps which will be useful to its intended buyer demographic. Google and Gmail, naturally, are here, and the YouTube app works brilliantly, even more so when connected through WiFi. Also welcome will be TrackID, track recognition software which links to Sony’s PlayNow service. More than a gadget, it works really well.

What We Liked

Battery life is superb, as good as the best Android phone. Also impressive is its lightning-speed web browsing capability. The accelerometer makes rotating the screen between portrait and landscape quick and simple.

What We Disliked

This phone’s small screen is both a strength and a drawback. Young friends will be wowed by its cute tininess, but as a work tool it has too many limitations.

Our Final Verdict

You couldn’t imagine any businessmen whipping out one of these, but his teenage daughter is sure to be nagging him for one.

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	Sony Ericsson X10 Mini
General
Form Factor	Candybar
Dimensions	83 x 50 x 16 (mm)
Talk Time	210 mins
Standby Time	360 hours
Weight	86 g
Quad Band	Yes
Photo and Video
Integrated Camera	Yes
Camera	5.00 megapixels
Video Player	Yes
Phone
Smart Phone	Yes
Internal Memory	128MB
Memory Card Type	MicroSD (max 16GB)
Messaging
Instant Messaging (IM)	Yes
Screen
Colour Screen	Yes
Touch Screen	Yes
Connectivity
3G	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes
Email	Yes
HSDPA	Yes
WAP	Yes
Wi-Fi	Yes
GPS	Yes
Music and Radio
FM Radio	Yes
MP3 Player	Yes
MP3 Ringtones	Yes
Additional Content
Downloadable Content	Yes
Downloadable Games	Yes
Downloadable Ringtones	Yes

Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Full Specification

General

Photo and Video

Phone

Messaging

Screen

Connectivity

Music and Radio

Additional Content