With the Satio, Sony Ericsson also announced a sibling phone, which is the Aino. Developed using the same principle of Communication Entertainment Unlimited being pushed by the company, the Aino is a new fresh convergence device in Sony Ericsson’s product lineup. Its unlike its elder sibling, which is a smartphone, however the Aino has several features that make it stand out in the feature phone market.
First impression is always important, and the Aino has a very favourable one. The first time you open the box, you will notice the big slab of phone with a dominating three inch screen display facing you, with the included Bluetooth headset in the box. I will touch on that later one. Back to the phone – Aino’s designer must have delved into the older Sony Ericsson design as the phones has features from the older phone but still feels quite fresh.
The phone is a hybrid phone, where it has both a touch screen and a number pad, complete with a 5-way navigation pad for navigating the highly polished Sony Ericsson phone menu system. The touch screen interface sits on-top of the phone interface, and is accessible only when the keypad is closed. It also features a 8.1 megapixel camera to capture moments when your bigger camera is not around.
In the box, you will get the phone, the Bluetooth hands free kit and a dock-cum-charging station for both the phone and the hands free kit. Yes, it charges both at the same time. Fully docked, the phone, in conjunction with the hands free kit, makes a nice desk clock as the standby mode for the phone features a large type-face clock while the hands free kit features LEDs that shows if it is charged or not. The Bluetooth headset is only a basic version without a display, but the same LED will light up depending on the button that was pressed.
Touch experience on the phone is quite limited to when the phone is closed, or when the program supports the capability even when opened. The touch UI is mainly for multimedia purposes as you can control your music, pictures, videos, radio and the camera with the capacitive screen.
While the phone is laden with technology, it has however a severe Achilles heel, which is the battery. With only 1000mAh for the phone, you will be running out of juice in no time. With 3G on, intermittent GPS usage and some short movie viewing, the Aino only lasted for about 8 hours, which is not enough. Before you cry foul, in this age of 3G devices lasting for a full day, 8 hours is not technically a full day, so it is still bad note in my book.
Aino continues Sony Ericsson’s impressive line of feature phones, offering users an impressive array of features to appease even the most demanding of consumers. However, the battery life really brings down the usability of the phone away from the power point.
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