Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness X5 review

Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness X5 is a stylish mobile phone with stunning transparent display. The device delivers high-impact wow factor with a see-through screen that's transparently designed to impress.

Unlike other Xperia models, however, the Pureness may be smart-looking but it's no smartphone. As its name suggests, on the features front the Pureness keeps it simple, offering most of the essential phone functionality one would expect from a mid-range handset in a classic, functional package.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness doesn't do touchscreen tricks or run on smartphone operating systems like the Windows Mobile Xperia X1 and X2 or the Android-powered Xperia X10.

Instead, it's a compact candybar-style handset with HSDPA high-speed 3G connectivity, typical Sony Ericsson media player functionality and  a largely familiar Sony Ericsson user interface underpinning it. It lacks a camera of any description, which is unusual for any mobile nowadays, and is short also on Wi-Fi or GPS satellite location-finding gadgetry.

The big draw on this phone is clearly its unusual, stylish design rather than a bumper features list. While the premium handset card has been played previously by other manufacturers, the Xperia Pureness does introduce a bit of sit-up-and-take-notice novelty with its innovative display.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness is a neatly crafted candybar, measuring a sleek 102(h) x 43(w) x 13(d) mm and a waif-like 70g. Its lightweight glossy black plastic bodywork is minimalist chic, with numbers only visible when the phone is active. There's three tiny square control buttons raised on the control panel, plus twin volume keys on either side and a tiny power on/off button unusually on the back.

The screen though is the focal point of this design. Its made from a sheet of scratch resistant plastic spreading right to the edges of the body. It's when you pick it up and twirl it around that you really notice that it's something out of the ordinary - there's no back panel covering it. At rest it appears like a translucent frosted glass window rather than a regular display, and you can see blurred objects through it.

Click one of the buttons, though, and the frosted glass clears instantly as the screen activates and you can see right through it. All the usual elements you see on a phone screen - text, menus and graphics - appear in white on the clear display, seemingly suspended in mid-air. With the outside rim of the screen backlit white, it is a dramatic and attention-grabbing effect. It will certainly get you noticed.

The display isn't ostentatiously blingy and looks rather refined - though other people will be able to see exactly who you're chatting to by peeping through the back of your Pureness's display.

There is, however, one major drawback to the Xperia Pureness's wow-inducing transparent screen - its basic readability. The white onscreen elements on the 1.8 inch monochrome panel don't show up well against a see-through display - particularly an issue with small text - and it can be very difficult to read clearly in many lighting environments.

Understandably, holding it up against darker backgrounds suits it better. But overall, once you get past the novelty factor, the screen is a major issue running through the phone's user interface that's hard to overlook. It undermines usability simply becuase of its practicality - it's often not easy to see what's happening onscreen.

The plastic bodywork helps keep the weight down, but we felt it also makes it feel a bit cheaper in the hand than an aspirational handset like this ought to. The numberpad keys are adequately responsive for swift texting though.

The minimalist control panel buttonry cleverly camouflages a fairly conventional Sony Ericsson key arrangement; the central button is the select key for a hidden directional navigation pad, plus there are familiar softkeys, and Clear and Activity Menu buttons that appear around the flanking Call and End buttons.

Out of the box, the standby screen has a simple clock in the centre, and the main menu is set out as a series of scrollable large icons, which makes it easier to see the sub-menu options. If you prefer a more conventional look, this can be changed to a grid style menu by swapping themes. The navigation pad offers a typical selection of user definable shortcuts, while the Activity menu key opens up menus for quick access to useful features and info in typical Sony Ericsson style.

The user interface is a familiar Sony Ericsson mid-tier set-up, with tabbed lists of sub menu options again oulined in white on the display. Text messaging is OK using the numberpad, although as we've said it can be difficult reading what you're typing on the display - particularly if predictive text is bringing up similar-looking characters to the ones you're attempting to type. The phone supports MMS message receiving and sending - though the nature of the display means any pictures are monochrome and appear a bit like photo negatives.

Email is supported too, with a regular email wizard to help you set up your normal email accounts on the phone.

The music player does the usual stuff, with lists of categories to choose music from, including artists, albums, playlists, genres, year plus podcasts and audio book options, and the navigation pad taking care of player controls. While there's no memory card expansion, some 2GB of media storage is built in to go with around 95MB of phone memory.

Sony Ericsson pulls a neat stroke with the inclusion of a set of Bluetooth earphones in the box as standard. The smart-lookiing Stereo Streaming Bluetooth Headset HBH-HS800 supplied in-box comprises two in-ear buds connected with a wire with mic/remote control between them. It's very easy to set up and use in seconds and works extremely well, producing a lovely clear, well balanced sound.

Another reasonable set of wired in-ear earphones are included in the package too, with a 3.5mm standard headphone adapter, should you wish to upgrade to regular headphones. These plug into the Sony Ericsson multi-connector on the side - not such a sleek option. They need to be connected as an antenna if you're using the phone's built in FM radio function; this is suitably straightforward to set up and use.

Tunes can be copied over to the phone from a PC using a supplied USB cable and Sony Ericsson's MediaGo software package, or via Bluetooth, or dragged and dropped in mass storage mode.

Although the Xperia Pureness does high-speed HSDPA mobile data connectivity, the browsing experience using the regulation Sony Ericsson NetFront mid-tier browser is seriously hampered by the limitations of the monochrome display. Pages are very difficult to read and navigate in the normal way. It does offer shortcut controls for zooming bookmarking and suchlike in a familiar Sony Ericsson way, but the screen is really just not a satisfactory or practical way of working the web.

A standard toolbox of organiser functionality is included, with calendar, tasks,  notes, timer, stopwatch, calculator, plus sound recorder applications inside. TrackID software is also included to seek out the name of tunes you hear around you. A Pac-Man game is included too, which is playable on the screen.

You can play back video, but the monochrome projection on the clear screen, while offering a hint of Minority Report, makes for an extremely poor viewing experience.

The Xperia Pureness puts in an assured voice calling performance, with good quality sound and reliable connectivity. Battery life is satisfactory too; Sony Ericsson quotes up to 3.5 hours talktime on 3G networks (or 8.5 hours in GSM-only coverage), or standby of up to 350 hours. With normal usage, we had no problems running the phone for 3 days between charges, which is acceptable for this grade handset.

Moreso than with most style-based handsets, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness X5's appeal is built primarily around its stand-out design feature - the transparent display. It's pitched as a phone that's focused on the essentials rather than a do-it-all smartphone, and its modest amount of high-grade features reflect this.

However, doing the essentials is made less than easy by virtue of the transparent 'window' screen. It's undoubtedly a stunning visual design element that adds a unique eye-catching twist to the classic minimalist look. But the white-on-transparent graphics aren't the most readable combination; it can be difficult to read and it makes accessing and using some functions unusually awkward and unsatisfactory. The lack of high-end regular features - and a camera - will certainly deter others.

Of course, some well-heeled people looking at slipping an Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness in their pocket will be more concerned about the exclusive looks rather than the nitty gritty of usability, and the Pureness does make a stylish talking point. For the rest of us, though, the Pureness doesn't get close to being essential.