Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro Review

In a nutshell: The Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro has everything that the original X10 Mini has, plus a slide-out physical keyboard. It's an ultra-compact smartphone running Google's Android OS, with a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, aGPS with Google Maps, a fast processor and support for 16GB of memory. Connectivity includes WiFi and HSPA. But the small screen size, poor battery life and old version of Android are a disappointment.

A strong contender for the mobile phone with the longest name ever, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro was released in the UK at the start of July. We've really been looking forward to the release of the X10 Mini Pro, as we have a soft spot for phones with real keyboards. So, does the Pro deliver on its promise?

The X10 Mini Pro is almost exactly the same as the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini, except that it has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. This adds a little to the weight of the phone, although it's by no means heavy. Amazingly, Sony Ericsson have managed to sneak the keyboard into the design without compromising any of the phone's hardware, and adding only a millimetre to its thickness. Astonishing! It's not a perfect keyboard, with a somewhat dead feel about it, but the keys are a good size and they're well spaced out. After an hour of use, you get used to the feel and can type quickly.

Apart from the keyboard, it's basically the same phone as the X10 Mini. We like the keyboard very much, but we dislike the poor battery life, small screen, less than perfect reception and general clunkiness of the software.

Features of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro include:

• 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash
• Video camera with video light
• Display: 16 million colours, TFT touchscreen, 240 x 320 pixels with auto-rotation
• Media player with album art, TrackID and PlayNow
• FM radio with RDS
• MP3/ AAC ringtones
• Speakerphone
• aGPS with Google Maps, geo-tagging and WisePilot Turn-by-Turn navigation software (demo)
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, email, conversations
• 3D games
• Picture wallpaper
• Personal organiser functions
• Vibration alert
• Internet: WAP 2.0, GPRS, EDGE, HSPA, web browser, RSS feeds, YouTube
• Memory: 128MB plus microSD memory card (up to 16GB supported)
• Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth, micro USB, 3.5mm audio jack
• Quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900) plus 3G UMTS/HSPA (900/1700/2100)
• Size: 90 x 52 x 17 mm
• Weight: 120g
• Talktime: 3.5 - 4 hours
• Battery standby: 300 - 360 hours