Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro review

Now packing a QWERTY keyboard for touchscreen refuseniks

The definitive Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro review
The definitive Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro review

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The applications selection is once again identical to the list of stuff that came pre-loaded on the Xperia X10 Mini.

Sony ericsson xperia x10 mini pro

The most important thing on the Mini Pro is the Google suite of tools, meaning you get Google Talk, YouTube, Gmail and the superb Google Maps.

Sony Ericsson would no doubt prefer to talk about its TrackID system, which is similar in operation to Shazam, used to identify music tracks by recording them as they play via the phone's mic and processing the results.

Do that and you'll be prompted to buy the songs in question via Sony Ericsson's BuyNow service. It will ask you for £1.29 if you want a direct-download of individual tracks, or £1.50 to pay via sending a premium rate text message. You probably won't do that very often, but it's nice to have the option.

Sony ericsson xperia x10 mini pro

Obviously there's the Facebook app, complete with widget, that looks very nice when expanded to full-size on the X10 Mini Pro's Home pages. The NeoReader barcode reader will quick install Android Market apps, plus Sony Ericsson's own Creatouch drawing tool lets users build their own Home screen desktops. There are also a few crappy games.

The mighty Google Maps is in fine form thanks to the unexpected power of the X10 Mini Pro, which ensures maps draw themselves and scroll about with impressive ease. Obviously the Android-spec inner-workings of the X10 Mini Pro include GPS support, so you'll be ready to go with full sat nav from day one.

Sony ericsson xperia x10 mini pro

Elsewhere there's an eBay app, Navteq's Wisepilot sat nav tool, RoadSync for Exchange email support if needed, plus usual things like an FM radio, a notes tool that lets you stick notes up as widget reminders, a calculator and the like.

Xperia x10 mini pro

If you want to take care of all the above, there's a new feature included in the Android 2.1 update - Sony Ericsson's Backup and Restore. It collates your text messages, settings, Android Market downloads and more into one file, stored on the SD card.

Xperia x10 mini pro

So if you need to do a factory reset or accidentally cripple your phone in some way, it's easy to revert it to a working state. Backups can be scheduled, too.