Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro review

Despite its 3in screen and full QWERTY keyboard, the Mini Pro still packs the same processor and graphics chip as the Xperia Play. It also has the same amount of internal storage space and shares the same 5-megapixel camera and LED flash. Plus, it runs the very latest version of Android, has a built-in FM radio and support for 720p video.

Battery capacity isn’t huge at 1,200mAh, but with the smaller screen, the Mini Pro draws less power and lasts three hours longer than the Play in our tests. The screen has a relatively low 320×480 resolution, but at this size images look pin-sharp and text remains clear. It’s a bit dark, though, and you’ll struggle to read it under direct sunlight, even at its brightest setting. The capacitive touch interface is smooth and responsive and when you slide open the keyboard, the screen automatically switches to landscape mode.

The keyboard is a pleasure to use: it has four rows of keys of equal size except for the Space key, which is three times the width. The layout is simple but logical, and the keys have a rough matt finish on them which means your fingernails don’t slip off them. Their action is quite stiff but has a definite bite, so you’ll know when you’ve pressed one. Our only concern is the limited clearance between the top row of keys and the bottom of the screen – especially if you have big thumbs.

Shots taken with the 5-megapixel main camera were clear and suffered less from noise than other phone cameras, but colours lacked punch. Video lacked contrast and suffered from more noise than the camera, but the high resolution meant that the quality was good enough to capture significant events.

Like many phone manufacturers, Sony Ericsson has loaded its own interface and apps on top of Android. The results are mixed. The company’s Timescape app aggregates status updates and events from Facebook, Twitter and Exchange. The latter is achieved via a third-party Exchange app rather than Android’s own Exchange support. You can also get plugins for Timescape to support other services, such as Gmail or travel updates, but they’re limited.

Sony Ericsson has also installed an odd choice of third-party apps, including game trials and anti-virus software. Thankfully, most of these are easily uninstalled to save you about 30MB of space. With 420MB of app storage space, you should have plenty of room.

Some apps are pre-installed and can’t be removed, however. BBC iPlayer, Adobe Reader and the OfficeSuite viewer are sensible choices, but we could have done without some of the others: Touchnote, a service that sends real postcards via the web; Moxier Pro, an Exchange client; Wisepilot navigation software; and the Qriocity video shop.

While Sony Ericsson’s choice of software is less about customer choice and more about cashing in on marketing deals, we loved the Mini Pro’s keyboard and its screen is just big enough to work with. Add to the mix a decent camera and good performance, and factor in the low SIM-free price, and you have a deserved Budget Buy award winner.