Mini versions of full-featured high end mobile phones have been around, downscaling in size or feature points a successful handset with the sole intent of opening wider markets. You have the Nokia N97 Mini, the HTC HD Mini and the LG GD880 Mini, to mention some and some none-mini handsets but are obviously smaller variants of the larger or more featured mobile phone like the Samsung i7500 Galaxy and a diminished i5700 Galaxy Spica.For Sony Ericsson, we now have not just one Mini version but two of which is slapped with “Pro” appendage to justify putting a QWERTY keyboard sliding out like most serious business smartphones in the market – the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Mini Pro..X10 Features ShrunkTo those familiar with the features of the now delayed Xperia X10, the Mini Pro is essentially a shrunk X10 in features and size. It’s really a “mini” in every sense of the word.
Its processors uses a Qualcomm MSM7227 clocked at 600 MHz down from the 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon used in the original X10 Imaging takes a dive from 8 megapixels to a 5 megapixels in resolution. There are no image stabilization and touchfocus features. The announcement data sheet is silent on the video recording details but could be less than the WVGA video recording at 30fps in the X10. But both enjoy the same LED flash, autofocus, geo tagging and video light.The glorious 4-inch Wide-VGA display on the X10 dramatically shrinks to a 2.55-inch display in the Mini and Mini Pro versions. At least you get 16 million colors against the 64k colors on the X10.
You get the same gravity accelerometer and scratch resistant surface. Phone memory also shrinks from the generous 1GB to just 128 MB in the Mini Pro though you still have microSD expandability of up to 16 GB.But apart from these reduced features it does have a lot in common with the X10. The Mini Pro is a dual band 3G/HSDPA/HSUPA and a quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE on 2G. It has WiFi 82.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR and A2DP, microUSB 2,0 and microSD support for up to 32GB of external memory, built-in A-GPS, stereo FM receiver with RDS, 3.5mm headphone jack are pretty much standard features for a even a mid-priced smartphone.Software-wise, it runs a Sony-tinkered Android 1.6 OS with the Rachel/UX (short for User eXperience) interface.
What stands out is its Timescape which aggregates your emails, text messaging, calls, IM and social media updates in one screen location so you can see your communication filtered by source or contact name.Then there’s Mediascape which does the same for all your media content allowing you to place a call just by touching the face of your friend in tagged photo.ConclusionWe don’t know what Sony is thinking but the Mini Pro looks like a hurried almost thoughtless handset meant to attract a market that prefers QWERTY sliding features without spending much on product model re-tooling except a change in handset form factor.Never mind that at its size, the tactile keyboard is next to useless, especially when you still have the full virtual QWERTY on the touchscreen. But on the bright side, the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Mini Pro could very well be the smallest QWERTY slider out there. We still hope to see it this April.
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