Last week I was lucky enough to try out a prototype of the Sony-Ericsson Xperia X1.There has been so much hype generated on the web about this phone and its capabilities that I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.
Since the arrival of the i-phone, there have been many a phone that have tried to rival its touch screen abilities and creative style but many have fallen short of the mark.
However the Xperia X1 is leagues ahead of these wanabees, acting as a hybrid between the i-phone and Blackberry.
Just the look of the phone is sheer brilliance in design, then to see the arced sliding motion in action as you reveal the full function QWERTY key pad is yet another tick in the box.
As this was a prototype not all of the functions were operable, such as the nine panel interface that allows you to access customised functions.
Only 2 panels were operable (calendar, clock) but as expected, using each one was quick and simple.
The home interface was particularly amazing, at first sight the swimming fish look like a standard screen saver but when lightly touched each fish acts as shortcuts to features such as speed dial.
Better still when you stab them they scatter like an eagle has just swooped over its prey, a nice little touch that adds value to the handset.
I must admit the phone did feel a bit weighty at 145g and I was surprised that the camera was only 3.2 megapixels but when you have a handset that works with windows mobile operating system, offering email and internet functionalities on multiple GMS networks, HSDPA, HSUPA, UTMT and EDGE you can easily over look this.
In addition to these features this touch screen goddess has a 3 inch wide WVGA TFT display capable of showing and recording DVD quality video at an amazing 30 frames per second, not bad at all.
Even with limited functionalities of the prototype in place, overall I must say that I am impressed with the Xperia X1 and I can’t wait for Sony-Ericsson to release the finished model but with a planned release set for Q4, it looks like everyone is in for a long wait.
Check out more pictures and technical specs at the Xperia micro site:
http://www.sonyericsson.com/x1/
