Is Sony Ericsson short changing Satio users?

satio-battery

I’ve just got back from the Symbian Exchange and Exposition (SEE09) at London’s Earls Court where I had a one-on-one press briefing with Anders Westin, Sony Ericsson’s Head of Software Relations, Symbian Software.

We had an interesting chat about the company’s “commitment” to Symbian, whether or not Sony Ericsson can continue to afford to support a multi-platform smartphone strategy (Symbian, Android and Windows Mobile), and the issue of app store fragmentation. I was quite direct in my questioning and Westin kindly played game.

However, it was when I raised some of my criticism of the company’s flagship Symbian smartphone, the just-released Satio, that things turned a little odd.

I asked a very simple question: Why did Sony Ericsson ship such a small capacity battery – 1000mAh – with the Satio, a 3.5 inch touch screen device with serious Internet ambitions and one that sports a power-hungry 12.1 megapixel camera? Battery life on the Satio isn’t great.

“1000mAh?”, Westin replied. “Don’t you mean 1350mAh?”.

At which point he pulled the back cover off of his Satio to reveal a 1350mAh battery inside.

To say I was stumped would be an understatement. I’ve had access to a retail version of the Satio bought from Carphone Warehouse here in the UK for a couple of weeks now and I was sure that said device ships with a 1000mAh battery. Maybe I was wrong.

After leaving the briefing I bowled up to the Sony Ericsson stand on the exhibition floor where the Satio was on show and inquired about battery capacity. “1000mAh” was the reply. When I returned home, I also checked our Satio again.

Yep, 1000mAh.

Is this a case of Sony Ericsson not eating their own dog food? And if the Satio has room for a much needed higher capacity 1350mAh battery, why isn’t the company shipping it with one?

All theories welcome.

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last100 is edited by Steve O'Hear. Aside from founding last100, Steve is co-founder and CEO of Beepl and a freelance journalist who has written for numerous publications, including TechCrunch, The Guardian, ZDNet, ReadWriteWeb and Macworld, and also wrote and directed the Silicon Valley documentary, In Search of the Valley. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

16 Responses to “Is Sony Ericsson short changing Satio users?”

  1. momchil says:

    well, the one that i tested few days ago was also with 1000mah battery

  2. momchil says:

    well, the one that i tested few days ago was also with 1000mah battery

  3. Steve O'Hear says:

    It's not just a UK thing then.

  4. Steve O'Hear says:

    It's not just a UK thing then.

  5. capitano says:

    I was just asking myself the same thing. [testing satio @ italy]

  6. capitano says:

    I was just asking myself the same thing. [testing satio @ italy]

  7. jonmorris says:

    Yup, BST-33 is definitely 950-1000mAh (depending on its age, 09Wxx models will be 1000). BST-40 is higher, but I am not sure if it fits.

    If it does, then it's pretty poor that SE has bundled a smaller capacity battery in the box to safe what's probably only a few cents.

  8. jonmorris says:

    Yup, BST-33 is definitely 950-1000mAh (depending on its age, 09Wxx models will be 1000mAh). BST-40 is higher, but I am not sure if it fits – it's a fraction thicker and only ever came out for a couple of UIQ models (W960 was perhaps one, P1i the other?).

    If it does fit the BST-40, then it's pretty poor that SE has bundled a smaller capacity battery in the box to safe what's probably only a few cents. It needs as much battery power as it can get.

  9. jonmorris says:

    Yup, BST-33 is definitely 950-1000mAh (depending on its age, 09Wxx models will be 1000mAh). BST-40 is higher, but I am not sure if it fits – it's a fraction thicker and only ever came out for a couple of UIQ models (W960 was perhaps one, P1i the other?).

    If it does fit the BST-40, then it's pretty poor that SE has bundled a smaller capacity battery in the box to safe what's probably only a few cents. It needs as much battery power as it can get.

  10. Gnarl says:

    Perhaps he has a battery that is not official and not made for teh Satio. I mean jsut becasue that guy had a bigger battery doesn't mean they are available for full production yet. Still, stupid of him to brag about that though.

  11. Gnarl says:

    Perhaps he has a battery that is not official and not made for teh Satio. I mean jsut becasue that guy had a bigger battery doesn't mean they are available for full production yet. Still, stupid of him to brag about that though.

  12. xecel says:

    This is my theory

    – At the planning stage, Sony Ericsson planned to use BST-33 with their new handset.
    – After finished their prototype, BST-33 wasn't enough for Satio
    – They had two choice. ( A ) redesign Satio to consume less energy ( B ) stick with the old design and start new battery production line and hit the market later.
    – They chose ( B ) because they didn't want to chance the release schedule.

  13. jorge chelsea london says:

    I read some comments about Ericsson Satio. The issue is about the battery. Forget the battery.
    The main thing is, keep freezing the phone. At least two o three times a day. Only to reboot is
    remove the battery. its annoying all the time everyday.. wanna disappointed for ericsson.
    This is my third phone in two weeks since i had a satio, in carphone warehouse. But i gave up they are all the same.For me its not recommended this phone to all my freinds.
    Could someone rectify this problem. perhaps the software of satio ericsson are lowsy..
    Please, if you could let me know.. thank you

  14. lolla says:

    They must be having a laugh!! I had the W880 and IT uses a 950mAh battery and it's tiny! How can they possibly think that people won't be incredibly annoyed that there phones are really cool…except they can't show it off because it's ALWAYS DEAD! (sorry, I have the C905, which doesn't require anywhere near as much power and is always needing charged!!)

  15. paul says:

    I have just got the Satio, and to say it doesnt last 1 hour after a full 2.5 hours charge is an understatement LMAO its pathetic, i would never of gotton this phone if id have known, dont get me wrong the phone itself is brilliant, the camera is excellent and the internet and all apps are fine, its easy to use the touch screen is perfect, o did i mention that it freezes when it likes lol and turns itself off and cant handle more than 2 apps on at a time before it starts to over heat lol o why did i buy this phone :(, take my advice leave alone its not that great!

  16. lee maunder says:

    I'm commenting on the exchange of the satio handset I had from the carphone warehouse in october. I was told by customer services at the CPWH that I am entitled to an exchange because my satio suffered from the symbian software bug. I called my local store & they said yes call in & we'll exchange the satio for you, no problem. when I got there they proceeded with the exchange as promised. Whilst this was going on I got talking to the shop manager & he told me that Sony Ericsson were charging the cpwh £30.00 a pop for exchanging the handsets. Then the fun really started! I was refused an exchange because my contract was with orange service provider. I told them that orange are not responsible for the phone, only the contract. To cut a very long story short I was refused an exchange & orange spoke to the manager of the cpwh & ordered him to exchange the phone. Oh no way! Any cpwh customers out there on orange & have a faulty satio beware! you wont get the exchange you were hoping for. all other customers not on orange get in there before they blot you all out! I am now in proceedings with the office of fair trading.

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