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Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini review: Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini

Kent German Former senior managing editor / features
Kent was a senior managing editor at CNET News. A veteran of CNET since 2003, he reviewed the first iPhone and worked in both the London and San Francisco offices. When not working, he's planning his next vacation, walking his dog or watching planes land at the airport (yes, really).
Kent German
8 min read

7.3

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini

The Good

The Sony Ericsson X10 Mini has a user-friendly interface and a solid feature set for such a small phone.

The Bad

The Sony Ericsson X10 Mini lacks camera editing options and its small size can hamper usability. The volume level is rather low.

The Bottom Line

The Xperia X10 Mini packs a lot of features into a small design. The compact touch screen won't be for everyone, but it mostly satisfies as an Android phone.

As Android continues to expand, most handset manufacturers are pushing the envelope of just how big a smartphone can go. HTC's recent Evo 4G sports a record-breaking 4.3-inch display and Motorola countered with the equally expansive Droid X. But not everyone is jumping on the "go big" trend. Shortly after it introduced its massive Xperia X10, Sony Ericsson decided to trim the handset rather than enlarging it even further. It was a curious move, and when we first handled the Xperia X10 Mini at the 2010 Mobile World Congress, we were skeptical that Sony Ericsson could pull it off.

Now that we've spent time with the X10 Mini, we're a bit more confident. It's still too small for our use, but we realize that other people may appreciate the compact purse and pocket-friendly size. Sony Ericsson's User Experience interface remains accessible and attractive, performance is mostly respectable, and we're glad that the X10 Mini doesn't cut too many features to save space. On the downside, we still have our misgivings about Timescape and we miss a full QWERTY keyboard, but you can get the latter with the X10 Mini Pro. The unlocked X10 Mini should cost about $350.

Design
"Small" is the first thing that comes to mind when holding the X10 Mini. At 3.3 inches long by 2 inches wide by 0.6 inch deep, its size is more akin to a prepaid handset than a feature-packed Android smartphone. It's so small that it fits squarely in your hand and it could even get lost in a large bag. What's more, at 3.1 ounces, you might even forget that it's in your pocket.

Of course, the small body means that the display is equally minute. Though it has a rich resolution (16.7 million colors; 320x240 pixels), it measures just 2.5 inches. On a standard phone that's fine, but it's another story on a touch-screen handset where the display is the primary interface. It's convenient for scrolling through the menus and most basic features, but you use an alphanumeric keypad for dialing numbers and typing messages. We also found that other features like the Facebook app and the Timescape feature don't look their best on such a tiny display.


The X10 Mini is more than small, it's tiny.

To be fair, we get what Sony Ericsson is trying to do here, and we respect its efforts to offer customers an Android handset that won't weigh them down. On the upside, the touch interface is quick and responsive, and Sony Ericsson manages to surface a lot of options up front. After several hours of use, however, we grew tired of pecking away at something smaller than a credit card. Also, because the accelerometer only works in select applications (mostly the media options), we weren't able to use the landscape orientation to its full advantage. We realize that you may feel differently, but the X10 Mini is just too small for us.

Below the display are physical controls for accessing the main menu, the home screen menu, and moving backward through a menu. On the right spine you'll find a volume rocker, and a camera shutter. They're a little thin for our tastes, but you can find the rocker when you're on a call. The power control sits on the top of the phone and the 3.5mm headset jack and Micro-USB charger port rest on the bottom. We thank Sony Ericsson for ditching its proprietary connections.

On the back of the phone are the camera lens and flash. They're in a convenient place as long as you remember to keep your fingers out of the way when snapping a photo. The microSD card slot is stashed behind the battery cover, but we realize that Sony Ericsson had few alternatives on such a small phone.

Interface and Timescape
As mentioned, the X10 Mini offers Sony Ericsson's User Experience (UXP) interface, albeit on a smaller and slightly revamped scale. You can find a full description in our related slideshow or in the X10 review, but we'll recap the highpoints here. On the home screen you'll find four feature shortcuts in each corner of the display. Touch a corner and you'll jump instantly to the related feature (messaging, the music player, the phone dialer, and the phonebook). It's a nifty and user-friendly touch. The main menu is accessible via the arrow at the bottom of the screen. Due to the screen's small size, you'll need to cycle through multiple menu pages, but that's a minor point.

In standard Android fashion you can populate the home screens with folders, shortcuts, and widgets. It's important to note that UXP masks the standard Android interface to some degree. Normally, we prefer that manufacturers let Android be Android, but we approve of Sony Ericsson's subtle and attractive touches here. On the other hand, we don't like it when a custom interface interferes with Android updates. Indeed, the X10 Mini remains stuck on Android 1.6 even months after 2.0's release.

Like its big brother, the X10 Mini features Sony Ericsson's Timescape feature, which displays your latest e-mails, text messages, and social media alerts (Facebook, Twitter) in a flowing design that resembles a stacked deck of cards. The concept is very similar to MotoBlur in that it combines all of your e-mails, messages, contacts, and their status updates into a steady stream of information. As we've said earlier, it can be a bit much, and it's even more overwhelming on a smaller display (see the X10 for more information).

Contacts and calendar
The X10's phonebook size is limited by the available memory. As on other Android phones, you can add multiple fields per contact plus a photo and a ringtone. You can save contacts to groups and sync them with various Google services.

The calendar app has the UXP skin, but it still has the basic Android design. Of course, you can sync with your Gmail calendar after you register your Google account. If you don't have a Google account, you can create one right on the phone. You also can sync contacts and the calendar with the Sony Ericsson Sync service.

E-mail and messaging
Besides Gmail and the usual text and multimedia messaging, the X10 Mini is capable of syncing with POP3 and some IMAP4 accounts. It's disappointing, however, that like on the X10 we weren't able to add our CNET Outlook Web Access account (OWA) using the standard e-mail app. Instead, you must the included RoadSync app to get both your e-mail messages and calendar appointments. The experience might be better, but we'd appreciate a native app.


The X10 Mini doesn't have a full QWERTY keyboard.

Without a full QWERTY you must use a nine-button alphabetic keypad for composing messages. Also, since the X10 Mini's keyboard only works in portrait mode you must scroll quite a ways through the symbols keyboard to find basic punctuation. On a basic phone we wouldn't complain about the experience, but we find it unacceptable on a smartphone. Fortunately, the X10 Mini offers a useful predictive text option that's a good alternative to multitap.

Media
The X10 Mini's replaces the X10's 8-megapixel camera for a 5-megapixel shooter. We don't mind the resolution downgrade--5 megapixels is more than adequate on such a handset--but we are disturbed that Sony Ericsson removed most of the editing options. You can geotag photos, use the bright flash and autofocus, and select one of four image settings (auto, sports, twilight, and macro), but those are the only customization options available. Though we'd expected the smaller X10 Mini to offer fewer features, we didn't foresee this much carnage. Also, vanity shots are tricky without a self-portrait mirror.


The X10 Mini's camera has a bright flash.

The handset has a camcorder, though editing options are equally minimal. Clips meant for multimedia messages are capped at 10 seconds, though you can shoot for longer in normal mode. Once you're done playing photographer, you can check out your work in the user-friendly gallery app. Photo quality is just average, which is about what we saw on the X10. Colors could have been richer, and images are a tad dim. The X10 Mini offers 128MB of internal memory and the microSD slot fits cards up to 2GB.


The X10 Mini's photo quality didn't impress.

On both the X10 and X10 Mini, Sony Ericsson gave the normal Android music player a slight, but much-needed, makeover. It displays album art, and you can access shuffle and repeat modes, set favorites, send the track in a message, and designate a track as a ringtone. Loading music on the phone is quite easy whether you're using a USB cable or a memory card. Thanks to Android's efficient USB transfer/storage and PC syncing support, our PC recognized the X10 Mini right when we plugged it in. The handset also comes integrated with Sony Ericsson's PlayNow feature, a TrackID app and an FM radio.

Music quality is similar to the X10, though it's not quite as loud given the X10 Mini's smaller speaker. The quality is respectable, though it gets distorted the higher you go. We recommend headphones for the best experience.

Google and other features
Other features include a calculator, a calendar, an alarm clock, a notepad, a full duplex speakerphone, a timer, and a stopwatch. You'll also find PC syncing, USB mass storage, A2DP stereo Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. The browser has a standard Android design, though it's more than tedious on such a small display. You can replace it with another browser, if you'd like.

Naturally, the X10 Mini offers the full slate of Google applications like YouTube, Google Voice, and Google Talk. Google Maps offers the standard features while Wisepilot brings real-time voice-guided directions. You'll also find a barcode reader, a Wikipedia app, and two games (Peggle and Edge). Of course, more apps and games are available through the Android Market. The integrated Facebook for Android app lets you access the service outside of Timescape.

Performance
We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) Xperia X10 Mini in San Francisco using AT&T service. The handset will work with both AT&T's and T-Mobile's GSM networks, but 3G data is available only through AT&T in the United States. You should have better luck abroad since the X10 Mini supports three UMTS/HSPA bands.

Call quality was respectable, though we encountered a couple of issues. Though signal clarity is decent and our friends sounded natural, the audio cut out for a second on more than one occasion. Also, the volume was much too low to talk in a noisy place. On the whole it was a good experience, but it wasn't quite as sharp as the Xperia X10.

Our callers said we sounded fine. They also reported a volume issue, particularly when we were calling next to a busy street. They didn't hear any audio lapses, though, and our friends said that the phone picked up minimal background noise. Almost everyone could tell that we were using a cell phone, but that's hardly a bad thing. We didn't have a problem when calling automated calling systems as long as we were in a quiet place. Speakerphone calls were satisfactory, though the volume remained too low for many calls.

The X10 Mini has a 600Mhz processor, so expect a slower experience than the 1GHz-powered Xperia X10. Yet, the change isn't dramatic, as we were able to perform most functions quickly. And in any case, the downgrade is understandable on a smaller and cheaper phone.

The X10 Mini has a rated battery life of 4 hours 2G talk time and 3.5 hours 3G talk time. Promised standby time is 15 days. According to FCC radiation charts, the X10 Mini has a digital SAR of 1.18 watts per kilogram.

7.3

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini

Score Breakdown

Design 7Features 8Performance 7