Sony Ericsson has officially confirmed that it will be releasing two new models based on its Android powered Xperia X10i, which was released earlier this year.

The X10 Mini and the X10 Mini Pro will be hitting South African shelves in July and August respectively and will offer consumers more affordable, compact Android smartphone options.

Techsmart today had the opportunity to get a hands on impression of both devices before they are released into the wild in July and August. Needless to say we were surprised at both the functionality and the design of Sony Ericsson’s latest creations.

Xperia X10 Mini

At just 83 x 50 x 16 mm the X10 mini is truly miniscule. It is arguably the smallest, most compact smartphone on the market and rests comfortably in the palm of the hand without too much trouble.

It features a 2.55" TFT capacitive touch-screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 as well as an accelerometer and Sony Ericsson’s Timescape UI which integrates contact details across a number of social networks.

With regards to the internal make up of the Mini it incorporates a 600 MHz Qualcomm processor with 128 MB of RAM. It also features MicroSD support for up to 16 GB with 2 GB included, WiFi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP and a 5 Megapixel camera with autofocus and an LED flash.

The Mini is also well equipped with HSDPA, HSUPA, Class 10 EDGE and GPRS support.

Although it ships standard with Android 1.6, which is considerably outdated by now, Sony Ericsson South Africa has confirmed that an update to Android 2.1 will be available to local users within the coming months.

Xperia X10 Mini will be available for roughly R2 999 upon launch in July.

Xperia X10 Mini Pro

The X10 Mini Pro is identical to the Mini in specifications but for a few minor details.

In this case Sony Ericsson opted to include a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, which renders the device slightly more bulky. This is however a worthwhile sacrifice; the keyboard is one of the most compact and yet comfortable we have experienced in current smartphone models.

Despite the apparent lack of processing power, both the X10 Mini and the X10 Mini Pro are blisteringly quick when browsing through the interfaces and operating applications. Our only criticism is that it lacks definable multitasking functionality and instead depends on the shrouded Android Home shortcut to deliver this.

Although pricing details for the X10 Mini Pro are not currently available Sony Ericsson has confirmed that it will be available at a slightly higher price point than the X10 Mini. It will be released in August.

Both devices will be available in Black and Red.