Sony Ericsson Satio review – Packed with multimedia features
Sum and Substance:
Thumbs Up:
Brilliant 12.1 megapixel camera, lots of options for editing, other goodies include 3G, Bluetooth, full e-mail support and Wi-Fi. Music player is also quite good.
Thumbs Down:
Proprietary port for headset and USB connector. Browser is clunky, Symbian user interface has a few inconsistencies.
Inside the Trunk:
Technology: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM
Band: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Phone design: Candy bar
Caller ID: Yes
Other features: JAVA, XHTML browser, HSDPA.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
This handset is 2.16 inches wide, 4.4 inches wide, 0.52 nm deep and weighs about 4.44 oz. Some features on the phone include PictBridge direct printing, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, speakerphone, caller ID, call conference capability, voice recorder, call timer, vibrating alert, and polyphonic ringer. The device is based on Symbian OS. Messaging and data options include SMS, internet browser, mobile e-mail, video call, JAVA, XHTML browser, and HSDPA. On the back there is a 12.1 megapixels camera with features like picture stabilizer, face detection, geo-tagging. It has 16x digital zoom. Organizer features include calculator, reminder, alarm clock, countdown timer, stopwatch and calendar.
The display is 3.5 inches big and gives a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels with support for 16.7 million colors. Supported audio formats include MP3 and AAC. Included accessories are media manager application, battery charger, USB cord, batttery and eight GB memory card. The rated talk time of this phone is 660 minutes.
Razzle Dazzle:
At 2.2 inches wide, 4.4 inches height, 0.5 inch thick and weighs 4.4 ounces. On the back, there is a protective cover on the camera which adds to the phone’s weight. The phone looks quite sexy.
Inside Dope:
Sony Ericsson Satio appeared just as a concept at Mobile World Congress and it has now reached the market as a final product. This handset is offered unlocked thus it will make a big hole in your pocket with its huge price tag. The biggest feature of the phone is the 12.1 megapixel camera. If the resolution doesn’t make you drool then the plethora of options that the camera offers certainly will. We, as cell phone reviewers, have never seen so many features offered in a camera phone. There is also the music player, Sony’s traditional Walkman, to keep you entertained while you are on the move. Sony has been known for its stellar sound quality on both the its MP3 players and cell phones.
The display of this phone is 3.5 inches big and you get a resolution of 360×640 pixels. Images look very nice on this display and the text is quite easy to read too. The built in accelerometer automatically changes the orientation of the screen when you tilt the device. But we were disappointed to see that the manufacturer gave us a resistive display instead of capacitive one. iPhone has a capacitive display and its screen is quite easy to use. For a resistive you will have to press a bit harder on the display. There is stylus included too but we guess nothing is as good as just flicking the fingers on the screen. Our another complaint here is that the stylus compartment is not built in to the device. It is attached to the handset through a strap and just dangles awkwardly.
Sony Ericsson phones have been known for their easy to use interface and the Satio too follows the suite. On the home screen, there are toolbars which give you access to apps like messages, media gallery, browser and dial pad. All the apps on the phone can be accessed by pressing the middle button. This will give you a simple view of the grid menu.
Sony Ericsson Satio has a touch screen interface but it has a few physical buttons as well for operating the phone. On the right spine, there is volume rocker button for zooming in and out of your photos, camera mode key, shortcut for media gallery, capture button, and also a camera mode button for switching between the camcorder/camera mode. On the left spine, you have microSD card slot, lock button, and proprietary jack for headset/USB/power. We were disappointed with the proprietary jack; for such a high end phone, we expected a standard jack. Sony Ericsson has always given proprietary jacks in most of their phones.
Sony Ericsson Satio is a multimedia centric phone and it comes packed with multimedia features. The handset gives you quad band roaming option with support for North American UMTS/HSPA 850/1900 bands. You can enjoy fast 3G speeds with AT&T card and Wi-Fi is also on-board.
There is no limit to the phone book, you can keep entering as long as the memory permits. The SIM card take in another 250 contacts. Other features on the phone include video calling, speakerphone, vibrate mode, multimedia and text messaging, stereo Bluetooth. However, there is no voice dialing support.
Sony Ericsson Satio has both Wi-Fi and 3G so you have two options for getting online. The handset’s Symbian WebKit browser is quite good and it offers goodies like multiple Window support, bookmarking, keyword search and Flash. But navigation is a bit clunky. The Web pages can be viewed in page overview or full screen but the scrolling is a bit choppy. If you lack patience, there will be bouts of frustration. Pinch and zoom feature is not supported but you can double tap on the screen for this.
Now lets talk about the biggest feature of the Sony Ericsson Satio, the 12.1 megapixel camera. This is the highest resolution that we have ever seen in a camera phone and shutter bug freaks will certainly love the editing options that it has to offer. You get LED and Xenon flash, autofocus, 16x digital zoom, 5 shooting modes – including BestPic and panorama, face/smile detection, exposure settings, red-eye reduction, image stabilization, etc. The camera lets you record videos at 30 frames per second.
Nitty Gritty:
This phone has a lot of multimedia features especially the camera but there are a few irritations too. We won’t recommend this too highly because of the high price tag.
