Sony Ericsson Satio, Source: Sony Ericsson

One week before the official presentation of the Sony Ericsson Satio (a.k.a Idou) in London, Sony Ericsson invited some German to a special preview event in Salzburg. This way, I had the chance to have a closer look at the first smartphone of the “Entertain unlimited” series which Sony Ericsson had announced earlier this year at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. We can expect the Sony Ericsson Satio to come out for the christmas trade for an estimated price of 700 euros without contract.

On the Satio, Sony Ericsson trusts the regular touch-enabled Symbian S60 5th edition platform that can also be found on Nokia N97. And just like on the Samsung I8910 there are only three real keys underneath the display for starting and finishing calls as well as opening the main menu. There is no real QWERTZ keyboard on the Sony Ericsson, just a virtual one, so that it is mainly run by finger inputs on the huge touch screen that resolves 360 x 640 pixels and shows more than 16 million colors. However, regarding brightness and contrast, the touch screen of the Sony Ericsson Satio – just like the just like the Nokia N97 or the Apple iPhone 3G S – does not come up to the AMOLED screen of the Samsung I8910. Neither multitouch just like on the iphone nor using a stylus for touch screen inputs like on the Nokia N97 is possible with the Satio.

Sony Ericsson Satio, Source: Sony Ericsson

Switching the phone on for the first time, you are asked to download your mobile internet settings and connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot. Such things help getting familiar quickly with the new smartphone. Some may find that the menu looks old-fashioned, however, different icons are clearly arranged and it is easy to use. For media Sony Ericsson put the interface XrossMediaBar (XMB) on top of the Symbian platform of the Satio.

Given the multitude of applications and features – media player for video and music with clear stereo and clear bass, FM radio, GPRS for Google Maps or geotagging – the actual highlight of the Sony Ericsson Satio could be the integrated 12.1-megapixel camera. We have to wait until the new smartphone has come out in order to judge its photo quality, but at least the list of camera features sounds promising: autofocus, earth-shattering, smile detection, xenon flash light, video light, and a slide-cover for the lens. Very nice: You can focus on a person or an object by touching on the corresponding imagesection on the touch screen with your finger. Not so nice: There is no 3.5-millimeter jack for your favorite headphones.

With the Satio Sony Ericsson turns again to the microSD format instead of sticking to the proprietary memory stick format. It shows that Sony Ericsson is listening to the needs of the mobile phone users. The Satio will be first phone of the new “Entertain unlimited” series with phone, messaging, entertainment, and social networking features always and everywhere at hand. Downloads of the PlayNow Arena round the “Entertain unlimited” services off.

Product Summary:
Operating System: Symbian S60 5th Edition
GSM networks: 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
Data transfer: GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSPA 7.2 mbps, W-LAN
Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB
Screen: TFT touch screen, 3.5″, 360 x 640 pixels, 16.7 million colors
Keyboard: virtual QWERTZ
Camera: 4 000 x 3 000 pixels, autofocus, xenon flash light, and video LED flash
Storage: 128 MB (+ 8 GB microSD)
Size: 112,0 mm x 55,0 mm x 13,3 to 17,6 mm
Speaking Time: ?

Other cell phone reviews:
Samsung Corby S3650
Blackberry Curve 8520
Samsung Jet S8000
Samsung I8910
Nokia N97

Read more about the Sony Ericsson Satio at teltarif.de (in German)