Like the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8, the X10 Mini may not be every one’s cup of tea but, if you’re looking for a gift for someone who’s new to Android, or after a cheap phone to keep you going then this is a deal not to be sniffed at. Currently online phone retailer Mobiles.co.uk have refurbished Xperia X10 Mini handsets in stock. By refurbished, Mobiles mean that the handset was returned to them within 7 days of purchase and have been fully inspected. As expected, the handset comes with a full 12 month warranty.
Mobiles have the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 available for £49.90 with a £10 top up. You can choose from Vodafone, O2 or Orange but, regardless of the network chosen, phones from Mobiles.co.uk come unlocked as standard. Despite requiring a £10 top up, the total price of £59.90 is still a bargain price for the phone.
We recently reported that the Argos outlet store on eBay were selling the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 on O2 for only £74 instead of the usual £99. We’ve now found that Argos are also selling the Xperia X10 Mini at a reduced price.
Again the handset is on their outlet store on eBay. Normally the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini is £119 on O2 but, through eBay you can pick up the X10 Mini for £83.98 including delivery.
Even though the Xperia X10 Mini is last year’s model, this is a very reasonable discount on the price and is almost half the price of Sony Ericsson’s 2011 Mini model, the Xperia Mini. For those new to Android, this is a great little handset. Even though the X10 Mini’s version of Android won’t be updated above 2.1, this is adequate enough for the type of handset it is. It comes equipped with a 5 megapixel camera which a lot of similar priced handsets don’t have.
Sony Ericsson are to release the popular Xperia X10 Mini in three new colors. All three models will keep the same black face, where as the backs will offer a choice of three new colors, pink, blue and gold. The X10 Mini already has a pink back but, it is more of a gradient with white and is often described as the pink/white X10 Mini. The new pink back however is completely pink and slightly metallic looking. If pink isn’t your thing though, Sony Ericsson will also be releasing the handset in an cool Azur Blue.
To add a bit more class to your phone though, there’s also an option of the gold model. Again this is just the back which has been turned gold, the front remains black, to some extent anyway. While the other two models remain the same as models already released, the gold version will also come with gold buttons. There isn’t any information on when the new colors will be released though.
Last week saw the start of Sony Ericsson’s new “Winning Wednesdays”. This is a weekly competition from Sony Ericsson, carried out on Wednesdays, like the name suggests. Last time the prize was an Xperia X10, something we’ve seen Sony Ericsson offer before.
This week the prize is for a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini. The competition style is the same as before. Spot the difference in the pictures and choose from a selection of three answers. As always, you’ll need to provide some basic information to enter the competition and agree to the terms and conditions of the competition.
The Sony Ericsson Facebook page also has the regular weekly competition, which ends on the 13th of September. This time it’s for an Xperia X10 in Luster White. If white isn’t your color though, it’s very likely that there will be a competition for the black model in a couple of weeks time.
It wasn’t long ago that, the miniature X10 won an award from the red dot. Now, Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10 Mini has won another award. This time it comes from the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA). The handset won the award for the best mobile phone in Europe for 2010-2011. The best smartphone award went to the Samsung Galaxy S, while the best Social Media Phone was the Samsung S8500 Wave, powered by Samsung’s own OS, Bada. The Apple iPad also won an award for the best tablet in Europe.
While the X10 has received a lot of bad press, over lack of multi touch, outdated OS and WiFi problems experienced, it seems many overlook the outdated OS and lack of multi touch on this handset. The handset has been well received from the market, especially the female audience, it’s also been well received by the tech industry. The main points it won the award on, were it’s stylish design and uncompromised specs, despite it’s small size.
The official wording from the EISA was as follows:
“Xperia X10 mini from Sony Ericsson is a very small and stylish mobile phone. Nonetheless, it delivers excellent performance with a comprehensive range of features such as GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G and a 5 megapixel camera with flash. The phone runs on the Android platform and offers users the full benefits of a much larger device although its touch screen size is just 2.55-inch (6.48 cm). Its small size and weight and variety of vivid case colours make it perfect for introducing the fairer sex to smartphone technology.”
Following the release of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 in Australia, the country has also received the Mini version of the Android powered handset. The Xperia X10 Mini is available through Optus on the Optus Personal Store. As well as being available on contracts, the handset is also available on pay as you go for $349 AUD. Contract wise, the Xperia X10 Mini is available on plans ranging from $19 to $129. Through the Yes Social plan, the contract price ranges from $19 to $79, where as the Yes cap plan, the contract price ranges from $19 to $99. Alternatively, the handset can also be picked up on Timeless Max plans, with the plans ranging from $99-$129. If purchasing through the Optus store, you can also pick up a credit bonus of between $50 to $100.
While Vodafone and O2 can’t offer the Xperia X10 Mini in lime green, they are however offering the handset up for free. Neither the Vodafone or O2 website state which color X10 they have in stock but, it appears to be the basic black model. Both networks are offering the handset up for free on 18 or 24 month contracts from as little as £20 a month. The other major UK network T-Mobile is yet to offer the handset and there’s no mention on their website of the X10 Mini. They do however have the X10 Mini Pro listed, which is set for a July release. While there’s no sign of the QWERTY-less Mini X10 on T-Mobile, the other networks don’t have any information regarding the X10 Mini Pro, so it looks like the X10 Mini Pro, could be a T-Mobile exclusive.
If however you were after the X10 Mini on T-Mobile, all is not lost. Third party retailers, such as Mobiles.co.uk have the handsets in stock and they dispatch unlocked handsets, with the X10 Mini being no exception. Because of this, they can offer the handset on the networks it is available on, along with T-Mobile and Three.
Sony Ericsson have implemented the Android UXP on three of their handsets, the X10, X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro. Below are screenshots showing the interface as found on the X10 Mini. As you can see the interface has been made perfect for the X10 Mini and it’s no wonder Sony Ericsson are showing off how easy and convenient it is to use the handset with just one hand.
The whole interface uses the same blue background, while the font is named Soma, developed by Sony Ericsson. Within the screenshots shown after the jump, we have images of how the screen looks while using the camera, as well as when using the video player and media player. There’s also screenshots showing how the FM Radio looks on the handset. You can view all this shots and more of the UI after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
While we don’t actually know the release date for the Xperia X10 Mini, Sony Ericsson are getting folks excited for the handset. While some may prefer the power and specs behind the full sized Xperia X10 which is due for release at the end of July, Sony Ericsson are showing that the X10 Mini is a one handed wonder. The commercial shows a woman using the handset with one hand while using her hand to perform “dance moves”. If this doesn’t get you excited for the Xperia X10 Mini, nothing will. You can view the commercial below.
The Red Dot Award is one of the most renowned competitions in the world for design. The award is split up into three sections: product design, communication design and design concept. This year there were many manufacturers from 57 countries and the winner was selected by an international jury. The red dot product design award, was this year awarded to Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10 Mini. The company are very proud to have received this award and go on to say, they will continue to develop high quality products, which is always good news for us as the consumers.
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