I already told you some Things i really like about the Sony Ericsson X10, this huge white Android Device I’m currently trialing, thanks to Sony Ericsson Austria. All the positive Things I posted are rather expected and should be natural if you look at the Specs of the X10. Unfortunately, the X10 leaves a lot to be desired. I have trialed 3 Sony Ericsson Devices in the last few Months and none of them was good enough, that i’d actually consider buying it. The X10 is in that Line as well, although I think a lot can be corrected here with a gigantic Software Upgrade, which already brings me to my first Point:
Android 1.6: The Sony Ericsson X10 was announced at the same Time when the SDK of Android 2.0 has been made available for Developers. Now i do know that it’s a lot of Work to do such a Major Overhaul on the Android OS and yes of course, they needed Demo Versions, but while they wasted Time working on the actual 1.6 Release, they could have saved so much Troubles with going straight for 2.0. A while back when i had my HTC Hero, i experimented with 2.x Versions of the Eris, and even there the Speed Boost from 1.6 to 2.0 was amazing. Now the blue Sony UI may be beautiful (and it is), but it’s a graphic-heavy UI with Lots of Eyecandys, f.e. the Avatars in Timescape, so i can only imagine how much better the X10 would be with Android 2.x. This truly bugs me to Hell, as the Software could do so much more with the Power of Snapy the Dragon inside.
Timescape: I like Timescape. I like the Idea of it, i like the looks, its an Eyecatcher wherever you go. But the Thing that really grinds my Gears, is the Lack of Features. I would LOVE for example, to directly reply to a Tweet I see, or on a Facebook Message. Would this be too much to implement? The Fact that i can’t really do anything has made me use Timescape less, finally resulting in going back to Apps like Seesmic or Twidroid for Twitter and the Facebook Mobile Page (because Facebook for Android sucks, yes i said it).
Battery Life: So the X10 has a 1.500 mAh Battery inside. This looks good on Paper, and I thought this should bring me through the Day. Well, it didn’t. I have my Phone on GPRS only, the Screen on half Brightness, Bluetooth off, WLAN off. Mails via Gmail are checked every 15 Minutes. With this, a bit of Internet Surfing, a few Calls and Texts, i have managed to kill the Battery in less than 7 (yes, that is seven) Hours!! How would Sony Ericsson possibly think that People would be satisfied with this? Cripple the Phone and turn off all Data Connections?
No Landscape QWERTY in Messaging + various Input Probs: Why, oh why? The portrait QWERTY does kinda okay, but it’s still not good enough to replace a landscape Version. Bummer. I also experienced lots of missed Entry’s due to a Bug in the Keyboard, often not recognizing the first Letter. On Top of that, i often realized the Keyboard being rather un-precise. Although aiming 100% for the right Letter, it still accepted another one. It’s no Issue of the Thumb Size, cause I have rather small ones, it is indeed a Problem with the Software and surely lack of Multitouch. And finally, the Phone sometimes refuses to let the Keyboard disappear, which caused quite some Headscratchers. HTC has solved this Issue perfect, with a separated Button for that.
No Multitouch: Back in the Days when I got my HTC Hero, i thought having a multitouch Display would be one of the least used Features on my Phone. But after some Days i already found it quite handy and also found significant Improvements in Terms of Typing Speeds. Sony Ericsson had no Multitouch Love for the X10 and its just painfull to use the Zoom Buttons again. It could be so much easier.
No real Flash for the Camera: While the Cam Performance is really good in Daylight Conditions, it fatally fails in Low-Light. The Thing next to the Camera, is not even a real LED-Flash, it’s a so called Video Light. Now this might come in very handy for Videos, but doesn’t do Photo Performance in dark Environments any good. I don’t ask for a Xenon Flash, because the X10 is really not aimed to be any Kind of Photography Flagship, but a Dual LED, that actually helps support, would be much appreciated. (Sample Pics to follow up tomorrow)
Conclusion:
The Sony Ericsson X10. A Device surely not made for the weak-hearted, but it has it’s Joys. The 4″ WVGA Screen is georgeous, the Build Quality is plastic but good, the Google Integration for Googleholics like me) is fantastic as usual on Android Phones and i definitely like the Way Sony Ericsson is going with their “Rachael” Overhaul. However, the X10 needs some Fixes pretty badly, with the Upgrade to Android 2.1 the most important one and of course the Multitouch Support. Input Problems can be fixed, and I’m sure they can even squeeze an hour or more out of the horrible Battery. Here’s hoping this wasn’t the last Android Device from Sony Ericsson, cause the Way Sony Ericsson is going is something I like, if they use the Potential in Timescape and Mediascape.
Have you tried the X10, what do you think?