Manufacturers often bring out mini versions of popular devices, but Sony Ericsson is really pushing the boat with the X10 series. Not only is there the full blown Sony Ericsson X10, in all its 4.0 inch touchscreen glory, but we also have an X10 Mini, and an X10 Mini Pro! We’ve already taken a look at the X10 Mini a while ago, and we now have the opportunity to take a closer look at the X10 Mini Pro
Popular naming convention these days seems to indicate that Mini is obviously a more compact version of an existing device, whilst Pro indicates the inclusion of a hard QWERTY keyboard. The fact that Sony Ericsson have released a Mini and Mini Pro version of the X10 so soon after the release of the original indicates either the faith Sony Ericsson have in the X10 range, or perhaps the lack of faith, hence they are trying to cover all their bases with a device that appeals to as wide an audience as possible.
The inclusion of a hard QWERTY keyboard on the X10 Mini Pro has had an impact on the overall size of the device, in comparison with its Mini brother, but the Mini Pro can still proudly carry the label of a compact device. The Mini Pro measures in at 90 x 52 x 17mm compared to the X10 Mini which was just 83 x 50 x 16mm, a favourable comparison. The real impact comes in weight; where the X10 Mini is just 83g the X10 Mini Pro is a rather more substantial 120g.
The display size remains the same, with the Mini Pro sporting a 2.55 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen, supporting up to 16 million colours and with a pixel resolution of 240 x 320. The screen is covered with a scratch resistant covering, and the device supports auto rotate, which flips the display from portrait to landscape and vice versa where the application supports this. Sliding out the QWERTY keyboard has the effect of flipping the display to landscape mode, allowing you to see more of the text as you enter your message. The QWERTY keyboard itself is quite usable, given the dimensions of the handset, and allows a decent speed of typing (although you would have to go some to beat the world record for text speed set recently). The keys on the four row QWERTY board are well laid out, and although the keys themselves are rather small, there is a good space between each, making typos less likely. Like many recent Sony Ericsson devices, the back of the X10 Mini Pro is slightly curved, which makes the phone feel very comfortable when held in the hand.
The Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro runs on the Android 1.6 Operating System, which means you get the new design and look of the Android Market, but won’t be able to run all the apps available to the latest Android OS, like Google Earth. Laid over the top of the OS, Sony Ericsson are offering their Timescape User Interface, which gives a little bit of extra eye candy to the standard Android layout.
Size really isn’t an issue for the X10 Mini Pro when it comes to features; the device has a good range of features built in, starting from a rather impressive 5.0 Megapixel camera, with LED flash and autofocus. The camera supports geotagging, which allows you to capture location information in the digital file of images taken on the device, so when friends view your pictures online they can see the place the image was taken using online services. The camera is also set up for video recording, capturing clips at VGA resolution, at up to 30 fps.
Media is well represented on the X10 Mini Pro, starting with the inclusion of a stereo FM radio. The inclusion of FM radios on Android devices is still relatively rare, and personally I always like the option of being able to tune in to a radio station as well as being able to listen to my own music collection on the move. Music playback on the X10 Mini Pro is good enough, the music player is easy to navigate and simply laid out. Multiple file formats are supported on the X10, including MP3, AAC, and WMA. The media player handles videos too, supporting MP4, H.263, H.264 and WMV codecs. The inclusion of a 3.5mm audio output jack means you will be able to listen to music with your own favourite headphones rather than the supplied proprietary set, which are never as good or as comfortable to use.
The X10 Mini Pro is a well connected device, with support for Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, as well as HSDPA, HSUPA and WiFi all available as standard. The device offers quad band GSM connectivity and dual band HSDPA for optimum support when roaming. If you happen to be in a country where HSPA or 3G is not yet enabled, the X10 Mini Pro uses Class 10 GPRS and EDGE as a backup. Internal memory on the handset is set at an acceptable 128MB, with memory expansion available via MicroSD memory cards. The X10 Mini Pro can handle cards up to 16GB in size, and should ship with a 2 GB card in the box.
The overall design of the X10 Mini Pro is very impressive, it looks good, has a little bit of the ‘WOW’ factor, and with the inclusion of a full QWERTY keyboard on a device this size means it performs as good as it looks. A strong feature set suggests that the X10 Mini Pro is more than just for showing off with, and will satisfy most users on a day to day basis. The X10 Mini Pro is expected to release to market shortly, sometime during Q2 2010.
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7:43 pm
Android 1.6 isn't so bad on the Sony Ericsson X10, but with Android 2.1 and Multitouch the phone would be a lot better. So I am really looking forward to the update.