The absurdly shiny — and pricey — Sony Xperia X1

Alright everyone, here it is: The Sony Xperia X1. Ya I know, the $800 cell phone. Well, we here at TTB HQ actually got our hands on one for a few minutes. So here’s the lowdown:

Features:

Beautiful screen. I’m talking REALLY nice here. Like super high resolution. Motorola RAZR this ain’t.

Runs Windows Mobile 6.1, but is the first real Windows Mobile phone targeted for consumers (that’d be you, readers), and not to business users.

Panel Unique Interface – choose between several varying interfaces as your home screen. Current panels include media (think PS3 home interface, but vertical), Google, as well as several clocks and various types of standard home screens, with the ability to make more on the way. (Note: Under the Panels Interface, it is effectively Windows Mobile. So those who like it, that’s what it is, but those who don’t should take note.)

Touch Screen + Full keyboard: Like the new Fuze, it has a touchscreen and full keyboard, although the keys are a little too cramped for my liking, and a little small for my thumbs (note: i have large thumbs. Your mileage may vary).

Price: Alrighty guys, hate to break it, but this one’s the doozy- the deal breaker. The one reason most sane people won’t be buying one of these on Black Friday. Yup, you guessed it, the massive $800 price tag. Yes, that’s 800, not eighty. Just to put that in perspective, that’d be 4 iPhones worth of phones. Or 800 Slurpees.

For a Windows Mobile phone targeted at the ordinary masses, this thing is totally unreasonably priced. True, the high price is largely due to its being sold unlocked — Sony has no carriers of the phone to subsidize the price — but still, I could buy all the other top 5 phones on the market (iPhone, Fuze, Blackberry Bold, and G1), and still come out saving about $50.

Verdict: The phone itself is great. Made by HTC, which is pretty much my favorite phone maker, with a crisp screen, full keyboard, touch screen, creative and cool User Interface, and good media options. However, I still give it a failing grade based on the fact that i could buy a fairly nice computer for the price of this phone, and that’s not even counting phone and data plans.

So, while an awesome phone that any teen would love, at $800, its just not gonna cut it. Lower the price by say 3/4, and then we can seriously revisit this. But for now, it is — tearfully (it is an amazing product) — going back to the shelf.

For another, more practically oriented take on the phone, see here.