Review of the Thousand Dollar Android Phone – Sony Xperia X10

Posted by Joe on March 31, 2010 | 16 comments | Filed under : gPhones

This morning I received the Fed Ex package that said overnight but I felt like it was over a year of waiting as the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Android phone was finally in my hands.

I have been talking about this phone in anticipation from when I first started speaking at conferences in early 2009 on topics such as Android at SMX Advanced last year.

This pent up demand is accentuated with reported selling price of $1000 via Amazon for unlocked Sony Xperia X10s since this phone is not expected to be available in the United States until possibly the later half of 2010.

So I quickly opened the Sony X10a box labeled Sensuous Black which along with the phone itself had a smart setup in that the USB cable connects into a socket adapter, so you don’t need 2 separate wires, plus a quality pair of Sony earbuds that included an extender with the mic & button.

Thankfully the ear buds and connector are with the 3.5mm plug versus the USB connection.

Oddly the X10 had the USB connection with the peel off lid and the 3.5 headphone jack on the top of the phone instead of on the bottom (as well ditching the USB connection lid).

Strangely as well this is the first smartphone I have seen with the volume button on the right side when its facing you.

So I compared it to the other Android phones I had which are the G1 and the Google Ion (Google I/O version of the MyTouch 3G) with these differentiator bullet points

The X10 is about the height of the G1 but half the depth

The X10 is thinner than the Ion but noticeably heavier

The X10 screen is massive and the size of the entire Google Ion

The X10 screen with the SnapDragon processor is great for video

The X10 screen also helps avoid fat fingering the onscreen keyboard

The X10 8.1 MP camera is better than most digital cameras I have used

Yes, the X10 was loaded with Android 1.6 & lacks multitouch

Oddly what I really missed was not having the trackball on the X10

The X10 boot time blew away both the G1 & Ion at under 30 seconds

Both the Google Ion & G1 took about 2 minutes to cold boot

Those were the main initial comparisons from my first day with the Sony Ericsson X10 as I will expand on this review in posts later this week on another site.

These X10 review posts will be done as part of the debut of Mobile Martin where I will be posting on mobile marketing in general along with SEO & project management tips advice and opinions.

GoogleAndBlog itself will be making some major changes beginning in April with more robust & timely Android news along with some major site improvements that the readers of GAB deserve.

1 Shawn Collins April 1, 2010 at 3:18 am: The big screen and camera quality are cool, but I don't get the big pricetag.
2 Michael_Martin April 1, 2010 at 3:28 am: Shawn,

I know you love your Nexus One as it does have Android 2.1 vs 1.6 on the X10 but the differentiator is the large high resolution 4 inch screen with the Sony style & UI plus the 8.1 MegaPixel camera doesn't hurt either
3 Shawn Collins April 1, 2010 at 4:02 am: Yeah, the big screen is cool, but I pretty much only need that to watch movies when I fly.

And the Nexus One camera is better than I expected (coming from a Blackberry Bold) – check out a picture I took at night recently: http://www.flickr.com/photos/affiliate/4458487737...
4 Michael_Martin April 1, 2010 at 4:16 am: Shawn,

WOW that is an amazingly crisp picture especially at night!

The X10 is perfect for watching videos/movies plus it has the loudest sound I ever heard from a phone.

You have to also remember the X10 was supposed to have been released back in December last year before the Nexus One which is why there was so much hype about it – a big difference from the Droid but basically on par with the Nexus One.

I will do a deeper review on the camera and other aspects along with the applications later this week on http://www.mobilemartin.com/news/
5 f00f April 1, 2010 at 9:13 pm: how's the keyboard experience? can you type accurately while hitting two keys at the same time? the lack of multitouch is making me reconsider…
6 Michael_Martin April 2, 2010 at 1:13 am: The keyboard is much easier in landscape and wasn't fat fingering it – Also Sony has a different keyboard layout than the standard Android one.
7 Sarah April 2, 2010 at 3:11 am: I dont get the price tag as well, I guess I heard that the Samsung Galaxy S was going to be in the realm of 1000 price tag … I like the screen, but I dont know if I trust sony..
8 Kevin McDonagh April 3, 2010 at 4:59 pm: There is completely unique to this phone called 'Timescape'. A life streaming platform built into the platform. Did you notice it at all?
9 Michael_Martin April 3, 2010 at 5:16 pm: Kevin,

Absolutely played with Timescape which I will be going over in depth at http://www.mobilemartin.com/news/ next week since this was just an initial cursory review on GAB.

Initial thoughts on Timescape is that its visual candy but not that useful – IMO.
10 Michael_Martin April 3, 2010 at 5:35 pm: Sarah,

I was surprised you don't trust Sony as in my experience they always have quality products but with the Sony premium price tag (like Apple).

The Galaxy S has the same large 4 inch screen & is .6 ounces lighter along with having the ability to allow multitouch.

The X10 has a slightly higher crisper resolution, higher MP camera & the 1GHz SnapDargon processor is slightly better in many respects than the 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor of the Galaxy S.
11 sony sucks April 8, 2010 at 9:59 pm: this makes me scared to switch from aquafresh to colgate.
12 friedgoldmole April 11, 2010 at 11:02 am: Samsung are claiming the chip used in the Galaxy S is the fastest cortex-a8 processor around at the moment. It also has a super amoled screen.

From the reviews I have read of the X10 so far, it doesn't seem to live up to the hype, people who have compared it to the Nexus one/HTC Desire say its a big sluggish at times, hopefully that will change with an update to 2.1 as it has the same processor so no reason for it to be slower apart from software.
13 Michael_Martin April 11, 2010 at 3:28 pm: I haven't come across any of this reported "sluggishness" with the X10 after using it for approximately 2 weeks – the upgrade to 2.X won't hurt tho
14 logan July 30, 2010 at 12:49 pm: awesome unlocked cell phones. love my x10. faster processor, easier to use, touch screen is responsive and the keys on the bottom are easy to use. much better than my old unlocked blackberry phones. email is great for my business and practical, and the gps helps me get aorund good. got our unlock codes for it cheap too. my wife loves hers for the facebook and games and my daughter likes the camera and recorder. it's great for business and pleasure. like the apps on it too. easy to ge around. got our last couple unlocked phones at unlockthatphone.com and were pretty happy. 2 thumbs up.
15 DMG August 10, 2010 at 12:05 pm: I got a Xperia x10i this August and I admit it could compete at par with the Iphone.

I upgraded from a SE C902 and Nokia E66 .

I would like that SE address the ff short-comings:

1. provide standard phone pad interface for those that prefer using the T9 dictionary mode ( because they upgraded from a mobile phone w/o qwerty)

2. SE's Pc companion program DOESNT SYNC contacts from MS Outlook office; the transferring and syncing of contacts and calendar is tedious to do 1 by 1. Google sync can be used to sync via online but you have to upload your all your contacts and calendars online; this is a privacy issue that many wont like to do.

3. the window for drafting sms is too small compared to the screen real estate. Make the font bigger. My eyes get tired

4. emulate the panning and zooming from the Iphone and Ipad; Its very cool and intuitive ( wish list)

5. WHY DIDNT SONY INSTALL SWYPE FOR TEXT INPUT ? IT WOULD'VE RESOLVED MY PROBLEMS WITH THE TYPING INTERFACE. THESE DROID PHONES USE IT AND ITS A SERIOUS OMISSION! http://www.swypeinc.com/
PLS SONY RESOLVE THIS SOON OR ELSE I WILL SELL MY XPERIA AND GET A LOWER-END PHONE!
16 shane December 18, 2010 at 11:05 pm: The sony x10 xperia trumps the iphone 4 by far.the only things iphone 4 wins at is with the retina display,2 grams extra on the weight,and glassy look.if you really look at it,those are little things.the xperia has a freakin large 4 inch screen,8.1 mp camera,1Ghz snapdragon processor,and the also the android 2.1 open source software…which trumps the IOS 4 any day.so guys the only one major thing iphone wins at is the 16G/32G INTERNAL MEMORY but it doesnt have a card slot which xperia has and can be expandable up to 32G.So my opinion would be to choose what best suits you.both phones are great and powerful but xperia takes the crown.