Siemens SX1 is the first smartphone from Siemens. Fortunately, being on an existing platform rather than creating a proprietary one, the German manufacturer's SX1 is powered by Nokia's Series 60 platform and Symbian OS version 6.1. The smartphone got released after a long time; this may harm its life cycle. Siemens SX1 has all the features that are needed for big success. The only competitor considered is Nokia 6600 smartphone.

External look

Siemens achieved a good balance between size, shape, and weight with the SX1. Measuring 109mm x 56mm x 19mm and weighing about 115 grams, it falls into a similar "size class" as the Sony Ericsson P900 and the Nokia 6600. Not small, but still quite easily fit into the pocket. Keys 1-5 and the star button can be found on the left side, while keys 6-0 and the hash button are placed to the right. Most of the people consider this new layout as a negative point of the cell phone. Most of times, it is hard to dial a number with one hand. The sides give a rubberized touch which gives an ease in handling the phone. The color screen is also impressive, giving 65k TFD 176 x 220 pixel resolution.

Features

Other impressive features include the presence of hot swappable memory cards, FM radio, MP3 player and improved connectivity options. Camera is at par with other series 60 smartphones in terms of picture and video quality. Battery life is controversial and works around 2-3 days in real life depending upon the usage. But, the good news is that the battery life is not that much affected by listening to radio or mp3 files. Siemens has also made some improvements to the standard-fare desktop connectivity application which Nokia bundles with its smartphones, among them the ability to manage MP3 files, simple photo processing and enabling users to send SMS and MMS messages from the desktop. Furthermore, most of the technologies are present in their latest versions such as Java MIDP 2.0, WAP 2.0 etc. Since the SX1 is a Symbian driven handset, there are many after market applications and games that can be purchased online. Included on the phone are too many bits of software to list. Some of the more useful ones are the Organiser, Contact Manager, web browser, the file manager, and of course world and alarm clocks.

Conclusion

The first smartphone from Siemens, based on existing platform and presence of many impressive features make it a competitive set in the market. The only disadvantage considered is the keypad of the smartphone. With its mp3 compatibility and FM radio, Siemens SX1 has set new standards in the youth. But, SX1 is relatively less popular among the class due to its slow synchronization, poor text input and short battery life. Right now, the phone costs around 800 $ without plan.