Sony Ericsson Satio review

Is the 12.1MP behemoth worthy of the year-long hype?

The Sony Ericsson Satio review
The Sony Ericsson Satio review

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Those of you that are waiting with bated breath to see how Sony Ericsson is trying to take on the might of Apple and Google with its own version of an application store should breath now or asphyxiation is certainly on the cards.

We were told the PlayNow Arena would be that portal when we were given the phone – let us tell you: it's not.

Sony ericsson satio

It has roughly 50 applications on there now, with most of them appearing to be (expensive) dictionaries. We're hoping this ramps up quickly, but it's making Nokia's Ovi Store look bulging in contrast.

Of course you can buy music and movies from the site as well, but that's not really what we're looking for. We want pointless free applications we can play with and put down after five minutes.

We did find Snaptu, the application that can pretty much do everything from Twitter to News to London Underground updates, but it's a drop in the mighty Apple App Store ocean really.

Sony ericsson satio

However, there are some pretty neat applications already installed, so let's run you through the best:

Worldmate

Not just a place to learn the weather or check your flight times – this will give you a recorded announcement at 9PM and when your alarm goes off in the morning to let you know what the weather is going to be like.

Labyrinth

You play David Bowie, intent on uncovering the mystery of a fantasy world... OK, not really. It's that wooden game with the ball bearing, but using the accelerometer. Infuriating and addictive.

MyLook

Mess about with your wallpaper – let the phone change it for you every day, or depending on your location, or even if you just shake the phone.

Who wants one wallpaper these days? You're right – losers, that's who.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.