Xperia X10 Mini Pro review
Sony Ericsson's Xperia X10 Mini Pro definitely takes some getting used to, but once you do, you're hooked.
The Mini Pro was born of its parent, the X10, and now lives with its younger brother, the X10 Mini. The differences between the Pro and Mini are slight, but worth mentioning.
First up, the Pro has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. You can also replace the battery in the Pro, which is not so much a strength for the Pro as a weakness for the Mini. The audio output is on the top of the Pro, but on the bottom of the Mini. The buttons on the sides vary slightly between the two. The Pro is slightly larger and heavier than the Mini.
OK, now that we have sibling rivalry out of the way, let's look at the Mini Pro, free from the annoying kid brother.
FORM/USABILITY
For a small device (120g), the slide-out keyboard handles really well. I have fairly large hands, being a 6'1" bloke, and even I found it easy to grip and difficult to drop in its QWERTY form.
The body design can be seen in the images, but it's sharp on the front, with a matte-finish, curved back cover. It feels solid, but compact and fits nicely in smaller pockets.
The key spacing is good for any finger size - wide - and I found the keys quite firm, giving a significant click and a slight vibration with each press. The whole keyboard is backlit which is invaluable during night-time escapades.
One handed operation was a little fiddly for long fingers. The 2.5-inch capacitive touchscreen was very responsive and never let me down. Smudge proofing was good and bright-light viewing excellent.
POWER/STABILITY
The brain inside the Mini Pro is a 600MHz processor running Android 1.6. There are updates promised for later this year, if you are worried about getting the latest version of Android. I found it more than enough to handle most applications, if a little laggy at times.
I did experience an unexplained failure during my few weeks of usage - and I was only trying to open the alarm function. Nothing a quick retry didn't fix, but it deserves a mention.
INTERFACE
The user interface is nice, with a slick, technological look to it. A standard status bar sits near the top and the home screen features a prominent clock widget. Four main buttons sit in each corner of the screen giving you quick access to messages, contacts, music and dialer.
Sliding between the four horizonal home screens - the clock widget, Google search, text message timeline and user tutorial - was fast and smooth. An upward swipe reveals the detailed menu which has your installed programs and features, and is equally smooth to browse.
SOCIAL/MESSAGING
All of your social interactions can be joined into one timeline using the "Timescape" feature, but I couldn't quite find a need for it. When you want texts, you go to texts. When you want your missed calls you go there, and so on. I didn't want them all thrown in one pile.
Text messaging is a dream due to the QWERTY keyboard, and the predictive text is excellent with most words already accounted for. Entering a new one is simple, also. Slide out menus can be used to input numbers and symbols quickly. A nice, easy experience.
Oh, and your messages are threaded, so you see them as a conversation.
Web browsing proved capable, with basic jobs like Google searches or reading Stuff.co.nz easy enough. The browser lacks multi-touch for zooming, so the solution is a small + and - tool which does the job.
MUSIC AND MEMORY
The device features a standard 3.5mm stereo jack, which is great, but I was less than pleased with the inclusion of Justin Bieber as one of the sample tracks. Instant loss of points there.
For those looking for a music-phone, this isn't it. Frequency response through decent headphones was adequate, but missed much of the upper and lower frequencies, leaving the overall sound flat. There is no equaliser function, so you are stuck with a standard sound. Boo.
In terms of memory, the phone comes with 128MB of onboard memory and a 2GB Micro SDHC card, with the potential to take a card up to 16GB.
BATTERY
It has a micro USB port on the side (no cover) which takes care of both charging and computer connections.
Battery life was admirable and averaged about three days between charges - but went up to five with minimal use.
I did find, though, that as soon as I connected social media apps to the network (Twitter, Facebook, email) the battery needed a daily charge. It seemed to auto-update itself, so I promptly turned those features off. A full charge took about an hour or so.
CALLS/NETWORKS
For calls and network connections - it handle almost anything you throw at it. It will accept 3G connections with frequencies of 850/900/1900/2100 and 2G runs over 850/900/1800/1900 which means any network in New Zealand is sweet as, bro. It will also handle GPRS and EDGE data connections for older (slower) connections.
The antenna is great, and can survive on one bar of reception. I had no dropped calls and the sound quality was excellent. I was impressed with the multi-tasking during calls - you can do almost any other function on the phone while still maintaining a call - including sending or reading a text. Handy.
It does WiFi and Bluetooth, with support for GPS, Email, push Email and Java. It also has an FM radio if you have your headphones handy.
CAMERA
With a 5-megapixel camera, the Mini Pro makes a fairly decent on-the-spot snapper, featuring an LED flash (which doubles as a video light), a dedicated two-stage autofocus/shutter button and VGA video (note the lack of 720p video).
Like most camera phones, it suffers from poor low-light performance due to the small sensor. We won't hold that against it though, because the autofocus is fast and accurate and the LED flash does a good job for candid bar shots and the like.
I thought it one of the better phone cameras I've used, largely because it focuses and shoots quickly, and is ready for more almost instantly. You can also geo-tag your shots.
SUMMARY
You might scoff the first time you pick up the X10 Mini Pro, or think of it as a little too small for your liking, but if you give it a chance it will grow on you.
Everything is in the right place and it handles like a dream. It lacks some features which hardened geeks will miss, but for the majority of lower to medium-level users it's a fantastic little device which is good for almost any need.
It scores four out of five stars from me. You can pick one up for between $500 and $600, depending on the outlet.
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What do you think? Would you buy it? Are there any standout features, or conspicuous absences?
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Sorry to disagree with you, but I've had the mini pro for a week and after my initial excitement, I'm pretty disappointed. Let's face it, this is a phone designed to appeal to girls - small, cute, keyboard for texting etc... but no-one must have thought to check what busy girls want. Here are some major flaws - 1. you can't use this phone without looking at it, ie forget about trying to safely use it while driving, which is when all my girlfriends do our catching up. The speakerphone option does not come up until your friend actually ANSWERS the phone, so you have to keep watching the screen or risk a traffic fine holding it to your ear until the call is answered. (And yes, we know we could get bluetooth for the car, but why spend money on bluetooth when every other phone has an adequate speakerphone option???) 2. Answering and hanging up again results in frustration, as you can't just press a button - you have to slide your finger across the screen. Meaning you have to look at the phone to work out where to put your finger. Again, not much use if you are driving or carrying a briefcase and just want to operate the phone without engaging with the damn thing. 3. Calendar is really basic and definitely not good for people whose lives are organised on their phones. Even obvious things are not accounted for - I tried to put a recurring weekly event in but there appears to be no option to have a finish date - so if you put in a recurring date, it's there for infinity it seems? 4. Why don't more phones just allow you to type in the first few letters of the person you want to call and bring up options? No, on the mini pro I have to go in via the address book, etc etc etc. And this is just the start. I suspect that it's a gender thing and there are differences in how girls and boys will use the phone, but given the size and look of it I'm thinking this phone would be more targeted at girls... so you'd think they'd try and find out a bit more about how girls use phones... So, although there are lots of natty things on this phone, and the touchscreen is one of the better ones around, this phone just doesn't work as a cool tool.
@busygirl, you sound like you shouldn't be in control of a car. You should get a Bluetooth hands-free kit, because the way you use your phone puts you at greater risk of causing or being involved in an accident. You put your own & other people's lives at risk because of a measly few dollars? Nice one.
Your point about the lack of a finish date on a recurring event is a good one - this is one feature I like about my current phone's calendar. Statement 4 is a bit muddled - in most phones you have to go into the contacts before being able to search for a name, otherwise what does the phone think you're searching for?
Aside from the calendar point, there's nothing in your comment that would put me off buying this phone if I was in the market for one.
Also in the market for a smart phone - had a look at this one but was disappointed by the feel of the keyboard slide (felt light and like it could drop off at any moment). Perhaps that was just the demonstrator in the store, but I wouldn't want to sign up to 2 years on one of these things.
The most annoying thing about the phone is it's inability to send photo's via bluetooth. An amazing oversight by Sony.
Re: Busygirl. I hope I'm nowhere near you while you're driving.
busy #2 and Alice #3: There is no evidence that using a Bluetooth headset is any safer than holding the phone to your ear or using a speakerphone.
If you want to gabble to all your mates on the way home then please take the bus.
Chicks really shouldn't get Android phones.
Wouln't mind knowing how u managed to get 3-5 days battery life out of this phone, i wifi off and mobile internet disabled but i can still just get 1 day out of the battery max. Great phone but the battery is useless.
Busygirl don't you know it's illegal to text and drive? I'm not being cute, that's a very dangerous behaviour. You sound really selfish.
I like this phone for it's size and ease of use. I don't really use the internet that much on my phone so I just want a small phone that takes good photos. I like the music player it is easy to use and the 3.5mm jack is convenient.
@busygirl. Yes i agree. I have noticed and agree with all the above points too, but, not the driving thing (but ppl get over it, most ppl have a wee check). One thing u didn't mention though is the battery life, mine i have to charge daily regardless of what is on or off. If fb and wifi etc all on it drains faster + then vibrate has never worked (there's one for the boys to think means more than what it dose). @reg natarajan you shouldn't have a opinion, we are in NZ now
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Question: this seems like a very good phone and a great review, i am in the market for a smart phone do you know if this phone would be able to be used on the XT network? any help would be greatly appreciated