For the last few days, we have been covering quite a lot about the giants of the Android world. But, quite frankly, the dimensions, weights and prices of these Android Heavyweights do not necessarily appeal to all the users out there. It is with this in mind that Sony Ericsson decided to offer the Xperia X10 Mini and Mini Pro.
The main difference between the X10 Mini and Mini Pro is the availability of a QWERTY keyboard in the X10 Mini Pro. Sure, the keyboard makes the Mini Pro a bit heavier and thicker but the keyboard more than makes up for that by its tactile feedback and good spacing between the keys.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini and Mini Pro are something of a surprise package. They are tiny phones, but offering the Android operating system brings with it the convenience of a handset that can be easily customised. That being said though, the smaller screen and Sony's numerous customisations make the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini feel more like a Nokia at the end of the day. One more thing that should add to the appeal of the Minis will be Sony Ericsson signature "human curvature" design which accounts for the slightly curved back cover of the phone.
It's extremely user-friendly, snappy and colourful. Despite the smaller screens, Sony Ericsson has done a pretty good job at optimizing the interface for the two phones to maximize the usage of the tiny screen. Seasoned Android users might struggle initially to deal with the difference in the interface but once they get the hang on it, the snappy response time should more than make up for it.
Battery life is great, most likely the product of a low-resolution 320 x 240 display. In fact, for one of the reviews, the Mini and Mini Pro actually clock 12 hours continuous usage. Based on that, a normal user should expect a full 2 days worth of usage on a single charge.
Sony Ericsson also provides the handy Media Go suite to all their customers to sync their media files with their computer -- a service that most other Android phones fail to deliver.
But, at the end of the day, due to the size of the phone, if you are planning to use the phone for writing emails, twittering or browsing, it might require extra effort on your part. The low-resolution screen means text isn't as sharp as it could be and web browsing will need constant zooming.
There seem to be reported issue of saving pictures from MMS on the X10 Minis but a quick verification finds that this can be easily resolved by either a) Sending the picture in the MMS back to yourself as an email or b) Making use of a free app called Handcent SMS for the saving of the MMS picture.
As of now, the X10 Mini currently comes with Android 1.6 at its core but this should not be an issue as Sony Ericsson had announced that they will offer free upgrade to Android 2.1 for the user of the X10 Mini and Mini Pro sometime in Q3 2010.
All in all, a great phone to consider if you desire a quick, easy to use and compact smartphone for your daily usage. Moreover, the price of the X10 Mini and Mini Pro should be much more affordable for most of the masses, in comparison to Sony Ericsson’s own Xperia X10 and the other Android heavyweights currently in the market.
As usual, we shall end the article with a video that showcases reviews of the 2 X10 Minis to cut through the text clutter!
