From a position of weakness, Sony Ericsson have managed to turn around their fortunes with the release of a range of Android devices that have captured the imagination of phone users, delivering a combination of sweet design, and top edge functionality. First we had the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, the powerhouse flagship Android device, which is accompanied by X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro, two pocket sized handsets that are positively brimming with Android goodness. And now, filling a gap between the two extremes, Sony Ericsson have announced the Xperia X8, a handset that fits somewhere between the X10 models, in terms of size and features.
Measuring in at 99 x 54 x 15mm, the Xperia X8 has a nice feel in the hand, not too small, nor too large. Weighing in at just 104g, the Xperia X8 incorporates a 3.0 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen, supporting up to 16 million colours and with a pixel resolution of 320 x 480. A built in accelerometer delivers display auto rotate, and laying over the Android 1.6 OS is the Sony Ericsson Timescape UI. Timescape is a visually pleasing user interface, which pulls in all the various updates from your social networks and presents them in a timeline that you can flick through on the display. You can set the Timescape UI to contain any sort of information you choose, from Tweets, to status updates, emails and SMS. In general use the Timescape UI can seem a little slow, but this is covered over by the transition animations Sony Ericsson use as you flip through the menu, and the general impression is pleasing more than frustrating.
As with most Android devices, the Xperia X8 delivers a whole range of data connection options, designed to keep you connected and updated on the move. A quad band GSM device, the X8 has two variants with either dual bad or quad band HSDPA available, and also delivers WiFi 802.11 b/g, as well as Class 10 GPRS and EDGE. Bluetooth is included, with A2DP, and there is a v2.0 Micro USB connector included.
The Xperia X8 offers a 3.2 Megapixel camera, with video record facility, and also has geotagging support for recording the location details of where your images are taken. A stereo FM radio is included, as is a capable media player, supporting a wide range of formats for both music and video playback, whilst the inclusion of a 3.5mm audio jack allows you to listen to your tunes with your favourite set of earphones. Internal memory on the handset is set to 128 MB, which can be expanded via Micro SD memory cards, with the X8 supporting cards up to 16 GB, and the device is powered by a 600 MHz processor, which allows the handset to deal admirably with the most demanding of tasks.
The Xperia X8 will come in a wide range of bright colour options, including White, Dark Blue/White, Aqua Blue/White, Pink/White and Silver/White. As with other Sony Ericsson Android devices, the Xperia X8 includes a good choice of pre-installed applications, including the Facebook for Android app, a YouTube application, Google Maps, Google Talk and Gmail. Sony Ericsson also include the Track ID application on their Android devices, which works as well here as it does on other Sony Ericsson devices.
All round, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 delivers a strong performance, with a good set of features, and compliments well the existing range of Sony Ericsson Android devices. As with Motorola, the Android OS has helped Sony Ericsson turn their fortunes around, and if they keep delivering handsets like these, those fortunes are set to continue to rise.
The Xperia X8 is expected to be released in Q3 2010.
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