Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini and X10 mini pro Preview

Sony Ericsson announced its first Android OS-based smartphone last year, the Xperia X10. This week, it unveiled two new, smaller versions: the X10 mini and X10 mini pro.

I was able to try out all three at this week's Mobile World Congress tradeshow.

Compared to the new models, the X10 looks humongous, but its capacitive Touchscreen offers an enjoyable user experience.

Application management is highly animated, but in spite of this, the software is fast and events on the screen run smoothly.

Sony Ericsson representatives said the designers didn't believe it would be possible to achieve the same thing on the small screens used by X10 mini and X10 mini pro, so their interface has somewhat been modified with customizable shortcuts placed in all four corners of the screen.

Behind this user interface modification lays the recognizable interface of Google's Android OS, which functions well even on such small screens.

However, large-fingered users will encounter some difficulties using the X10 mini's screen keyboard, which is why Sony Ericsson has developed the Xperia X10 mini pro for them, with a hardware keyboard. This phone is significantly thicker and heavier, though, making it rather difficult to carry around in your pocket.

More Details on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini and X10 mini pro
Both these devices are going to run the Android OS on a 600 MHz processor.

They will be GSM phones with 3G, and also Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a GPS receiver. Both will include a microSD memory card slot, a 5 megapixel camera with flash, and an FM radio.

The X10 mini will be 3.3 inches tall, 2.0 inches wide, 0.6 inches thick, and weigh 3.2 oz (83.0 x 50.0 x 16.0 mm, 88g). The X10 mini pro is going to be  3.5 inches tall, 2.0 inches wide, 0.7 inches thick, and weigh 4.2 oz (90.0 x 52.0 x 17.0 mm, 120g).

Sony Ericsson is being a bit vague about when the Xperia X10 mini and the Xperia X10 mini pro will be released, only saying that they will be on the market in the first half of this year.

Both are expected to be released in N. America and around the world.