Product Listing

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 - The Android Landscape

By Seow Tein Hee - 19 Apr 2010
Launch SRP: S$1088

Conclusion

The Finishing Touch

The appearance of the new Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini and X10 mini pro are definite proof of the company's Android strategy, but before they do focus their attention on these two smaller offerings, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 will have a few things to prove. Aesthetically speaking, its straight-on flat surface with curves running along its sides, while the rear portrays a fine balance of sophistication and build quality. The human curvature design does fit into the palm nicely, if you have a sizeable hand to grasp the X10 and its 4-inch capacitive touchscreen. What we do we bemoan is the lack of a physical Search button which could speed up the process of a contact or file search within the X10.

Android devices have performed reasonably well even with a moderate processor. Using a 1GHz processor, the X10 felt snappy and was quick in responding with the stock interface from Google. Sadly, the Timescape interface is both a boon and a bane to the user. It does make it easier for you to access all your content in one single timeline, but gets too overwhelming if you have too many news feeds to go through one after another. And we did experience periods of lagging when Timescape is heavily loaded with feeds across its channels.

While Android devices are usually at an affordable range, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is on the same price range as the HTC HD2, albeit with a smaller screen.

The similar Mediascape interface displays multimedia content and delivers more with online media from Sony Ericsson's PlayNow portal. Within both Timescape and Mediascape, you can click on an infinity icon which is an extension of the UI. This gives you the option to link up a specific Facebook or Twitter entry with your Contact list. Within Mediascape, you can also pull up a list of related media on the web for the music or video that you were enjoying.

Taking everything into consideration, the X10 has the makings of a good multimedia-centric phone, with its comfortable screen size, great audio and video capabilities and its splendid imaging performance. But toss in the low battery mileage, the occasioanl lag during Timescape's data updates, and you'll see why the X10 isn't able to give the Nexus One some well-needed competition.

The X10 also stands out as one of the pricier Android phones with its S$1,088 price tag. In comparison, one might see the Nexus One as the more affordable choice. But do remember that the X10 does come with a price subsidy under a two-year telco contract, which is also likely for the upcoming HTC Desire. But for those of us in Singapore, here's a little bonus - the X10 is tied in with local telco SingTel's own music download service, SingTel AMPed, which is a similar feature to Sony Ericsson's own PlayNow service. It does come with a slight advantage, which is no data costs involved. Though the X10 is currently running on the older Google Android 1.6 OS, Sony Ericsson did mention an Android 2.0 update in the near future, sans multi-touch interface on its Timescape interface.

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8.0
  • Design 8.5
  • Features 8.5
  • User-Friendliness 8.5
  • Performance 8
  • Value 7.5
The Good
Attractive design
Large 4-inch screen
Consolidated timeline for social networks
The Bad
Timescape slows down if overloaded with feeds
Lack of physical search button
Bulky
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