24 Jun 09 Sony X1000 reviewed by ABi

We hope you haven’t forgotten about the Sony X1000 series. We haven’t kept up with our weekly love affair with this player, but don’t think for a second that I’m not anticipating the moment I get my hands on one. In the meantime, we’ll have to settle on the next best thing, reviews from around the web. The latest comes from ABi, who opted to acquire a UK model. It s mostly the same as the US version, except it lacks the Slacker Radio feature.

ABi editor Grahm Skee states the X1000 “is easily the fastest most accurate touch screen on any device I have used to date”. The X1000 also has a superb build quality, and a nice scratch resistant display. As you’d expect, Skee was impressed with the sound quality, rating it as one of his favorites. It’s not all sunshine and roses though. The built-in web browser doesn’t work too well with full fledged websites, just mobile versions. While videos do look nice on the 3.0″ OLED display, getting them on there is a nuisance since it doesn’t have native support for the most popular video formats and resolutions. And finally, it looks like Sony still hasn’t learned their lesson in the software department. The included Media Transfer software is buggy and requires you to pay in order to fully get the most out of it. Thankfully it isn’t required, as the X1000 is a UMS device. Check out the summary and interface walkthrough video below:

Summary Pros Great Sound Quality Capacitive touch screen Great OLED screen Slacker Radio, YouTube, Direct Download Podcasts Solid design Cons No Native Video Playback, Conversion is Neccesary Expensive Horrible Included Software Buggy Podcast Feature No multi-touch

Sony X1000 review by ABi

If you’d like to get the X1000, it looks like it’s in now in stock and shipping from Sony Style. It also shows a release date of July 3rd on Amazon.