Sony Ericsson Xperia X10a Pro Reviews

Scattered amongst the heap are some venerable Android smartphones that managed to inflict their mark deeply during the summer – with some clearly setting the bar in terms of performance. When the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 was first announced, it was undoubtedly regarded as a premier Android handset that stood tall above a lot of things. However, that was before the unprecedented amount of high-end phones that soon devoured all of the X10's appeal. Now what makes the X10a a bit more frustrating is the fact that Sony Ericsson didn't bother to improve or update the platform to meet the reasonable experience we've been seeing with competing handsets. If this were launched 6 months ago through AT&T, it would probably be considered the best Android device on their lineup.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 offers a slick, user-friendly design with a solid feature set and good call quality. We lament, however, that the device is stuck on Android 1.6.

Sony Ericsson's Android phone has state-of-the-art hardware, but it's dragged down by old and sluggish software.

On paper, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 sounds like a good deal at $149. It has specs that rival higher priced phones, including a 4-inch display and 1-GHz processor, and the Mediascape and Timescape apps add some real utility and entertainment value to the typical Android experience. However, this device lacks multitouch, runs a bit slow, and uses an outdated version of Android. Overall, we think AT&T subscribers would be better served by spending the extra $50 for the Captivate or iPhone 4, and cash strapped buyers might want to save $20 and go with the HTC Aria, if they're willing to live with its smaller screen. The Xperia X10 has the potential to be a very good smart phone, but we'd hold off until Sony Ericsson offers Android 2.1 (or newer).