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To call the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini small does not do this smartphone justice: it is the teeniest, tiniest smartphone I've seen. The phone's miniscule size has its advantages -- this phone is quite cute, and will easily slip into a pocket. But it also has its disadvantages, as the Xperia X10 Mini's small size makes its hard to take advantage of all the features this Android-based phone has to offer.


Price and Availability

The X10 Mini is sold as an unlocked phone, meaning that you do not have to commit to a service contract with a cellular carrier in order to buy it at a discounted price. You will likely pay more for the phone itself, though -- the X10 Mini sells for between $300 and $400 -- and you do have to provide your own SIM to get cellular service. For more information, read Unlocked Phone: Everything You Need to Know.

Design

The X10 Mini measures 3.3 inches tall by 2 inches wide by .6 inches deep; the entire phone is not as big as the display on an iPhone 4. It will slip into the smallest of pockets or purses and, weighing just 3.3 ounces, you likely won't even notice it's there. The phone itself is attractive, too, with most of its face dominated by its 2.5-inch display. Below that screen, you get three buttons, one for accessing menus, another for accessing the home screen, and a third for moving back.

While the X10's small size makes for a good-looking phone, it also makes for a device that can be hard to use.

The display, for starters, is very small at 2.5 inches. A display that size can feel a bit cramped even when you have a hardware-based QWERTY keyboard to use alongside it; on the X10 Mini, where the keyboard also is your sole means of inputting info into the phone, the size feels downright restrictive.

Because of the screen's small size, the X10 Mini doesn't even offer a full QWERTY keyboard on screen -- you have to use an alphanumeric keypad for all of your typing. If you plan to use the phone for any amount of texting or sending e-mail, this restriction could be a deal-breaker; I couldn't even get through composing one message before I became too frustrated to continue.

Making Calls

I tested the X10 Mini with an AT&T SIM, and call quality ranged from decent to good in my tests. Voices sounded a bit hollow and somewhat staticky, but there was plenty of volume on both ends of the line. The X10 Mini's small size does make it a bit awkward to hold next to your ear during calls, though.

Software

The X10 Mini runs Google's Android operating system, which can be slightly geeky at times. Still, it's a powerful OS that gives you plenty of options and is fun to use. You get access to the Android Market, where you'll find plenty of apps available to download right to the phone.

But Android can be confusing at times, in large part because different phones ship with different versions of Android. And the X10 Mini is no exception: this phone still ships with version 1.6 of the Android OS, which is now available in version 2.2 on other phones. The older version of the OS and the small size of the X10 Mini's screen combine to make using Android on this phone a less-than-ideal experience.

For more information on Android, read my full review of the mobile OS.

On top of the Android OS, the X10 Mini features Sony Ericsson's User Experience interface, also called UXP. UXP places shortcuts in each of the four corners of the display, which allow you easy access to some of the phones features, such as messaging, the music player, the phone dialer, and your contacts. You get four home screens, which can be customized with folders, shortcuts, or widgets, but the four UXP shortcuts appear on each of these screens. That, combined with the X10 Mini's small screen size, means you have very little room left on the actual screens themselves.

Messaging

Like all Android phones, the X10 Mini features tight integration with Gmail, but will work with any IMAP or POP3 e-mail account, as well as corporate e-mail accounts. Reading messages on the small screen is easy enough, but composing them is another story. You have to rely on the numeric keypad for typing, which can be excruciating.

As part of Sony Ericsson's UXP interface, the X10 Mini offers access to a feature called Timescape. Somewhat similar to Motorola's Motoblur, Timescape collects messages and information from your e-mail, SMS, and social networking accounts, and presents them in one location. It's handy enough, but can be overwhelming on the X10 Mini's screen.

Browsing the Web

Browsing the Web on the X10 Mini's small screen can be frustrating. While the browser displayed most sites neatly and in a format optimized for viewing on a mobile device, there's no getting around the fact that the screen is just plain small. You're also forced to rely on the alphanumeric keypad for typing in the URLs of the sites you'd like to visit. The screen does not support multi-touch, either, so you're forced to zoom in and out using the on-screen icons.

The good news is that the X10 Mini supports AT&T's 3G network, as well as Wi-Fi wireless networks so you have options for speedy Web browsing. Note, though, if you're using the phone with a T-Mobile SIM, it will not work on that carrier's 3G network.

Camera

The X10 Mini includes a 5-megapixel camera with a surprisingly powerful flash. It captured some decent snapshots, but the colors looked a bit dim, and the phone's camera offers few editing options. In addition to photos, the X10 also captures short video clips.

Music and More

The X10 Mini's music player offers a few updates over the standard Android player. It displays album art and offers access to modes like shuffle and repeat. You can transfer tunes to the phone by connecting it to your PC with the included USB cord. The X10 Mini also includes an FM radio (though you'll need to use it with headphones, as they include the FM receiver), Sony's PlayNow app, and TrackID.

Bottom Line

The X10 Mini is heavy on the cute factor, but isn't the most practical phone for all users. It offers plenty of cool Android features, but the phone is just too small to really take advantage of all of them.