It’s 2 Weeks now, since the friendly People from the Sony Ericsson Press agreed to send over a Device, which i really looked forward to get into my Hands finally – The Sony Ericsson Satio! Why? Well, this is Sony Ericsson’s first ever Device to run on S60 5th Edition OS. It’s Sony Ericsson’s first Device featuring a 12 Megapixel Cybershot Camera. This is also the first Time that the S60 5th Edition gets a nice Overhaul of the rather useless Homescreen.
There is a Lot of Features being present the first Time, Lots of Stuff to try out. I used this Device as my daily Main Device, in Order to find out if the Promises are fullfilled, how this Phone behaves in daily Usage, finding out the Do’s and Don’t of the Sony Ericsson Satio. I’m going to start off my final Report with an Overview of the Hardware, so grab a Cup of Coffee and read on!
I must confess i was excited to get the Sony Ericsson Satio, yes i truly was. Given the bad so-so Experiences i had with S60 5th Edition, it wasn’t so much about the Software, it was rather the Hardware that got me drooling. Being a huge Fan of mobile Photography since i had the N73, 12 Megapixel sounded like sweet Cream. Sure, Megapixel does not count a Thing, but watching the Pics i have seen from friends of the Site, Rita El Khoury and Dan Carter, i really wanted to lay my Hand on it! Then, after some Months of waiting, i finally got Notice from Sony Ericsson, that they have review Units in Store for me and this is where my Story starts:
Opening the Box and i already fell in Love with it. I usually prefer black Devices, but this red Satio is super-hot and immediately gathered my Colleagues at Work around me – If i would go for a Satio, it would be definitely the “bordeaux” coloured one! And a Lot of Guys who got their Hands on my Satio agreed, its just georgeous. The black Front is dominated by the 3,5″ resistive Touchscreen, with the 360 x 640 Resolution we know from the Nokia 5800XM and N97. The Display is crisp, clear but unfortunately not as responsive as the N97 i recently had from WOM World. I still have a hard Time with resistive Screens, most of you might know that i prefer capacitive Screens all day long. This started with the G1 i trialed before and continues with my Hero. I kinda handle this like an unwritten law, that my Phones won’t be resistive Ones. Technology on that Matter is improving, but i just don’t get along with resistive Screens. In the Satio’s Case, the Screen needs a good Push, or a slight Add of your Fingernails to work properly – not how i want my Screen to work. Above the Screen are the Front Camera, a Light Sensor and LED, which blinks whenever an Event is occuring, which i definitely like! Located underneath the Screen are the Menu Button in the Middle, red and green Call Key on each Side of the Menu Button. Totally misplaced in my Opinion, how great would it be to have them touch sensitive, so the Front is a completely Flat-Surface!
Looking at the right Side of the of the Phone reveals a Slide-Screenlock and yes, there is this effed up Sony Ericsoson Connector for Data and Headset Usage. SE, you know that its 2009 already, do you? Thumbs down, really. At least they’ve learned from the Past and replaced the Sony Memory Stick Slots with microSD Card-Expansion Slots. This was about Time. It’s not only cheaper for us Consumers, but also for you Guys in Production, so its a win-win Situation for everyone, dont you think? But this Connector .. Geez!
While the bottom of the Satio is a handfull of nothing, the right Side is the most interesting one! Here’s the Camera Key, which is illuminated in blue Light once the Camera App is fired up – cool Touch! Up next is a Button to switch between Picture and Video Mode, a Gallery Button and the Volume/Zoom-Keys! As usual: the wi-fi and gps signs! The Top of the SE Satio is Home of the on/off button and also, the mono speaker of the device. yes, there is only one speaker and i have seen/heard far better speaker(s). I could rant about this for Days.. i mean the device is pretty thick already for a full touch device – sure it houses a bombastic 12 Megapixel Cam, but no one could tell me, there wasn’t enough Space for a decent Pair of Stereo Speakers!?
The Back of the Device is almost entirely covered in this very hot looking bordeaux Colour Tone. The Thickness of the Device is dominated by the Camera Slider Part, that is completely made of Steel. This feels definitely nice and is made for Eternity, opening and closing the Cam Slider happens with a noticable Snap and of course, fires up the Camera Application! I will have more to say about the Camera in the upcoming Camera Part of the Satio Review, so have your Eyes opened for that 
Opening the Battery Cover happens by just pressing the Cover and sliding it down. Unfortunately the Cover is also made in the same glossy Materials, the whole Phone is covered in, no rubber Surfaces this Time. This is a Shame, as the whole Device can easily slip out of your Hands, but then again, it keeps up the Phone Design, so i guess it’s up to everyone else what to think about that. Opening the Backdoor reveals the 1.000 mAh Battery of the SE Satio .. no, i am not kidding, 1.000 mAh!! I don’t know which funny Cigarettes some of the SE Developers were enjoying while hitting the Release Button here.
But guess whats the funny Thing about it: The Battery lasts! No Joke, with a full Charge i got almost 1 1/2 Days of Usage with the Satio in my “Standard” Mode (3G switched off, Bluetooth permanently running, Display set to 3/4 Illumination, WLAN Usage whenever available and around 2 Hours of Calls, and 30-50 txts a day. Profimail on IMAP Idle, Gravity running most of the Time, around 2-3 Hours of Internet Browsing). I have this Kind of Usage on every Phone i play with, and while my Hero dies after 12-13 Hours, i was easily able to get through whole 24 Hours with the Satio, even more with lighter Usage. This has extremely impressed me, and showed that the Guys at SE did a Lot to improve the Battery Usage on the Symbian Software. While the N97 was also shutting down after 10 Hours or so, the Satio went on and on – great Work there! The Sim Card Holder is rather unusual, sitting underneath the Cam Shutter, and needs to be pulled on a tiny little plastic Slider – it does not look very solid at all, i smell angry Customers there!
Conclusion:
Overall i must say the Device feels pretty solid and looks very elegant. The black Screen Part on the Front is not surrounded by any Boarders, like on the N900 for Example, so the Device is very easy to clean and doesn’t leave those dirty Boarders after whiping! The Thickness of the Device leaves Space for Questions – Why only 1000 mAh? Why no Stereo Speakers!? .. no 3,5mm Jack, but still the Sony Ericsson Connector is something i would call unexcusable, the resistive Screen needs some further Improvements, or even better, throw it off and simply slap a nice capacitive Display on it! Apart from that, i have to say that the Satio looks like it was MADE to be red! Bordeaux, how it’s officially called is Love at first Sight, the Satio is meant to be made in bordeaux! Sony Ericsson has finally learned that microSD should be the Future, as well as making the absolute most out of the Battery. Imagine the Satio with a 1500 mAh Battery – Mugen Power Batteries, are you reading!? To conclude, the Hardware of the Sony Ericsson Satio is a good average classed, full-touch Device, with a big Camera Part and good Materials – will the Camera keep up!? Can the Software bring back Users to Symbian or is it doomed to fail!? Keep your Eyes opened for more!
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