Update: read our Sony Ericsson Satio review.
The Sony Ericsson Satio (or you can call it Idou if you're nostalgic for the last three months) is the phone everyone has been waiting for from Sony Ericsson, the one to put the company back on the map and halt its slide down the worldwide sales charts.
However, UK and Ireland MD Nathan Vautier has claimed that the Phone can even outstrip the iPhone, so after spending a great deal of time with the phone to bring you our in-depth hands on with the Sony Ericsson Satio, we had a sit down and tried to work out his reasoning.
1. The camera
Oh, we know what you're going to say. "Who needs a 12MP camera on a phone? Nobody needs one that good". Well, you might be right, be we have to tell you, it's a stonkingly good one. In fact, it's the kind of feature that makes you want to get the phone out because it's so good. And let's face it, the less we say about Apple's 2MP failure the better.
2. The Symbian-based OS
If you're like us, you're bored of the same tired interface it seems Sony Ericsson has been rocking for the last umpteen years, so to see a new one really is a breath of fresh air. It adds a whole level of functionality to the device by popping the media at the bottom, navigation at the top and scrollable screens to move between different options. It's almost like the way you interact with the iPhone, but without having to rumble through hoards of Apps.
3. Movies... lots of Movies
Although not available yet, the Play Now Arena with Movies will give users 15 free downloads out the box for the handset, and five more free per month according to our sources. That's pretty much all the on-the-go movie downloading you could ever want, and while it's not the all you can eat stylings of Nokia's Comes with Music, it's still a great deal for no more money.
4. Cheap as chips
Well, chips that cost £35 per month that is. But the main difference in terms of cost between the Satio and the iPhone is that the new effort from Sony Ericsson will be free on contract, compared to having to pay upwards of £50 for Apple's mobile on some packages, which still leaves a bitter taste in our mouths when we think about it.
5. Messaging is easier... and prettier
While it might not have the intuitive word recognition that the iPhone sports for the ham-fisted among us, the Satio has a nice keypad in both QWERTY and alphanumeric modes, with the retro 80s stylings just adding to the mix. The iPhone can't even text in landscape mode yet, with the much-vaunted 3.0 update still waiting to hit our pockets.
6. One handed action
You could accuse us of being a little bit picky here, but what makes a touchscreen a good phone as well is being able to easily operate it with one hand, and that's something you can do pretty easily with the Satio, with most icons in easy swiping range.
We know there are a lot of iPhone power users out there that are going to show exactly how dextrous they are at using their Apple phone with one hand, but we're sick of seeing people with the 'iPhone Hunch', that is people peering at their Apple device, holding it in one hand and jabbing at it in the other, like a flea is taunting them by leaping all over the surface.
Your comments (10) Click to add a new comment
infamouschris
October 25th
10. I have been a loyal follower of Sony and want to step up to the new model but I think that the touch screen idea on a 12 million pixel could be a problem, too many features with an interface that could cause problems, I hate the iphone as it just isn't good at anything, it does too much and none of it properly, will sony go the same way, can you have a phone thats touch actually work as a phone a sibean and 12 mega pixel and do it properly?
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garethpn
September 15th
9. It's Symbian based, surely a lot of symbian apps are out there that will work with it. I remember getting a Sega emulator and sonic the hedghog on an old Nokia 6660 with Symbian OS.
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richiethej
September 15th
8. I've got my hands on this beast and the camera is amazing. I thought colours and contrast were much incredible - surprised at example image in this article. Best of all it runs my favourite iPhone-like app service Snaptu perfectly. I needed to knock out the Virtual keypad in the application manager to get the full screen beauty!
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deadmeat
September 15th
7. Oh and one more thing. Quote: Oh, we know what you're going to say. "Who needs a 12MP camera on a phone? Nobody needs one that good".
If you over heard anyone actually say the words "oh no the camera on that phone is too good, i want a less good one", what would you be thinking?
Same as ; )
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deadmeat
September 15th
6. Honestly, the comments i read on here are becoming more and more YouTubesque (read retarded) as time goes on!
IT'S GOT A 12MP CAMERA ON IT YOU FOOLS!
People who buy a phone purely for th apps are geeks with no life, simple! A good quality camera packed into a quality phone with internet is a tool for people WITH a life. Nuff said.
Now that's my rant over with, all you Apple *****s can get back to your grinder app.
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husela
June 18th
5. I can hardly wait for this phone to come out, finally Sony Ericsson have come through trumps up! Besides the ridiculously good quality camera resolution, I love the many features it offers with media/internet applications & a quality mobile phone integrated all in one. Plus the way you can glide through applications & utilize the keyboard without having to have surgery to make your fingers smaller, is just awesome. iPhone was yesterday, the Idou/Satio is the future!!
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