The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini—also known as the E10i (international) or E10a (Americas)—is a
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
by
Sony Ericsson
Sony Mobile Communications Inc. ( ja, ソニーモバイルコミュニケーションズ株式会社) was a multinational telecommunications company founded on October 1, 2001, as a joint venture between Sony Group Corporation and Ericsson. I ...
in the
Xperia series. It is the second Sony Ericsson smartphone to run the
Android operating system
Android is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android is developed by a consortium of deve ...
,
and also one of the smallest Android handsets to date.
The X10 Mini was first revealed on 14 February 2010.
Apart from the physical dimensions, the phone also differs feature-wise as compared to the
X10. Text input is done via a virtual keypad on the Mini and a full
QWERTY
QWERTY () is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets. The name comes from the order of the first six Computer keyboard keys#Types, keys on the top left letter row of the keyboard ( ). The QWERTY design is based on a layout created f ...
,
QWERTZ
The QWERTZ or QWERTZU keyboard is a typewriter and keyboard layout widely used in Central Europe. The name comes from the first six letters at the top left of the keyboard: ( ).
Overview
The main difference between QWERTZ and QWERTY is tha ...
, or
AZERTY
AZERTY () is a specific keyboard layout, layout for the characters of the Latin alphabet on typewriter keys and computer keyboard (computing), keyboards. The layout takes its name from the first six letter (alphabet), letters to appear on the fir ...
slide-out keyboard on the X10 Mini pro.
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini pro
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini pro (U20i/U20a) is an upgrade to the X10 Mini with many of the internal specifications being identical. The major differences between the original X10 Mini and X10 Mini pro is the replaceable battery, and the pro having slightly larger dimensions (3.5 × 2.0 × 0.7 inches opposed to 3.3 × 2.0 × 0.6 inches).
The X10 Mini and X10 Mini pro are designed to look similar and share functionality with the larger
Xperia X10
Xperia () is the brand name of smartphones and tablets from Sony. The name Xperia is derived from the word "experience", and was first used in the Xperia X1 tagline of "I Xperia the best".
Sony Mobile was previously known globally as Sony Er ...
, but are internally very different devices. Both handhelds lack Sony Ericsson's "Mediascape" media-management software, but include "Timescape" as well as the proprietary "Rachael" UI.
OS upgrade
The X10 Mini/Pro (as well as the X10) originally ran
Android 1.6, with an update to 2.1 being rolled out from Sunday 31 October 2010, to Tuesday 30 November 2010. The updated Xperia X10 Mini/Pro is more responsive and faster when compared to older Android version 1.6. However, Sony Ericsson has no plans to upgrade the 2010 Xperia phones beyond Android 2.1, except the X10 that was upgraded to Android 2.3.
Officially, both the X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro can not be upgraded beyond Android 2.1, although unofficially, ports of
CyanogenMod
CyanogenMod ( ; CM) is a discontinued open-source operating system for mobile devices, based on the Android mobile platform. It was developed as free and open-source software based on the official releases of Android by Google, with added origi ...
, among others, allow them to be upgraded to 2.2, 2.3, 4.0, and 4.1. These updates require
rooting of the phone (which has warranty implications) and potentially flashing of a third-party kernel.
Awards
* Red Dot Product Design Award 2010
* European Mobile Phone 2010–2011
See also
*
Sony Ericsson Xperia X8
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 is a mid-range 3G Android smartphone developed by Sony Ericsson in the Xperia series released in Q4 2010. It was sold in many countries worldwide, including the United States on AT&T Mobility and low-end pay-monthly ...
*
List of Android devices
This is a list of devices that run on the Android operating system
Android is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as ...
References
External links
*
XDA Developers X10 Mini WikiXDA Developers X10 Mini Pro Development ForumAndroid 2.3.7 for X10mini and X10mini pro
{{Android smartphones
Xperia X10 Mini
Android (operating system) devices
Mobile phones introduced in 2010
Discontinued smartphones