Images
We all know that Sony Ericsson builds the best cameraphones. So when it announced a 12.1MP mobile that runs the Symbian Series 60 OS on a huge, touch-sensitive display, we were more than a little excited.
The bigger the better
12 megapixels may seem like overkill for a cameraphone. But you can't get away from the fact the image quality of the Satio is excellent, and pictures are easily big enough for A4 prints.
Naysayers moaning about the lack of optical zoom can also be silenced: those extra pixels mean you can crop into the final image without worrying about being left with a tiny file.
As usual, a raft of added photo features are included – some more useful than others. Activate smile-detection and the Satio won't just identify faces and focus on them, it'll wait for a goofy grin before it takes a pic.
If that sounds a bit gimmicky, Sony Erisson's tried-and-tested Best Pic technology returns to more practical ground. Turning it on takes a series of shots in rapid succession, so you're more likely to capture that illusive perfect picture.
Location, location, location
One of the benefits of convergence is that the super-smart Satio can record your location on every pic you take. Copy your geotagged snaps to a computer and you can plot them on a map using Picassa, or iPhoto for Mac users.
Naturally you can email, MMS or Bluetooth pics, but it's also easy to upload them to Picasa, Blogger or Facebook. The Satio also includes a TV output so you can show off the fruits of your labour on a big screen, but you'll need to buy the cable first.
Missing in action: 3.5mm jack
There's more to the Satio than photos, though: Sony Ericsson has pitched this handset as a multimedia marvel. Unlike most rivals, its bright 3.5in touchscreen is in the same 16:9 format as a widescreen TV, making it perfect for watching movies.
It also make a pretty good fist of playing music courtesy of the MP3 player and FM radio – all of which makes the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack absolutely mystifying.
And the disappointment of only 128MB onboard memory isn't quite offset by the included 8GB microSD card, either. Call us greedy, but it'd be nice to see an N97-style 32GB built-in, with microSD for expansion purposes.
Review continues after the break...
Where Sony Ericsson has come up trumps, though, is in making S60 version of the Symbian operating system look smarter than Nokia, adding animated transitions into the mix. It's pretty powerful, too, with push email and extra features on offer from the obligatory App Store – a shame, then, that most smartphone functionality is hampered by the lack of text entry options.
Poor text entry
The Satio is genetically very similar to Nokia's N97, but with a better camera and no hardware QWERTY keyboard. Its reliance on touchscreen input would be bearable were it an iPhone-style capacitive screen, but the old-school pressure-sensitive 'resistive' screen means it needs aggressive jabbing to function.
On our prototype sample, anything that required more than a single button press was crippled by the sub-standard virtual keyboard (or equally archaic handwriting recognition). This will improve by launch, but our experience of Nokia's S60 touchscreen phones suggests it'll never be as reactive as an iPhone.
If it's an all-round communicator you're after, something like Samsung's Pixon 12 could well be a better fit: it benefits from a more responsive touchscreen, although its 12MP snaps don't match up to the Sony Ericsson. True shutterbugs, though, need look no further than the Satio.
Tech Specs
- Main camera resolution
- 12.1MP autofocus
- Memory card slots
- Yes
- Memory card type
- microSD (8GB included)
- Operating system
- Symbian S60 5th edition
- Optical zoom rating
- n/a
- Screen resolution
- 640x360
- Screen size
- 3.5in, 16:9
- Storage
- 128MB onboard
- Wi-Fi
- Yes
Comments
Melancholia
1 year ago
My humble opinion is that this phone is not a five star one. It misses a lot of things and the design is not very inspirated. I skip that one.
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billysalup
1 year ago
In mobile phone, they are one of the best brand with many good features. And the price are also a little bit expensive than another one.
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hushcat
1 year ago
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vickychao
1 year ago
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petermarco
1 year ago
Well, I don't really going with this phones. Not really attractive tough. I think I better buy apple or or nokia.
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1 year ago
Unfortunately this tip only works on Linux. While I have always worked in the Windows environment. Is not there a way for these tips I can use on Windows Operating System? Thank you. lean manufacturing
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1 year ago
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3 years ago
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emmasl1
3 years ago
I have just recently upgraded to this phone from a previous sony ericsson phone. After looking at reviews for the Nokia N97 and Blackberrys i decided to go for this phone mainly because of the camera and for previously owning sony ericsson phones. I decided against the iphone as i already have an ipod touch so would be pointless to have both. The camera is outstanding i have to say but battery life is a bit pants, if i use it a lot i have to charge daily but luckily the charger is the same to all other sony ericssons i have had (which gives me 3 chargers) so now i have 1 at home, work and in my bag so can easily re-charge anywhere. I haven't grasped the apps yet, the layout seems completely different to my previous phone which is taking a while to get used to. I am now thinking i should of got the iphone but only because i already know how to use it (having an ipod touch). Not sure about the touch screen, everything seems a bit long winded but thats probably because im not used to it. Basically if you want a phone that your already used to i don't recommend this one. BUT If you want a decent camera, widescreen, listen to music (quite loudly), touchscreen, amongst MANY other things then i def recommend this phone, its def better than some phone out at the moment!
philip long
3 years ago
dodger long- well i have got the satio and i am a 4 year iphone user and i must say the satio is good , the camera, is amazing the touch screen coud do with the iphone style however its not bad at all all i need to do noe is to bu loads of apps to make it usefull!
stevie1741
3 years ago
i was considering this phone but i'm going to wait till the samsung M8920 comes out an get that (thats if we do get it over here)3.3inch amoled touch screen, 12mp 3x optical zoom, an all other usual bits on it
hooman78
3 years ago
but the htc diamond 2's resistive screen is almost as good as the iphones capacitive screen so why not do the review of the touch screen on the official version and not the pre-release version?