We were recently sent the new Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini for a quick test drive. The word ‘Mini’ often comes across to many with mixed feelings and with the phone being ‘X10 Mini’, there is no doubt that some will wonder as to whether it is a budget or low end version of the original Xperia X10. Indeed, we do think that the Xperia X10 Mini is a somewhat inferior mobile to the X10 – design wise and spec wise.

Review

Costing just above the £200 mark here in the UK, the Xperia X10 Mini was first announced in February this year. It has been popular on the high streets here in the recent months with the likes of Phones4u and Carphone Warehouse boasting their X10 Mini deals everywhere you go, these have largely been £15 – £30 per month 24-month tariffs where the phone is free of charge. Undoubtedly, the X10 Mini’s pricetag makes it available to many who have not yet ever considered an Android phone due to affordability. But the question that remains is whether its still worth the money, or should you spend abit more on a proper Android phone if you’re genuinely interested in becoming an Android user?

Putting aside all the worry for a moment, the X10 Mini in fact has some decent hardware. Its powered by a Qualcomm MSM7227 600MHz processor, through a 2.6-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors (65K effective), boasts 128MB internal memory, with microSD slot supporting up to 16GB (2GB included), its got a very responsive five megapixel camera with LED flash and autofocus too. Entertainment and connectivity wise, there is a accelerometer and 3.5mm audio jack, and your standard Android package – 3G, WiFi, bluetooth, A-GPS and microUSB. Our unit ran on Android 1.6 with Sony Ericsson’s Rachel UI ontop (which includes Timescape).

The X10 Mini may not have any shiny metallic elements to its exterior and its plastic body doesn’t give it any advantage whatsoever over its rivals but its tiny size makes it remarkably comfortable to hold and fun to use. What’s worth pointing out is that the X10 Mini even has its own dedicated camera key on its left, a feature that not even the HTC Desire has if I remember correctly.

While the back is all plastic, the matte feel to it is very pleasing. Plus, if you didn’t fancy black, you can always choose from a range of different coloured back covers included with every phone.

With its toy-like mobile impression, we were surprised to find that its looks were actually very deceiving. It was capable of running Android smoothly and effectively, no lag or crashes whatsoever. You can tell from the interface that Sony Ericsson have made it deliberately simple and user-friendly, there is nothing you can do wrong with it even if you’re a first time user to Android.

Despite the simplicity, it is not to say that the X10 Mini is featureless. You still get a proper Sony Ericsson style mp3 / music player and video player. Mail, Google Maps, Calendar, Album, Youtube, internet browser, and basic social networking applications like Facebook all come factory installed with the handset, but there is every room for the mobile to become customised and more advanced with the luxury of the Android Market, obviously this is totally dependent on the user’s needs.

You also get the very useful slide down notification menu just like any Android device…

What we probably dreaded the most in the X10 Mini was typing on its on screen keyboard. While you do get vibration feedback as you press its screen during typing, it doesn’t make texting messages or emails any less difficult. The screen is simply too small for this function to be a quick task, especially so if your fingers are large enough to overlap another on-screen key at the same time. The same goes to browsing the internet on the X10 Mini as well, you can easily imagine what it feels like read off its 2.6-inch screen – unfortunately, not the most comfortable experience.

Our favourite feature on the X10 Mini was the camera, it is all you need from a mobile’s camera, easy to use and snappy. You do have a few shooting modes such as twilight, sports, macro and auto. While some mobiles would have plenty more modes, we reckon this is all you need if you’re not too serious about your mobile photography. You can also capture videos too, this is VGA quality, its video function is also equipped with continuous LED, perfect for video recording in dim conditions. Here are a few photo samples…

Conclusion

The new Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini is indeed a low end budget Android mobile which tries to portrait the success of its more advanced and mature relative, the Xperia X10. But as we have mentioned in this quick review, the X10 Mini does have several merits of its own, to its design, quality, feature and hardware. We would therefore not consider it as a stepped down version of the original X10 but rather, an affordable, entry level Android smartphone for users new to the Google mobile platform.

Pros

• Comfortable to hold
• Scratch resistant surface
• Quick and responsive, easy to use user interface
• No compromise over connectivity options
• Excellent camera function with dedicated camera key
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Decent hardware specs for price range

Cons

• Slow to start up / boot up
• Plastic body
• No multi-touch screen
• Difficult to perform on-screen typing tasks
• Non-removable battery