to review it. It is one of the most stylish smartphones and ushers in a new era of supersleek and stylish smartphones. When it was announced, it was undoubtedly the most powerful smartphone there was, but then many competitors came out with equally powerful offerings. Despite the delay in the final launch of the Xperia X1, it is a superb product which competes with the likes of the Apple iPhone, the HTC Touch Pro, HTC Touch HD etc. It is almost identical to the HTC Touch Pro with slightly less better hardware specs. It is one of the few Windows Mobile phones which But it is much more stylish and good looking. It is any geek’s dream and has become quite popular in a short period of time. Nokia has announced the new Nokia N97 primarily to compete with the Xperia X1. In this review, we check out the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and try to see what makes it click.
Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 Specs:
- Dimensions: 110.5 x 52.6 x 17 mm
- Weight: 145 gms
- Display: 3.0 inch TFT touchscreen, 65K colors, 800 x 480 pixels
- Memory: 256 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM
- Processor: Qualcomm MSM7200 528 MHz Processor
- Connectivity: GPRS Class 10, EDGE, 3G HSDPA, Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, USB v2.0
- WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
- OS: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
- Camera: 3.15 MP Camera, 2048 x 1536 pixels with autofocus, flash, Video recording VGA at 30 FPS, Secondary videocall camera
- Battery: Standard Li-Po battery, 1500 mAh (BST-41), 10 hrs rated talktime
- Other Features: Built in GPS with A-GPS, Java MIDP 2.0, FM Radio with RDS, 3.5 mm audio jack, Pocket Office, Opera 9.5 Mobile
Design and Build Quality:
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 is one of the best looking Windows Mobile phones ever. It sports a very stylish design and has superb build quality. The slider action is very smooth. It has dimensions of about 110.5 x 52.6 x 17 mm and weighs just about 145 gms, which is relatively more compared to other phones, but if you consider the features it offers, the weight is well within limits. It is composed mostly of metal and plastic and feels very sturdy and portable.
The front face is occupied mostly by the 3 inch TFT touchscreen display with the standard control keys and a D Pad in a stylish X just below it. On the top of the display, you find the earpiece, the ambient light sensor and the secondary videocall camera. The Xperia X1 has a arc slider design to accomodate the QWERTY keypad. The slider action is very smooth. On the right you find the volume rocker and the camera shutter key. On the left, you find the Mini USB port. On the top of the phone, you find the power button, the 3.5 mm headphone jack and the stylus slot. On the back of the phone, the 3.15 MP camera is located on the top with the Flash and below it is the battery cover which houses the huge battery.
Display:
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 sports a huge 3.0 inch TFT touchscreen supporting 65K colors and a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. The display quality is superb and the brightness and contrast levels are also great. The high resolution makes it a treat to watch movies and videos on the Xperia X1. It is one of the biggest displays in high end Windows Mobile phones after the HTC Touch HD. It supports 65k colors just like other Windows Mobile phones. It has decent sunlight legibility.
Interface and OS:
The Xperia X1 is powered by the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS. While it has all the power this wonderful OS offers, the Xperia X1 has a different layered UI powered by Panels. You can use any of the many available panels to customise your UI. While it is great, I would still prefer HTC’s TouchFLO 3D UI over it. You can download new Panels from the official Sony Ericsson website. It has the standard WM image gallery as well as the Media Xperience Panel.
Multimedia and Camera:
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 has nice multimedia capabilities which you dont usually expect from Windows Mobile phones. The sound quality is simply awesome though the speakers don’t have much volume. The frequency response and other attributes are almost perfect. Though if you are a serious music enthusiast, you shouldn’t rely on the speakers much, just use your own standard earbuds / headphones. The Media Xperience interface is really cool. You can also use the default Windows Media player. It supports most major codecs like DivX and XviD natively. The video playback is smooth even at higher FPS videos with very minimal skipping of frames. Overall in the multimedia segment, it plainly kicks ass of all other Windows Mobile phones.
The Xperia X1 sports a 3.15 MP Camera which can shoot images at a maximum resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. It comes with autofocus and flash as well. It does video recording at a VGA resolution at 30 FPS which is very sweet. The camera image quality is decent, just what you would expect from a 3.15 MP standard camera. The camera interface is nice and easy to use and offers a variety of customisable options and modes. It should suffice for some casual photography.
Other Features:
The Xperia X1 features a host of connectivity options like GPRS Class 10, EDGE, 3G HSDPA, Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, USB v2.0. It also has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g with nice reception and good speeds. The call reception quality is very good. It supports expandable memory by way of Micro SD cards. It comes bundled with the new Opera 9.5 Mobile and Quick Office. You can install any of the scores of Windows Mobile applications available on the internet. The huge display is a great asset to the document reading and web browsing capabilities of the Xperia X1.
The Xperia X1 is powered by a powerful 1500 mAh Li Po battery which has a rated standby time of around 800 hrs and a talktime of 10 hrs. It should easily last 2 days with moderate usage.
Pros:
- Superb Design
- Awesome Display
- Great Sound Quality and Video playback
Cons:
- No Accelerometer
- Average Camera
Final Words:
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 is one of the best Windows Mobile phones available currently. The HTC Touch HD and the Touch Pro are its closest competitors with almost similar features especially the Touch Pro.
Our Rating: 4 / 5.
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