Guest kersey Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 Hello all, I am thinking of picking up a Xperia from ebay as they are generally going for just under £200. I’ve read many reviews but want to know what you the users really thing of the phone, good points and bad. Am interested in how the quality of the camera is, watching movies (as have heard there is some lag), sound of the media player both via the speaker and quality headphones and general speed of use. I currently have an Omnia which I love but am interested in the Xperia as an additional toy to play with and am wondering how it compares to the Omnia. Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gorskar Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 Hi, I've not used an omnia, but personally thing the X1 is a great phone Its pocket friendly (unlike some other touchscreen WM phones), looks very snazzy, and has all the features you could want. Camera is OK. not outstanding. Its a 3.2 megapixel affair with an LED photo light (not a proper flash), so not much use in low light. Its not the worst by a long way though. Still if the camera is the main thing you are looking for then there are better alternatives. I've found that because the backplate is a simple metal sheet it can get scratched very easily. The keyboard however is a real plus on this phone - very high quality, lovely arc-slider which solidly snaps open/closed. The other major selling point its its lovely 800 x 480 screen (although slightly annoying that it isn't flush with case if that bothers you) The panels interface is ok, but nothing special. The good thing though is there is an SPB mobile shell panel available free from the Sony Ericsson site, which I use most of the time. I don't really use it for media, but it handles a few MP3s and movie clips fine (also iPlayer works on it too!) Overall I really like it though, and would be hard pressed to choose an a better alternative from the current crop of phones out there. (only maybe the touch Pro 2) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ZenithUK Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Okay, I'm a former Xperia X1 owner and I would NOT recommend the phone to others. Good points are pretty much what Gorskar said. The screen is recessed so it can be awkward to hit the Close/OK button in the top right and the Win button on the top left. I've been through 4 of these phones and they all had LED bleed and clouding from the top corners as if the screen was tightened down too much. The colour tones and automatic brightness are very good though, as is the 800x480 rez of the screen. It's just a shame the screen is smaller than some comparable WinMo phones. The camera is adequate, but if you're looking for a "proper" cameraphone, you'd be looking at something like the SE C905 or another of SE's Cybershot range. It does have autofocus and geotagging which is nice if you upload the pics to Picasa and see where in the world they were taken. Panels. Sorry, but I consider this to be a total waste of time. It doesn't bring anything unique to the phone and while it can be handy to have a panel for media, a panel for FM radio, a panel for Facebook etc, the whole interface and switching time is SLOOOOOOWWWW. The arc-slider is indeed a nice piece of engineering and is very positive in it's action. I personally felt that there was too much "give" in the screen when shut. You could visibly press the screen section closer to the keyboard section. The speaker volume is quieter and more tinny than I hoped for, but definitely usable for a conference call or while watching a video/Youtube. Videos will need to be converted to play smoothly on the X1 and there is an application on XDA-Dev that you can use for this specific purpose. It was designed for the Touch HD, but since the basic hardware is essentially the same, it works for the X1 as well. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=467112 While these niggles collectively might colour my opinion, there is one thing that I simply will not accept and that is poor build quality. That is the case with the housing of the X1. Each of my phones suffered a crack in the casing underneath the battery cover, near the volume button. My most recent phone cracked underneath the battery cover halfway down the side, and also had two cracks in the silver bezel that goes around the outside edge of the phone. I'd never dropped it. This was from being either in my pocket or in the car mount performing satnav. That was my third phone and I've given up on the Xperia. Instead of performing a doorstep swapout replacement (refurbished models), I opted for an insurance claim so that I got a brand new handset. So I now have a brand new handset that I'm preparing to put on eBay. All I have done is open the box to turn it on, test the functions and update to the latest generic ROM (R3A). Manufacturing date: 09W17 Battery: 09W14 ROM: APP_SW_X1i_GENERIC_UK_CDF1215-1832_KOV_R3AA010 If despite my little rant you're still interested in the X1, I can let this one go for £250. I appreciate that you can take your chance on eBay and get one for a lower price, but all I will say is that this particular handset *IS* a brand-new insurance replacement. While I'm new to this particular forum, I've got a "senior member" rating on XDA-Dev and I'm also Paypal verified. As you can tell, I've been honest about my reasons for wanting to sell this handset. ;) I'm looking to get a HTC Magic for my wife as she's fallen in love with it and this sale is to help finance that purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kersey Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Thanks to both of you for the info and to ZenithUK for the offer of buying the phone. I bought one last night in mint condition from ebay but am now unsure whether that was the right move after reading less than glowing opinions of it overall, especially the worring factor of the poor build quality that many people are experiencing. Out of interest does anyone know where I stand if my Xperia did encounter the dreaded cracks in it's casing, would I be able to get it repaired / replaced by Sony Ericsson after buying off ebay and having no 'offcial' purchase receipt for it or will it end up being an overpriced paperweight ;) . I will be getting delivery of it on Friday so will have a play with it over the weekend and see what I think and how it compares to my Omnia. Cheers guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ZenithUK Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Thanks to both of you for the info and to ZenithUK for the offer of buying the phone. I bought one last night in mint condition from ebay but am now unsure whether that was the right move after reading less than glowing opinions of it overall, especially the worring factor of the poor build quality that many people are experiencing. Out of interest does anyone know where I stand if my Xperia did encounter the dreaded cracks in it's casing, would I be able to get it repaired / replaced by Sony Ericsson after buying off ebay and having no 'offcial' purchase receipt for it or will it end up being an overpriced paperweight ;) . I will be getting delivery of it on Friday so will have a play with it over the weekend and see what I think and how it compares to my Omnia. Cheers guys Assuming you're in the UK, all SE phones have at least 12 months warranty (could be 18 months, I'm not 100% sure). I contacted SE once and they were prepared to take the phone, repair it and send it back free of charge. In the end though, I went through O2 because they were my first point of sale and it's up to them to arrange repairs or replacements. For phones sold online or through 3rd parties, the manufacturer should honour the warranty based on the manufacturing date of the phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gorskar Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 I never noticed the crack before, but when you mentioned where to look (near the volume key) I had a look and sure enough my X1 is cracked there too. (it wasnt like that when new, but I've not dropped it there at all.) It looks like an insanely thin bit of plastic has been used on that side (much thicker on the other side of the phone), and at the point just before the metal backing theres no protection so a slight strain will easily crack it - very poor design there! Now I've just got to decide if it bothers me enough to try and get it replaced under warranty (I expect the same would happen to a replacement too though ;) ) I think I'll just live with it. Given that I never noticed it until you said where to look Its probably not going to affect me greatly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kersey Posted July 21, 2009 Report Share Posted July 21, 2009 (edited) Edited July 21, 2009 by kersey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest charisse090 Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 Wow, I never thought that X1 looks that bad..I am really want this phone but as I read on this thread..thanks guys for giving me your reviews! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest steadler Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 i just bought this phone from ebay, and now am regretting it, it is meant to be dilivered today so lets see if it gets relisted lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest add951 Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 Would you guys recommend Omnia i900 over X1? I'm in a dilemma over these 2. lol Thanks in advance for yr comments! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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