namely the Xperia Mini…. i don’t like big phones (iphone, Galaxy, et al) and am thinking that the Xperia Mini meets my needs.

but i would like to know if i can use the phone in order to log rides or download routes (plus downloading whatever app i need to do this).

i promise not to bother with Strava…

I have an Xperia Mini; I like it a lot. It’s phone sized rather than where-the-hell-am-I-going-to-put-this-large-brick sized.

It has a GPS, it runs Alpinequest (what I use) or whatever GPS enabled app you care to use.

The only downside I’ve experienced is a fairly major screen sensitivity issue… it seems quite common that as the phone gets warm the screen starts going mad, including the “back” and “menu” buttons at the bottom. Mine was fine for a month or two but then this problem got steadily worse until it was basically unusable if I had had the phone in my pocket or had been using it for more than a few minutes.

It is fixable if you take it back to wherever you got it from and get them to get Sony to adjust the screen sensitivity; or if you’re confident with this sort of thing there are instructions on t’intarweb on how to root it and fix it yourself. I did the latter; it’s been fine ever since.

I would still get the phone now, but I’m amazed Sony haven’t done anything about this problem that seems fairly common and mades the phone frustruting to use or totally unusable…

hmmm… i’ve read lots of reviews and this is the first i have heard about the hyper-sensivtive screen…

but how easy is it to sort the problem?

does it work well as a GPS unit?

I think it supports Ant+ as well… so you could use a heart rate monitor or garmin cadance sensor.

I might be wrong though ??

not interested in my heart rate or cadence… so long as my heart is pumping and the pedals are turning, i’m happy.

what is Ant+?

what is Ant+?

A wireless connectivity protocol (kinda like Bluetooth), which means you can get you heart rate monitor, cadence sensor etc talking to your phone (if they support Ant+ too)

I’ve got an Xperia Mini Pro (the one with the keyboard). Logging routes is a doddle with Google Tracks. not used it to download and then follow routes though, although there are plenty of apps that let you do that.

Mine keeps updating some ANT service or other, but I’ve no idea how to use it and don’t have any ANT devices, so I’ve tended to ignore it…

The overheating screen issue: Fix For Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini ST15i Overheating Issue

As I said, if you suffer from it (you may not, I don’t know how common it is) it’s not that hard to fix if you are of a technical bent. I’d get one again.