XPERIA X1 gets examined in-depth on video

Sony Ericsson itself showed off its XPERIA X1 handset in a webcast the other day, but if you just can't get enough of it (and, judging from the number of comments the phone has gotten, plenty of you can't), you may want to hit up the::unwired website, which has an even more extensive hands-on video of a pre-production unit. Among other things, it shows that switching from portrait to landscape mode takes far less time than before, and the all-important panels seem to be a good deal more responsive as well -- the build being used is from early September, so it should be a reasonable indication of what the final software will be like. Hit up the link below to check out all sixteen minutes of it for yourself.

[TareX @ Sep 18th 2008 5:44PM]

A MAJOR improvement. Very fast. Orientation changes instantly and panels switch seemlessly. It's like watching a different phone.

Magnus should be fired for showing off the worst build of the Phone on the webcast.... or for being the worst representative at last year's WMC.

[Malweran @ Sep 18th 2008 5:44PM]

Cool. Opera mobile.

[Homeboy @ Sep 18th 2008 5:45PM]

theunwired.net need XTRA bandwidth.

[Muhammed @ Sep 18th 2008 10:30PM]

Holy shit dude !! I tried downloading the video but its 100 Migs !!! I mean Wtf ?!!

[BluesK1d @ Sep 19th 2008 11:07AM]

Jimminy Christmas! Who has 100 Russian fighter jets to pay for a video download?

[Aphex @ Sep 18th 2008 5:46PM]

Hell yeah.

[Ahmed Alzayani @ Sep 18th 2008 5:45PM]

hmmmmm. i like the touch HD more.

[ntlam @ Sep 18th 2008 7:26PM]

yes. agree. If X1 had been out 3 months ago, it will be a great phone... but now... Touch HD will be more interesting.

[Muhammed @ Sep 18th 2008 10:15PM]

Thirded, I honestly would've thought this is awesome before the HD came out, Heck I would've even thought its better than the touch pro, but since the HD is most likely to be out in christmas, I'll wait, and though lots of people would not agree, I even now think its ugly (after I was totally in love with it last month!)

[who? @ Sep 18th 2008 5:45PM]

It looks nice, but they could designate more space to the screen (smaller buttons, have the screen go closer to the edge).

Someday, we will have a 5,000 x 10,000 resolution on a 5mm thick, 4-inch screen. But not today.

[TareX @ Sep 18th 2008 5:55PM]

Tegra's not that far away :)

[indeed @ Sep 18th 2008 6:20PM]

Haha that resolution is a bit steep. I think 800x480 is perfect for a screen that size.

And what Tegra has to do with screen resolution, isn't it just a system on a chip?

[TareX @ Sep 18th 2008 6:37PM]

The higher the resolution, the faster the processor needed. Tegra can handle 10 hrs of true HD output.

[who? @ Sep 18th 2008 6:37PM]

Well, think about it this way:

[Almost] Everything good about computers has improved by a minimum of 50 times in the last fifty years, so if we continue at that rate, we will have screens that big in our pocket! (flawed logic works for me)

[maveric101 @ Sep 18th 2008 7:57PM]

at a certain point pixel density will be so high you be able to see the pixels no matter how hard/close you look. at that point it would be pointless to up the resolution. and about smaller text and such, hopefully someday we will have resolution-independent OS's. so even on a super high-res screen you could just set the view to "small," "medium," or "large," and the computer would just figure it out (as opposed to just changing text size and such)

but for mobile devices, there is the limiting factor of screen size. but someday we will be able to feed images directly into our brain's image processing center. then devices wouldn't need screens.

[Robert @ Sep 18th 2008 5:48PM]

It seems that unwired is experiencing the "engadget effect"

[Ethan @ Sep 18th 2008 6:03PM]

Wow, the Xperia X1 looks a lot better. But I think I'll hold out for the Touch HD, since that seems like, and forgive me for saying this phrase, the "iPhone killer."

[maveric101 @ Sep 18th 2008 7:43PM]

mainly because the X1 and Touch HD are in different categories. the Touch HD doesn't have a keyboard; it compares more directly to the iphone. i still have a huge boner for this phone.

[Ebeb @ Sep 18th 2008 8:05PM]

@maveric101
Nice choice of words.
However, I'm "in the market" for a phone that has a decent keyboard, touchscreen or tactile. The iPhone's keyboard is terrible, I can't imagine ever typing anything much on that keyboard. If the Touch HD's touchscreen keyboard is comfortable and easy to use, then there's no question that I'm getting it. However, if the keyboard is lacking, I might pick up this phone instead.

[indeed @ Sep 18th 2008 6:15PM]

This phone looked great a year ago but now doesn't look THAT great... especially now that we all saw what the Touch HD can do.
Still, I'm waiting for WM7 to come into play.

[Dmitri Rezaev @ Sep 18th 2008 6:16PM]

After what SE did with the P990i, I hope this phone fails seriously.

[simon @ Sep 18th 2008 6:24PM]

Dude,
Bitterness will kill you. Time to move on.

S

[maveric101 @ Sep 18th 2008 7:47PM]

life is much more enjoyable when you have an easy-going attitude. don't stress out too much, don't hold grudges, and you will be a happier person.

also, this phone is bitchin'. can't wait to see one in person.

[Johan S @ Sep 18th 2008 6:28PM]

The ad campaign for this phone will need to show off its features and capabilities .. not be something abstract.

Abstract ads suck.

[oakie @ Sep 18th 2008 6:39PM]

excellent. enough of the dick teasing and release the damn thing, preferably with quadband HSDPA for TMO USA's new 3g network.

[Hellaphunt @ Sep 18th 2008 6:40PM]

How did I go from riding the fence between SE XPERIA X1 and HTC Touch Pro -to- HTC Touch HD -to- Nokia E71?

[deyanimay @ Sep 18th 2008 8:07PM]

Don't forget android.

[Hellaphunt @ Sep 19th 2008 11:17AM]

I'm talking about the body and not the soul.

[Nippero @ Sep 18th 2008 6:45PM]

Definitely a lot faster. I'm a bit confused about the exclusion of an accelerometer though. Surely a phone THIS expensive would have it?
Maybe its disabled in this early build.. lets hope so.

Although I'm starting to wonder.. is the screen the only thing that sets this apart from other touchscreen smart phones?
I personally like the TouchFlo 3D UI much more than the panels..

[Ray @ Sep 19th 2008 1:37PM]

I couldnt agree with you more. The lack of accelerometer makes me yawn. This thing is supposed to be the ultimate phone and it doesnt have that in todays day and age. Forget all the stuff about the design, this takes developers eyes off the thing when HTC is releasing three super phones that will make full use of it. It might be disabled, but i have a feeling that it was removed... there has been no mentions of it, and its a pretty important thing to leave out if you ask me.

Also, im not even slightly interested in panels. TBH, it looks like something that all winmo phones shouldve had from day one. Whats so special about a task manager that shows you video of running task instead of text? And the applications doesnt even look to be exclusive. Any sdk that sony releases has one of two option: either it will limit what developers can do to make sure it only works with xperia or it will do nothing and allows these apps to work on other phones (touch hd in this case or that asus phone). Its just a bunch of punches in the gut.

I know what they wanted to do. They wanted this phone to spark some sort of mega community to back it, but with multiple delays, and phones with better technology at cheaper prices, i dont see this ever happening. Sony missed its mark by a couple of months here. As in for now, this phone is officially overhyped. It looks pretty damn good though lol. It will not out peform the touchpro (lower res, same specs, no way), and it will not out shine the touch hd (same res, bigger screen, better specs, no way). I dont see anyone buying this out of raw power or usability. The people that will are the ones with cash to blow or the ones that only care about aesthetics.

end of rant

[Bryan MacKenzie @ Sep 23rd 2008 8:23PM]

first of all it has a higher resolution.. second it has more ram so the x1 will be faster.. third it is smaller and 4th it has a better battery life the pro.. and 5th having the screen change orientation every time u flip it is actually REALLY annoying if you use your phone alot. dumb teens with their overpriced ipods might think its cool.. but this is for a differnet crowd, more of a business/ busy schedule person crowd that are always on the move... having the screen flip everytime it rotates is something i'm glad they left out... even if it can be turned off the waisted space making the phone bigger and heavier so that it appeals more to a crowd that SE dosent want the phone to target.

[switchbitch @ Sep 18th 2008 6:48PM]

I think someone should acknowledge the guy or gal who linked to this video in the comments on another post here a couple days ago. I can't remember who it was, but I acknowledge him or her.

You all did click that link didn't you?

[Johan S @ Sep 18th 2008 8:18PM]

Agreed !

I think it was

"Bryan MacKenzie" http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/15/xperia-x1-gets-demoed-in-sony-ericsson-webcast/comments/14333311/

also

"MYB" http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/15/xperia-x1-gets-demoed-in-sony-ericsson-webcast/comments/14333472/

They should both get some credit cause they posted at almost the same time (therefore prolly independent of each other).

[Bryan MacKenzie @ Sep 23rd 2008 8:13PM]

haha thanks : )

[Middle Path @ Sep 18th 2008 6:51PM]

Touch Pro beats this hands down... sorry to say it but i had enough of waiting a life cycle to get this phone, so i toke the plunch and got the Touch Pro and don't regret it one bit. Touch Flo 3d FTF!! don't ask.

[Jeff @ Sep 18th 2008 6:54PM]

Well it looks like my pockets are about to be hurting because I'm gonna get this and the G1.

[Dan Davis @ Sep 18th 2008 7:13PM]

I haz too much fones!

[SkyKing @ Sep 18th 2008 6:55PM]

after seeing HTC Touch HD and Samsung Omnia, no chance i'll get this phone.....

[Ruben @ Sep 18th 2008 7:03PM]

The nice thing about this phone is that it can co-exist with the Touch HD. Remember, this has all the features of the Touch HD minus the accelerometer and Touch Flo, plus a tactile keyboard.

The Touch HD is still my phone of choice, because i dont really need the keyboard. But for those who need it, this one is the best option.

The Omnia was dead the second i saw it. Way too low a resolution. Besides, the new Asus phone with the trackball does what the Omnia should have done.

[Adomas @ Sep 18th 2008 7:27PM]

Boots slower than my Macbook Pro

[projekt84 @ Sep 18th 2008 7:33PM]

Until battery technology comes out with some new breakthrough, phones aren't going to get much better than Xperia/Touch HD/iPhone in terms of things like screen size and raw processing power.

Still, the X1 is nice. It still is a 800x480 screen, it still has a slide out keyboard, it still has that cool little overlap thingie, it's still comparable to the Touch HD/Pro/Diamond and the iPhone.

Of course, there's the Windows Mobile hunters that lurk around this site ready to pounce on its flaws and inferiority.

[TareX @ Sep 18th 2008 7:50PM]

A battery breathrough, or less processing power requirements? Tegra can handle up to 10 hours of continuous HD output. It was demoed at last year's MWC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7R90A7ZqLU

[Feb30th @ Sep 18th 2008 8:06PM]

It's between the Xperia X1, HTC Touch HD and Blackberry Thunder/Storm for me... decisions decisions...

[danieltwnz @ Sep 18th 2008 8:12PM]

its too late....to apologise~~~~
nonono i meant its already too late to release this phone
too many similar products...
eg HTC touch pro, LG pradaII, Samsung F700...
it wud be great if it was realeased early 2008

[Skyking @ Sep 18th 2008 9:45PM]

The bigger screen and 3D Flow just got me hooked on the Touch HD....i just hope that ATT will carry it but don't downgrade anything to it...

[anebg @ Sep 18th 2008 9:54PM]

For a second I thought it was Microsoft Sam speaking in that video

[David @ Sep 18th 2008 10:30PM]

I remember being excited about this phone some months back(it's still cool), but then came the Touch Diamond, then the Touch Pro, more recently the Omnia but now the Mutherfuckin' Touch HD!

If manufacturers keep this up, I'm never going to upgrade from my Tilt.

[taylor @ Sep 18th 2008 10:32PM]

@Jeff

my pockets are gonna be hurtin too because i am getting the G1/dream in october and then the Touch HD in december or january depending on release.

[Viator @ Sep 18th 2008 11:30PM]

Is it me, or does the Touch HD not have US 3G bands in its current incarnation. So that means, what, add another 3 quarters til a HD with US 3G is even announced. They'll drag out the HD the same way they drag out everything else.

I'll take the SE X1 now or the Touch Pro instead of playing the agonizing waiting game.

[asian.guy0 @ Sep 19th 2008 12:15AM]

Late US launch for X1 sucks. Deciding between this and Android.