My Next Phone Upgrade: Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1

April 13th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under

I have a limited company that I put my blog expenses through to reduce my tax bill. I haven’t put my phone into the company name, because T-mobile wanted to put me on a new 12 month contract if I did so, which would have meant I wouldn’t be able to upgrade my current Nokia N95 until May 2009.

I’ve had my Nokia N95 for 12 months and I need something new to play with.

So, I’ve been looking for something long and hard for a new phone to upgrade to in the autumn. I’m a bit disappointed with the spec of the new N96 as it’s far too similar to my N95. I imagine that there will be several bug fixes in the N96, but the headline upgrades are too minimal for me:

  • Display: 2.8″ on the N96 Vs 2.6″ on the N95, still at 240×320 pixels. That’s still worse than on my old N80
  • Video: Only new feature is a DVB-H tuner in the N96, which I don’t need
  • Music: N96 will display album art (nice)
  • Storage: 16GB onboard on the N96 which could be handy

I think the spec of the N96 just goes to show how groundbreaking the N95 was, as 18 months later Nokia are struggling to better it. Even though the N96 doesn’t excite me, I

was resigned to getting one until I stumbled upon the latest handsets from Sony Ericsson.

I used to be such a big fan of Sony Ericsson, but it’s been so long since I’ve owned one and because my recent phones have been dominated by Nokia (my phone history: Nokia Communicator/Nokia 3310–>Sony Ericssion T68–>Sharp GX-10–>P900–>Nokia 6630–> Nokia 6680–>Nokia N80–>Nokia N95/HTC Touch (workphone)–>????) I haven’t been keeping an eye on their developments.

Sony Ericsson XPRERIA X1

I think the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 or Sony Ericsson P5 will be the answer to upgrade dilemma. Just check out these videos showcasing the X1’s sexy interface:

Both the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 and Sony Ericsson P5 feature full QWERTY keyboards, big screens and 3G access. These are my main requirements in a phone, as I only occassionally use my camera and mp3 player. I’m still stunned that Nokia haven’t produced a decent prosumer QWERTY device, with only chunky business orientated QWERTY devices.

Sony Ericsson XPRERIA X1

I’m also excited by the prospect of getting a landscape orientated QWERTY keyboard again like in my Nokia Communicator, as I hate struggling to use the small QWERTY keyboard on my HTC Touch. The Nokia communicator may have been a brick to carry around back in 2001, but it was an amazing email device.

Let’s just hope that T-Mobile offer the X1. If not, then at least I’ll be out of contract in the autumn so I can switch to whichever network is carrying it - as long as I can get unlimited data!

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About the Author

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Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and currently runs the Portal and online operations for one of the largest ISPs in the UK. He also writes for Windows 7 News.

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There Are 10 Responses So Far. »

  1. #1

    Comment by JHON on 13 April 2008:

    did you here about the G-phone ?

  2. #2

    Comment by Everton on 15 April 2008:

    @JHON

    I haven’t seen any definite specs on it yet

  3. #3

    Comment by Rus on 15 April 2008:

    T-Mobile have been slow with offering latest handsets, so i doubt they will offer Xperia by autumn…but they have good web’n'walk tariffs though

    There is a lot of rumours about new handset from HTC: Dream, which is running on Android, if it will be announced soon, consider it as your next phone, video previews were pretty impressive.

  4. #4

    Comment by Everton on 15 April 2008:

    @Rus

    Yeah, I know - may be time to return to Vodafone as they tend to get handsets first. I’ll also have moved by the autumn to somewhere where I’ll get voda reception. Currently I’m in a voda reception blackspot.

    I’m not keen on Android -not until the next generation at least in 2009.

  5. #5

    Comment by Ben on 15 April 2008:

    The Sony Ericsson Xperia should definitely be a killer phone. Im currently using the AT&T Tilt (HTC TyTn II) and while I like the landscape keyboard on my phone, the touch screen and general speed of the phone is clunky and hard to use.

    The Xperia should be quiet the catch and im looking forward to switching to it when it comes out State side.

  6. #6

    Comment by blackvine on 23 April 2008:

    Dude the Xperia will definitely be my next upgrade too. I have started saving already.

  7. #7

    Comment by Kay on 1 May 2008:

    The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 is a killer phone I even saw a new forum being made just for it at http://www.x1zone.com

  8. #8

    Comment by Zath on 17 May 2008:

    That looks like one hell of cool looking handset - all the features of good smartphone in a very sexy package - it’s been a while since I looked at a Sony Ericsson phone and like the look of it - but this is going to be one I do like!

  9. #9

    Comment by arun on 26 May 2008:

    Hey,,Even I am waiting for SE Xperia. But are you sure about the P5. I think, its both the same, with Xperia replacing P1 as their flagship model in smartphone/internet device segments.I have been thoroughly dissappointed about their k 850, i own one, i will not jump for the xperia on day 1 as i did with k850. this time i m gona wait n watch:))

  10. #10

    Comment by Everton on 26 May 2008:

    @arun

    The P5 is a diff phone and a slider - I want a full QWERTY keyboard.

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