Hands-on with the 12.1-megapixel Sony Ericsson Satio smartphone

SonyEricsson's Satio smartphone isn't scheduled for release until the autumn, but a lengthy video review of the handset with a 12-megapixel camera has already popped up online.

Looking more like a slim compact camera than a mobile phone, the Sony Ericsson Satio (formerly known as the Idou — nope, us neither) has a 3.5in touch-sensitive screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio (think movies) and is firmly geared to entertainment.

Based on the specification, it looks like a solid smartphone too, though the S60 5th Edition Symbian operating system will limit its appeal now that the iPhone and Google Android-powered devices grabbing everyone’s attention. But what about that 12.1-megapixel camera..?

There's no technical information available about the lens or sensor yet, but you can see some full-resolution images taken with the Satio. At 4000 x 3000 pixels, the images are certainly large, but they’re a bit washed out and lack the crisp definition you might expect at this resolution. So, it looks like the usual triumph of marketing over common sense and as ever, all those megapixels will only serve to swallow storage card space — but at least the Satio uses microSD rather than MemoryCard.

Nonetheless, the video review seems pretty impressed with the 12.1-megapixel Sony Ericsson Satio, despite it lacking a 3.5mm headphone socket — an odd omission for a ‘multimedia’ phone. Here are main specifications, followed by the three-part video review.

• S60 5th edition Symbian OS
• WebKit web browser
• 3.5in screen (640 x 360)
• Phone memory: 128 MB
• Memory Card Support: microSD
• Bluetooth technology
• Modem
• PictBridge
• TV out
• USB mass storage
• Wi-Fi
• Size: 112 x 55 x 13.3mm
• Weight: 126g

[Youserblog]