Sony Ericsson X8

[Guest ken218]

Wife is looking for a new phone. She thinks my Blade is not bad, but she prefers more well-known brands than zte... So we started phone shopping...

Went to O2 store today and saw they got Sony Ericsson X8 selling for £129 (pay as you go). Wife was set to get htc wildfire, but end up decided X8 is more suitable for her.

I believe X8 has Android 1.6, 256MB RAM, 512MB ROM, 600MHz CPU, 3" LCD capacitive screen.

Although the spec is not as good as Blade, but since it is made by SE, the build quality should be pretty good. Since the spec is not too far off, I think it could be a good budget phone contender to Blade.

[Guest zerosignull]

Wife is looking for a new phone. She thinks my Blade is not bad, but she prefers more well-known brands than zte... So we started phone shopping...

Went to O2 store today and saw they got Sony Ericsson X8 selling for £129 (pay as you go). Wife was set to get htc wildfire, but end up decided X8 is more suitable for her.

I believe X8 has Android 1.6, 256MB RAM, 512MB ROM, 600MHz CPU, 3" LCD capacitive screen.

Although the spec is not as good as Blade, but since it is made by SE, the build quality should be pretty good. Since the spec is not too far off, I think it could be a good budget phone contender to Blade.

Ide still opt for the SF. The amount of RAM in an Android device is very important and the SF has about 400MB~. Not to mention you can put Paul's Vanilla(ish) ROM on the SF and then use the device as a wireless access point/modem (this is actually allowed on orange. Its mentioned in the last page of the manual :) )

[Guest mclassplanet]

I've also been looking at the X8 as a possible alternative to the San Francisco, and overall it still seems that the SF is the best choice overall especially for anyone interested in fully exploiting their smartphone; you also get Android 2.1 as standard with the SF whereas 2.1 for the X8 has been promised but still hasn't been released yet.

However the X8's camera does takes marginally better still pictures in low light (from the samples I've been able to find), and has significantly better VGA resolution video recording if that matters to you, although picture quality still inevitably suffers in low light conditions. Bear in mind that the X8's camera has no autofocus which can make scanning barcodes problematic (if required).

Other points in the X8's favour include SE's Timescape interface (if you like that sort of thing), and no need to unlock if you want to use the O2 network (or GiffGaff for that matter), but there may not yet be a cheap unlock method available for the X8. Also some people may have a personal preference for the 'softer' colours of the X8's LCD screen as opposed to the vivid OLED display that the San Francisco has; the only way to be certain is to try both phones for yourself before deciding, and larger O2 shops will have a working X8 on display that can be used without having to ask a sales assistant for a demo.

[Guest ken218]

Went to a few O2 stores today trying to get X8 for wife's birthday. Most assistants doesn't even know about the phone O_O

and most other ones said they don't have it in stock.

eventually got it ;)

I'd prefer SF, because I got one, and I like it! But my wife is SE all the way :) so, that is the best option for her.

[Guest Tom G]

Sony Ericsson do not support their products. I wouldn't recommend them. I had been disappointed by two previous SE phones before I got the X10. It had been a few years since I had an SE, so I thought they may have improved, but unfortunitely they haven't.

The X10 is a nice enough piece of hardware, but the amount of apps that now require android 2.1 or 2.2 means that you pay a premium for a product with serious limitations. Don't believe their promises of updates either, the X10 was to have 2.1 early in the year. Now they are saying November and I doubt that will happen.

Edited October 10, 2010 by Tom G

[Guest robot1000]

Went to a few O2 stores today trying to get X8 for wife's birthday. Most assistants doesn't even know about the phone O_O

and most other ones said they don't have it in stock.

eventually got it ;)

I'd prefer SF, because I got one, and I like it! But my wife is SE all the way :) so, that is the best option for her.

Did you have to pay a topup with the phone?

[Guest redcup]

Sony Ericsson do not support their products. I wouldn't recommend them. I had been disappointed by two previous SE phones before I got the X10. It had been a few years since I had an SE, so I thought they may have improved, but unfortunitely they haven't.

The X10 is a nice enough piece of hardware, but the amount of apps that now require android 2.1 or 2.2 means that you pay a premium for a product with serious limitations. Don't believe their promises of updates either, the X10 was to have 2.1 early in the year. Now they are saying November and I doubt that will happen.

Agree 100%

I have an X10 mini, which I love.

But it's stuck on Android 1.6 - SE have promised 2.1 for ages, but it keeps being pushed back - hence why I bought the SF.

[Guest hillmie87]

Agree 100%

I have an X10 mini, which I love.

But it's stuck on Android 1.6 - SE have promised 2.1 for ages, but it keeps being pushed back - hence why I bought the SF.

My mate just bought x10 mini, it's fast alright. But the android 1.6 sucks. SE should have released 2.2 now, and they still havent released 2.1. Hurm.

Also, the screen on X10 mini is too small IMO. SF all the way! :)

[Guest ken218]

Did you have to pay a topup with the phone?

We got an O2 pay as you go sim card (although we dont use it often), so we didn't have to get £10 topup.

But to unlock the phone to use on T-mobile network, I paid hefty $40 to htccode.com... works :), but expensive (compare to my blade) :)