XPERIA X1

When Sony Ericsson announced the Xperia X1 (http://www.sonyericsson.com/x1/) in early part of 2008, two things came to my mind –

1. The inevitable and foreseeable transition of most of the cell phone manufacturers to Windows Mobile OS was well underway (with Motorola, Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson all on board, and Nokia being the only one left out nursing its ‘symbian’ wounds); and
   
2. Going by Sony Ericsson’s track record it was reasonably certain that while this phone will be a masterpiece, it will take an eternity comprised of torturous waiting to find the phone in my hands.

Well after a long waiting period of almost an year (which I have attempted to fractionalize by the intervention of other contenders such as Samsung i780 and HTC Touch Pro); I finally got my hands on the Xperia X1 this week. So here is my verdict –

What I Like –

1. Build and finish is top quality – SE phones are the best in this department (even Nokia cannot compare);
   
2. The processor is really fast (528 Mhz) and the phone is overall very snappy;

3. The screen is not only big – but the resolution is VGA – crystal clear clarity;

4. The windows OS!!! – if you set up the MS Exchange, it really does become the best push mail/PIM device ever – leaving iPhone, blackberry and the likes far far behind – in fact it has been over an year since I used a blackberry – they are so medievial and still trying to catch up;

5. Loads of pre-installed apps and games;

6. The touch pad – apart from the touch screen, the touch pad is really neat;

7. Overall form factor – the aspect ratio of the width to the length is really well thought out and much better than the iPhone or HTC Touch Pro, very sweet to hold as a phone.

What I Don’t Like (…no phone is perfect – that’s where lies the yearning for the next one ;)) –

1. The panel interface – overall nothing really revolutionary – will all depend on what kind of panels become available in the future (now that SE has released the panels development kit for the programmers);

2. The keyboard – the keys don’t have as good a tactile feedback nor are as well spaced as the HTC Touch Pro;

3. The speaker sound volume.

My Verdict –

Overall I can comfortably say that this is one of the best phones in the market today, coming close on the heels is the HTC Touch Pro. While in some aspects the Touch Pro is better – such as the user interface and the keyboard; in terms of the specs, this phone packs it all – (http://www.pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=1319) .

Useful Links –

Here are some useful links for those of you who have already bought this phone and cannot resist the temptation to tweak it!!!

1. Must have free applications – http://www.modaco.com/content/xperia-x1-x1-
   modaco-com/274005/pauls-must-have-free-xperia-x1-software/
   
2. Handy Xperia tweaks software – http://www.1800pocketpc.com/2008/11/07/
   xperiatweak-v-16-tweaks-and-hacks-for-xperia.html

3. Softwares to purchase – www.handango.com

4. Xperia online forum – http://www.xperiax1.net/forum/

5. Get touchflo 3d on your Xperia – http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=441439