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Sunday 15 May 2011

The New Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play a Review

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play, the PlayStation Phone, is here to change the way you play games on your phone. Before the launch, it was rumoured for almost an year that Sony is working on a PlayStation-branded phone and it could be the next version of PSP, but oh well, we now have a new PSP 2 (NGP) and the Xperia Play as well.

Xperia Play is not PSP, but infact, a little more than that. It’s more of a portable gaming console with mobile capabilities. It can play PlayStation One games at the moment, and soon all the PSP games will be available as well on the Xperia Play.




Let’s begin with the review now and see how this phone performs in other features as well, apart from gaming.Sony Ericsson Xperia Play: Specifications

Display: 4.0-inch LED-backlit LCD display (480 x 854 pixels)
Processor/GPU: 1GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon
Camera: 5 megapixels camera with autofocus, autofocus, LED flash, secondary camera for video calls
Video: Video recording with flash at WVGA resolution.
Memory: 512MB RAM, 400MB internal memory, 16GB microSD card included, microSD slot upto 32GB
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi, microUSB, DLNA
Other: Flash Player 10.2 support, A-GPS, 3.5 mm jack, accelerometer, Document Viewer, Facebook/Twitter integration, TrackID music recognization
Battery: 1500 mAh Li-Ion
OS: Android 2.3 with Sony Ercisson XPERIA UI.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play Review

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Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play, the PlayStation Phone, is here to change the way you play games on your phone. Before the launch, it was rumoured for almost an year that Sony is working on a PlayStation-branded phone and it could be the next version of PSP, but oh well, we now have a new PSP 2 (NGP) and the Xperia Play as well.

Xperia Play is not PSP, but infact, a little more than that. It’s more of a portable gaming console with mobile capabilities. It can play PlayStation One games at the moment, and soon all the PSP games will be available as well on the Xperia Play.

Let’s begin with the review now and see how this phone performs in other features as well, apart from gaming.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Review



Sony Ericsson announced the Xperia Play earlier this year in February, at the Mobile World Congress 2011. Xperia Arc (full review) and Xperia Neo were also announced along with the Xperia Play. Sony Ericsson is known for delivering the latest Android software updates very late as compared to HTC, Samsung, Motorola etc. I hope they don’t do the smae with the latest Xperia devices i.e. Sony Ericsson Xperia Play.

The technical specifications of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play are as follows:
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play: Specifications

Display: 4.0-inch LED-backlit LCD display (480 x 854 pixels)
Processor/GPU: 1GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon
Camera: 5 megapixels camera with autofocus, autofocus, LED flash, secondary camera for video calls
Video: Video recording with flash at WVGA resolution.
Memory: 512MB RAM, 400MB internal memory, 16GB microSD card included, microSD slot upto 32GB
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi, microUSB, DLNA
Other: Flash Player 10.2 support, A-GPS, 3.5 mm jack, accelerometer, Document Viewer, Facebook/Twitter integration, TrackID music recognization
Battery: 1500 mAh Li-Ion
OS: Android 2.3 with Sony Ercisson XPERIA UI.

And now, let’s continue with the rest of the review in detail.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play vs Xperia Arc vs Nexus S – Tweets

I regularly tweeted my views about the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play, while comparing it with other devices like the Sony Ercisson XPERIA Arc and the Google Nexus S.

I’ll quickly run down with the tweets which have my views, observations and differences among all these devices – differences that I have actually come across in my time using it. I posted most of these on my Twitter account, so I’ll just quote my tweets here:

“Nice experience so far with the XperiaPlay”

“PlayStation controls on the #XperiaPlay works with most of the games.”

“Most of the games are ‘optimized’ for XperiaPlay in the XPERIA Store.”

“Sony Ericsson XperiaPlay is bulky, but pretty fast on the software side. Feels a tad bit faster than the XPERIA Arc.”

“Camera on the XperiaPlay sucks! = No Exmor lens or modified Camera app. It’s stock!”

“XperiaPlay build quality is not good either. All plastic. Samsung does plastic way better than Sony Ericsson.”

“Crazy thought, but I’m thinking of installing Launcher Pro on the XperiaPlay. SE’s launcher is NOT that good.”

“For some reason, I wasn’t able to install XperiaPlay PC software at home desktop.”

“XperiaArc is almost half the size of XperiaPlay :P Compared it quickly this morning.”

“Damn! After fudging around since yesterday, I can finally take screenshots on the XperiaPlay and XperiaArc. Bleh!”

“Compared XperiaArc with XperiaPlay. It’s half its thickness =P”

“XperiaArc is so much faster, lighter and sexier than the XperiaPlay. Play is all bulky and fat =”

“After using XperiaPlay and XperiaArc today, I can conclude my rants with that Sony Ericsson has done some major work after the XperiaX10″

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play: Design

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is fat, a bit heavy and bulgy to hold. It features the smae signature Xperia body with curved buttons at the bottom – but this device has an exception. It has has the sliding PlayStation controls, that is what makes this device thick in size.

This phone is only 16mm thick, that is way more than the XPERIA Arc (8.7mm) because of the sliding PlayStation controls. It weighs 175g.Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play Review

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Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play, the PlayStation Phone, is here to change the way you play games on your phone. Before the launch, it was rumoured for almost an year that Sony is working on a PlayStation-branded phone and it could be the next version of PSP, but oh well, we now have a new PSP 2 (NGP) and the Xperia Play as well.

Xperia Play is not PSP, but infact, a little more than that. It’s more of a portable gaming console with mobile capabilities. It can play PlayStation One games at the moment, and soon all the PSP games will be available as well on the Xperia Play.

Let’s begin with the review now and see how this phone performs in other features as well, apart from gaming.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Review

Sony Ericsson announced the Xperia Play earlier this year in February, at the Mobile World Congress 2011. Xperia Arc (full review) and Xperia Neo were also announced along with the Xperia Play. Sony Ericsson is known for delivering the latest Android software updates very late as compared to HTC, Samsung, Motorola etc. I hope they don’t do the smae with the latest Xperia devices i.e. Sony Ericsson Xperia Play.

The technical specifications of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play are as follows:
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play: Specifications

Display: 4.0-inch LED-backlit LCD display (480 x 854 pixels)
Processor/GPU: 1GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon
Camera: 5 megapixels camera with autofocus, autofocus, LED flash, secondary camera for video calls
Video: Video recording with flash at WVGA resolution.
Memory: 512MB RAM, 400MB internal memory, 16GB microSD card included, microSD slot upto 32GB
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi, microUSB, DLNA
Other: Flash Player 10.2 support, A-GPS, 3.5 mm jack, accelerometer, Document Viewer, Facebook/Twitter integration, TrackID music recognization
Battery: 1500 mAh Li-Ion
OS: Android 2.3 with Sony Ercisson XPERIA UI.

And now, let’s continue with the rest of the review in detail.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play vs Xperia Arc vs Nexus S – Tweets

I regularly tweeted my views about the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play, while comparing it with other devices like the Sony Ercisson XPERIA Arc and the Google Nexus S.

I’ll quickly run down with the tweets which have my views, observations and differences among all these devices – differences that I have actually come across in my time using it. I posted most of these on my Twitter account, so I’ll just quote my tweets here:

“Nice experience so far with the #XperiaPlay”

“PlayStation controls on the #XperiaPlay works with most of the games.”

“Most of the games are ‘optimized’ for #XperiaPlay in the XPERIA Store.”

“Sony Ericsson #XperiaPlay is bulky, but pretty fast on the software side. Feels a tad bit faster than the XPERIA Arc.”

“Camera on the #XperiaPlay sucks! = No Exmor lens or modified Camera app. It’s stock!”

“#XperiaPlay build quality is not good either. All plastic. Samsung does plastic way better than Sony Ericsson.”

“Crazy thought, but I’m thinking of installing Launcher Pro on the #XperiaPlay. SE’s launcher is NOT that good.”

“For some reason, I wasn’t able to install #XperiaPlay PC software at home desktop.”

“#XperiaArc is almost half the size of #XperiaPlay :P Compared it quickly this morning.”

“Damn! After fudging around since yesterday, I can finally take screenshots on the #XperiaPlay and #XperiaArc. Bleh!”

“Compared #XperiaArc with #XperiaPlay. It’s half its thickness =P”

“#XperiaArc is so much faster, lighter and sexier than the #XperiaPlay. Play is all bulky and fat =”

“After using #XperiaPlay and #XperiaArc today, I can conclude my rants with that Sony Ericsson has done some major work after the #XperiaX10″

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play: Design

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is fat, a bit heavy and bulgy to hold. It features the smae signature Xperia body with curved buttons at the bottom – but this device has an exception. It has has the sliding PlayStation controls, that is what makes this device thick in size.

This phone is only 16mm thick, that is way more than the XPERIA Arc (8.7mm) because of the sliding PlayStation controls. It weighs 175g.

Xperia Play is flat from the front, but all curvy at the bottom. On the front sideof the phone, you can see sensors at the top, along with the Sony Ericsson logo, the speaker and a secondary camera for video calls. You can make free video calls over WiFi using Fring or Tango, or you will soon be able to make free video and voice calls from Google Talk with the latest Google Talk update in Android 2.3.4 software update, only available for the Nexus S at the moment.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play: Display

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play comes with a 4.0-inch LED-backlit LCD display, which to me, seems the same as the LCD on the Xperia X10. It was not much of a stand-out, and we still think this phone could have had the BRAVIA mobile engine, like in the Xperia Arc.isplay screen performance in direct sunlight was pretty bad as compared to the Mobile BRAVIA display technology in Xperia Arc and the Super AMOLED display on the Nexus S or Galaxy S (full review).

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