Sony Ericsson have revealed the latest additions to their Xperia range of Android phones, and it’s a return to compact phones, with two new, albeit familiar handsets set for a release date in August 2011; the Xperia Mini and Xperia Mini Pro.
The Xperia Mini is the first addition. Not straying far from the design of the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini, it’s a very pocketable phone but with some additional fire power inside that tiny shell.
It now has a 1GHz processor, and that will be powering the latest version of Android, currently Gingerbread, though a spokesperson told us that it would be ready for any additional updates when released.
Screen gets scrubbed up
The screen has also been renovated; upgraded from a 2.55-inch 240×320 (QVGA) screen of the X10 Mini, the Xperia Mini now has a three-inch HVGA 320×480 screen- it’s a shrunk-down version of many current mid-range smart phones.
Sony Ericsson have also brought the mobile Bravia engine display technology, last spotted in the Xperia Arc, to make the screen really pop out.
We had a brief play with both phones, and managed to get some time to compare them with their X10 Mini counterparts. The upgraded screen is particularly noticeable. We put both the Xperia Mini and X10 Mini on their lowest brightness settings, and while the new Xperia Mini was still quite visible, the X10 Mini’s display was barely readable
The Xperia Mini also manages to record video in high-definition at 720p, with DLNA technology, meaning you’ll be able to wirelessly share your videos with compatible TVs.
Better battery
Greg Varner from Sony Ericsson told us that all this additional power and features wouldn’t force additional charging, promising that the Xperia Mini would eke out an additional 30% better battery performance than its older brother, the X10 Mini. (That looks like an extra 30 minutes of talk-time.)
Sony Ericsson have also made some specialised adjustments for the Xperia Mini, with new mini-folders now appearing in the corners of the screen, where you can organise common apps and shortcuts. We made sure to check that you’re still able to customise the homescreen, and yes, it’s still available to scroll through and customise to your heart’s delight.
Set to launch in August 2011, the Xperia Mini will be available in white, black, blue and dark pink, and Recombu were told prices will reflect the price of the original Xperia X10 Mini at launch.
Check out our hands-on gallery for pictures of the Xperia Mini, Xperia Mini Pro, and comparisons with the Xperia X10 Mini and Xperia X10 Mini Pro.
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