Camera Phones Plaza

Sony Ericsson have not done anything special lately about their phone design. It is just like all their phones look the same. With slide, without slide, the phones have the same style. XPERIA X1 is different though. Very different. Although they keep the sober style, typical for Sony Ericsson, is a smartphone with full QWERTY keyboard; the first Windows Mobile phone from Sony Ericsson. After the unsuccessful experiences with the Symbian UIQ operating system that was declared dead, Sony Ericsson has decided to move to an operating system that promises much more, Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional.

Among the most important features of XPERIA X1 is the 3 inch screen, the full QWERTY keyboard, and its computing power. It has a Qualcomm processor of 528 MHz, which makes an excellent job with its memory of 512 MB ROM and 526 MB RAM.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 has a length of 110.5 mm, a width of 52.6 mm and a thickness of something like over 17 mm. Could have been better than that, but you must realize that this is a smartphone with QWERTY keyboard. It has 145 grams.

The metal case makes Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 look more sophisticated than the HTC Touch Pro. Most of the front side is occupied by the 3 inch touch screen, which offers a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels.

How we are already used to, as in most phones, the ambient light sensor and the camera for videocall are located at the top of the phone. The navigation buttons are below the screen. Here we find the call / reject keys, the navigation keys and the D-pad, that is used for navigation in various applications. The phone has a trackpad for handling the mouse cursor on the screen, like the Samsung Omnia. That means you will not need the stylus. The Trackpad offers five steps for selecting the sensitivity, so that anyone can find the one that fits the best.

XPERIA X1 has a slide mechanism very well thought out, which leans the screen a little when the keyboard is opened. In this position, the screen offers a very good visibility. The QWERTY keyboard is also very well done, with keys well separated.

On the right side of the phone, we find a button with two directions, by which you can control the volume and the zoom of the camera. On the same side, we find the photo / video button. The two buttons are covered with chrome, matching so well with the metal. At the bottom we find, very discreetly concealed, the hand strap (or different accessories) support. On the left side, Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 has an infrared port. I do not know if anyone uses this feature anymore, but could be useful if you want to send a picture or a song to an older and cheaper phone. Slightly above the infrared port, we find the miniUSB port. Through this, you can transfer data between the computer and the phone. Although it has a Trackpad, the phone has a stylus that is also present on this side. The top side of the phone is hosting the audio jack of 3.5 mm and the on / off power button. The phone has, also, four LEDs that indicate the status.

To have access to the SIM card and to the MicroSD card, you have to remove the battery. Slightly above the battery we have a 3.2 megapixel camera. Although it is a small detail, I can not fail to notice the fact that Sony Ericsson has put a MicroSD card. I hope that XPERIA X1 is not only an exception from this point of view, but only the beginning.

In terms of graphical interface, you have a screen with seven shortcuts, the hot keys equivalent. By a single click, you have access to the Web browser or to the calendar, to the contacts, to about everything you use often. To change the screen orientation (from vertical to horizontal), you have to open the QWERTY keyboard, because XPERIA X1 has an accelerometer. Let's not forget about the XPERIA X1's screen. It is a 3 inch TFT touchscreen that offers an enviable resolution, 480 x 800 pixels and 65,000 colors.

Sony Ericsson has imposed because of their multimedia mobiles released before. Walkman or Cybershot, their phones are great when it comes to music or photos. The default video player is Windows Media Player, which supports MP4 and 3GP formats. If you want to watch DivX / XviD, you must install another video player. Unfortunately, I handled the phone really hard when listening to music with Media Player. The buttons and the menus are very small, so sometimes you need the stylus to be precise. It's absurd to change the songs with the stylus.

At the audio chapter, the phone is excellent; the two stereo speakers managed to play an outstanding sound. Okay, you will not realize that you have bass, but it is doing pretty well. If you want better sound, connect the headphones. In the headphones, the sound is great. It is better than any other phones, I would compare it with my iPod.

The camera has only 3.2 megapixels, but the quality of the photos is acceptable. It is too bad that they did not put a camera of 5 or even 8 megapixels. Maybe the phone would have been more expensive, but Sony Ericsson, certainly, had a reason not to put something better. The colors are very close to the real ones. A big minus is the lack of a flash.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 offers excellent connectivity options. It has HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP. The device supports quad-band GSM and tri-band HSDPA, and USB 2.0. The memory card provides high transfer speeds.

For internet browsing, Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 comes with Opera Mobile 9.5. You probably know it is a very good browser. The web pages are opened in full screen and you have maximum control over them. At the bottom is a menu that helps you quickly get where you want, such as the previous page, homepage, bookmarks, even to open multiple pages. Unfortunately it does not support Flash. Windows Mobile has his own browser, the Internet Explorer, but Opera Mobile is very good so I do not think you will ever use it.

Windows Mobile has a wide range of compatible applications. XPERIA X1 comes with many applications preinstalled. One of these is Microsoft Outlook. You can add events to your calendar and view them in several ways. With the To-Do, you can add remiders and you can even make them appear on the background all the time, so you will not to forget what you have to do.

With Microsoft Office mobile version, you can view and edit Word, Excel, PowerPoint. You even have OneNote, which can quickly note things.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 has GPS too. The phone supports the Assisted GPS (A-GPS). A-GPS makes the GPS determine a location faster, using the required information from the Internet. It has no free navigation applications installed, you need to buy something, although, there are free applications such as Google Maps.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 is a very well designed phone that does not know how to disappoint. If you need a good phone for music or movies, this is for you.