Sony Ericsson X8, Zylo, Aspen, Yendo, Spiro, Cedar prices in India

 

Sony Ericsson has revealed estimated prices for its portfolio of six phones launched last week in India, these include Android, Windows, Greenheart and Walkman phones. Two of the phones – Aspen and Zylo have an MRP at this point, while the rest have an estimated price range that seems quite affordable and compelling. A quick look at these phones, ordered on personal preference. 

Xperia X8 –Mid-range Android - Estimated price: Rs. 16,000-17,000

Update: The X8 is priced at Rs 13,900.

Price wise, the Xperia X8 (aka Shakira) falls in the sweet spot between the X10 and the X10 mini, if you were looking for a mid-range Android phone that doesn’t suffer a QVGA screen, then the X8 is just what the doctor ordered. It has a 3-inch HVGA screen (320x480 resolution) that should handle most of the apps on the Android Market, and while it runs on Android 1.6 as of now, you can expect a 2.1 update to be rolled across by Q4 this year. 

Like the X10, the X8 runs SE’s Timescape UI that integrates your social network for one-handed access, the specs on GSMarena don’t mention Mediascape UI that was present on the X10. At a minor price bump over the X10 mini, the X8 is a better buy over the former. 

 

Sony Ericsson Aspen – Greenheart Windows 6.5 Smartphone - Priced at Rs 16,744/- (MRP)

Made out of recycled materials, Aspen will take on QWERTY business phones from Nokia and BlackBerry. While it lacks a front-facing camera, it has a 2.4-inch QVGA(320x240) resisitive touchscreen in addition to a D-Pad navigation key. Aspen runs on Windows Mobile 6.5.3 Professional and has an enhanced UI with XPERIA panels. Connectivity options on this Quad-band GSM phone include HSDPA 7.2Mbps and HSUPA 2Mbps support, Wi-Fi b/g, A-GPS, Google Maps, microUSB and stereo Bluetooth v2.0. For your multimedia and entertainment needs, it has DivX, XviD video support, Stereo FM Radio with RDS, and a 3.5mm audio jack, and a 3.15 megapixel camera and a microSD card slot (up to 16GB, 8GB card in the box). Full specs here.

These two feature phones are new additions to the Walkman range, they integrate social networking apps like Twitter and Facebook. These music phones feature TrackID – which allows consumers to access the name and artist of a track that is playing in the background. The Zylo has a larger 2.6-inch screen in comparison to the 2.2-inch screen found on the Spiro, a better camera, 3G support, geotagging and videocalling capabilities, and a wider range of apps that include YouTube and Google Maps. Both phones lack Wi-Fi capabilities.

Cedar - GreenHeart Candybar phone - Estimated price Rs. 6,000-7,000

Part of the Sony Ericsson’s GreenHeart portfolio, Cedar is an affordable candybar phone that provides access to social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, the phone also boasts of 3G HSPA connectivity and VGA recording at 30 fps. It has a microSD card slot and a 3.5mm jack for music listening, in addition to Stereo FM with RDS. Full specs here.

Yendo Walkman Phone - Scaled down version of Xpedia X10 Mini – Estimated Price Rs. 8,000-9,000

If you wanted something like the Xperia X10 mini without the Android goodness, the Yendo is what you were looking for. Both have the same 2.5” capacitive screen, while the XPeria X10 mini has more colours (256k vs. 16M colours). Specs wise, it’s quite scaled down in comparison to the former, it runs on a 156 MHz processor, and supports GPRS and EDGE. While the specs don’t mention Timescape UI, the phone’s UI pulls SMSes, Facebook updates, and emails. The Yendo is being pitched as the first full-touch Walkman phone and is available in over 10 colours.