While Vodafone may have left the X2 high and dry in the UK, online retailer Play.com had put the Xperia X2 up for pre-order. Originally it was to be released on the 29th of January but, from then onwards for the next few days, the product listed said the handset was out of stock. The page has been updated again, offering the handset up for pre-order. This time the release date is expected to be the 17th of February. with rumors going around that the X2 has been cancelled in the UK altogether, it’ll be interesting to see if Play do ship this handset out, or whether the page will be taken down after the 17th. Hopefully Play will be able to release the handset unlocked to those in the UK who do want the Windows Mobile handset, over the upcoming Android powered X10.
The much delayed Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 has finally shown up on the SonyStyle US website with a Coming soon notice. Over on the website, it’s listed as the X2a, for the American market. Hopefully this is a sign that the handset will eventually be released and soon. However, with the delays, Windows 6.5 may soon be outdated. Windows Mobile 6.6 is rumoured to be released next month and Windows Mobile 7 next year.
Yesterday we reported that UK online retailer Play.com had listed the Xperia X2 up for pre-order with a release date of January 29th. We also found that the X2 page on Vodafone had disappeared and instead returned a page not found error. The reason for this is because, Vodafone UK have dropped the X2.
In an internal email, staff were informed that they would no longer be selling the Xperia X2. Other websites are reporting that the X2 will now not be sold in the UK at all as the X2 was to be exclusive to Vodafone. However Play.com and other websites still have the page up for pre-ordering. Also the X2 was only to be exclusive to Vodafone for a short while. Others are reporting that O2 will stock the handset when it’s released on their network. As of yet though, O2 haven’t confirmed this, so we’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed that they can bring the handset to the UK subsidized on a contract.
Over at Play.com, you can now pre-order the Xperia X2. They have the release date as January 29th. The handset will cost £499.99 from Play. The Sony Ericsson Store does not have the release date posted but, still says January 2010. Vodafone on the other hand, the page for the X2 is no longer available. Instead a page not found message is displayed.
While the Xperia X2 may not be out yet, it hasn’t stopped a Chinese company from cloning the handset. Meet the Xderia X2. Externally it looks very similar to the Xperia X2 but, features a slightly smaller display at 3 inches instead of the promised 3.5 inch display of the X2. Like the X2, the Xderia has a slide out QWERTY keyboard and sports a similar back, along with the 12 megapixel camera text . However don’t expect the camera to actually be 12 megapixel.
The Xderia also doesn’t run on Windows Mobile but, pretends it does, with it’s own clone operating system. Also the display is WQVGA with a resolution of 400×240. Other features of the phone include an FM Radio, Quadband GSM support and like most other clones, features dual sim. There’s currently no information on price but, it’s sure to be at least half the price of the real thing.
While it’s been known for a little while now, that the Xperia X2 has been delayed until January, Xperiancers shed light as to why this is. Xperiancers had received some pre-release models and have played around with the handsets. At first, the software on the phone worked fine, but when trying network specific apps, some issues were found. Sony Ericsson are working on fixing these before the handset goes to retail.
It’s all minor tweaks really (extending the battery life and speeding up aspects of the software), but we want to be sure that when we ship this it is as good as it should be and that you don’t have to constantly upgrade the software as we iron out these wrinkles.
So… we’re launching first week of January. Really sorry if you were looking forward to getting hold of one before then but it will be worth it when we get there.
The Vodafone page for the Sony Ericsson X2 may have stayed as “due November” for a long time, including December, but the website has now been updated. Unfortunately not to a due December notice, but rather a “due January” message. The SE-Store on the other handset as December. A December released would be great but, I feel it may be next year before we see the handset. No word on whether this will affect the release of the X10, but chances are high that the X10 will also get delayed.
While some lucky guys have already got hold of the X2, the retail version at that, the rest of us have to wait even longer. The Xperia X2 was due to be released exclusively on Vodafone in the UK sometime in November. With tonight bringing a close to November it’s clear a November release is not happening. Currently Vodafone still have the X2 as listed due November, while the official Sony Ericsson store have updated their listing to December. However it still is only an expected release date, not a guaranteed one. Hopefully we will see the handset before Christmas though and hopefully, the delay of the X2 won’t have an impact on the X10 February release.
The Xperia X2 has gone through the JBenchmark Pro test and proved to be very sucessful. For those unfamiliar with JBenchmark Pro, it’s used to compare the performance of phones and is the industry’s standard Java ME benchmark. Now onto the results. To say the results were high, would only be telling half of the story. The X2 got a score of 588, which is the highest score ever!
While many of us are still waiting for the Xperia X2, one lucky member of XDA-Developers has received his retail Xperia X2. To say he was impressed with it, would be an understatement. He’s unboxed the phone for us and provided a video of the unboxing. With the video he’s also provided various photos and very detailed information about the handset, almost a review. He explains that the box is smaller than that of the X1. Inside the box there’s a 4GB card, 1500mAh battery, which is the same as the X1, along with the regular cables and a TV out cable.
Overall, his first impressions of the handset are superb. The build quality is described as being much better than the X1 and any “HTC plastic phone”, with the phone having a metal finish all round making it feel very solid to use. Despite the metal exterior, the handset is actually lighter than the X1 and thinner but is slightly bigger.
You can see the unboxing video below. After the jump you can view the SlideView UI and a sample video taken with the X2 at full resolution.
While it’s been known for a little while now, that the Xperia X2 has been delayed until January, Xperiancers shed light as to why this is. 
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