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The Xperia X10 Mini Pro's contacts section is a stripped-down, all-blue version of the standard Android tool. Your contacts are broken down into two lists – everyone, and those lucky enough to have been starred as your Favourites, which are accessed through a separate tab.
Opening up a contact brings up a short listing of their data – and a photo if you've taken one of them and tagged it to their profile through the imaging app – plus there's Sony Ericsson's big important thing, the Timescape button.
Pressing the Timescape icon pops up the Timescape window, which will, if you've set it up to do so, gather together all the Twitter, Facebook and SMS messages sent to you by this particular person into one enormous stack of personal data.
It's a pretty redundant feature, to be honest, since most users will be much happier keeping their Twitter and SMS lives separate, but it does at least illustrate some of the extremely clever business conducted behind the scenes by Sony Ericsson's super-skinned Android.
The update to Android 2.1 brings a new social network connectivity layer, with users now able to pull in all their friends from Facebook and have these listed in the contacts section.
It's a useful feature, with a further option available to filter results depending on if they have phone numbers registered or not. So you don't have to worry about filling your Contacts section up with the hundreds upon hundreds of people you're 'friends' with on Facebook yet never actually speak to.
Selecting text when sending messages works in a clever way, too. Press a text area (this only works when you're typing text, not on web or email blocks of words, sadly) and the interface sticks in an anchor point. You then touch the screen before or after the anchor, highlighting the text between the start and end points.
It's easier to use than it is to explain in the written word.
The keyboard itself is usable enough, although it's tiny size meant we found it easiest to type using the tips of our thumbnails. If you've got fat man-thumbs, you'll struggle.
As with the X10 Mini, if you use the Mini Pro with the QWERTY keyboard closed, you're greeted by a numeric keypad text entry system. There's no touchscreen QWERTY option in here, so you're stuck with the old T9 123/ABC format if you decide not to use the QWERTY.
Email is handled through the standard Android reader, which will automatically set you up to connect to external accounts. It's been given a blue theme to help it fit in with the rest of the phone, but it's the same, simple Android email app underneath.
As with the X10 Mini, the Android 2.1 update enhances the POP3 email options of the phone. You're now able to have more than one external POP/IMAP account, which is great news – although Exchange support still isn't included in the email app. For that you have to use the third-party RoadSync email app.
As for calling quality; the great forgotten feature of today's phones? The earpiece is loud and generates a very clear sound free from digital noise.
You'd think the tiny form of the phone would mean the microphone might be too far away from your mouth to pick up sounds, but in our test calls, voice came across well. The wife heard our orders regarding tonight's dinner loud and clear!
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