Sony Ericsson put on the X10 to regain a foothold in the field of smartphones. The product was a success.
We could use for a few days a very successful prototype of the Xperia
X10 from Sony Ericsson, the first Android smartphone of Japan-Sweden
manufacturer’s slowing. The Xperia X10 is one of the very large
families of smartphones, with a template similar to the HTC HD2 or
Toshiba TG01. In terms of screen size, it outclasses the iPhone, at
least in height, width are identical. Remaining is to be seen if this
advantage is enough to make a good smartphone.
Made more intelligent by the new overlay software Nexus (formerly
codenamed Rachael), the first Android smartphone from Sony Ericsson
incorporates a large capacitive display of 10.1 cm, a photo sensor of 8
MP and a Snapdragon processor clocked at 1 GHz.
The feeling of quality prevailing in the grip: the finish is excellent,
rubberized back slightly arched which helps in keeping a steady hand,
the burnished metal strapping way that emphasizes and sharpens the edge
through the display itself and also absolutely rigid. The large screen
size, the centerpiece of the device is capacitive type, like the iPhone
and other mobile premium.
This technology, which captures the touch and not the support, allows
the use of two fingers, if it is taken into account by the software.
Alas, this is not the case in Xperia, the version of Android chosen by
Sony Ericsson (1.6 Donut) does not support multicast. The manufacturer
might have added this feature in "above" operating system, as is
happily HTC (HD2, Hero), but it is unfortunately nothing. Any hope of
zoom to two fingers is not lost, as the Xperia will receive an update
to Android 2 as soon as the exclusivity granted by Google to Motorola
and its Milestone has ended.
The good catches in the right place
To continue in the physical description of Xperia, note that Sony
Ericsson did not resist – again – to implement thin buttons on his
phone, the kind that are activated more readily with the tip of the
nail with the finger. At least the buttons are good mechanical and not
sensitive, a major source of false manipulations on some phones.
Another small criticism: to replace the memory card micro-SD, remove
the battery. While the Xperia is running cold-start fast enough, we
could have done without this constraint.
The headphone jack, a 3.5mm jack, took over the tip of the device,
ideally positioned for use in portable mode. It is skirted by the
button on-off and sleeps on the one hand, through a trap door
concealing the micro-USB on the other. A hearing on the portion was
opened to let the sound of loud-speaker. By the way, its also subject
to noise rather than sound, so a default crying that we impute to the
Office that the Xperia we received was a preproduction sample,
operational 90% only. No problem for her to report on the headphone.
At the start, what is striking is the speed. The Qualcomm Snapdragon
processor clocked at 1 GHz purring under the hood there is certainly no
accident. Indeed, outside of the application Timescape, which we will
return the Xperia X10 does not make us wait forever. And yet it is not
the case in this application as a parenthesis of 2 second or less. Same
goes for the Web browser. The pages load quickly, although our tests
did not download spark, with a meager 400 kbit/s on a test site. So
resizing the scroll are models of fluidity.
Thin out Spline…
The user interface concocted by Sony Ericsson’s first Android responded
on behalf of Nexus (initially UX). It is more akin to an application as
an overlay; the application in question is Timescape. Timescape aims to
aggregate and present them graphically, like the cover flow from Apple
or HTC Touch Flo, messages, letters, network status of Facebook and
Twitter and other SMS, missed calls …
Sony Ericsson calls on him this presentation a spline. A central spline
that holds the screen by default when Timescape is active, then
aggregates the various streams (with the notable exception of the RSS,
whose absence was unexplained) in a column that you can browse. A quick
finger to the right or left, and pass the General Spline to Spline
specialized respectively covering email, SMS, photos, etc. In this
configuration, the three offices of Android standards are not
available, but the upper part of the notification remains good.
Timescape will satisfy those who like to keep a constant eye on their
incoming mail and Twitter or on the activity of their friends at
Facebook. For any other use of the Xperia, it will be the classic that
will choose what is possible at any time.
Mediascape
Timescape is one thing, Mediascape is another. This second application
of Sony Ericsson brings together on the same page the media stored in
the memory of Xperia and PlayNow content online, the music store online
for Sony Ericsson. Three icons at the bottom of the screen provide
access to three types of media such as music, video and photos with
each time a coexistence of local files stored on micro SD card and
those available online, except for video. In practice, for example,
when you have a Picasa account or to buy a musical in no time!
In classic fashion, the three offices of Android operate quite
conventional. We can file over the shortcuts to applications or
widgets, but not enough for our liking. We are far here from the system
TouchWizz of Samsung who balks not to cram the modules, or the iPhone
that accepts without flinching to add pages to desktop. Fortunately,
the lower pane of Android, deployable with a stroke of a finger, and
welcomes all applications to easily remedy this shortage of space. And
anyway, there on the Android Market applications whose purpose is
precisely to add pages to desktop.
Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 at a glance
Camera
- 8.1 megapixel camera
- Up to 16x digital zoom
- Auto focus
- Intelligent face recognition features
- Geo tagging
- Image and video stabilizer
- Photo and video light
- Send to web (photo and video upload)
- Smile detection
- Touch focus
- Video recording
- Recent shot tray
Music
- Album art
- Bluetooth stereo (A2DP)
- Media player
- Music tones (MP3/AAC)
- PlayNow
- TrackID
Web
- Bookmarks
- Google search (from standby)
- Web feeds
- WebKit web browser
Communication
- Sony Ericsson Timescape
- Speakerphone
- Vibrating alert
Messaging
- Conversations
- Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync
- Picture messaging (MMS)
- Predictive text input
- Text messaging (SMS)
Design
- Auto rotate
- Gesture control
- Picture wallpaper
- Touchscreen
Entertainment
- 3D games
- Media browser
- Infinite button
- Video streaming
- Video viewing
- YouTube
Organiser
- Alarm clock
- Calculator
- Calendar
- Flight mode
- Infinite button
- Office suite
- Phone book with dialer
- World clock
Location-based services
- A-GPS
- Google Maps
- Wisepilot turn-by-turn navigation (free trial version)
Connectivity
- 3.5 mm audio jack
- Bluetooth technology
- Micro USB connector
- Synchronisation
- USB support
- Wi-Fi
Preloaded applications
- Sony Ericsson Timescape
- Sony Ericsson Mediascape
- Sony Ericsson Home with clock widget
- Sony Ericsson Sync
- Android Market Client
- Gmail
- Google Calendar
- Google Maps with Street View
- Google Media Uploader
- Google phone-top search
- Google search widget
- Google Talk
- Google Voice Search
- Network Location Provider
- Set-up Wizard
- YouTube
Screen
- 65,536 colour TFT Touchscreen
- 4.0 inches
- 480 x 854 pixels (WVGA)
- Scratch-resistant
Accessories
- In-Box:
- XPERIA X10
- Battery
- Stereo portable handsfree
- 8 GB microSD card
- Micro USB cable for charging, synchronisation and file transfer
- User documentation
- Optional:
- Hi-Fi Wireless Headset with FM Radio MW600
- Car Charger AN300
- Screen Protector ET902
Specifications
- Size: 119 x 63 x 13 mm
- Weight: 135 grams
- Phone memory: Up to 1 GB
- Memory card support: microSD
- Memory card included: 8 GB
- Operating system: Google Android Donut, version 1.6
- Processor: 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250
- Colour: Sensuous Black, Luster White
Conclusion
Outside function keys is not very practical and micro-SD card is hidden
behind the battery, these are some faults in the Xperia X10. Its large
screen makes it a viable solution for Web browsing or watching videos.
For the rest, and given its technical staffing generation (3G+, Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth, APN of 8 Mpix with flash to LED, GPS…) it will certainly
become a platform of choice at the time of its release in February,
provided that Android 2.0 or Android 2.1 or above is installed.
Positive points
- Snapdragon processor clocked at 1 GHz
- Environment Nexus aggregating content
- The wide screen capacitive
- Multimedia functions and GPS
- The 8 GB card included
Negative points
- The penultimate version of Android
