Sony Ericsson Satio
The Satio seems to be Sony Ericson’s first model to try and penetrate the touch screen market. Not only have they gone all touch screen but packed the Satio with a massive feature set! 12 megapixel camera, xenon flash, expandable memory up to 32gb, WiFi, GPS and much more.
This really is a monster of a phone! There’s so much to do on the Satio. However it’s not all good considering only weeks after launching their flagship device it was recalled by a number of UK networks. It’s back on sale now but considering Sony Ericson’s bumpy history as of late this doesn’t bode well for this beast!
Construction and Build:
Don’t be fooled by some of the puctures you’ll see out there on the web showing this phone as a super slim device, it’s not. It is a little on the large size and rather chunky. However considering the reasons why I’m sure most phone enthusiasts will let it off.
One of the major reasons for the larger size is due to the camera. The bottom half of the device is actually quite thin. However once you make your way up to lens and lens cover it’s a different story.
The phone definitely feels durable compared to some of the other touch screens on the market. However compared to what Sony Ericson normally bring us it does feel a little fragile and plasticy. This helps keep the weight down but it’s just not as strong as some of the previous cybershot models.
US & OS
For whatever reason Sony Ericson have decided that Symbian would be the best software to run this handset. However it’s not the most innovative software by any means. However, the phone does run smoothly and the menu systems are nicely laid out. For those of us used to using Symbian powered phones you’re probably in for a nice surprise.
The touch screen is responsive and works well. However it’s nothing compared to devices such as the iPhone or the Palm Pre. It operates in a very similar way to the Nokia 5800.
Camera:
Again, just as we’re used to seeing from Sony Ericson this phone really excels when it comes to camera quality. The 12 megapixel camera will bring in some absolutely amazing shots that you can be proud of. Again the Cybershot facility is built into this handset and the xenon flash, though a little underpowered, Is a really great feature.
Conclusion:
All in all this is actually a very good handset with a great set of features. The touch screen operates well enough to not be a chore to use and the user interface is also surprisingly good.
If it weren’t for the reputation Sony Ericson have at the moment for producing faulty products I’d almost be tempted by this device. However the early recall scream a warning to me so I for one will be avoiding this handset.
However after my time with it I would recommend taking a look at this phone and seeing it for yourselves!
Advantages:
- 3.5" 16M-color resistive touchscreen of 640 x 360 pixel resolution
- 12 megapixel state-of-the-art autofocus camera
- LED and xenon flash, active lens cover
- VGA@30fps video recording
- Symbian OS 9.4 with S60 5th edition UI, spiced up with a home-brewed homescreen and media menu
- ARM Cortex-A8 600 MHz CPU, PowerVR SGX dedicated graphics accelerator and 256 MB of RAM
- Quad-band GSM support
- 3G with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA 3.6 Mbps support
- Wi-Fi and GPS with A-GPS
- microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
- Built-in accelerometer
- TV out
- Stereo FM Radio
- USB and stereo Bluetooth v2.0
- Web browser has full Flash support
- Preinstalled Wisepilot navigation software
- Office document viewer
Disadvantages
- Xenon flash is not adequately powerful
- The S60 5th edition UI isn't to the best in class standards
- No 3.5mm audio jack or a standard USB port
- No DivX or XviD support out-of-the-box
- No smart or voice dialing
- Playing flash videos in the browser easily depletes the available RAM
- No office document editing (without a paid upgrade)
- No stereo speakers
- No digital compass (magnetometer)