Small Phone, Big Heart

The X10 Mini has a larger-than-life personality

The Mini has a lot of worthwhile features and certainly wins hands down when it comes to the cute factor, but its size eventually loses it marks because the screen just isn’t big enough.

What We Like

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini has a name that’s bigger than itself!  At a mere 88g, this smart phone is definitely the mini-me of the X10.  Initially we were concerned that we’d be unable to use the X10 Mini, purely because it would be too small to access, but we had nothing to fear; the keypad is well designed.  The buttons are large, and it’s easy to swipe between letters, numbers and symbols.

We were also able to swipe between the home screens, all of which have icons in the corners giving you access to functions such as music, camera and contents etc.  You can customise the arrangement of widgets too, although on a screen this size there isn’t room for many.

We thought the tiny memory was in keeping with the phone – a mere 128MB, but you can increase this up to 16GB, and to get you started, a 2GB microSD memory card is included.  Internet access pleased us too; connectivity is good with WiFi and3G with HSPA so download speeds are a maximum of 7.2Mbps. The Mini also has aGPS with Google Maps (including Street View) though in-car navigation has got to be a no-no because of screen size.
 
For a diminutive phone, it makes a big noise.  The Mini incorporates an excellent media player; you can find songs on Google or YouTube with a single click.  You can use your own headphones with the 3.5 mm jack, and there is support for Bluetooth.
 
One of the advantages of a small screen, we found, is the impact it has on battery life; you’ll get a couple of days’ use between charges but be warned- the battery is irreplaceable.

What We Don't Like

The Mini’s interface screen, Timescape, brings together tweets, texts, missed calls and Facebook updates so you don’t have to keep moving between apps.  The trouble is, it’s only possible to see the first few words of an update, so you then have to open the applicable Web site to see the whole thing.
 
Even though we were happy with Web browsing, it became tedious having to keep scrolling up and down because of the screen size, and because the keypad doesn’t work in landscape mode, it can’t benefit from the full height of the screen.  Again, because of size issues, the keypad is alphanumeric rather than QWERTY, so texting and emailing take longer.

The Mini runs on Android 1.6, so is seriously left behind with the more recent upgrades, but you can still access Google features like Maps and Gmail, and download apps, though not the full range.

Conclusion

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini is a good choice if you like the appeal of a small handset – it’s great for sticking in a pocket or small handbag, and it’s fine if you’re new to the world of apps.  However, we think the cuteness will soon wear off and you’ll wish for a larger display and a QWERTY keypad for all your texts and emails.