The Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 is a great alternative to more expensive smartphones

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA range has proven itself. The X10, X10 Mini, and X10 Mini Pro had something to offer and were made for a wide variety of mid-range Android phones. There is a new addition in the form of the new Sony Ericsson XPERIA X8.

The phone measures 99 x 54 x 15mm and weighs just 104g. This makes it a very compact and lightweight phone that is therefore very portable and easily fits in a purse or pocket. The phone features a 3-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen that operates with a 320 x 480 pixel resolution and is capable of displaying up to 16 million colors. This offers good quality display of images and videos on the screen, as well as games and web browsing. The display comes with accelerometer and proximity sensors and is made of scratch resistant materials. It also has the handy TimeScape user interface that allows you to customize the widget in each corner of the screen.

The XPERIA X8 comes with 128MB of onboard storage; however, there is also a microSD card slot that can accommodate a memory card of up to 16GB. It comes with a pre-installed 2GB memory card which itself will surely suffice for the needs of many users.

The Class 10 versions of EDGE and GPRS are used to keep your phone connected to the appropriate cellular networks when you are away from home. 3G coverage offers the initial means to connect to the Internet; however, users also have the option of connecting to local wireless networks where they are accessible, thanks to full Wi-Fi support. The suite of connectivity features is completed by Bluetooth, micro USB and GPS with A-GPS support.

The phone comes equipped with a 3.15 megapixel digital camera that works with a pixel resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. This offers a convenient method of shooting decent quality still images; however, users also have the option to record videos in VGA quality at a rate of 30 frames per second. The camera also features geotagging that uses GPS to record the location where a photo was taken.

The chosen operating system is Android 1.6 (Donut); however, this can be upgraded to later versions. This works in conjunction with a 600 MHz processor to provide an engaging and impressive user experience. Being an Android phone, it comes with the full suite of Google features including search, maps, and Gmail and Google Talk. There are also a number of entertainment features including a versatile media player, a stereo FM radio player along with a selection of games. In addition, users of social networks also have Facebook dedicated or that allows them to connect directly to the site. There are a number of different color variants available, which means that even the most demanding and style-conscious user is catered for.

Thanks to the variety of colors and aesthetic appeal, along with its functional day-to-day technology, it is easy to see why the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X8 is a popular smartphone.