Review: Sony Ericsson Satio (Idou)

We’ve spent a couple of weeks living with the new Satio, the 12.1-megapixel equipped super-cameraphone from Sony Ericsson, and the verdict is in…

Known initially as the Idou, the Sony Ericsson Satio attempts to blend the best of two worlds; amazing camera capabilities and extensive fully-functioned media support. And with such an impressively specified snapper on board it would be hard to deny the Satio’s claims of cameraphone supremacy.

The handset itself would be fairly slim if it wasn’t for the dedicated camera lens-cover protruding like a hump on the back of the device; ultimately resulting in a slightly chunky feel. Official measurements put the UI at 112 x 55 x 13 mm, but despite the somewhat substantial feel of the phone, we were surprised at how light it felt.

The Sony Ericsson Satio is a 12.1-megapixel monster

The 3.5-inch 360×640 touchscreen naturally dominates the front of the Satio, and the camera cover, the back. Along the side of the there are a number of single and multiple feature ‘hard’ buttons providing quick access to camera functions, volume control, and call controls.

Aside of the – dare we say it – overly generous megapixelage of the device there’s a whole bunch of other options that establish the Satio as a cut above the standard cameraphone.

Out of the box the Satio is set to capture at 9-megapixels, which provides a nice balance of picture quality and recharge time, but of course to get the best out of the camera it needs to be bumped up to the full 12.1-MP; doing so results in beautifully clear and colourful images but at the expense of a slightly increased delay between shots.

Like many cameraphones, or run-of-the-mill digital compacts, the Satio UI performs best in well-lit conditions, but unlike many other cameraphones can hold its own very well in more dim or unfavourable low-light situations – achieved through the combination of an LED and Xenon flash.

We’d love to talk all day about the camera, about how it will capture VGA video at 30fps, or how the host of facial recognition, smile detection and touchfocus features, for the most part, work incredibly well and make capturing a moment for posterity truly easy. For the record, the video capture was excellent and to our mind rivalled only by the Omnia HD i8910.

Whilst the Satio is clearly a cameraphone at heart Sony Ericsson has aspirations for it to be an all-singing-all-dancing multimedia hub too. To that end, there are numerous video and music options as well as an on-board browser.

The easy access to YouTube and BBC iPlayer worked particularly well, and although admittedly better on Wi-Fi, had little trouble across 3G connections. There are also a bunch of pre-installed web shortcuts to popular sites like Facebook, Lonely Planet, MySpace, Picasa, BBC News and Sony Ericsson’s own pages – these are all editable to your particular taste.

There are a bunch of other awesome and downright essential features for people who want a rich multimedia experience on the move, but sadly the Satio comes up short in some crucial departments though we only have two real complaints; and one niggler.

Firstly, Sony Ericsson has done a great job of putting a pretty face on the now ageing Symbian S60 OS in the key media areas of the phone, but it does leave a slightly gaping inconsistency in contrast to the base OS; and if you’re not familiar with the Symbian platform, finding the correct route through some of the menus might be a little tricky first time out but it’s not overly complicated.

The touchscreen on the other hand is a little bit more annoying. If you’re a fan of using a stylus, you won’t have a problem with the Satio but we err on the side of capacitive, rather resistive screens. After all this isn’t a P800, it’s not 2002 and we’re way too efficient at losing the [included] stylus. The Satio just seemed unresponsive to our intitial taps a bit too frequently for our liking, with second, and third prods often required.

Our only minor gripe is at the battery life that can come up short (at around a day) if all the high drain features (Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth are active); thankfully the Satio does do a reasonable job of holding up considering how media-oriented the handset is.

In conclusion the Satio is undoubtedly one of the best, if not the best cameraphone we’ve tested, and is also well featured in most media areas. Third-party workarounds to play AVI files are a little unecessary for a phone touted as a media hub, but the most disappointing thing to us is the screen. It just too unresponsive for our tastes, and no doubt resistive fans will love it, but we just couldn’t ever learn to love this particular foible of the Satio’s personality.

You can pick it up from free on most major UK networks on 2-year contracts of just £30 per month, or £35 per month on a shorter 18-month term.

Pay As You Go (PAYG) purchasers can pick it up for £349.95 on Orange or O2 from the Carphone Warehouse.

Score:
Design – 7/10
Usability – 7/10
Features – 8/10
Value – 8/10

SUMMARY
Pros: Excellent camera with extended functionality and options, slick UI in parts, relatively cheap compared to some other range-heading handsets
Cons: Slightly short battery life, unresponsive screen at times

If you enjoyed this story why not follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS feed to keep up to date with the latest tech, mobile, gaming and gadget news, reviews & features.

And don’t forget to sign-up to our newsletter for discount codes, the chance to WIN tech prizes and a selection of our most popular stories delivered directly to your inbox!