Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Complete Review

Look:
Technology:
Performance:
Value for money:

Good: 8 MP camera, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 4 inch screen, Timescape
Bad: Virtual keyboard dosnt work during messaging, some faults in Timescape application, uneven data perfromance
Recommend: Yes

Long after being announced in November 2009 and now finally releasing, much is being expected from Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10. Powered by Android 1.6 Xperia X10 is really a pure beauty both outside and inside with its superb specs. The large display of Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 might just be too large for some people but it is still impressive. The user interface is simple except maybe in the Timescape feature and the multimedia quite rich in options. Some of its highlighting or I would say monstrous features are its 8 MP camera, 1GHz Snapdragon processor and the 4 inch screen of Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. Adding of Timescape and Mediascape for personalization are also two inpressive features

Design and Display of Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

The display is definitely too large to my liking.but if you prefer touchscreen you might like it. It is bit larger than iPhone at 4.7 inches long by 2.5 inches wide by 0.5 inch deep so if you had no problem with iPhone then you have nothing to complain about this too. The weight of 4.8 ounces is not as heavy as you might expect due to its size. Like most high end Sony Ericsson mobiles the ace of this handset is curved so as to match the natural curve of a human hand, it might feel good n hand but will wobble if you try to use the touch screen while keeping it on a flat surface.
The large size has its advantages too. The display is amazing with excellent resolution of 854x480 pixels and supporting 65,536 colors. You would definitely enjoy watching videos and images on its screen. The touchscreen is quite responsive both while scrolling as well as while clicking. The display is clear in direct sunlight too.
For personalization there are three customizable home screens but being a Android your options are quite limited to backlight time, wallpaper and brightness. The front is of highly glossy plastic which makes it highly susceptible to smudges from fingers or any other oily object. The display has a accelerometer but proximity sensor is absent.
Below the screen are the Home button, back button and menu control button. On the left side are the volume rocker control and the camera shutter button. On the top is a 3.5 mm audio jack, the power button and the micro USB port for both charging and syncing purpose. The memory card slot is behind the battery place.

Virtual Keyboard of Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

The virtual keyboard of X10 has all the standard features of the Android but also has some added unique features. In landscape view, due to the big screen size you get enough room for the keyboard to work on. The keyboard consists of three rows with the first two containing all the alphabets and the third one having all the numbers and the punctuations. One speciality of keyboard that really impressed me is the pop up keyboard above the alphabetic row which contains smileys and some less used symbols which are absent on normal keyboards.
X10s autocomplete and dictionary is has been made more user friendly. The autocomplete feature not only provides one option while writing but gives you multiple options to choose from. Moreover you need not enter new words to the dictionary because if you use them during writing they will be automatically added.
But not all is goody-goody here. The landscape view is not available during message writing. You would have to use the good-ol-portrait keyboard and add to the disadvantage of not having the autocorrect feature during messaging.

UXP Interface of Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

The OS is Android 1.6 which now is a bit old as compared to the Android 2.1 of Nexus One and HTC’s imminent Legend and Desire. That is a disadvantage of announcing the launch so soon before its actual launch but even then it is no reason why the company could not have provided a updated OS.
May be the reason is Sony Ericssons User Experience Platform (UXP) which the company is bringing out the first time in market. Formerly known as Rachel, it sits above the Android OS and the company has crossed it to X10 mini and X10 mini pro too. Though many would question the addition of Rachel over a Android but still it has its own advantages.
UXP syncs your messages, contacts and alerts into Timescape. You can change the skin of the Android with UXPs own typography and color backgrounds. There is also a different font for UXP called Soma. The changes will be visible in music player, phone dialer and the calculator. You can access the menu from a thin bar at the bottom of the screen which is not standard in a Android.
Dont consider the UXP totally different from Android. Most of the appearance and functionality of the Android remains the same.
If you decide to update the Andoroid you can say good bye to UXP. And ultimately Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is updated to Android 2.1 Enclair.

Timescape of Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

As mentioned before the main importance and usefulness of UXP is Timescape of Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. After you set up your email accounts and your social networking accounts it will display the alerts in a flowing design (including sms, email and updates from friends) like a deck of cards.You also have the default setting that all of your updates will be visible on your home screen though you can change this setting.

Timescape of Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 it a pretty useful feature. Tapping on a card of these updates will show you the message with the full source i.e. the website and also the image of the contact.You can also see all the history communications you had with the contact by clicking on a infinity button shown in the upper right corner. You can set your status or post a tweet from just here by a touch control at the bottom of the screen.

Camera of Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Whatever might be said about the features of Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mobiles but one thing is clear that there is very less competition against its camera mobiles. It has a mind blowing 8 Mega Pixel camera with professional features like digital stabilization, GPS tagging, auto-focus and a clear 16x zoom. Also are smile detection and face recognition on Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. The shutter is automatically triggered as soon as the subject cracks a grin. As for the face recognition feature after a bit of tweaking it works fine. Once you link a photo with a contact the face recognition system automatically looks for that face in your other photos and tags five such i.e. four more photos along with the tab mentioning their contact record.
As compare to general Android mobiles the photos from X10 have much more detail, color and depth in them. There is a LED beside the camera but it is not a flash rather it is just a photo light. In fact it is better if you are trying to take photo in low light because you can avoid the image blindness the flash sometimes creates. The big screen is also a advantage as it helps you getting a more accurate frame.