The just-announced Samsung Galaxy S II has been given a price and release date at Expansys (for the unlocked, 16GB version, anyway): Monday, April 18th for 650 pounds, or about $1044 -- although we imagine that price will drop somewhat before it ships as other retailers price-compete for pre-orders. No solid info was available for the 32GB model. Also given definitive release information was the Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo (a.k.a. Halon), which the UK retailer expects on Monday, March 28th for 375 pounds (~$600).
Both models were introduced yesterday at Mobile World Congress, but where the Galaxy S II is a high-end, dual-core flagship for Samsung, the Xperia Neo, as its name suggests, is a single-core, mid-tier handset. Still, it boasts a 1GHz processor, WVGA resolution, and the 2.3 Gingerbread build of Android.
Sony Ericsson's MWC presser today may have been all about its new Play, Pro and Neo members of the Xperia family, but the CES debutant we know and love as the Arc was out in force as well. So, we thought, why not throw together our thoughts on this phone and splice them with a gallery of delicious new images plus some video action to boot? The first thing to note is that the Xperia Arc will be shipping globally in March and Sony Ericsson is aiming for the broadest possible operator coverage. Focusing on the handset itself, we've been wildly impressed by its design since first laying eyes on it, there's something fundamentally attractive about the Arc's look, something less tangible than its ridiculously slim profile. Sony Ericsson has used a similar plasticky material on the back as it does in the Neo, which doesn't overwhelm us with any sensations of reassurance or quality, but seems to do the job. Guess some corners had to inevitably be cut along with the fat on this phone's body.
The 4.2-inch screen is bright and lucid, though we'd warn against expecting too much from the Bravia Reality Display marketing. As we've mentioned before, the display enhancements only kick in when you're consuming multimedia. Still, general performance looks more than satisfactory. Hard buttons around the body are well arranged and designed, a contrast from the fiddly keys we found on the Xperia Pro. What was consistent with the rest of Sony Ericsson's Xperia crew, however, was the Arc's inability to execute its pinch-to-zoom widget summary screen. It's an ambitious function -- gathering all your widgets from each screen into one cohesive overview -- but, basically, it's laggy as hell. Aside from that, general UI responsiveness could also stand some improvement, but we like where Sony Ericsson is going with the whole thing. If it keeps up its promise to repent from last year's sins with relation to Android updates, the company has a very good chance of striking it rich with the Xperia Arc. It's a phone that can truly get by on its looks alone. Video after the break!
The rumored Xperia Neo still isn't official -- we think we're probably looking at MWC next week for that -- but there are enough floating around at this point so that they're getting tested pretty thoroughly (or, at least as thoroughly as you can test a pre-production device). The latest tidbit comes via a series of videos and stills that put the phone's 8.1 megapixel sensor through its paces; frankly, they look a little washed out, but it's really common for camera performance to improve by leaps and bounds through firmware updates right up until a phone's commercial release so we don't want to sound the alarm quite yet. My Android Life has also thrown together a quick video walkthrough of the UI, where you see that Sony Ericsson seems to be standardizing on the same experience first seen on the Xperia Arc and later on the Xperia Play -- highly widgetized with a Gingerbread core. All things considered, it seems the Arc's a higher-end device -- but if the price is right, this Neo could win some hearts as well. Follow the break for the UI walkthrough.
The clamshell form-factor may never be coming back to smartphones as we remember it, but there's a growing number of QWERTY sliders that recall some of the design of those flip phones. The HTC 7 Pro certainly recalls a fold-open design with its angled screen, and now it looks like Sony Ericsson may have a similar model in the works. Blog of Mobile!! has gotten its hands on some illustrations of this smartphone, as well as what looks to be the first picture of the model.
The phone's screen slides out like a traditional QWERTY messaging phone, then pops up from the keyboard at an angle when fully opened. From the looks of the hinges in the available illustrations, you may be able to adjust the angle, really giving the phone that clamshell feel.
With only these renderings of the phone to go on, we can expect the phone to have a rear camera with LED flash (there's no indication of any front-facing camera) and a reasonably spacious keyboard. Since this is Sony Ericsson, the smartphone is likely to be an Android model.
The site has a few code names to throw at the device: Akane, Iyokan, Lychee, Mogami, or maybe Monika. There are just too many names we know about and not enough phones to go around, so it's just guesswork at this point. We're hoping to hear more about his model, as it's refreshing to see a break from the standard slate design.
Sony Ericsson says that while they've released some smartphones running previous versions of Windows Phone in the past, they've taken the decision not to launch a Windows Phone 7 device in the first wave.
Steven Walker, head of global marketing at Sony Ericsson, also told Pocket-lint in an interview that the company "continues to engage in a relationship with Microsoft, but we haven’t made any concrete announcement about when and how we would introduce Windows phone 7 into the portfolio".
Until the second wave of Windows Phone 7 devices hits the market (we can only guess it will be the second half of 2011), Sony Ericsson is focusing on Android -- and there's the Xperia Arc and the Xperia Play to testify. Unlike Motorola, the joint venture does not want to be an Android exclusive manufacturer even though it acknowledges that a multitude of eco-systems is bad for manufacturers, developers as well as users.
Despite early rumors of a Sony Ericsson-made Windows Phone 7 and the Redmond-platform operated Xperia Mini line-up leak, we can now rest assured that there will be no wave-one Sony Ericsson Windows Phone 7 device coming -- that unless some other official states otherwise or the company surprises us at MWC with something its been cooking.
In a smartphone market saturated with 3.5-inch and larger displays, Sony Ericsson reckons there's still a little place for petite packages. Enter the Xperia X10 Mini (E10i) and Mini Pro (U20i) -- both direct descendants of the beastly X10 Android 1.6 handset. Apart from the Pro's slide-out keyboard, removable battery, and positioning of various features, the two Minis are otherwise internally identical -- same processor, same camera, and same screen. So can these cute baby form factors offer more than just some palm-cuddling time? Can we get a decent smartphone performance out of them? Follow us after the break to find out.
Cellphones, Mobile Handsets Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro review By Richard Lai posted Jul 8th 2010 1:06PM Review In a smartphone market saturated with 3.5-inch and larger displays, Sony Ericsson reckons there's still a little place for petite packages. Enter the Xperia X10 Mini (E10i) and Mini Pro (U20i) -- both direct descendants of the beastly X10 Android 1.6 handset. Apart from the Pro's slide-out keyboard, removable battery, and positioning of various features, the two Minis are otherwise internally identical -- same processor, same camera, and same screen. So can these cute baby form factors offer more than just some palm-cuddling time? Can we get a decent smartphone performance out of them? Follow us after the break to find out. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro review
Hardware
As we pointed out earlier, the X10 Mini and Mini Pro share identical guts: Qualcomm MSM7227 600MHz processor (as featured on the Legend, Aria, HD Mini and MyTouch 3G Slide), 2.55-inch 240 x 320 LCD capacitive touchscreen, 5 megapixel autofocus camera, microSD expansion, micro-USB port, FM radio, A-GPS, Bluetooth (with A2DP), and 802.11b/g WiFi. Phew! Now what really differentiates the two models is the Mini Pro's slide-out QWERTY keyboard -- we dig its tactile feedback and spacing between the keys, although it did take some getting used to with the oddly-positioned shift key, and not to mention the non-offset rows of keys. To pack all this goodness, the Mini Pro therefore has a slightly longer and thicker body (we measured 18mm vs 16mm), but both devices feel just as good and secure in our hands thanks to SE's signature "human curvature" design.
Those who are super picky with their phone's color may be somewhat limited by their choice of carrier -- there are six options in total for the Mini: metallic red (our favorite), lime, pearl white, black, glossy silver and glossy pink (not so hot on the last two); Orange UK only stocks black and lime, for example. On the other hand, the Mini Pro only comes in black, pearl white or red (the latter two not pictured), and no, you can't fit the Mini's shells onto the Mini Pro due to the different sizes and button layouts. Even if the cases were swappable, we wouldn't be keen on doing so on a regular basis -- from time to time prying them open was as difficult as picking warts off our feet.
Over the last few days we've become rather fond of the Mini Pro's right-side button layout -- the wider camera button's more accessible, and the further-distanced volume rocker is positioned much closer to where our right thumb rests. Just to confuse us reviewers, the micro-USB port and headphone jack are situated rather differently on the two devices -- the Mini's got both on the bottom side (with a soft flap covering the USB port), whereas the Mini Pro's got the micro-USB port on the left and the headphone jack on the top. Due to the way we hold these phones, we found that having the headphones plugged in at the bottom of the Mini to be a bit intrusive for our palm. Another tick for the Mini Pro
Moving on to the big question: can we really get much use out of Android on that tiny 2.55-inch LCD? Well, for starters, these low screen resolution devices suffer from the same app compatibility problem as the HTC Wildfire, so you'll be missing out on a small selection of popular apps like Robo Defense, WeatherBug, PdaNet, Tumblroid, and even our own Engadget app (but there's always the mobile site). Obviously, we wouldn't recommend using the small screen for car navigation, but otherwise Google Maps is still usable for more casual purposes. Additionally, not only were these screens fairly usable outdoors, but they were also no doubt one of the main reasons for the excellent battery life -- we got around 12 hours from our usual stamina test (continuous music playback, 3G data connection only, the occasional camera usage, and Twicca running in the background). The average user could easily get up to two days worth of usage on one charge.
Let's talk about using the Minis as actual phones. Like most SE phones these days, the X10 Mini and Mini Pro are blessed with a good quality isolation-type handsfree kit -- great clarity and decent amount of bass for your music. Sadly, we also discovered that the kit's mic induced an echo for our own voice during calls, and it didn't do well in noisy environments. On the other hand, the phone's own mic did a much better job in the same scenarios, but we wouldn't go as far as saying it's a total noise-killer. While on the topic, we were also saddened that the mic's button could only pause music and not skip tracks. Come on, SE, show us some love!
Judging by our readers' frenzied comments on Android posts, it's pretty clear that we all desire something much newer than Android 1.6 these days, but let's not forget that SE's promised us a 2.1 upgrade for both Minis in Q4 this year. That's better than nothing. Meanwhile, we applaud SE for the work it's put in to make Android usable and run smoothly on this small package, albeit the occasional slow wake up. There are a couple of related key features here: first we have the zoom bar in the album app -- you hold down your finger to prompt the bar, and then you can zoom in and out with your vertical scrolling action. This is of course a way to disguise the lack of pinch-to-zoom functionality, but it actually works pretty well as a single-handed operation on a small device anyway. Secondly, there's the quick scroll tool in the browser -- you activate it by clicking on the bottom-left button, and then you're given a magnifying glass on a zoomed-out view of the web page, thus allowing you to quickly scroll around; there are also the good ol' plus and minus buttons à la Google Maps for plain zooming.
On top of the usual software package (including photo viewer, video viewer, email client, music player, etc.), you also get a 30-day trial of Wisepilot car navigation app, NeoReader barcode scanner, TrackID music identifier (SE's version of Shazam), PlayNow online store, and Timescape. The Mini Pro also has an extra app called Creatouch that lets you create some funky artwork, and then use them as wallpaper or share them on Facebook or Picasa. Let's start off with the music player: the playback controls at the bottom should be self-explanatory, while your library's just one click away with the top left button, and you get the "now playing" list with the top right button. The infinity button above the album art loads up relevant YouTube videos and PlayNow tracks -- gimmicky, but a fun feature. In case you've never come across it, PlayNow is SE's very own content delivery system that offers Java apps, games and music. The prices aren't attractive when compared to the likes of iTunes and Amazon, but PlayNow's there if you're super bored and desperate.
We've already briefly touched upon the gallery app earlier and there really isn't much else to talk about it -- it just works. As for the video player, the only caveat is that it doesn't play 720p and above video clips, so make sure you have the right settings when converting MP4 clips to watch on the go. In fact, now that to think of it, PlayNow would be pretty awesome if it also offers video downloads. Anyway, let's move on to Timescape: as featured on the X10, this app is pretty much SE's take on HTC's FriendStream, letting you stalk your friends and strangers from Twitter, Facebook and text messages in the style of a vertical timeline. You can also link up your Twitter and Facebook contacts with your Google contacts through Timescape, but for some reason you can't do the same in the address book -- in that sense (no pun intended), HTC does a better job at social networking service integration.
Worried about typing on the X10 Mini's numpad-style virtual keyboard? It actually wasn't too bad for us, which says a lot since we're accustomed to other smartphones' QWERTY keyboards. Text prediction on both phones worked well most of the time, and we could also easily add customized words on the spot; if you prefer, you can quickly switch to the old-fashioned multitap input. Still, we'd favor the Mini Pro's physical QWERTY keyboard for speedier typing, even if it means we'd be carrying a slightly heavier package -- a hefty 1.1 ounces extra. Regardless of the input type, though, we did spot a common bug: while minding our usual Twitter business in Twicca, we noticed that the text cursor -- also a unique SE feature -- could only travel back by a certain number of characters, meaning we couldn't fix any previous typos. Hopefully this would be a quick fix for SE.
Last but not least, we have the SE PC Companion for Windows. This is essentially a gateway to four tools: Media Go for syncing media files, Support Zone for keeping your phone up to date, Sony Ericsson Sync (beta) for syncing personal data with SE's website (great for users migrating from other SE featurephones), and File Manager that just opens up your phone's microSD card in a new window. Of course, the highlight here is Media Go -- most other Android handsets lack a full desktop media sync suite, so we were pretty stoked with SE's offering. That said, it'd be even more awesome if Media Go could also optimize video files for the phones, rather than just copying files across.
Camera
Both Minis come with a handy two-stage camera button, meaning not only is it easy to launch the app, but you can also focus the lens by holding it down half way (and no, you can't tap to focus on a specific area). There's not much to be fiddled with in the camera app -- the top left corner toggles auto flash mode or no flash; the top right corner switches between photo mode and camcorder mode; the bottom right corner lets you pick a still camera mode (auto, macro, twilight or sports) or video mode (normal or MMS); and the bottom left corner opens your gallery. That's all. In other words, you cannot adjust the picture quality, resolution (5 megapixel stills and 640 x 480 videos) and file format. Regardless, both phones produced equally beautiful pictures and sufficiently good videos in well-lit surroundings, while images taken in the dark don't suffer too badly from noise. As always, we'll let your eyes be the final judge.
Cellphones, Mobile Handsets Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro review By Richard Lai posted Jul 8th 2010 1:06PM Review In a smartphone market saturated with 3.5-inch and larger displays, Sony Ericsson reckons there's still a little place for petite packages. Enter the Xperia X10 Mini (E10i) and Mini Pro (U20i) -- both direct descendants of the beastly X10 Android 1.6 handset. Apart from the Pro's slide-out keyboard, removable battery, and positioning of various features, the two Minis are otherwise internally identical -- same processor, same camera, and same screen. So can these cute baby form factors offer more than just some palm-cuddling time? Can we get a decent smartphone performance out of them? Follow us after the break to find out. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro review
Hardware
As we pointed out earlier, the X10 Mini and Mini Pro share identical guts: Qualcomm MSM7227 600MHz processor (as featured on the Legend, Aria, HD Mini and MyTouch 3G Slide), 2.55-inch 240 x 320 LCD capacitive touchscreen, 5 megapixel autofocus camera, microSD expansion, micro-USB port, FM radio, A-GPS, Bluetooth (with A2DP), and 802.11b/g WiFi. Phew! Now what really differentiates the two models is the Mini Pro's slide-out QWERTY keyboard -- we dig its tactile feedback and spacing between the keys, although it did take some getting used to with the oddly-positioned shift key, and not to mention the non-offset rows of keys. To pack all this goodness, the Mini Pro therefore has a slightly longer and thicker body (we measured 18mm vs 16mm), but both devices feel just as good and secure in our hands thanks to SE's signature "human curvature" design.
Those who are super picky with their phone's color may be somewhat limited by their choice of carrier -- there are six options in total for the Mini: metallic red (our favorite), lime, pearl white, black, glossy silver and glossy pink (not so hot on the last two); Orange UK only stocks black and lime, for example. On the other hand, the Mini Pro only comes in black, pearl white or red (the latter two not pictured), and no, you can't fit the Mini's shells onto the Mini Pro due to the different sizes and button layouts. Even if the cases were swappable, we wouldn't be keen on doing so on a regular basis -- from time to time prying them open was as difficult as picking warts off our feet.
Over the last few days we've become rather fond of the Mini Pro's right-side button layout -- the wider camera button's more accessible, and the further-distanced volume rocker is positioned much closer to where our right thumb rests. Just to confuse us reviewers, the micro-USB port and headphone jack are situated rather differently on the two devices -- the Mini's got both on the bottom side (with a soft flap covering the USB port), whereas the Mini Pro's got the micro-USB port on the left and the headphone jack on the top. Due to the way we hold these phones, we found that having the headphones plugged in at the bottom of the Mini to be a bit intrusive for our palm. Another tick for the Mini Pro.
Moving on to the big question: can we really get much use out of Android on that tiny 2.55-inch LCD? Well, for starters, these low screen resolution devices suffer from the same app compatibility problem as the HTC Wildfire, so you'll be missing out on a small selection of popular apps like Robo Defense, WeatherBug, PdaNet, Tumblroid, and even our own Engadget app (but there's always the mobile site). Obviously, we wouldn't recommend using the small screen for car navigation, but otherwise Google Maps is still usable for more casual purposes. Additionally, not only were these screens fairly usable outdoors, but they were also no doubt one of the main reasons for the excellent battery life -- we got around 12 hours from our usual stamina test (continuous music playback, 3G data connection only, the occasional camera usage, and Twicca running in the background). The average user could easily get up to two days worth of usage on one charge.
Let's talk about using the Minis as actual phones. Like most SE phones these days, the X10 Mini and Mini Pro are blessed with a good quality isolation-type handsfree kit -- great clarity and decent amount of bass for your music. Sadly, we also discovered that the kit's mic induced an echo for our own voice during calls, and it didn't do well in noisy environments. On the other hand, the phone's own mic did a much better job in the same scenarios, but we wouldn't go as far as saying it's a total noise-killer. While on the topic, we were also saddened that the mic's button could only pause music and not skip tracks. Come on, SE, show us some love!
Software
Judging by our readers' frenzied comments on Android posts, it's pretty clear that we all desire something much newer than Android 1.6 these days, but let's not forget that SE's promised us a 2.1 upgrade for both Minis in Q4 this year. That's better than nothing. Meanwhile, we applaud SE for the work it's put in to make Android usable and run smoothly on this small package, albeit the occasional slow wake up. There are a couple of related key features here: first we have the zoom bar in the album app -- you hold down your finger to prompt the bar, and then you can zoom in and out with your vertical scrolling action. This is of course a way to disguise the lack of pinch-to-zoom functionality, but it actually works pretty well as a single-handed operation on a small device anyway. Secondly, there's the quick scroll tool in the browser -- you activate it by clicking on the bottom-left button, and then you're given a magnifying glass on a zoomed-out view of the web page, thus allowing you to quickly scroll around; there are also the good ol' plus and minus buttons à la Google Maps for plain zooming.
On top of the usual software package (including photo viewer, video viewer, email client, music player, etc.), you also get a 30-day trial of Wisepilot car navigation app, NeoReader barcode scanner, TrackID music identifier (SE's version of Shazam), PlayNow online store, and Timescape. The Mini Pro also has an extra app called Creatouch that lets you create some funky artwork, and then use them as wallpaper or share them on Facebook or Picasa. Let's start off with the music player: the playback controls at the bottom should be self-explanatory, while your library's just one click away with the top left button, and you get the "now playing" list with the top right button. The infinity button above the album art loads up relevant YouTube videos and PlayNow tracks -- gimmicky, but a fun feature. In case you've never come across it, PlayNow is SE's very own content delivery system that offers Java apps, games and music. The prices aren't attractive when compared to the likes of iTunes and Amazon, but PlayNow's there if you're super bored and desperate.
We've already briefly touched upon the gallery app earlier and there really isn't much else to talk about it -- it just works. As for the video player, the only caveat is that it doesn't play 720p and above video clips, so make sure you have the right settings when converting MP4 clips to watch on the go. In fact, now that to think of it, PlayNow would be pretty awesome if it also offers video downloads. Anyway, let's move on to Timescape: as featured on the X10, this app is pretty much SE's take on HTC's FriendStream, letting you stalk your friends and strangers from Twitter, Facebook and text messages in the style of a vertical timeline. You can also link up your Twitter and Facebook contacts with your Google contacts through Timescape, but for some reason you can't do the same in the address book -- in that sense (no pun intended), HTC does a better job at social networking service integration.
Worried about typing on the X10 Mini's numpad-style virtual keyboard? It actually wasn't too bad for us, which says a lot since we're accustomed to other smartphones' QWERTY keyboards. Text prediction on both phones worked well most of the time, and we could also easily add customized words on the spot; if you prefer, you can quickly switch to the old-fashioned multitap input. Still, we'd favor the Mini Pro's physical QWERTY keyboard for speedier typing, even if it means we'd be carrying a slightly heavier package -- a hefty 1.1 ounces extra. Regardless of the input type, though, we did spot a common bug: while minding our usual Twitter business in Twicca, we noticed that the text cursor -- also a unique SE feature -- could only travel back by a certain number of characters, meaning we couldn't fix any previous typos. Hopefully this would be a quick fix for SE.
Last but not least, we have the SE PC Companion for Windows. This is essentially a gateway to four tools: Media Go for syncing media files, Support Zone for keeping your phone up to date, Sony Ericsson Sync (beta) for syncing personal data with SE's website (great for users migrating from other SE featurephones), and File Manager that just opens up your phone's microSD card in a new window. Of course, the highlight here is Media Go -- most other Android handsets lack a full desktop media sync suite, so we were pretty stoked with SE's offering. That said, it'd be even more awesome if Media Go could also optimize video files for the phones, rather than just copying files across.
Camera
Both Minis come with a handy two-stage camera button, meaning not only is it easy to launch the app, but you can also focus the lens by holding it down half way (and no, you can't tap to focus on a specific area). There's not much to be fiddled with in the camera app -- the top left corner toggles auto flash mode or no flash; the top right corner switches between photo mode and camcorder mode; the bottom right corner lets you pick a still camera mode (auto, macro, twilight or sports) or video mode (normal or MMS); and the bottom left corner opens your gallery. That's all. In other words, you cannot adjust the picture quality, resolution (5 megapixel stills and 640 x 480 videos) and file format. Regardless, both phones produced equally beautiful pictures and sufficiently good videos in well-lit surroundings, while images taken in the dark don't suffer too badly from noise. As always, we'll let your eyes be the final judge. Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro sample shots
Wrap-up
The X10 Mini and Mini Pro turn out to be a couple of uniquely loveable Android phones. Despite the smaller screens, SE has done a pretty good job at optimizing the interface for the two phones, and we've had little frustration with them except for the few missing apps. As for which of the two to go after, we'd go for the Pro without hesitation -- sure, it's a tad heavier, thicker and more expensive, but we'd kill for a QWERTY keyboard any day. Even if your favorite carrier can't offer the Mini you want, you'd still benefit from the same useful multimedia features, as well as SE's handy Media Go suite to sync your media files with your computer -- a service that most other Android phones fail to deliver. So it's safe to say that if you're looking for a small and affordable smartphone, chances are you'd want to grab yourself either of these Minis.
