The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1i has been touted for more than a year as “the next coming” for Sony Ericsson, a device that combines a sleek user interface with a strong build, while offering state of the art cellular functions. While the device definitely fulfills part of those requirements it falls surprisingly short on others. Stick around, we’ve got the dirty pro’s and con’s from our hands-on review of the Xperia X1i…

PRO’S

• Very strong build factor from the bottom up. The slider is built to perfection and even upon shaking the unit the slider remained firmly in place. Also, no gaps in the screen or other components were noticed. Overall a great build. Not a perfect build, but not half bad.
• 3.5mm Headphone Jack is a great benefit that makes using most commercial headsets a breeze while freeing up the device’s charging/sync port for other purposes.
• WVGA display offers a very crisp output that expertly displays video playback and makes the reading of email and on screen icons easy on the eyes.
• GPS picks up signals at a very fast rate on par with other HTC built Pocket PC devices.
• 3.2 mega pixel camera takes excellent pictures, although a 5MP camera or higher should have been considered, but overall a great option for quick on the go picture taking.
• Sony Ericsson “Panel” interface makes accessing popular applications a breeze and offers some very cool graphic displays.
• Very Nice keyboard layout that’s well built. The device was built by HTC and the competent keyboard setup shows off HTC’s build factor know-how.
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional works flawlessly as usual, allowing for threaded text messaging, Exchange server 2007 support and many more popular Windows Mobile software features.

CON’S

• Interface is very slow at times.  I specifically noticed this when I was accessing the Panels screen and when changing from landscape to normal modes. It almost appears as if the screens were hanging for a moment.
• While the camera takes decent pictures at 3.2MP, the interface for the camera itself is once again slow with the focus function additionally slow when taking pictures.
• The battery is pretty horrendous, while HTC may have manufactured the devic,e the battery is even worse than other typically bad HTC device batteries.
• Call, Send and other front side buttons feel cheaply made with a less than adequate plastic-like material. I literally felt like they were going to break as I used them for the first time. If the buttons were half as good as the rest of the devices build factor they would be fine, in this case their simply not.
• Touchscreen was not as responsive as some other Windows Mobile Pocket PC devices, many of which come in at a much lower price.

On the one hand the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1i offers a capable build factor with some great additions including the built-in GPS, a decent 3.2 megapixel camera and a crisp display. On the other hand the speed of the device and the lack of an adequate battery lifespan puts the device at a disadvantage to other units currently on the market that have better tackled the shortcomings of the X1i.

If you want a device that offers its own unique take on the pocket pc then maybe the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1i is right for you. If you want a competent device that offers stability, a great build, speed, and many more features found on most Pocket PC devices I’d suggest you look at other, more competent devices.