Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 vs Xperia X10i

The Xperia X10 is an Android phone from Sony Ericsson. Although it is just one phone, there are two versions of it, denoted by the a and i suffixes, which prompted many users to ask what the actual difference between the two is; the answer is actually just the frequency bands for 3G. The Xperia X10 (which is also the more common name for the X10a) supports the following frequencies: 800, 850, 1900, and 2100. On the other hand, the Xperia X10i supports the following 3G frequencies: 900, 1900, and 2100. The frequencies for GSM are the same.

The difference in 3G frequency bands isn’t really an issue for most of the people who live in urban areas or those who are within close proximity to cellular towers. If you notice, both the Xperia X10 and X10i have 1900 and 2100 Mhz frequencies. But for those who are outside the range of the previous two frequencies, the phone and the tower resorts to using the lower (800, 850, 900) frequency bands. This is where the problem happens because if the frequency bands of your phone and network do not match, you would not get any signal at all.

There is no set rule on which country uses which frequency bands. Some countries even use both, depending on the local service providers. The Xperia X10a is suited for use mainly in some South American countries and in the US under AT&T, who uses the 800 and 850 MHz frequency bands. The Xperia X10i is sold mostly in Asian and European countries. It is also available in the US under T-Mobile.

As already stated above, most people would not have any problem with using either the Xperia X10 or the Xperia X10i. Even if you do not get a 3G signal, 2G would still provide you with the basic call and text functionality as well as a slow but usable GPRS connection. If data services are essential to you and you want to have the best speed, the Xperia X10s are also equipped with WiFi. You can just connect to your home or office network and get that speed.

Summary:

1.The Xperia X10i supports slightly different frequency bands for 3G than the Xperia X10
2.The Xperia X10 is used mostly in the US and South America while the Xperia X10i is used in Europe and Asia.

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