iPhone

Apple iPhone vs Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

By Joseph Hanlon on 20 March 2008

Robot Wars, Transformers, the Terminator vs T-1000. Who doesn't love it when tech monsters fight for our love?

In our last phone face-off we pitted two highly anticipated media playing mobiles against one another, the iPhone and the N96. Apple have since announced some exciting business related expansions for the iPhone to be included in their June firmware update, including compatibility with Microsoft's Exchange servers via Active Sync.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 is the new kid on the Windows Mobile block. Announced at the 2008 World Mobile Congress in Spain, the X1, with HSPA and an iPhone-esque touchscreen interface, could be the new handset to show off in the boardroom.

We've thrown their specs together to see which looks better on paper. Let the virtual arm wrestle begin!

  Apple iPhone

Apple iPhone

 Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1
Operating system Mac OS X Windows Mobile 6.1
3G No Yes (HSPA-enhanced)
Camera resolution 2 megapixels 3.2 megapixels
Camera flash No LED photo light
Browser Safari Internet Explorer
E-mail Displays HTML-rich; Push IMAP (Yahoo); IMAP/POP3; push email via Exchange POP3/SMTP/IMAP; HTML; push email via Exchange
Media player iTunes Windows Media Player
A-GPS No Yes
Pre-installed maps Google Maps Google Maps
Touchscreen Yes (multi-touch sensors) Yes
Alternate Input None QWERTY keypad, optical joystick
Screen 8.9cm (320x480 pixels) 7.6cm (800x480 pixels)
Weight 136g 145g
Processor speed 620MHz 528MHz
Memory 8GB/16GB 400MB
Expansion slot None microSD
Replaceable battery No Yes
Battery - talk time 8 hours Unknown
Battery - audio playback 24 hours Unknown
MMS (for sending pictures and video) No Yes
IM (instant messaging) Yes - AIM Yes - Windows Live
Video calling No Yes
Video capture No Yes
Access to MS Office Yes - read only Yes - editable
User installable 3rd-party apps As of June '08 Yes
Accelerometer changes screen orientation when rotated Yes No
Proximity sensor (turns screen off when put up to your ear) Yes No
Threaded SMS Yes No
Supports stereo Bluetooth (A2DP) No Yes
Locked to carrier Yes No
Price US$399 - 8GB, US$499 8GB (~AU$430, AU$590) - 2 year contract Unknown

The details for both phones, particularly their prices, may change before we see them in stores.

For business users, the inclusion of push email via Microsoft Exchange on both devices makes the decision very difficult. Editable Office documents (Word, Excel and Powerpoint), the QWERTY keyboard and HSPA data speeds will be very important to some users, and may edge the Xperia X1 out in front.

At the end of the day the real battle may come down to the 3rd party applications available. If the Apple App Store fills with cheap and useful applications then there's no telling how business-friendly the iPhone could become. There's already a wealth of 3rd party apps already available for the Windows Mobile platform.

We'd like to hear your thoughts on the iPhone versus the competition. Leave your comments below or jump on the forums and let us know what you think.

Topics: apple, iphone, mobile phone, showdown, sony ericsson, x1, Xperia, yes

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Comments (20)

  • Darren commented on 23/04/2009 11:59 Report abuse

    You can now edit Word & Excel docs on an iPhone using Quickoffice. Retails for USD $20, and looks pretty solid from what I've seen.

  • Correction to article commented on 14/04/2009 11:06 Report abuse

    Windows Mobile is wrongly marked as an advantage.

  • ONEIL commented on 12/12/2008 23:50 Report abuse

    From the comparison and personal experience with X1, i'll say Iphone is nothing but a fancy stuff. X1 is for real phone users.

  • Polenta commented on 31/07/2008 21:18 Report abuse

    why is SO hard to people believe that Iphone so far are crap, apart of design and the screen - all important features in a PDA/mobile are just horrible on iPhones...people just buy iPhones because they're trendy, not because they're good or useful...so if you wanna convice yourself..iphone is pure emotional decision...if you investigate a bit more, you'll never buy one...

  • Doug commented on 09/07/2008 19:14 Report abuse

    Anyone know when the X1 will be available?

  • rami commented on 02/07/2008 02:07 Report abuse

    another mistake x1 has an Accelerometer sensor ;)

  • BChau commented on 26/05/2008 16:14 Report abuse

    A mistake in the comparison table. Threaded SMS is a built-in feature in WM6.1 so that is a yes for the X1.

  • andre.lovett@hotmail.com commented on 15/05/2008 13:52 Report abuse

    Hey CNET!!! Can you please point me to the glossary on your site?!!? Really like these new smartphones but researching is pretty hard when i dont know what POP3/SMTP/IMAP/HSPA etc means. Cheers!

  • ivan commented on 05/05/2008 16:34 Report abuse

    id go for the sony, i have and iphone right, jailbroken running lots of 3rd party apps, its pretty glitchy sometimes, but its good overall im just annoyed by edge. The xperia looks kool and in europe it costs about the same as the iphone 400 to 500 dollars

  • ivan commented on 05/05/2008 16:31 Report abuse

    id go for the sony, i have and iphone right, jailbroken running lots of 3rd party apps, its pretty glitchy sometimes, but its good overall im just annoyed by edge. The xperia looks kool and in europe it costs about the same as the iphone 400 to 500 dollars

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