Our Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Review

The Device gamers have been waiting for, the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY is alive. It is promoted as the true fusion between gaming and smartphones – specifically between Android phones and gamepads. Does the phone succeed in bring 3D to the smartphone?

Hardware

The Gamepad is the starting point for any discussion about this smart phone. It is the centerpiece of the device. It may not be a DualShock but you will discover something you have never seen before. The gamepad is a slide-out device that hopes to replicate console play. It contains digital direction keys and an analog pad. The pads are firm and offer the right amount of resistance. Start and select keys are located at the bottom right of the gamepad. Shoulder buttons on the outside mimic the L1 and R1 controllers. On the top you will find a volume rocker, a power key, and the four Android buttons. It also includes an accelerometer board plus a multi-touch screen.

The operating system for Xperia PLAY is the Android Gingerbread that is making big waves in the smart phone world.

The battery life lasts for up to 22 hours under light use in testing. This includes a few calls and checking up on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. However, when you add some gaming into the mix it does not seem to deplete the battery life too significantly.

Software

Power for the Xperia PLAY comes from the 1 GHz Snapdragon processor. It is on board with Android 2.3 – Gingerbread. Plus, look for Adreno 205 GPU graphics and 512 MB of RAM.

Keep your eyes out for other great features that will make you fall in love with this phone. It includes Wi-Fi, 3G, a 5 Megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and microSD card.

When looking at PlayStation software you will get Xperia PLAY for Android Market games and PlayStation Pocket. PlayStation Pocket is set to run with the all-loved PlayStation One games and comes with Crash Bandicoot installed. Games load on the pre-installed software in tolerable time. It is not the instant load you may be used to with your console.

What We Liked

How can you not be excited about a gaming smart phone? This one seems to deliver in many areas. We love the cool slide out console and the gaming like buttons. Android and Gingerbread are big names to put behind this phone and they deliver. As a phone, you get excellent sound quality. It has doable loading speeds for web browsing and more.

What We Disliked

We definitely wished the battery lasted longer, but that is problem with almost every smart phone on the market today. The default brightness on the screen could be tweaked. It is way too dim for us. The weight makes the smart phone awkward and may be an area that the company will improve on in future models.

Our Final Verdict

A great phone for gamers. Will others like to buy and use this phone? Sure. It has many favorable features such as a great console for anyone who occasionally plays games and a fabulous camera. We see this as a camera for teens and up.

Compare Handsets

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	Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
General
Form Factor	Slider
Dimensions	119 x 62 x 16 (mm)
Talk Time	420 mins
Standby Time	700 hours
Weight	175 g
Quad Band	Yes
Photo and Video
Integrated Camera	Yes
Camera	5.00 megapixels
Video Player	Yes
Phone
Internal Memory	400MB
Memory Card Type	MicroSD (max 32GB)
Messaging
Instant Messaging (IM)	Yes
Screen
Colour Screen	Yes
Connectivity
Bluetooth	Yes
HSDPA	Yes
WAP	Yes
Web Browser	Yes
Wi-Fi	Yes
GPS	Yes
Music and Radio
FM Radio	Yes
MP3 Player	Yes
MP3 Ringtones	Yes
Additional Content
Downloadable Content	Yes
Downloadable Games	Yes
Downloadable Ringtones	Yes

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Full Specification

General

Photo and Video

Phone

Messaging

Screen

Connectivity

Music and Radio

Additional Content