First Impressions: Sony Ericsson X10 Mini

In a word – Wow! When Sony Ericsson say ‘mini’ they mean it! The X10 Mini is small – it’s the smallest smartphone I’ve ever used, but does it’s size matter? Let’s find out!

Driving around town you can’t miss the billboards and adverts for the X10 Mini, they’re everywhere, but as the ads are so big it doesn’t really prepare you for just how small the phone is when you take it out of the box. Even the packaging makes you think that this phone is going to be bigger than it actually is.

In the Box

Sony Ericsson are slightly more generous than most. The X10 Mini comes with a 2GB Memory card, USB Card Reader, Micro USB Data Cable, mains adapter and second battery cover. An interesting change to the phone is that the battery is now built in rather than being removable, so don’t panic if you open your’s up and can’t find a battery.

The Card reader is an interesting addition too – the easiest way to transfer your data and sync your phone is either by USB or Bluetooth, so I’m not too sure why they’d include this, but I suppose it’s a little easier to carry around than a data cable, even if it does mean having to take your phone apart to get to the memory card.

The headset that is included is a great quality one – it’s more than just a standard 3.5mm headset as it draws power from the phone to provide better sound quality and to power the inline remote. If you don’t like it for any reason, you can still use a standard 3.5mm headset.

X10 Mini Vs. X10

Having a ‘Mini’ version of a phone seems to be proving popular at the moment, although the manufacturers seem to have a difference of opinion when it comes to saying just how small ‘Mini’ really is. Personally I’d say that the HTC HD Mini is about right. It maintains the look of it’s bigger brother, the HTC HD2, while managing to be more pocket friendly.

Sony Ericsson on the other hand have gone to extremes and made this really small. The X10 Mini is smaller than the Nokia 6500 Slide is when it’s closed. It’s not necessarily a bad thing either. The full sized Sony Ericsson X10 is a great as a multimedia device as it has a massive 4″ touch screen, which is great for surfing the web and watching videos, but if that’s not really what you use your phone for it’s a bit extreme.

The X10 mini is more of a social phone, and by that I mean it’s great for taking photo’s on nights out, posting updates to twitter, facebook as well as texting and calling your friends. The screen by comparison is quite small at 2.5″ and has a relatively low resolution, so watching video’s on it isn’t going to be a wonderful experience.

Text entry on the phone is surprisingly easy despite not having a physical keypad. It’s probably the easiest I’ve used on a touch screen phone after the iPhone. As the screen is so small, it can’t use a full qwerty, so instead reverts to the standard mobile phone keypad style. What makes it so easy is that you can reach all the keys without having to stretch your thumb across the display or hold the phone at an awkward angle. Predictive text entry works as expected and the capacitive screen is extremely responsive.

It’s Android, but not as we know it

After iPhone OS (iOS as it’s now called) Android is the fastest growing mobile operating system. For those who haven’t come across Android before, it’s an open source operating system created by Google. It’s been adopted by almost every major handset manufacturer and is giving the iPhone a run for it’s money.

If you’re familiar with Android, the first thing you’ll notice is that this looks and feels nothing like an Android phone. Sony Ericsson have put their own theme on the phone and customised it quite heavily. The customisable desktop with widgets has been replaced with one that has shortcuts in each corner, with the ability to display information from your ‘timescape’ in the centre of the screen.

Apps

Android has a large developer base, with lots of apps available to download and install either through the Android marketplace or direct from developers. While this is normally a good thing, it might cause you problems with the X10 Mini due to it’s unusual screen size/resolution.  Most apps won’t run correctly on the X10 Mini, so if you’re planning on using your phone as a games console or to download loads of apps, you may want to consider a phone with a more standard sized screen, such as the HTC Legend or HTC Desire.

Accessories

There are plenty of X10 Mini Accessories to choose from. X10 Mini Cases are due in to us in the next week or so, but to be honest, given the size of the device, a form fitting leather case probably isn’t the best option. Instead I’d go for an X10 Mini cover that clips on or a flexible gel case that protects the back and sides of the phone.

Others to Consider

Reading this, you may think that it’s a little on the negative side, and it might be – but I think it’s better to be honest and highlight areas that might cause you issues in the future. Having said that, I actually really like this phone! As long as you know in advance what it can/can’t do then you’ll be more than happy. Sony Ericsson are marketing it as a small but fully functional Android smartphone, and while technically it is, it’s got limitations.

If you want a powerful phone that will fit in with your social life, has decent spec’s and that won’t get laughed at down the pub then the X10 Mini is a great choice, but if you want to be able to enjoy movies and videos on a high quality screen, download as many apps as you want and always have the latest available software on your phone then you might want to take a look at one of these instead.