Now here is the phone for real Game lovers. A PlayStation in a phone, that’s all Xperia is all about. Finally there is a phone which runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread unlike the HTC Droid Incredible 2 and the Samsung Infuse 4G. But Xperia is a phone which is made to run on Gingerbread. It’s slick and sleek with awesome combination of plastic Glass and metal. But does Xperia give the real playstation experience? Lets watch out below.
Hardware and Design
A slider handset with size 4.69 x 2.44 x 0.63 (119 x 62 x 16 mm) weighing 6.17 oz (175 g) is the best part of the design. It has a built in light sensor and proximity sensor. The battery is a 1500 mAh one. Usually all the smartphones can hold charge just for a day and so does the Xperia. It can connect to the Verizon 3G network. It has a 512 MB RAM / 512 MB ROM which is quite sufficient for you to play games on the phone.
The Gamepad
The buttons are embedded in a beautiful fashion. It just looks like a playstation joystick with the direction keys on the left, face buttons on the right and the pair analog pads in between them. on seeing the pics you might wonder how these two buttons could work as analog buttons, but don’t forget, these are not 3D images. These analog pads react in the same way as the capacitive touchscreen.You could actually move your fingers over the pads without having to look down. The dot at the center of the pad helps you in the orientation of your fingers.
The Android Menu button is on the bottom left with the select and start button on the right. Searching for the L1 and R1 controls? They are placed in the same position as they were on the console gamepad. They are located at the shoulder of the phone.
The sliding mechanism is spring loaded, so you don’t have to move your fingers for a longer distance to slide the phone up. The best part of the design is that the phone doesn’t incline to any angle even if you apply a few extra Newtons on one side. It stays parallel to the base in whatever position it is.
The volume button is located between the L1 and R1 controls. The Home and Menu buttons are located at the up front and are quite spongy which might would make you apply more pressure on the buttons to get them pressed.
Camera
Sony’s camera’s are no wonder the best ones according to what i have personally experienced. It has a 5 megapixel camera at the back which is capable of recording 720p HD video. A drawback is that it fails to focus properly in the dark and hence you pics might have high noise. It doesn’t have the physical shutter on the camera. If it was to have it, the R1 button position would suit it best, but since it is a playstation phone, Sony had concentrated more on the Playstation design and not on the camera.
Software
It’s Android and obviously you have plentiful apps in the Android Market quite close it iOS. The most important two apps which you get with the Sony Ericsson Xperia are the Xperia Play (don’t get confused with the name of the phone and the App). The Xperia Play App is a showcase of the Android Market games which are compatible with the Xperia Play phone’s controls. I guess I haven’t confused you much with the “Xperia Play” 😛 The other one is the Playstation Pocket which has the PS One games.
Connectivity
- Connectivity Options – Bluetooth v2.1, Micro USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS
- Data Modes – 3G, GPRS, EDGE, WAP 2.0/xHTML,HTML Internet Browsing
Price and Verdict
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is an Android phone meant for PlayStation people and not a PlayStation phone for Android people. Realize the difference, you got to buy this if you are a PlayStation lover and not if you are an Android lover. Despite the low quality of the camera, the controls of the phone are its main strength. If you are looking for an Android phone, you can better have a look at the Android section. But if you need a handy PlayStation, you must go for it.
The Price of Sony Ericsson Xperia Play in India is Rs.28,990 and is $400 in U.S.
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