Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 Review – Power packed and expensive

Well we have got the Sony Ericsson’s most anticipated and awaited phone the Xperia X2, the original Xperia failed to deliver as with most initial versions. So we expect the Xperia X2 to perform much better in this regard. Lets have a closer look at this powerful phone.

Sony brings most of its products with advanced features and almost always leading by example, and hence there is nothing short of that here with the Xperia X2, it has a powerful 8MP camera in a full QWERTY keyboard phone all packed into rather compact phone. It is also worth to note that cameras in Sony Ericsson phones usually perform better than its competitors like Nokia and Samsung. Ohh and dont bother to compare it with Apple.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 Front View dexternights
Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 Front View dexternights

Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 –   110 x 54 x 16 mm
Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 -112.6 x 57.8 x 16.2 mm
Nokia X6 – 111 x 51 x 13.8 mm
Nokia N97 mini – 113 x 52.5 x 14.2 mm
Nokia N97 – 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 (18.2 max) mm

Well the Xperia X2 already has a competition in Nokia X6 in the dimensions area, though Nokia X6 only has a 5MP camera, in terms of other features and 40% lesser price, Nokia might get one ahead on the Xperia X2.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 with qwerty keyboard
Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 with qwerty keyboard

The phone looks good but the expected pricing of around $1000 is little too much for any phone, especially considering that this Xperia X2 doesnt bring anything totally new to the table other than a 8MP Camera on QWERTY phone.The phone has a Qualcomm MSM 7200 528 MHz processor and runs a Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional Edition. It has a RAM of 256 MB and ROM of 512 MB. The performance should be slightly better than the competition, but it ultimately depends on the OS + hardware combination, so its justified to compare Nokias running symbian OS and Xperia X2 running WinMo 6.5.

But a big letdown is the internal memory of only 110 MB and supports upto 16GB in memory cards. Unlike say N97 which comes with a 32GB inbuilt memory, this might leave many wondering why was the mass memory ignored.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 back view
Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 back view

Apart from the above differences it has typical features of high end phones like A-GPS,3.5mm audio jack, v2.1 Bluetooth with A2DP support,mini USB and a 1500 mAH battery with a 10 hour talk time on GSM.

The Xperia X2 still has a Resistive touch screen unlike the Apple Iphone and Nokia X6 model’s Capacitive touch screen which allows multi touch. So even in this respect the powerful X2 lags behind.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 back expanded_dexternights
Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 back expanded_dexternights

We dont expect the phone to be the best seller by any means, but will definitely come as a much improved phone overall compared to the first Xperia.

Below is the Full technical Specifications

XPERIA™ X2
Live life without boundaries

Facts and Figures

  • Size: 110 x 54 x 16 mm
  • Weight: 115 grams
  • Colours: Elegant Black, Modern Silver
  • Main screen: 65,536 colour TFT
  • Resolution: 480 x 800 pixels (WVGA)
  • Size: 3.2 inches
  • Phone memory: Up to110MB
  • Memory card support: SanDisk microSD™ and microSDHC™, up to 16GB
  • Talk time GSM: Up to 10 hrs
  • Standby time GSM: Up to 500 hrs
  • Talk time UMTS: Up to 6hrs
  • Standby time UMTS: Up to 640hrs
  • Music listening time: Up to 20hrs
  • Availability and versions
  • Networks:
  • XPERIA™ X2
  • GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
  • UMTS/HSPA 850/1900/2100
  • GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
  • UMTS/HSPA 900/1900/2100
  • Available in selected markets from early Q4 2009.

Camera

  • 8.1 megapixel camera
  • Up to 16x digital zoom
  • Auto focus
  • Geo tagging
  • Image stabilizer
  • Send to web
  • Touch focus
  • Video light
  • Video recording

Music

  • Album art
  • Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
  • Equalizer
  • Sony Ericsson media player
  • Music tones (MP3/AAC)
  • Equalizer
  • Sony Ericsson media player
  • Music tones (MP3/AAC)
  • PlayNow™ arena*
  • Stereo speakers
  • Windows Media® Player

Web

  • Bookmarks
  • Google™ search
  • Internet Explorer®
  • Pan & Zoom
  • Web feeds

Communication

  • Call list
  • Conference calls
  • Polyphonic ringtones
  • Speakerphone
  • Vibrating alert
  • Messaging

Email

  • Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync®
  • Handwriting recognition
  • Instant messaging
  • Picture messaging (MMS)
  • Predictive text input
  • Text messaging (SMS)

Design

  • Auto rotate
  • Media
  • Picture wallpaper
  • Touchscreen
  • Wallpaper animation
  • Windows Mobile® 6.5

Entertainment

  • 3D games
  • Java™
  • Motion gaming
  • Tracker
  • Video streaming
  • Video viewing
  • YouTube™ application

Connectivity and Softwares

  • A-GPS
  • Bluetooth™ technology
  • DNLA Certified™
  • Google Maps™
  • Modem
  • Synchronisation
  • TV out
  • USB mass storage
  • USB support
  • Wi-Fi™
  • Organizer
  • Adobe® PDF Reader
  • Alarm clock
  • Calculator
  • Calendar
  • Flight mode
  • Microsoft® Office Mobile
  • Notes
  • Phone book
  • Stopwatch
  • Tasks
  • Timer

Accessories
In-Box
:

  • XPERIA™ X2
  • Battery
  • Battery Charger
  • Stereo Portable Handsfree MH500
  • USB cable
  • TV out cable
  • 4GB SanDisk microSD™ memory card
  • User guide

Optional accessories:

Bluetooth™ Headset PV740
Car charger AN300
Video Viewing Stand IM920


Nokia N97 Mini Review – Not very mini at all

As we have seen and heard from the  other blogs like engadget and GsmArena, the N97 Mini turns  out not very different from the Nokia N97, it cant even be termed as a mini interms of its dimensions. Maybe we can call it N97 8GB version and the original N97 as N97 32 GB version, just the way Nokia called the N95 and N95 8GB.

It is kind of disappointing to see the supposed to be mini version, not making much changes in looks. But the cost of the N97 mini is expected to be less than the original N97 and hence allowing more users to enjoy the product.

Nokia N97 mini black slided out keyboard
Nokia N97 mini black slided out keyboard

We observed three primary differences between N97 and N97 mini they are

* N97 Mini has 8GB inbuilt memory against N97’s 32 GB.

* N97 Mini has a smaller battery and hence less talk time and standby by 20%

* N97 Mini has lost few mm in width and thickness. Below is comparison of N97 and N97 Mini in terms of dimensions.

Nokia N97 mini black  Front view - Home screen
Nokia N97 mini black Front view - Home screen

Nokia N97 mini – 113 x 52.5 x14.2 mm
Nokia N97 – 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 (18.2 max) mm
Apple Iphone 3Gs -115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm
Nokia X6 – 111 x 51 x 13.8 mm

Below is the video of N97 Mini intro