Hands on with the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 with AT&T

by n3rdg1rl Sep 10, 2010 3:41 PM – 1 Comment

We previously reviewed the little brothers of this phone, the X10 Mini and Mini-Pro. After how surprised I was at those phones I was eager to see what the big brother was like. Overall, I like the Mini’s better.

: X10 Unlock Screen

: X10 Text

: X10 Home Screen

: X10 Front

: X10 Back

General

2G Network: GSP 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network: HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100
Announced: November 2009
Released: March 2010
Operating System: Android 1.6 (2.1 expected in Q4 2010)
CPU: Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon 1 GHz processor

With a 1 GHz processor, I expect power. This phone doesn’t use that power for much beyond the pretty animations and it’s own clunky user interface. It seems laggy in spots that the older 600 MHz processors could handle and loading times on the Internet are slower than with the X10 Mini and Mini Pro. I’m hoping that when the X10 gets it’s Android 2.1 upgrade in a few months (fingers crossed), that it will demonstrate it’s power a little more effectively.

Battery

Standard battery: Li-Po 1500 mAh (BST-41)
Stand-by: Up to 415 hours (2G) / Up to 425 hours (3G)
Talk time: Up to 10 hours (2G) / Up to 8 hours (3G)

The battery on this phone seems to last forever! On a full charge you can easily use this phone for two days. Even after two days it wasn’t completely dead. With the power efficiency of 2.1, when that update comes through, this phone could potentially last 3 days without a charge.

Size

Dimensions: 119 mm x 63 mm x 13 mm (4.69″ x 2.48″ x 0.51″)
Weight 136 g (4.76 oz)

While it definitely is bigger than the Mini versions, it still not a huge phone. It’s comfortable to hold either vertically or horizontally and the weight of it lets you know that you’re holding something but it’s not near heavy.

Display

Type: TFT Capacitive touchscreen, 65,000 colors
Size: 480 x 854 pixels, 4″
Scratch resistant surface
Accelerometer for auto-rotate
Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
Timescape / Mediascape UI

A nice 4 inch screen and an almost Gorilla Glass surface gives this phone great potential. However the resolution is not as high as it could be. And where is the multi-touch? That feature is almost standard now a days and Sony hasn’t implemented it into any of it’s Android phones as of yet. However, the X10′s proximity sensor is one of the best that I’ve used. I never accidentally turned the phone off or pressed keys with my face on a call, even when it wasn’t pressed completely against my head.

The Timescape / Mediascape UI is my least favorite user interface of all of the Android devices. It’s set up perfectly for the Mini and Mini Pro but when you use it on something full-size it’s very inefficient. I understand it’s pretty to look at but when I need to find that email I sent two weeks ago I don’t want to stream through a rainbow of transparent overlapping boxes.

Sound

Alert Types: Vibration, MP3 ringtones, composer
Speakerphone: Yes
3.5 mm audio jack

The sound quality seems hit and miss. On the X10 end of a call it sounds relatively clear and loud enough to hear the other person. However, several people I called with this phone said that it sounds like I’m far away and there’s an audible click when I finish talking.

The music side of the phone is where this phone shines. Even with the headphones that come with this phone it sounds clean and crisp. The software for the media, MediaGo, will be familiar to those who have PlayStation or PSPs. You can use it like iTunes and transfer your music in to your phone straight from the program.

Memory

Phonebook: Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records: Practically unlimited
Internal: 1 GB storage, 384 RAM
Card slot: microSD, up to 32GB (8GB included)

1 GB of internal storage is nothing to be ashamed of, especially since who knows if this phone will ever see 2.2 and the ability to put apps on your SD card. Even better, in a very un-Sony like move, the phone uses microSD and not the proprietary micro Memory Stick Pro Duo M2 cards. It comes with an 8 GB card included which can hold tons of music and photos, but it’s nice that you can go up to 32 GB if you wanted to.

Data

GPRS: Class 10 (4+3/3+2 slots) 32-48 kbps
EDGE: Class 10, 236.8 kbps
3G: HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 2 Mbps
WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, DLNA
Bluetooth: v 2.1 with A2DP
USB: v 2.0 micro USB

Everything data wise with the X10 is pretty standard except for the inclusion of DLNA. DLNA is Sony’s personal interface. It allows you to share information between your Sony VAIO laptop, Xperia phone, Cybershot camera, Bravia TV, PlayStation, and PSP. If you are a Sony fanatic like I am, it is a great feature and makes your house seem like it’s from the future! Integrating this into your phone just is a huge plus for Sony households like mine!

Camera

Primary: 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Features: Touch focus, image stabilization, geo-tagging, face and smile detection
Video: WVGA @ 30 fps
Secondary: None

For an 8 MP camera, it’s just ok. The pictures seem like they should be sharper, but fail to pop like they should. The features of the camera are nice though and are comparable to some of the paid camera apps in the Market. Video seemed jerky and focus was slow. Now if they could smoosh this phone up with a nice Cybershot camera, it would be perfect for all things picture related!

Features

Messaging: SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push email, IM
Browser: HTML
Radio: None
Games: Yes
Colors: Sensuous Black, Luster White
Java: via 3rd party application
Digital compass
MP4 / H.263 / H.264 / WMV player
MP3 / eAAC+, WMA / WAV player
Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk
Facebook and Twitter integration
Document viewer
Voice memo

The features of this phone are nothing too exciting. Standard Google apps and media support show about how average this phone is.

AndroidTapp.com Rating

AndroidTapp.com Rating! (3.5 out of 5) Should you Buy Sony Ericsson Xperia X10? It’s a typical Sony Ericsson phone. It has great potential, but there are so many little things wrong with it that it brings the overall rating of this phone down. If you love Sony Ericsson phones and want Android then yes grab it. If you haven’t had a Sony Ericsson phone before, this shouldn’t be your first one.