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Wow, is this device small & compact! I found the Xperia X10 Mini Pro to be very pleasing to the eye. It's elegantly crafted and just fits in the palm of your hand.Well, it definitely fits snugly into the palm of my hand, but then, my hands could be called larger that most.
The device is tiny, making it totally pocketable. It could be considered a little on the chunky side compared to some of today's uber-slim keyboard-less devices, but if you know me, you'll know that I don't favour the onscreen keyboards!!
I found the keyboard a little small at first, but more on that later in the review. I don't want to give everything away up front, it would be a very short review!!
Technical Specifications
- Operating System - Google Android 1.6
- Sliding QWERTY keyboard
- Processor - Qualcomm MSM7227 600MHz
- Memory -128 MB
- Display - 2.55 inch 240 x 320 resolution
- Network - GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
- UMTS/HSPA 900/2100
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
- Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
- AGPS
- Audio - 3.5mm audio jack
- microSD memory card -up to 16GB
- Camera - 5 megapixel with auto focus and Geo-tagging
- Talk Time - GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 - 4 hours
- UMTS/HSPA 900/2100 - 3 hours 50 min (manufactures approximation)
- Standby Time - GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 - 285 hours
- UMTS/HSPA 900/2100 - 360 hours (manufactures approximation)
- Battery - Standard Rechargeable Lithium-ion
- Dimensions - 83 x 50 x 16 mm
- Weight - 88 grams with battery
Externals & Hardware
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What's in the Box
Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro (model U20i)
BST-38 Battery (930mAh)
In-ear earphones
Greenheart charger (3 pin to USB)
USB to microUSB cable
Front - As you would expect, the major part of the front of the device is taken up by the 2.55 Inch 240x320 resolution screen. Just below the screen are three hardware buttons. From left to right, the first button takes you to the applications menu, the middle button is the home key and the right button is the back key.
A moment spent on the screen; it's lovely, clear and vibrant in colour. For such a small screen, it is incredibly clear, even with my now faltering eyesight. I had no issues with the screen at all. I know it's small, but for the supremely pocketable form factor I can forgive it that.
I found the the left and right buttons to be slightly awkward at first. This was due to the shape, the buttons are sloped into towards the home key, meaning that pressing the button accurately meant aiming for the edge closest the home button. This didn't present a major problem as after a few hours use, hitting the buttons correctly became second nature.
Above the screen, working from left to right; first we come to three sensors, one is a light sensor, the other is a proximity sensor, the third I'm not sure about, maybe there are two sensors for proximity. The user manual for the device just mentions the two... Moving on, we find the phones ear speaker and following that is a notification LED.
LED Status:
Green: The battery is fully charged
Flashing Red: The battery is very low
Orange: The battery is charging
Flashing Green: There is a pending message or missed call notification
Top - The top is a little more spartan than the front of the Mini Pro, sporting just a power button in the middle and a 3.5mm headphone audio jack. You may notice the extra 'notch' on the headphone socket, this is an extra proprietary slot for Sony Ericcsion's MH-810 earphones that have a built in remote.
The power button is very recessed, I actually found it a reasonable challenge to push it with my large fingers, that being said, I still saw it as a positive, as there was no way I'd be turning the device on accidently for certain, even when stuffed into a jeans or trouser pocket.
Bottom - At the centre of the bottom is what looks like a lanyard anchor point, checking the the Xperia X10 Mini Pro user guide online at the Sony Ericsson site confirmed this. On the right (if you have the screen facing you that is!!) is the microphone slot. I noted that it is quite large compared to other devices, my guess is that this may contribute to the fact that I got no complaints on call quality during my usage.
Left - The left hand side of the Mini Pro is devoid of any buttons, but it does host the all important Micro USB connector to allow charging and synchronisation of the device.
Right - Flipping over to the right hand side of the device, we find a few more buttons. Moving from left to right in the picture, which I apologise for taking upside down, I didn't realise that until I started to write the review after the unit went back, firstly we come to the camera button, which does what it says on the tin, followed by the volume rocker switch, which funnily enough, also does what it says on the tin... I hope you noticed the little notch in the middle of the two buttons, I did, this is the point at which you can lever the back off the device to put your SIM in....
Back - Once again apologising for the poor camera shot, I would blame the camera, but I think it's the operator really, we turn to the back of the device. In the usual left to right review fashion we come to the external speaker, which in my opinion is nice and loud, no issues with volume on the Mini Pro, that's for sure. Next to that is the Sony Ericsson badge and the Sony Ericsson name nicely embossed in the shell itself. Further to the right is the 5 Megapixel Camera lens and LED Camera Light (Camera Light is what SE call it in the user manual, although it is referred to as a Flash in the Camera section). Below the camera is a little plate sporting the XPERIA brand line.
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Headphones - The supplied headphones are sturdy and of the in-ear type. Unfortunately I didn't really get to try out the headphones as I spent most of my time in my car with the Mini Pro connected to the Bluetooth Handsfree Car-Kit that is installed in it.
The SE built in radio would only work with the SE headphones as it uses these as an aerial. But once connected you can use the menu button to select playing the radio output back through the mini pro's external speaker, which wasn't bad at all given that it is such a small device.
Through the headphones the quality of the sound was very good, and the radio will run in the background, proving the Android multi-tasking!
the radio also featured RDS, picking up the names of the radio stations and displaying them on the frequency strip as per your car stereo. The nerd in me likes the RDS feature!
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Charger - The charger suppled is badged under the Greenheart range. Greenheart is Sony Ericsson's programme for delivering more environmentally friendly technology. The Greenheart range of products utilise recycled plastics in manafacture, substantially reducing the carbon footprint of SE products. This Greenheart charger complies with Energy Star Level V and has a standy power loss of less than 30mW, reducing power consumption. All Greenheart phones also remind the user to unplug the charger once charging completes.
Keyboard - The keyboard on the Mini Pro is a little small, well, the whole device is miniscule, so no surprise there! There is no d-pad or joystick facility. Keys in different places to other full QWERTY keyboard versions, I guess due to size. Again, took about a day to get used to. Quite a competent emailer... After a few days of continuous use, the keyboard has become as easy to use as any other keyboard I've tried before. Some of the keys are in a different place, which took a little while to get used to. The apostrophe key keeps catching me out now. it has quickly become my favourite messaging device so far, even beating my Motorola Milestone and my HTC Touch Pro 2, but this may just be my personal preference and other peoples mileage may vary. I didn't notice at first, but either side of the space bar are left and right direction keys, this really did enhance my use of the keyboard, making it a lot easier to navigate back and forth through typed text to make corrections etc.
Camera - The camera on the Mini Pro is a respectable 5 megapixels with autofocus & LED flash. The camera button has a two stage press, press the button half way down to focus, and press fully down to take the photo. I found that the camera reacted well, no real lag on taking a snap. The snaps produced where of excellent quality, you can view the camera output above. You can also toggle video mode, but I always find that I never use that feature on any device!!
Size Comparison - As you can see from the chart and the comparison photos, the X10 Mini Pro is extremely diminutive in comparison with other devices, albeit not as slim as some, but then these days, who is as slim as they used to be!!
Interface - Sony Ericsson have a unique take on a UI on top of Android 1.6, or maybe we should call it more of a customisation on the X10 Mini Range of devices. This takes the form of employing the four corners of the home-screen as your core application launch facility. Each corner can be customised to give fast access to an application of your choice. You cannot add any further application shortcuts to the homepage, you are restricted to the four corners, and you can only add a single widget that will sit in the centre of the screen.
I would guess this is due to the X10 Mini Pro being unique in that I believe it's the smallest device in its class, weighing in with a 240x320 resolution screen, which to be honest, sacrifices screen real estate for pocketability, I find that quite refreshing in this day and age with super-sized screens flooding the market.
4 home screens are available. I couldn't see anywhere in the settings where you could increase that. Maybe this is a limitation of Android 1.6 and I will admit to being unfamiliar with it having being used to 2.1 on the milestone.
I guess the first question to ask is 'how many apps do I regularly use?'. I found that the four corners were quite adequate in my day to day use of the device. You can of course load the other home screens with as many application shortcuts as you can fit on the screen. A quick swipe, and you can have all your apps ready to tap!
Timescape - Timescape is Sony Ericsson's unique attempt to integrate your many contacts and updates into a single stream. Reminiscent of HTC's Friendsteam, Timescape includes the two main social networks in the form of Facebook & Twitter, but SE takes it one stage further in also including text messages & calls into the fray.
In using Timescape, I found that the screen, or maybe I should call it the feed, became a little busy when Facebook, Twitter, Text Messages and calls were selected as options, especially if you follow a lot of people and have a lot of contacts!!
This didn't present too much of a problem though, and the aggregation of all your pertinent information into one flow did make keeping up with things a little easier, although it did make me think about pruning my feeds as well.
Applications
I won't run through all the applications as a lot of them are standard apps across all Android platforms, so I've tried to pick applications of note that Sony Ericsson have included to enhance the user experience:
FM Radio - As with other devices that have an FM tuner built in, the Mini Pro requires that the provided headset be plugged in to serve as an Antenna. A strange quirk (well, I found it strange!) is that once the Radio is connected an in play, you can use a menu option to switch radio playback through the Mini Pro's external speaker. The audio experience through both the external speaker and the headphones is very good, in fact a tad better than other devices that I've experienced. The radio application will run in the background, allowing you to carry on with your other tasks whilst you listen, so, you can remain productive and entertained.
Facebook - I don't really need to say a lot about the Facebook application do I. Needless to say, it's there by default (nice one Sony), and it's useful!!
It does what you need it to do to stay in touch with your Facebook buddies.
Playnow - Playnow is Sony Ericsson's download service for Music, Apps, Video, Ringtones, Wallpapers & Themes, so much like Apple's Appstore/iTunes, Microsoft's Marketplace & not forgetting the Android Market.
Unfortunately and due to the short time I had with the device, I didn't get to try it out as I didn't have an account. After the device went back, I realised I should have set one up, so apologies on that.
Just to pick up on single aspect of Playnow that I found interesting, I selected 'Dual Download', quoted from the Sony Ericsson help pages as:
"Dual download means you receive two file downloads per purchased music track, one to your mobile and one to your computer. You can download your music immediately, or if you wish, you can download them later. Your PlayNow account contains "My downloads" where all your purchased items are saved. With Dual download, music items in "My downloads" on PlayNow™ are available as AAC+ files for your mobile and high quality MP3 files for your computer. Dual download is not available for MP3 device users."
TrackID - TrackID as the name suggests is an application for identifying your music tracks for you. I remember a similar application called Shazam. Unfortunately, I didn't get around to trying the application out, for that I must apologise!!
Timer - As the name suggests, this is a countdown timer. There are many applications available out there in cyberspace that perform this function, but it was nice that it was included.
Stopwatch - It's a stopwatch - Nuff said.
Neoreader - A bar code scanning application included by default. I have dabbled in the past, but never really found a use for such an application!
CA Gold Rush - A game included on the device. I'm not much of a game player mobile, but I couldn't try it as this review device had been out previously and the trial license had expired!
Backup & Restore - Backup And Restore - Works in a similar fashion to Microsofts MyPhone, the only difference being it doesn't back up to the cloud, only your storage card. Being supplied on the X10 Mini Pro by default made this a very welcome addition to the device, no need to purchase anything in the Android Market.
Roadsync Calendar - The companion application to Roadsync Mail. As the name suggests, Roadsync Calendar gives you access to your Exchange calendar, and as with mail, it does exactly what it says on the tin. I couldn't give it a thorough workout in a corporate setting as my company has decided to block Android until they can test out the OS security support. I had no issues with using the calendar, it all worked as I expected!!
Sync - The Sync application is Sony Ericsson's Synchronisation service. Like Apple's MobileMe service, Sony Ericsson Sync allows the user to synchronise data such as Calendar and contacts. Being a fervent Exchange user for many years, I didn't go as far as to actually try the service out, as there was no real need as Exchange provides the same functionality.
Peggle - An intruiging little game, definitely java based as when searching for information I found it available for download on many websites. Not being much of a gamer, I gave it a quick shot, but then moved on. If you like such things, it looks as if it would keep you occupied for a while!!
User Guide - The X10 Mini Pro comes pre-loaded with a very extensive user guide that describes the many functions of the device in great detail. It was invaluable in describing the function and use of Sony Ericsson's Timescape for example. This user guide should contain enough information to get the novice Android Smartphone user up to speed without needing anything else apart from the device itself.
Roadsync Mail - Roadsync Mail is provided as Android 1.6 does not support Exchange Sync natively. I must confess to not liking Roadsync Mail. Not that it didn't work, it did the job adequately as you would expect, but more that it isn't the same sort of email experience that you find on the later versions of Android. I guess I've been spoilt by using Android 2.1 on the Motorola Milestone.
Roadsync Mail offers push email, so no problems there at all. It also offers the niceties that you only usually find on Windows Phone devices, such as the ability to set the follow up flags.The one thing I really did miss is the unified inbox, I never realised what a bonus that was until I didn't have it.
WisePilot - Wisepilot is not a navigation application that I'd heard of before. Unfortunately, when I started the progam, the trial period had already expired, one of the tribulations of a review device, well, especially if you are not the first one to receive it. This meant that I didn't get a chance to give it a try, which is a shame.
Navigation - Initially I thought that this was another added navigation application, but as it turns out, there is a separate icon for launching Google Maps navigation. Google Maps is on the X10 Mini Pro by default, and was immediately updated on my connecting the device to the internet. Running the navigation application displays the initial splash screen warning that it is a beta, no surprises there. I did try out the voice navigation, but as I always find with any voice recognition system, 9 times out of 10 it fails to recognise my voice!!
Google Navigation worked well, but I didn't get to try it in anger, as my business travel is very restricted these days, in fact almost non-existent!!
Pro's & Con's
Super pocketable mobile messenger Bright & clear screen Great call quality
Power key can be difficult to press Incredibly small screen Android 1.6Conclusion
I Love it love it love it, I didn't want to give it back. One of these with android 2.1 on it would be the icing on the cake methinks, well, for me anyway!! An upgrade to Android 2.1 or even better 2.2 would more than likely see me rushing out to the local phone retailer...
It's small, it's sexy, it's a very competent comms device. And it's just so pocketable!
The call quality for such a tiny device was absolutely excellent. I had no complaints on call quality during my testing from either end of the call. The SE speaker is nice and loud, I didn't have to have the volume turned up loud so that I could hear it ring.
YouTube playback was as good as any other device over wifi, the small screen did not really detract from playing video on the device, although at that size I don't think I'd want to watch a feature film on it, the screen may just be a little too small.
Android 1.6 itself is a bit of a shocker, Android 2.1 has so many improvements that make for a far better experience. Examples are primarily in ease of use, you take a photo in Android 2.1 & when you tap the photo you are offered the abilitiy to share it either via email, or one of your social networks. This makes uploading to social networks such as Facebook a breeze, with Android 1.6, you actually have to load the Facebook application for Android, and then use that to upload your photos. Not exactly a hard task, but just not as fluid or intuitive as sharing direct from the camera application.
When Brando, Sony Ericsson's PR company, contacted me to request the return of the Mini Pro review unit, I must say it was a struggle to give it back. I loved that little guy, it's the form factor over everything else, for me it's nigh on perfect as a day to day machine. It has its foibles, the recessed power button, the small screen and it would really most definitely benefit from a later version of Android over 1.6, but apart from that, it rocks!!
