Review of GSM/UMTS-handset Sony Ericsson Aino U10i Tweet

Mobile-review have posted their review of the Sony Ericsson Aino. Here is their final impression.

The Sony Ericsson Aino U10i doesn't bring anything new to the table with its moderately strong vibro alert, a bit too loud ring tones and decent call quality.

This device is actually a twin of W995, added with a touch-sensitive screen that works only in the closed state. How many people do need such a limited screen size? It seems to be sensor-like, but not always. The confusion arouses at once. The answer is the device sales – only a few need such a functionality. The device is sold even worse than the Satio, the count goes on hundreds of units throughout the country in a month (Russia).

The reason for such a moderate perception of the U10i lies in the fact that you can repeat the marketing formulae as a prey, but the consumer chooses the best quality / price ratio. By the time of the Aino release the market has already had similar devices, for example, Samsung S8300, and they were in the stage of decline, the withdrawal from the market. The same Samsung actually has been leaving the market since January this year, as the company squeezed from the model everything possible; its sales in April 2009, however, were not bad.

In fact, in the form of Aino we are offered a semi-finished product, in which programmers managed to implement only part of the functions for work with the touchscreen on the platform A200. In late 2009 the stability of the phone was up in the air, the new weaving has clarified this issue, and today the device is relatively free from problems. It should also be noted that the A300 in the way it is implemented in the Aino is not too fast, there are sluggishness in menus and slow-downs when the memory card has a lot of files. One has to put up with it.

Up to date the Aino is available at a price 20 000 rubles which is high for a semi-finished product. The W995 costs about 15 000 rubles, but the model has already done its work and it is difficult to be found in shops. One can say that both devices had played their part and we cannot expect more from them, there will be no sales (the hundreds of units remained are not so interesting). For Sony Ericsson the release of a crude model in the form of the Aino was an act of despair rather than a reasonable step. Anyway, the fact that the company has reduced the number of announcements of the A300 handsets shows that its managers realize the limitation of this approach. Ultimately Sony Ericsson’s attempt to jump into leaving train of touch-sensitive handsets with the help of the platform A300 has failed and now the company is oriented to Android.

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