Sony Ericsson X10i - Welcome Back Sony Ericson World
Let’s get this straight – we were big fans of Sony Ericsson (SE) here in the office. Their phones used to be well thought out tech, full of excellent extras that made for a very enjoyable user experience. But for almost two years we saw a steady decline.
Now thanks to the Android OS and the speedy 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon powering the X10i, Sony Ericsson seems to be back in the game.
All you need
The X10i includes all you expect from a smartphone – GPS, Wi-Fi, email integration, a very decent and feature rich 8.1 megapixel snapper, document viewing (but not editing unfortunately) and HSDPA. All this in a stylish, but big, body with a suberb 4" capacitive touch-screen. The screen might not
be as big as the 4.3" monster on the HTC HD2, but it contains more pixels per inch for a crisper display. That said, the X10i is only slightly smaller than the huge HD2 and actually a bit thicker than(11 mm vs. 13 mm).
Timescape
Just like HTC’s Sense UI, SE builds extra functionality into the phone, utilising their Timescape interface in much similar fashion. Timescape makes easy work of integrating Twitter and Facebook, with these, alongside new SMSs and emails, being displayed on the homescreen almost like cue cards.
Calling problems
While typing SMSs or emails wasn’t a hassle, we struggled calling with the X10i. Part of the problem is getting use to the fact that the X10i doesn’t carry physical buttons for “answer” and “end call”, or onscreen alternatives situated at the correct place, i.e. at the bottom left and right corner. It makes your initial dialling experience difficult, since you need to find the appropriate buttons on-screen, and trying to make a quick call while driving will almost certainly end up being your last one. Almost as frustrating as this, is the maximum volume of incoming calls. In the office it’s fine, but go outside and you’ll find yourself struggling to hear what the other person is saying. Switching to speakerphone doesn’t help, since it’s also not up to standard.
Conclusion
The X10i puts Sony Ericsson squarely back amongst the big guns of the smartphone market. It looks sleek, the Snapdragon processor is as always stunning and thank heavens they decided to drop Symbian. For a first attempt at the Android OS, it’s an excellent effort and we can’t wait to see what SE will do with a bit of experience under their belt. Available from Altec Autopage Cellular, see p3 for your nearest shop.
