Sony Xperia X1 reviewed

Sony Xperia X1 is one of the most awaited touch screen smartphones of 2008 and runs Windows Mobile 6.5. This is a departure from the Symbian Operating system that most Sony Ericsson PDAs use.

The XPERIA™ X1 combines a 3-inch clear wide VGA display 800×480 pixels and a full QWERTY keyboard within a brush metal-finish body. It has a built in stylus which allows you to poke and scribble.

The X1 supports the standard mobile networks such as GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900, HSDPA 850/1900/2100. An interesting fact is that the X1 actually manufactured by HTC and not Sony Ericsson, which explains it has a MicroSD slot instead of a MemoryStick slot. This allows you to use an additional microSD card which will give you more storage space up to 16G.

The Sony Xperia is packed with the latest must have smartphone features including 3G , a 3.2MP camera with autofocus and flash, inbuilt GPS which allows you to install turn by turn Navigation software such as TomTom.

The Xperia X1′s unique panel user interface is at the heart of the device’s ability to create and adapt consumers’ personal choices. Some panels include Today screens and Facebook. More development is anticipated in the Panels arena.

Now for cons this writer has experienced with the X1.

Despite it’s rich Panels interface, touch navigation is still very “hit and miss”. The touch screen isn’t as thumb friendly as the the iPhone and one can get frustrated not being able to accurately execute programs.

Although the X1 has a decent CPU, it feels very sluggish and tends to pause a lot in between navigations. The camera is slow to respond and thus not very useable for quick snaps.

The phone functionality is quite frustrating. The ringer is very low in volume is bare audible when the X1 in the pocket and starts ringing in a moderately noisy environment.

The vibrate function again is not ideal…it buzzes too softly and hardly noticeable when the X1 is in a loose pocket.

Recommended for: Smartphone users who aren’t easily frustrated with a “fiddly” phone and know their way around the Windows Mobile operating system.