The full Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro review and specification

Sony Ericsson is making a habit of taking an existing phone and sticking a keyboard on it to make a whole new phone. And it’s a strategy that seems to be working. The Experia X10 Mini Pro is the X10 Mini with a QWERTY keyboard attached and, despite its imperfect touch-screen, is a nice smartphone all-rounder.

Style and handling on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro

The X10 and Mini Pro are themselves scaled-down versions of the Xperia X10, Sony Ericsson’s flagship Android handset. It basically covers all the same territory but in a smaller package. The touch-screen is a comfortable 2.55mm and the compact QWERTY keyboard doubles up numerals and symbols to fit everything in, although does manage dedicated keys for both the full-stop and comma. Adding to its smartphone credentials are a volume rocker, really good in-ear headphones and a 3.5mm audio port if you want to plug in your own.

The touch-screen is the capacitive type, which responds to gentle swipes instead of pressure, and while it’s responsive enough, it’s not quite fast enough to keep up with typing quickly. But the QWERTY keyboard means you won’t need on-screen message typing anyway.

Opening the keyboard automatically flips the screen into landscape mode, and closing it will put the orientation back to portrait.

User interface on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro

The Android operating system has been overlaid with Sony Ericsson’s own skin, which gives it an individual look that we like a lot. Shortcuts on each corner of the home screen lead you to contacts, messages, music and all programs. You can also access the all programs menu with an upward swipe, a nice touch in the style of the Palm Pre. You can also add widgets to the home screens which you swipe sideways to view and while you can’t add applications shortcuts to your home screens, any you do download will be added to the programs menu and organised according to preference.

The familiar Android notifications toolbar lets you swipe downwards to see new events or the tune you’re playing. The whole interface is fluid and intuitive and feels great to use.

Sony Ericsson’s Timescape application is preloaded on to the X10 Mini Pro. It’s a handy app that syncs your phone contacts with Facebook and Twitter to show a combined feed of messages, updates and calls. You can put the widget on the home screen, where you can flick through contact cards in order of latest updates. Tapping on an update will take you directly to the Facebook or Twitter mobile-optimised site.

Getting in touch on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro

With messaging and social networking well taken care of, the phone function falls somewhat flat. Finding a contact is inconvenient: you can’t just type in the first few letters of a friend’s name, or even search the contacts book from the screen. The call log can be used for recent contacts, but other than that you’ll have to go into your contacts book.

The keyboard’s pretty comfortable to use and the shortcut to messages works really well. It feels best when used in landscape, with the keyboard open, which makes it perfect for messaging. You can’t type as quickly as on a BlackBerry, for example, but the keys are well placed and positioned intelligently. The Alt key lets you access less-used symbols and there’s also a symbols menu with emoticons.

Media on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro

The music player and bundled in-ear headphones are excellent, as you would expect from Sony Ericsson, pioneer of the Walkman. Sound quality was rich and clear on all manner of different styles of music.

Unfortunately, the manufacturer’s reputation for camera phones doesn’t really come across on the X10 Mini Pro. The five-megapixel lens does come with an LED flash and autofocus but daylight pictures look dull and too sharp when viewed on a monitor.  The pictures taken in low light, though, look pretty good with no overexposure and are clear, if slightly yellow. There’s a dedicated camera launch button and you can share your pictures using email and social networks.

Maps on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro

Google Maps is preloaded on the X10 Pro Mini and works as reliably as always. You can also get the Latitude add-on which allows you to stalk, sorry follow, your friends on the map – with their permission of course.

Thanks to the already outdated Android 1.6 OS, the handset doesn’t support voice navigation, but you can get hold of Sony Ericsson’s Wisepilot application. It’s only a 30-day trial, though, so after a month you need to start paying. Another application that gets round a missing feature is RoadSync,  which syncs up your Microsoft Exchange email accounts.

The verdict on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro

The Android 1.6 OS has been upgraded three times since the 1.6 OS of the Mini Pro, but Sony Ericsson has covered its deficiencies well. It’s the smallest smartphone around, yet manages to do as much as most other smartphones. The user interface is intuitive, the QWERTY keyboard makes it a messaging demon, and the music quality is superb. The X10 Mini Pro should and probably will be a popular little smartphone.