Two flavors of hot: differences between Sony Ericsson X1i and X1a explained
by Chris Ziegler 
posted Oct 8th 2008 at 11:57PM
As we already know, Sony Ericsson won't be unifying all the awesomeness that is its X1 in a single retail model -- there's just too much awesome for any one phone to handle, apparently. Instead, there'll be an X1a and an X1i, and thanks to a quick post over on Sony Ericsson's semi-official Xperiancers site, we now know exactly where the differences lie. The X1a will be sold exclusively in North America, Latin America, and Australia, featuring a different "networking configuration" (presumably referring to the presence of 850, 1700, and 1900MHz HSPA there) and 24fps video instead of 30 -- kind of out of the blue, but whatever. We also now know that the North American release date will be announced on November 3, which isn't nearly as cool as a release on November 3 last time we checked.[Thanks, Dustan]
Filed under: Handsets, Sony Ericsson, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS, HSUPA
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sky Siegel @ Oct 9th 2008 12:14AM
24fps is more common in the Americas I believe.
Feb30th @ Oct 9th 2008 12:24AM
X1 or Storm???? Decisions...
Patriks7 @ Nov 12th 2008 10:40AM
I already decided to go with the Touch HD! Seems to be a beast :P
Michael S @ Oct 9th 2008 12:36AM
I can't wait to get my hands on one of these.
Moe @ Oct 9th 2008 1:50AM
well the whole 24 - 30 fps is kinda like NTSC and PAL
PAL always had more frames per second and more lines of course (EU always has better phones!)
1700 does that mean there is hope for T-Mobile??
T-mobile would get such a phone with all the changes they have been making this year, who knows!!
i just think that missing out on the holiday season isn't very smart
what would also be really cool is if HTC would learn a lesson from some devices it makes for other companies
Harry @ Oct 9th 2008 3:05AM
Eh? PAL runs at 25fps, NTSC at 30 (give or take a few decimals).
The majority of the Americas uses NTSC (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:PAL-NTSC-SECAM.svg), and even with Brazil and Australia weighing in on the PAL side of the equation for the territories listed, I would wager the population count tips on the NTSC side.
The frame rate discrepancy makes no sense! I suspect there's a slip up somewhere.
Valicore @ Oct 9th 2008 3:41AM
I agree with Harry. NTSC is 29.97, PAL is 24. if one of them is going to be 30, logically it would be the American (unless they're doing some weird 1080p 24fps cinema thing, which they're not lol).
South America is majorly NTSC (Brazil uses PAL color with an NTSC carrier) too (Plus Japan, Vietnam, and some others)
techstartups.blogspot.com @ Oct 9th 2008 3:10AM
rimm touch or 3g. hmmmm. good flash on the sony though
bernardino @ Oct 9th 2008 3:16AM
I recall reading in some X1 specs from Sony that the North American version will not be able to record video in a higher resolution format while the European version will.
Jared @ Oct 9th 2008 4:40AM
I'm sure all of the software discrepancies will be abolished once people start cooking custom ROMs.
mingkee @ Oct 9th 2008 6:36AM
a surprise
completely trade off WCDMA I for IV
very wise move, SE!
Michael Oryl @ Oct 9th 2008 7:47AM
Sony Ericsson confirmed to us earlier this week that neither X1 will support the 1700MHz AWS band required for T-Mobile's 3G network.
http://www.mobileburn.com/news.jsp?Id=5441
Originally, both variants of the X1 were to have 1700MHz support. The initial press release back in February said as much. They have changed their plan, though.
lmk @ Oct 9th 2008 11:15AM
hey,
@ Chris Ziegler, you may want to update the post...there's a bigger difference most people will notice than 24fps vs 30 fps for the video...
the X1a (NA version) will only do video at 320x240 and will not support h.264. everyone else in the world will have VGA 640x480 video recording...BIG difference...
it seems to be related to the qualcomm chipset being used. with the lawsuit between it and broadcom in the states, they had to switch/cripple it...
considering most, if not all, high-end/smartphone/$1000! devices like this have VGA@30fps (nevermind my 2-3 year old Nokia N95), and that this phone was originally intended for the North American market (did i mention the $1000 price?) that's pretty pathetic on SE's part...there must have been another solution they could have used...
Beachball @ Oct 13th 2008 1:46PM
"...and that this phone was originally intended for the North American market"
And where do you get this from, please? Any back-up/evidence for this assertion?
Craig @ Oct 9th 2008 8:40PM
Australia will be getting both the a and the i, the a will be for the Telstra network which runs 850mhz and while the i will be available on the other networks who run their 3G on 900mhz
Jamar @ Oct 10th 2008 1:57PM
Just what we need- now we have 3G running on 900MHz too? At this rate we'll have to start juggling 6-band phones...
Craig @ Oct 9th 2008 8:42PM
I meant to say the other networks run both 900mhz and 2100mhz networks.
aoi tsuki @ Oct 9th 2008 10:59PM
This is maddening. i got over the lack of an accelerometer. "There's few apps that i'd really use to take advantage of it, and it has a key to rotate the screen when needed," i reasoned. i got over the fact that it likely wouldn't see release this year in North America. "i'll still be breaking in my AT&T Fuze/Touch Pro," i told myself. Now we get news of needlessly crippled video capture and i'm starting to wonder if i even want the X1 over the Touch Pro anymore. It's going to be hard to go back to video QVGA video when my N95 does such nice VGA video at 30fps. As someone stated before, you expect premium functionality out of a premium smartphone, especially one that's likely in the $1000 price range.
scar45 @ Oct 10th 2008 1:37AM
Please, can someone confirm as to whether or not the X1i will have UMTS band V support (850mhz 3G)? I know that a couple posts above, and confirmation from SE says that 1700mhz was removed, but being on the Rogers/Fido network, I need to know if the X1i will support 850mhz AND 1900mhz UMTS/3G bands.
Any clarification in this matter would be oh, so greatly appreciated!
Poppo @ Oct 10th 2008 8:21AM
There is also a big difference in processors on the US model and the other once. The US model uses the Qualcomm 7201A and the other once uses the Qualcomm 7200A. The difference between them is the graphics which is not as good in the 7201A as the 7200A. This is because of legal issues in the US of some graphics patent.
Drew @ Oct 14th 2008 10:02PM
So I was wondering does any one know any thing else about the American (Specifically the U.S.) version of this phone (X1a)? All I know so far is the they will talk about release dates on 11/03/08. I'm not sure if they have released more news about the phone besides the mini site that they show samples of the phones capabilities on.
Luke @ Oct 17th 2008 3:53PM
WTF! North America is stuck at 320x240 @ 24fps?
Why the hell did they have to cripple their phone for us?
Would it be possible to just buy an international version off the ebay and use it here in US? (i'm using tmobile)
SGK @ Nov 12th 2008 1:13PM
actually its not their fault. Blame it on Qualcomm for losing a patent lawsuit.
Mike @ Nov 3rd 2008 5:14PM
Nov 3 came and went. What happened?
hyphyballa @ Nov 3rd 2008 9:08PM
Seriously, I've been waiting long enough.