The Boulton Bugle

Well the day I’d been waiting for for ages finally came last Sunday – the day I was able to go to my local 3Store for an upgrade on my mobile phone.  I’d decided some time ago that I wanted an Android phone, the question was – which one?  I had a shortlist of several possibilities but in the end I plumped for the dinky little Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini. I hesitated in going for this initially due to it’s size (barely the size of a credit card) and wondered how easy the screen and on-screen keyboard would be to use and how easy applications would be to see.  In the end I needn’t have worried, the on-screen keyboard is no problem at all to use and the touchscreen is fast and responsive as is scrolling through lists of contacts, tweets etc.  This phone is in fact a miniature marvel, everything loads pretty much instantly and the internet seems much faster than it ever did on my previous phone, the LG Viewty KU990i.  The build quality is excellent and it feels really good to hold thanks to the curved back cover designed to fit nicely in the palm of your hand.  Pre-installed on the phone are Google Mail, Facebook, Spotify, Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow store, RoadSync, Google Maps and Sony Ericsson’s own Timescape app allowing for Facebook, Twitter updates, missed calls and text messages to all be viewed in one place, so plenty of apps all ready to use from the outset.  Also included are the usual mobile features such as calculator, stopwatch, photo album, and rather impressively for a phone of this size, and an excellent  FM radio complete with RDS. As with all Android phones more apps are available through the pre-installed Android Market, you should be aware though that not all applications are available for this particular phone due to it’s size.  I had expected this but it was still a disappointment not to be able to install excellent apps such as USA Today, New York Times, the Skyfire browser and the official World Rally app.  That said, the vast majority of apps that I’d wanted to install I was able to and am more than happy with what I have.  There is plenty of room for apps as well thanks to the supplied 2GB MicroSD memory card. The X10 Mini’s camera is a 5 megapixel, auto-focus affair with flash and digital zoom and takes crisp, bright and sharp photos, I was extremely impressed with this camera for a phone of this size. The battery life as with most Android phones is a problem, however by turning off Wi-Fi, turning down the screen’s brightness, turning off automatic syncing of Google Mail, Calendar and Contacts, and installing two excellent apps called Advanced Task Killer Pro, which closes down apps running in the background which drains the battery quicker, and JuiceDefender you should be able to get 12-15 hours out of it on one full charge. Overall, despite the expected disappointment of some apps not working on this phone, I’ve no regrets at all about picking this phone in favour of other, bigger Android phones.  It’s powerful, fast, responsive, packed with features and brilliantly designed.  If you’re looking for a small, truly pocket-sized Android phone you really won’t be disappointed with this pocket powerhouse!  I absolutely love it!         RATING : 4/5 (1 point off for the non-availability of some apps)

Well the day I’d been waiting for for ages finally came last Sunday – the day I was able to go to my local 3Store for an upgrade on my mobile phone.  I’d decided some time ago that I wanted an Android phone, the question was – which one?  I had a shortlist of several possibilities but in the end I plumped for the dinky little Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini.

I hesitated in going for this initially due to it’s size (barely the size of a credit card) and wondered how easy the screen and on-screen keyboard would be to use and how easy applications would be to see.  In the end I needn’t have worried, the on-screen keyboard is no problem at all to use and the touchscreen is fast and responsive as is scrolling through lists of contacts, tweets etc. 

This phone is in fact a miniature marvel, everything loads pretty much instantly and the internet seems much faster than it ever did on my previous phone, the LG Viewty KU990i.  The build quality is excellent and it feels really good to hold thanks to the curved back cover designed to fit nicely in the palm of your hand.  Pre-installed on the phone are Google Mail, Facebook, Spotify, Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow store, RoadSync, Google Maps and Sony Ericsson’s own Timescape app allowing for Facebook, Twitter updates, missed calls and text messages to all be viewed in one place, so plenty of apps all ready to use from the outset.  Also included are the usual mobile features such as calculator, stopwatch, photo album, and rather impressively for a phone of this size, and an excellent  FM radio complete with RDS.

As with all Android phones more apps are available through the pre-installed Android Market, you should be aware though that not all applications are available for this particular phone due to it’s size.  I had expected this but it was still a disappointment not to be able to install excellent apps such as USA Today, New York Times, the Skyfire browser and the official World Rally app.  That said, the vast majority of apps that I’d wanted to install I was able to and am more than happy with what I have.  There is plenty of room for apps as well thanks to the supplied 2GB MicroSD memory card.

The X10 Mini’s camera is a 5 megapixel, auto-focus affair with flash and digital zoom and takes crisp, bright and sharp photos, I was extremely impressed with this camera for a phone of this size.

The battery life as with most Android phones is a problem, however by turning off Wi-Fi, turning down the screen’s brightness, turning off automatic syncing of Google Mail, Calendar and Contacts, and installing two excellent apps called Advanced Task Killer Pro, which closes down apps running in the background which drains the battery quicker, and JuiceDefender you should be able to get 12-15 hours out of it on one full charge.

Overall, despite the expected disappointment of some apps not working on this phone, I’ve no regrets at all about picking this phone in favour of other, bigger Android phones.  It’s powerful, fast, responsive, packed with features and brilliantly designed.  If you’re looking for a small, truly pocket-sized Android phone you really won’t be disappointed with this pocket powerhouse!  I absolutely love it!         RATING : 4/5 (1 point off for the non-availability of some apps)

  1. markboulton44 posted this