Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 review
For a phone with a straight-up slate design the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is actually quite fetching. The back panel has that lovely curved shape we’ve come to love that makes phones just so easy to hold and as for the size? Well, that’s completely a matter of personal preference.
With a 4 inch screen the Xperia X10 comes in with dimensions of 1099 x 63 x 13mm. That’s certainly not unusable, but folks who prefer using their phones one-handed may have a little trouble operating this device. That being said we didn’t really have any issues.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is Sony Ericsson’s first device powered by Google’s formidable Android operating system (OS). Where some Android phones can be jerky when making use of the scrolling dynamic, the Xperia X10’s 1GHz processor makes easy work of it. It’s nice to handle a smooth Android phone that isn’t a forerunner for HTC or Samsung for once.
The 8.1 MP camera takes good photos during the day and employs an interesting approach to a flash for low-light shots. Instead of opting for a traditional burst of bright light, the Xperia 10 instead sports a “photo light” LED which can be toggled on or off. Basically you turn the light for your camera on, take your photo, then turn it off. This function certainly has its pros and cons, but we really like the extra time it gives the camera to focus at night.
The Xperia’s native user interface (UI) skin makes good use of the Android OS. Rather than simply showing lists or a bunch of icons at every turn, Sony Ericsson has instead introduced something they call “splines”. Splines are a pretty efficient way of browsing through the better part of your notifications and files. Not only that but they’re a lot more aesthetically pleasing than a regular old grid icon format. There is a bit of an issue with the social media section, where the spline tends to lag when loading a notification for the first time, but once the initial lag is done the scrolling returns to its regular swift efficiency.
Unfortunately the Xperia X10 has no multi-touch functions as yet, with them rumoured to arrive in early 2011. Still, the lack of this great dynamic is very noticeable. If you’ve never used multi-touch then you obviously won’t miss it, as the X10 does a good job of making up for it with double tapping and hold-down commands. If you are used to pinch-to-zoom and other great functions then the X10’s interface will seem like a bit of a step backwards in that regard.
Another definite problem for the X10 is with the software keyboard. The spacebar is tiny and surrounded by icon buttons and the keyboard has a tendency to miss input. On pressing a letter, it’s not uncommon to see the letter pop up, linger until you hit the next key and then promptly disappear. This can be very frustrating when typing at speed. Luckily the keyboard is virtual, which means this can be fixed with a few software updates. Hopefully we’ll see something like that in the next patch.
The Xperia X10 is also a little behind on the Android front. While they've developed an interesting UI and utilises the Android operating system (OS) well, the Xperia X10 comes with the outdated Android v1.6. It might not sound like much to the average user but believe us, it is. Android phones are now shipping with the vastly superior v2.2, which boasts better speeds, battery life and has a host of awesome functionality. We really hope that the X10 will be able to update to v2.2 some time soon.
All in all the Sony Xperia X10 is an impressive piece of hardware. If you discount the input issues and the lack of multi-touch then the Xperia X10 is a definite contender with its fresh UI, smooth dynamic and 8.1MP camera. However, something as egregious as a glitched keyboard can’t really be overlooked, let alone the lack of multi-touch or outdated OS. If you’re an avid typist, or were really looking forward to the great functionality the new Android patch offers then you might end up finding the Xperia X10 a little frustrating within a week or two of getting one.