By Sherwin Loh

Wow factor: 12.1-megapixel camera

THE first thing that drew me to the phone was neither the huge 3.5-inch display that makes up 90 per cent of the unit itself nor its 12.1-megapixel camera.

It was its lightness of being - a mere 126g compared to other "brick" phones which can be up to three times heavier.

Touted as the first 12.1-megapixel camera phone around, the Satio lets users see the subject in full 16:9 widescreen glory.

The camera lens is protected by a sliding cover, which is always a good thing.

The photo-taking experience was a breeze.

Restricted to testing the phone in Sony Ericsson's showing at the dimly lit Red Dot Museum, I was glad for the use of the Xenon flash which lit up the subjects considerably.

The outcome was a sharp, detailed image, a welcome surprise compared with most of the other camera-phones out there.

The response time was also fast and I did not have to hold the camera still, in case there was a delayed shutter release.

The phone uses an onscreen keyboard, but I was not able to test the browser functions on the test phone because there was no SIM card in the test unit. A pity.

Another noteworthy point: the new nHD or ninth High Definition, which Sony says displays a ninth of current 1080 HD resolution.

When I played the racing game, Asphalt, the image quality was bright, with the sound coming in clearly from the built-in speakers.

While I did not have a chance to test out the full functions of the display, what I saw was impressive.

The combination of camera functions, high-quality screen and applications such as Facebook, video streaming and handwriting recognition should make this a draw to the younger crowd, if they can afford what would probably be a pricey device.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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