O2 X1

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Available now
28th October 2003

O2's new X1 is a stylish clamshell handset with a camera, tightly integrated into the O2 Active service.

It weighs just 80 grams and comes with all the usual features of this class of phone, including a 640x480 pixel camera. The O2 X1 is 89 x 48 x 24m which is about the standard for a clamshell (images is actual size on a 72dpi monitor), although it is quite light. Talktime is up to 5 hours with a standby time of up to 3 days.

GPRS, polyphonic ringtones, Java, a good colour screen and the usual bells and whistles that go into a quality clamshell phone make the X1 an nice looking choice in pure technical terms, but O2's pitch with the X1 is the low price. In the UK it will be around £50 with a contract, £170 for pay-as-you-go. In Ireland prices start at €109 for a contract and €199 for prepay. German phones are around €80 with a contract.

What's clear is that there's a huge battle amongst UK networks to provide fully functioning high-end clamshells tightly tied into the network's value-added functions. With Vodafone there's the rather expensive Sharp GX20, and Orange are looking pretty good with the LG 7100. However, it looks like the O2 X1 has the advantage on price at the moment, and certainly it's a pretty looking handset too which will help.