XPERIA X1 to come in black only?

We're hoping beyond hope that Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1 is actually nearing a launch date, but astute reader Kingsley just pointed out to us that SE's US web site no longer lists silver as an available color choice, only Solid Black. That's notable only because we've only mostly seen silver editions of the X1 until now, but a limited color palette's not going to stop us from snapping this one up as soon as it hits -- what about you?

[Shadowise @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:35PM]

Can't say the lack of other colours bothers me. I'd still like to have one.

[ShogunMaster @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:52PM]

I'm gunning for either this or the HTC Touch Pro. Still haven't decided which would be better yet. Has anyone done a side by side review of them yet?

[imacmatt09 @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:02PM]

Wasn't the PS3 supposed to be silver? I guess they did the same thing here?

[Matthew F @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:06PM]

Yep, I have ZERO problem with black-only... it's been considerably more attractive from day one.

[Brian @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:06PM]

http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=news&id=5440

[Mike10010100 @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:07PM]

"The Model T is available in every color, so long as it's black." - Henry Ford

[Kinger @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:21PM]

Too bad that comparison pic doesn't show how ridiculously THICK the TouchPro is.

[rock99rock @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:10PM]

I'd STILL get it even if it was the color of shit.

[Ray @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:56PM]

@Kinger, the touch pro isnt thicker than any of the last gen qwerty phones by htc

X1's form factor dumps a load all over the competition though, its to bad that i have a feeling the htc touch brick will be more popular and have a better dev community.

All in all, the phone i purchase next has to have a good community to back it or i wont be buying it. X1's screen ratio is very limiting on terms of development and compatibility

[dannyboy414 @ Aug 22nd 2008 11:02PM]

@Mike

If you're going to quote someone do it right.... or you're just garbling that famous quote.

"The customer can have any color he wants so long as it's black." -Ford

Gud humor though.

[LastFord @ Aug 23rd 2008 1:43AM]

this phone is already out... the x99i is the cloned version - http://www.mp3nmp4.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1686&HS=1

[Tangy @ Sep 3rd 2008 12:21PM]

Black only just like PSP's for its first debut. I'm pretty excited about it. No one will blame sony for the mono-colored X1. It deserves its value.

[MadMike @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:37PM]

You know, by the time this thing launches, its going to be already out of date.

[steven @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:45PM]

That's what people are saying about the M8. Please list some competition.

[Jay @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:54PM]

Not sure...but def true for the meizu M8

[starchild @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:04PM]

I agree. This phone is already out-of-date. The Diamond and Omnia already blow this phone out of the water, not to mention a couple of other hopefuls from Samsung and LG.

[steven @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:07PM]

Why is it true for the M8? What phone has a 720x480 LCD, unlocked, has good sound quality (same audio chipset as Meizu M6), 8GB for under $400?

[MadMike @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:18PM]

The Meizu M8 is nothing but a cheap chinese knockoff. It's not worth $100 let alone $400. As for the X1, the HTC Touch Pro blows it out of the water. All the delays for what? They cost themselves.

[Ray @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:58PM]

"HTC Touch Pro blows [the X1] out of the water..."

Wow. Just wow.

[Tony @ Aug 22nd 2008 7:09PM]

How do you know if one is better than the other?

Is one faster, easier to use, gets better signal strength?

Do you actually know?

That's what I thought.

[Yankees368 @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:39PM]

Only 6 different frequencies?

[Anthony @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:58PM]

No kidding. I've never seen a phone so "world ready" as this one... Truthfully, w/o a 5mp camera I'll likely pass. It's my main feature buy & the rest I can live w/o.

[EskimoPie @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:54PM]

I didn't think it was possible to have 6 different bands supported...

[James @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:39PM]

I can't wait for this phone. finally a phone that has everything I want out of my phone. I'm sorry but the iPhone really missed the mark in my books.

[maveric101 @ Aug 24th 2008 1:01AM]

i was gunning for the X1, but then my old RAZR V3 died and and I had to get a phone, so I went iphone. the iphone definitely has some issues.

[substance90 @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:40PM]

Spectacular resolution combined with the limited color gamut of WM6... Too bad!

[derX @ Aug 23rd 2008 4:35PM]

I was thinking the EXACT same thing. I thought it was a typo, only 65K; considering the resolution, I thought it would have a 16.7million color display.

I mean, resolution makes the biggest difference, but the color gamut isn't negligible at all.

[Malikye @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:40PM]

this does look hot. i think i'll wait till a phone with WM 7 comes out. i've read alot of good things about the new OS. if this phone was alot cheaper, i'll buy it, but paying over 800 bucks for a phone isn't such a good idea right now - for me that is.

[JerryA @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:20PM]

Agreed. With Android set to launch on the Dream and other devices as well as WM7 on the way within a year, I find it hard to justify a new handset. My current one is only a year old and it does what I need, albeit in an older form factor. As much as I like the better screen on this, I can't justify that kind of cost for what is essentially an incremental upgrade...not with new OSes on the horizon.

[TheAzureKnight @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:50PM]

Good thing I love the sexy black version!

I just want to know what type of plans AT&T or whomever has this device will offer with it.

I know it's not likely but if it were on Sprint I'd definitely get the Simply Everything plan for it. This phone is just simply awesome. The only thing that I wish it had was a capacitive screen. But maybe the X2 will have that...

[Unknown @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:55PM]

I got all hot for this thing when it came out, but after watching the spy shots without the cool UI, the ugly QWERTY keyboard, and this thing being as chubby as my Verizon 6700, I'm no longer in the run to get it. Probably will plunk my $$$ on the HTC Touch Diamond.

[Vink @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:55PM]

Just wish that we can get some thin qwerty sliders. This and the Touch PRO are just still too thick.

[chlettn @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:22PM]

Same thought here...give a 14mm QWERTY slider and I'm happy...

[O2 @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:25PM]

Only way they can do this is to give you sucky battery.

[David @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:57PM]

The black always looked better any way.

I wonder if this hardware will be compatable with WM7, it would be cool to update the ROM to WM7 when it's available?

[notjoel @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:57PM]

It's got a lot of good, but besides the neat accelerometer-based GUI, are there many differences between it and the Touch Pro? The Touch Pro has the nicer UI on top of it, does the X1 have something that's nice for the fingers too (besides the different desktops)?

Between competition from the Touch Pro and winMo 7 maybe coming out at years end, it makes buying a celly that isn't cheap as hell a major issue.

[TareX @ Aug 22nd 2008 9:04PM]

Yes. The X1 is no longer a "must-have" phone. Maybe 6 months ago when we first saw it. Moreover, the Panels UI is really, really slow in all previews so far.

Up till 3 weeks ago, reviewers were saying it was slow and incomplete. Having 9 running start up screens never sounded realistic.

[bob sakamano @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:58PM]

only mostly?

[simon @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:00PM]

What are you guys in Yankeeland complaining about?! The Canuckistan SE site doesn't even list it (or even some of the other sweetness you guys have listed as "coming soon".) It's total phonus interruptus here.

[preludepunk @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:01PM]

I'm trying to decide between this and the HTC Touch Pro. If SE is smart they'd put it out at least the same damn month as when AT&T puts out the Touch Pro. If they don't, I don't know how long people are gonna wait for the X1 when there is a phone almost as good in the Touch Pro sitting on shelves. If the X1 is gonna be a decent amount more too, the Touch Pro is gonna own this on sales too. I can upgrade in December and unless we get an official announcement of the X1 to hit shelves some point before March 09, then I'm saying screw it and getting the Touch Pro whenever it comes out on AT&T. I've used a lot of touch screen phones, I'm a goof and will still sacrifice size to have a QWERTY keyboard.

[Johan S @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:06PM]

Sony is not smart. They would have announced a release date by now if they were.

[Johan S @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:02PM]

Is it going to arrive at all is the question. No launch date yet? Is it even FCC approved yet?

[The Angry Intern @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:05PM]

if it wasn't on AT&T's crappy network, I'd consider it.

[avy001 @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:20PM]

Actually if you read the specs, it will use the 1700 frequency, which is Tmobile 3g band.

[the other bunny humping Snuggle Bunny @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:37PM]

I'd consider dating you if you weren't that hairy.

[cr@pple @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:12PM]

@avy001:
actually if YOU read the specs you'd see it says "UMTS 1700" which is NOT the same as "AWS 1700" which is t-mo USAs 3g band.

[fh @ Aug 22nd 2008 5:29PM]

@cr@pple

Tmo 3G AWS 1700 = UMTS 1700 (or more technically W-CDMA 1700, which is the transmission interface for UMTS). AWS is just the monicker for the US 1700/2100 band auction, and was just retroactively named "AWS 1700" because Tmo bought out the bulk of that spectrum for use in its 3G network.

Or to put it more bluntly, what other network uses UMTS 1700?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands#UMTS.2FHSDPA.2FHSUPA_frequency_bands_deployment

But I'd be surprised if the Xperia supported all 5 UMTS frequencies out of the box. More than likely there will be regional/carrier software that will only unlock specific frequencies.

[dbam987 @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:17PM]

Is this coming to Verizon's network?

[jd @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:21PM]

I would break the stylus the first second i bought x1.

[nobody @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:21PM]

The early prototypes were silver, now they are black. The black is better in person.

Windows Mobile does not have a limited color gamut, but many OEM's choose 16 bit color over 24 bit color.