Regular readers will know we’re pretty excited about the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 here at PHONE Magazine.  So I’m jealous as anything that Kornel from UMPC Portal got to spend some brief but quality time with the X1 recently.  The first handset from the company to run Windows Mobile 6.1, Kornel’s was only a prototype – and as such lacked the full ‘Panel’ GUI overlay – but first impressions are positive and that high-res 800 x 480 touchscreen is apparently every bit as gorgeous as you might imagine it would be.

Some of the usability tweaks Sony Ericsson have made sound like they have potential.  The kinetic scrolling may be “no iPhone” but it’s better than many WM smartphones can manage, and the curved slide-out keyboard is nicely sprung and very usable.  Size-wise it manages to be smaller than a full-QWERTY BlackBerry but still beat it on features.

You can see the second part of Kornel’s hands-on video at UMPC Portal.  The XPERIA X1 is still on course for release in the second half of 2008.  It’s expected to be available on AT&T in the US.