[UPDATE] Updated with links to some reviews sent in by readers Hawke and toni.
CNET Asia reviewed the soon-to-be-released SonyEricsson Satio, previously known as the Idou, Sony’s first Symbian touch screen smartphone, and sadly, didn’t have much good things to say about it. If you’re too lazy to read, let me sum it up for you: no amount of crappy operating system will save a good piece of hardware. It’s like putting a Proton Tiara engine into the body of a Ferrari or McLaren F1 Roadster. I hope you get the drift. Let me quote from their conclusions:
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.
They did like the 12 megapixel camera though, as well as the web browsing, which is rather surprising. But I guess if you need a good 12 megapixel camera, it’s probably better to just buy a dedicated digital camera for this purpose, at a third of the (expected) price that SonyEricsson probably wants to charge for this smartcrapOS-phone.
Avoid at all costs. Thanks, Jack!
[UPDATE] According to some readers in Lowyat.net forums, the Satio will be retailing at RM 2,699 and will be available from October 26th onwards. Thanks, Hawke!
[UPDATE 2] Here’s another review from the UK’s electricpig website. They say:
Sadly, the hype around the Sony Ericsson Satio is just that. This is a chunky phone which lets itself down with poor build quality, an average UI and a lack of a 3.5mm jack. Sure, the feature list, including GPS, Wi–Fi, HSDPA and gesture control reads well, but in practice the hardware is simply not up to the job.
There you go then…thanks, toni!
A shutter speed of 0.3 is pretty good.
The negative review was mostly due to it running S60v5. But they gave the phone an 8 out of 10 rating. The same as the i8910, which they also rated the firmware poorly.
So don’t you think you are stretching it a bit with the “avoid at all cost” statement? After all it comes with the same smartcrapOs as any S60v5 phone.
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 9:54 am
@AKilla, a slow shutter speed is useful only with a tripod mount. Most people I know have shaky hands, and slow shutter speeds will just result in blurry shots. But then again, I’m not a photographer, so what do I know?
Yes, that’s why I said good hardware can be easily killed by crappy software and operating system. That is the case here.
Avoid at all costs because of the likely combination of the pricing and hardware/software. At a price in excess of RM 3,000, it’s much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much cleverer to just get an iPhone instead.
Having used two crappy s60v5 phones, I hope I can say this with some authority! BTW, the i8910 HD has gone back into the drawer to gather dust…
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AKilla Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Umm… a shutter speed of 0.3 seconds is not slow by any stretch of the imagination. It is definitely faster than the i8910 (assuming CNet is right about the Satio of course).
Yeah, only Nokia seems to get S60v5 usable. I am now looking at WinMo much closer because of this. Who would have thunk it!
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
@AKilla, yep, not slow but not fast either. But slow enough to cause blurry pictures if there’s no image stabiliser in the phone (I’m not even aware of a phone with a built in image stabiliser). But maybe it’s just me with shaky hands…
As I have said earlier, my personal choice when it comes to things s60v5 is still the i8910 HD…
I suspect you will still be disappointed with WinMo 6.5 after you have used it for a while.
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This phone was priced at SGD$1250=RM3085,which i think is not value for money and quite expensive for a 12.1 megapixel phone.
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 10:03 am
@Ken77, sorry to say I won’t be buying any more s60v5, ie. Symbian touch phones using my own money. If someone gave me a unit to use, then I’d use it, but I won’t buy any with my own money.
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Hawke Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 10:22 am
maybe u wont believe me, but some people in lowyat forum confirms it will be Rm2,699.
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 10:29 am
@Hawke, not that I don’t believe you, but where is the source of this speculation of the price being RM 2,699?
Yeah, LYN got a lot of much cleverer people compared to me. I’m a nobody la, no one tells me anything. And since SonyEricsson Malaysia never bothered to get in touch with me to share information, what to do? 
[Reply]
Hawke Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 10:33 am
I like to share this info. Check this link
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1187443/+80
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 10:42 am
@Hawke, thanks for sharing the link! Hhmmm…SE Malaysia leaked the price before launch? Interesting. Maybe to get people occupied and interested?
This used to be my dream phone few mths ago..but now with Android OS more mature..i think i just can forget S60V5 at this moment…or forever to be exact..
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 10:23 am
@JC, yep, a few months is a long long time eh?
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Dad, by the way…why don’t you add my info into your articles?
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 11:01 am
@Hawke, I don’t add everything that people send in to the my posts – editorial decision. I get bombarded with press releases too, some of which I don’t even bother to cover, because they’re not newsworthy, in my opinion!
You want this information in the post? OK la, I’ll add it in. But I don’t think LYN needs any backlink points from me in their Google ranking!
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I am very indifferent to Sony products , as being of a different era , overpriced and so on.
Reading this review here from electric pig , UK made my hair stand on ends , and confirm your/my worst fears !
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
@toni, thanks for the linky. Scary huh?
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after viewing this.
do u think its worth it to buy this phone..?
ive been waiting this phone for a long time.
ive heard also it will be launch this upcoming 26.
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Hawke Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Depends on your preferences. But to me, not worth it. It’s base on S60v5 which I think it’s TERRIBLE for TOUCH phone (use N97, not much user experience). Android did a better job. I think need to give S60v5 to be more mature. S60v3 early long ago wasn’t that nice either. Now, ok lo
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
@Hawke, I’m not sure if you can raise a dead OS from the dead!
[Reply]
Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
@eka, at RM 2,699, if the rumoured price is real, it can be considered. What do you need in a phone? Play with one of those Symbian touch phones for a bit to see how you like it, like the Nokia 5800 or N97 or Samsung i8910 HD – if you hate the operating system, since the Satio runs the same OS, you will hate it too.
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So, if i have a budget of 3k and below, wanna get a fullscreen touchscreen phone with no physical qwerty, what would you recommend? upcoming models, current models and 2nd models also i dont mind. thanks
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Jack Lee Reply:
October 15th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Budget of 3K? What about HTC Winmo phones like the HD2? HTC Android phones like the Hero? What about Iphones? Samsung Winmo phones?
Those are what I would consider currently if I had 3k to spend.
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Da Alpha Dog Reply:
October 15th, 2009 at 11:51 am
@curious, do you have a list of “must-have” requirements? That makes it easier to narrow down the choices. As it stands, your choices are the iPhone3GS 32Gb, or 16Gb if you don’t need the huge storage space of the 32Gb, Samsung i8910 HD [Symbian], SonyEricsson Satio [Symbian] (if it comes in at RM 2,699), HTC TouchPro2 [Windows Mobile], HTC Hero [Android], Samsung Omnia 2 [Windows Mobile], and perhaps the Blackberry Storm 2, if it comes in below RM 3,000.
[EDIT] Whoops, just remembered the TouchPro2 is not a keyboard-less phone, it has a slide out keyboard, but it’s still a wonderful phone!
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