It looks like Sony Ericsson is starting 2010 with a big bang with its first Android smartphone. Hotly speculated online for months as the SE Rachel, the new Sony Ericsson Xperia X3 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon QSD8250 clocked at 1GHz – touted to be the most powerful CPU for mobile phones.

Sony Ericsson has been coming out with handsets on different platforms other than the UIQ it started with.  You now have the first Sony Ericsson Symbian in the Satio and its first Windows Mobile handset with the Xperia X1.  But it remains to be seen if Sony Ericsson will continue using Windows Mobile which has seen market shares dwindle even as the overall mobile phones increased worldwide.  Its Xperia line is going Android – the new darling of the mobile community.

High End Features

Expansys has released an unofficial technical data sheet about the Xperia X3 as Sony still hasn’t made any official announcement on its new handset code-named Rachel.  There are rumours that the X3 will get the X10 designation instead when it hits the markets early next year.  (Sony might be reserving the first 9 numbers to a Windows Mobile handset.)  But by every indication, the Xperia lives up to its flagship reputation that started with the Windows-based X1.  It continues that reputation on its first Android smartphone with features that put it at the top of the totem pole.

As expected, this is a quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE on the 2G network and a dual band UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA on 3G. It runs Android 1.6 OS with a unique Rachel user interface Sony Ericsson developed for this model.  It sports an awesome 8 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and 8X digital zoom and VGA recording at cinema-quality 30fps.

The front fascia has a secondary camera for 3g video calls. There’s the usual WiFi 802.11 b/g (thought it could be the more advanced 802.11n), Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR and A2DP, 3.5mm headphone jack and video TV out, GPS/A-GPS with assisted GPS and QuickGPS application and both microUSB and USB 2.0.  There’s an average internal memory of 256MB RAM and 512MB ROM which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD slot.

What stands out from the Sony Ericsson Xperia X3/X10 is its 4-inch Wide-VGA capacitive touchscreen display supporting 16 million colors – one of the few flagship handsets with the wide VGA display on a massive screen rivaled only by the Korean LG BL40 Chocolate, the Taiwan-based Acer Liquid A1 and exceeded only by the  HTC HD2 at 4.3 inches.   All its upscale features get housed in a typical Xperia ergonomics that make another fashion statement without being retouched by a Prada, Armani or Dolce & Gabbana

Availably

Sony Ericsson still has the handset under wraps awaiting official announcement.  If Expansys got its information right, the new Xperia X3/X10 is targeted to hits world markets by January 2010. As a Sony Ericsson flagship Android phone, expect this to command a premium price that is certain to appeal to most but only get to land in the pocket of a few.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X3 Links:

• Sony Ericsson XPERIA X3 Reviews

Tags: Sony-Ericsson-XPERIA-X3

This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 3:42 pm and is filed under Sony Ericsson News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.