Sony Ericsson X10 mini

Android is impressive. Not just because it’s open source and can run on hardware from many vendors. Not just because it’s so forgiving, open to enhancements and customizations and not just because of the marketplace (which, at last count, had over 50,000 apps with a better free-paid ratio than the Apple App Store). It’s because it makes any hardware look good. Take the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini. With a proprietary operating system, it would have just been an average, albeit tiny phone. But slap on Android, and you’ve got a powerful, fully-featured touchscreen smartphone in a size barely larger than an average set of house keys.

The size (and weight) is the biggest talking point; more so because you’ll wonder how they managed to fit a touchscreen, quad band GSM/3G radio, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, A-GPS and microSD slot into that tiny frame. Despite the size, the build quality is stellar. Some may complain about the all-plastic construction, but it keeps the weight down. Plus there are some nice interchangeable back covers in the box (different colors available).

Start up the phone, and you’ll see a few familiar Android components (like the useful pull-down bar for notifications), but largely, Sony Ericsson has modified the interface to better suit the device’s small size (and screen). With the X10 Mini, most icons fit into multiple home screens which you can slide from left to right. Four other customizable icons for often-used functions (like phone, contacts, messaging) sit in the four corners of the screen.

Thanks to the 600Mhz processor, everything moves along at a fairly speedy pace and the capacitive touchscreen is a delight too – with equal responsiveness across the length and breath. Call quality was excellent and battery life was good, despite the diminutive size. Music and photo quality are good, and the device can even record fairly decent videos at VGA resolution at 30 frames per second. Wait! So this phone has everything you say? What’s the catch? There are some.

There’s no on-screen QWERTY keypad, so typing messages or emails using the simple keyboard is tiresome and time consuming. Obviously, with a screen so small, a complete QWERTY keypad would have been impossible, but in the current setup it has multiple keypads for numbers, alphanumeric/T9 input and special characters – you switch between the different keypads by swiping left to right. This is a little inconvenient. Wisepilot GPS navigation software is pre-loaded, but is free only for 30days. Thereafter, you’ll be paying extra per year if you want maps. Finally, you’ll have to ask yourself the questions; how small is too small? And does the size make it a ladies-only phone? Overall, there’s no doubting that the X10 Mini is a marvel of technology. But it’s not for everyone. At a similar price of Rs 15k, you can consider the larger AMOLED-screened, Bada-powered Samsung Wave. Or if Symbian is what you crave, the new Nokia X6 is a real cracker for Rs 15k. And if you must have Android with a larger screen at the same price, the HTC Tattoo and Samsung Galaxy Spica are available too.

Specifications: 

Quad band GSM with 3G

Android OS 1.6

Qualcomm MSM7227 600MHz processor

2.55-inch capacitive touchscreen (240 x 320 pixels)

accelerometer

5MP AF cam with LED flash

VGA videos @ 30fps

3.5mm audio out

microSD slot (upto 16GB) 

Bluetooth

Wi-Fi

A-GPS

83 x 50 x 16 mm

88 grams