Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 hands-on photos: Hello, Rachel

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 -- formerly known as Rachel -- has brought Android to the table, with a dash of special user interface sauce to spice things up

Flora Graham

See full bio

Flora Graham

Nov. 2, 2009 8:00 p.m. PT

1 of 9

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 will always be called the Rachel in our hearts, but we're willing to forgive its sterile name -- because this is a beautiful phone that could combine the media skillz of Son Eric with the smart-phone power of Google Android.

Like the Acer Liquid, the X10 has a powerful 1GHz Snapdragon processor inside, which should make this one of the fastest Android phones yet, although the prototype we tried wasn't polished enough for us to tell.

The phone will sport version 1.6 of Android -- Donut -- and it will run applications for the Android Market and from Sony Ericsson's PlayNow arena.

Sony Ericsson promises that this will be the first of many Android phones, and based on our first feel, we think the Xperia X10 could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship for Son Eric and the little green robot.

The Xperia X10 doesn't have any special Sony features, such as the PlayStation 3 remote streaming that we almost got to work on the Sony Ericsson Aino. But we don't think we'll have to wait long for these features in future Son Eric Android phones.

Expect to see the Xperia X10 in stores in the middle of the first quarter of 2010. It's a while to wait, so tide yourself over by clicking 'Continue' to read our impressions of the dazzling 'droid-phone.

2 of 9

Sony Ericsson has added several user-interface features on top of the standard Android look and feel. For example, you can view your contacts -- everything from calls and text messages to Facebook and Twitter updates -- as a prettily animated stack of virtual cards. Sony Eric calls this the 'Timescape'.

3 of 9

The Xperia X10 also shows you online media and the files on your phone, in a single screen called the 'Mediascape'. For example, the photos from your phone are shown together with photos from Flickr and Facebook photo albums.

4 of 9

The three buttons on the front are menu, home and back buttons -- there's no navigation key or rollerball like on some other Android phones.

5 of 9

The X10 has three home screens, which you can cover with Android widgets or custom Sony Ericsson widgets.

6 of 9

The X10 still uses the familiar Android interface in some areas, such as the menu.

7 of 9

Sony Ericsson confirmed that the X10 will have an 8-megapixel camera, with autofocus and an LED photo light. It also told us the X10 will have face recognition, so it can automatically tag up to five people in a photo, linking them to your contact list.

8 of 9

We thought the X10 felt pleasingly thin and light, with a rounded, matte plastic back that was comfortable to hold. This photo also shows off the X10's vivid, clear screen, which is lovely and bright even at an angle.

9 of 9

The top of the X10 shows off its standard 3.5mm headphone jack and microUSB port, which are both welcome standard ports that are missing on many of Son Eric's other phones.