By Damian Koh, CNET Asia
13/10/2009
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/mobilephones/0,39051199,44567320p,00.htm

When Sony Ericsson unveiled the concept multimedia phone Idou (renamed Satio) at the Barcelona-based Mobile World Congress in February, the focus wasn't entirely on the hardware. The Japanese-Swedish outfit also headlined a new Entertainment Unlimited strategy that aims to facilitate the sharing of multimedia content across multiple platforms, from phones to PCs and TVs. Part of this will be delivered with Media Go, debuting on the Satio and the Aino, which lets users transfer or sync media. However, compared with the Aino which we previewed some time back, the Satio doesn't seem as interesting other than its 12-megapixel camera and generous 3.5-inch touchscreen.

Design

Big screens are in and that's evident from the Satio which has a larger display as well as a footprint comparable with the Xperia X1 and the upcoming X2. The panel measures 3.5-inch diagonally and has a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels. This is similar to the Nokia N97, but is 0.2 inches smaller than the one on the Samsung i8910 HD. The touchscreen runs edge-to-edge and is a resistive-type display. This means you can use a stylus to doodle, but you'll need to apply pressure on the display to register an input unlike capacitive displays where a light tap would suffice. On the Satio, a slight press is just fine, and although it isn't as sensitive as capacitive displays, we find the panel responsive enough. Colors displayed on the screen are vibrant and our pictures taken using the camera look brilliant.

From the front, the Satio gives the impression that the entire black panel is the display and that it's a very sleek device. But once you turn to the sides, the unsightly bulge at the back comes to view. This is the lens cover that slides to one side to reveal the camera--a mechanism that has been used in several Cyber-shot models, including the C905 Cyber-shot. To be fair, Sony Ericsson has kept the side profile of the Satio to a minimum with a tapered edge. The slider is very smooth and closes with a reassuring snap.

Although we don't particularly favor the combination of curves and straight edges on the device, in the hands, the Satio feels like it can withstand a few scuffles and knocks without giving way despite its plastic chassis. Our review unit came in silver, but we prefer the striking red prototype model that we had before this.

There is a physical keylock switch on the left edge which is more convenient than pressing the Power button and selecting the option to lock the screen. The downside is that it takes an average of 2 seconds to activate the display before we can start using it. The Call/End and menu buttons below the panel are narrow but functional with a nice clicky feedback. On the other side, you have the volume controls which double as the zoom function for the camera. There are also dedicated keys for previewing pictures, switching between still image and video capture modes, as well as a camera shutter that lights up in blue when activated.

Features

Sony Ericsson currently supports two key smartphone operating systems: Windows Mobile and Symbian S60. The Satio runs on the S60 5th edition software similar to the Nokia N97 and Samsung i8910 HD.

The Korean chaebol has adopted a vertical approach to its devices by putting TouchWiz in nearly every one of its devices. Likewise, LG did the same. Nokia made some headway with its widget standby screen on the N97, but that is only skin-deep. That was our exact sentiment with the Satio. On the Sony Ericsson, the custom-tabbed home screen lets you get to your favorite contacts, Web sites, picture gallery and application shortcuts via an onscreen bar. These are useful, but not remarkable.

Once you get into the main menu, you'll inevitably face quirks and inconsistencies in the software. We've lambasted the scrolling, single and double taps before, and, unfortunately, this is the same on the Satio. To be fair, most parts of the software are finger-friendly. The icons are large and it's easy to type on the onscreen keypad/QWERTY keyboard.

The Satio uses the same media control interface found on Sony Ericsson feature phones, but the company has kept this relative simple here. From the main menu, you can pick Photo, Music and Video. These are self-explanatory and browsing within these functions is a breeze. Tapping on a picture activates the full-screen mode in landscape orientation and sweeping our fingers across the screen lets us browse through our photos. The images snap nicely into position when you're scrolling, so you won't be caught in between pictures. Further options including setting a picture as a wallpaper, caller picture, tagging and editing when you tap on an image.

The Walkman player is something most Sony Ericsson users are familiar with. It's attractive and functional. The player can also be controlled directly from the home screen. Strangely, there's no equalizer or alternative visualization with the player. Also missing is support for the DivX and Xvid video formats, which are common on LG and Samsung feature phones. The lack of a 3.5mm audio jack may be excusable if Sony Ericsson had provided an adapter with the unit. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

The Web browser supports full Flash video so you can browse and play videos directly on the browser. In our tests, pages were rendered correctly and the user interface was friendly without being over the top. Zooming is via an onscreen slider, so there's none of the finger pinching and stretching a la the iPhone.

Where Nokia has Mail for Exchange for synchronizing with Microsoft Exchange servers, Sony Ericsson has RoadSync. This works exactly as expected, and as long as you have the necessary information to set up your Exchange account on the application, the step-by-step guide to get your Outlook calendar, contacts, emails and tasks on the Satio would be a breeze. The preinstalled QuickOffice program is a read-only version, so you'll have to pay for an upgrade if you want to create new Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on the device. A PDF reader is also standard with the S60 software.

Like some of the current Sony Ericsson feature phones, the Satio also supports threaded messaging. But it's absurd that the function isn't integrated in Messaging. Instead, it's nestled under Chat in Entertainment. Why Sony Ericsson would do that is beyond our understanding and there's no way to move the threaded messaging feature to where it should be--in Messaging. There is, however, an alternative. You could place Conversations as one of the shortcuts on the home screen panel.

The Satio doesn't come with a software installation CD. Instead, the PC Suite and Media Go software are preloaded on the bundled 8GB microSDHC card. Media Go helps you manage music, videos, photos and podcasts between the device and PC, while the PC Suite lets you synchronize and backup content, etc.

Navigation And Camera

For navigation, there're Google Maps with Latitude enabled and Wisepilot. The latter is great only if the handset actually manages to get a GPS lock. Even after trying with two SIM cards from different telcos at two different locations with Assisted-GPS, we were able to get a location fix only once, and briefly, for a couple of seconds. We're not sure where the problem lies, so we'll be requesting for another review unit to test out this aspect. Navigation glitches aside, we liked the interface elements plus various functions such as generating trip reports, downloading weather updates, finding what's nearby, as well as the option to share location coordinates via SMS. Our only nitpick is that the map zooms in at up to only a 100m scale, which doesn't provide enough of a macro view. Only when real-time navigation began were we able to zoom the map down to a street-level perspective.

The K850i Cyber-shot had both a Xenon and LED flash and we're happy to see the company bringing this back on the Satio. Aside from that, the camera will also be able to detect faces and smiles, and you can touch the screen to focus on a subject. Images are recorded in 4:3 format at the maximum 12-megapixel resolution, 3:2 at 10 megapixels and 16:9 at 9 megapixels. We don't like the 4:3 aspect ratio and prefer shooting at 3:2 even though that means not making full use of the 12-megapixel sensor. But that's just us. Video capture is at VGA resolution at 30fps. You can also adjust autofocus and exposure settings, and that's about it. There's no option to adjust ISO settings, so we couldn't do our usual ISO comparison. Suffice to say, if you're taking night landscape shots (see examples below), it'd be wise to hold the device really still. Shutter lag measured 0.3 second.

Our test pictures resolved a good amount of details, and when viewed on the handset, the colors popped. Image quality-wise, the Satio is one of the best camera-phones we've tested. Below are a few pictures which we took during our review. You can download the full-resolution files when you click on them.

















Lab test shot without flash


Lab test shot with flash

Performance

Aside from the slow unlock response which we mentioned earlier, most things ran smoothly on the Satio. There were some slowdowns when it came to switching display orientation, but these didn't cripple the phone and were minor annoyances.

Call quality was good, but battery life was average. The rated talktime and standby of the 1,000mAh battery were 11 hours and 15 days, respectively. If you use a combination of functions which include taking pictures, recording videos, browsing the Web during your daily commute, be prepared to charge the cell before you retire for the night.

Conclusion

While we'd want to fall in love with the Satio, in reality, we couldn't bring ourselves to. It's not so much due to the device, but the software it runs on. The S60 5th edition operating system is very capable and that's a point most people would agree on. However, the interface just doesn't make the cut when there are other software that provide a more consistent user experience.

We like the picture quality from the 12-megapixel camera, the bundled RoadSync software that lets us synchronize with our office Exchange server, the large vibrant display, great Web browsing experience and well-put together chassis. The lack of a 3.5mm audio jack (and adapter) may turn some people away, but our biggest peeve is still with the inconsistencies in the user experience of the phone.

The Sony Ericsson Satio is expected this month at S$1,098 without contract.