We managed to snag us a Sony Xperia Ion and played with it for a bit this week. The phone came out on AT&T the end of June and many people are wondering how it stacks up with some of the other devices in AT&T’s stable. Read on to find out!
As usual, I’ll be breaking down the review on the points I liked and the issues I didn’t feel comfortable with or wish could be changed.
Likes:
Form Factor
As soon as I pulled this puppy from my pocket, no less than two people around me approached me to ask me what type of phone I had. I gladly told them what it was and what I was doing with it. I was really surprised, because I don’t usually get that strong of a reaction when I’m holding a phone. Granted, it could have been dumb luck, but I can definitely see why someone might be intrigued with this device. It really does have a sleek, elegant beauty to it – yet you can tell it’s functional. Sony has a way of making electronic devices look and feel really high-grade and the Ion is no different. there is nothing flimsy about this phone which I find really important if I’m going to spend a couple hundred on any piece of equipment.
There is the standard 3.5mm headphone jack at the top, and your volume rocker as well as power-button and dedicated camera button which I’ll talk about in a bit. Nothing but a mic on the bottom, and the HDMI, and Micro USB on the left.
Camera
The Camera is a whopping 12 MP with 16x zoom. It can also record full 1080p video – which looks pretty great on my HD TV. Was quite surprised with the quality of the crappy video I took of my living room on the big screen. The camera is also capable of a 3D Panorama shot. I did find it slightly cool for the first 5 minutes, but then it started to feel a little gimmicky. I couldn’t really think of very many reasons to use it – however, I’m sure there are a few of you who can come up with some ideas. There’s also a front facing camera (1.3 MP) for video chatting with Skype or whatever your favorite video telephony app is. I also liked the fact that you could jump right into not only the camera app, but taking a picture instantly by depressing the hardware camera button.
Speed
AT&T’s LTE network really flies when it wants to. I can’t speak for those in Manhattan in the middle of the day, but when I was using it – downloading apps and playing video was a breeze. I could definitely get used to that.
Dislikes:
Operating System
Now to the disappointment. Androids next iteration of its mobile operating system,Jellybean, has already been announced and is being pushed out to Galaxy Nexus owners as we speak. Ice-Cream Sandwhich is now old. This device is running Android 2.3, a.k.a Gingerbread. Now the OS skinning seems to be a double edged sword. There are UI refinements that were refinements when Gingerbread was the main OS for android, but it also slows down updates. It’s really up to you, but in my humble opinion – this is where the device falls short. I also noticed a bit of lag when moving from screen to scree, however, others haven’t noticed it so perhaps it was my device. At any rate, navigating the older OS, even though it is heavily skinned, was a little annoying knowing that there was something two generations better out there.
There is also the smart dock – which I didn’t have, but got around by just connecting the DMI cord directly to the tv. It’s a pretty nifty idea, and it can be fun playing games on the phone and displaying the image on the big screen. You can also, ofcourse, play movies or music – basically any media on your device on your HD TV. However, I put this under dislikes because there are tons of other ways to get the media from your device to your TV. For example, if you have an HD TV, chances are you have either some apps, or a game system, or some other way to consume third party media. So why go through the trouble to connect your phone? To watch home movies taken from the phone? Yes, but that’s pretty much it. You can also purchase a remote, but it works best with a Sony TV. When playing games on the HD TV, you can’t really take your eyes off of the mobile screen because then you can’t control your character so its really for everyone else’s enjoyment which I found frustrating. I found myself wishing the phone just displayed controls while I played the actual game on the tv.
Little Thick
Not a very big deal here, but I found the device slightly on the chunky side. It’s so slick and cool looking that I just wished it were a little thinner, but those are really my personal aesthetics at this point. Most may not find this to be an issue and it’s definitely not a deal breaker.
Summary:
All-in-all, I enjoyed the device. I will warn you though, there isn’t a specific date announced as to when the device will get an ice-cream sandwich update. A rep told me “later this year”, but that’s all I got. And then when it does, it will only be behind by one update. Other than that, I really can’t find too many other glaring issues with the device. It has a solid build, and a great camera with decent specs.
Had a little time with the phone and a few things jumped out at me.
First was the screen. It will have a 4.6 inch HD Reality Display (1280×720) which looks awesome. Everything looks crisp and bright. Second was it’s ability to dock with the Sony Smart Dock and display phone content via HD Cable to your High Def TV. If it’s a Sony TV you can even use the remote to control content which was pretty cool though I would have much rathered a wireless connection. Then was the Playstation Certification. This means genuine PlayStation titles can be played through the phone which is pretty cool. Was playing Modern Combat on the big screen and it rocked. Though I had a tough time enjoying the experience because I had to keep looking back to the phone to figure out what the heck I was doing. I think giving the phone the ability to simply become the controller once docked with the TV would be a much more elegant approach. The key Details are as follows:
Playstation Certification
16GB internal memory with the option to expand up to 32GB via microSD.
12MP Camera
4.6″ 720p HD Reality Display
1.5Ghz dual core processor
One serious downer was the fact that this phone will not ship with Ice Cream Sandwhich. It will get the upgrade eventually, but who knows when. If the ION is something that tickles your fancy it will be available on AT&T exclusively on the 24th for $100 bucks on a 2 year contract.
We got a chance to check out the Xperia PLAY 4G for the last few weeks and I’ve definitely got some opinions on the phone. Read further to find out what they are!
Likes:
Design
When looking at the phone, it honestly looks like a business device. The chrome and shiny back really look sleek. The 4″ screen doesn’t look over-sized and it’s not a device you would be ashamed to pull out on the train or around others. You really can’t tell that this device is meant for gaming until you slide out the game pad.
Software Tweaks
Sony has skinned Android Gingerbread (Ice Cream Sandwich’s predecessor) and overall its pretty nice. It’s mostly visual tweaks like widgets and the way you get around the app-tray. None of these tweaks are groundbreaking but they add some extra pizzazz.
Games
This is what you’re waiting for no doubt. I really like the fact that there are games specifically designed for this device. They also have great titles. I’ve been playing Sims for the last week. The graphics for playing games like Asphalt 6 were great and the phone rarely stuttered in those high-speed moments. This phone really takes you away from the lower quality games and makes you want to spend money investing in decent games because you can play them better with a direction pad, touch pad and physical buttons.
Dislikes:
Size
The look of the device is great, but it’s pretty heavy and the game pad really makes the device look thick. I totally understand that the space is needed for physical game buttons, but it really detracts from the beauty of the phone. If this phone could slim down, it would look a lot nicer.
Buttons
I’m really talking about the the Android buttons here. They are really thin and are situated in a sort of arc at the bottom of the phone which is kind of annoying. It’s really hard to hit any of them without looking since they are so close together and not linear. I also didn’t like the left and right bumper as well as the volume rocker all on the same side. It’s really cluttered on the right side and the left side is pretty much barren except for the micro USB slot and 3.5 mm jack. I really would have liked to see the bumpers a little smaller and perhaps doubling as the volume rocker when a game is not being played. Or maybe even one of them as a physical camera button when in camera mode. I definitely understand the need for the game buttons to only have in-game use, but they are just so big so you really can’t ignore them. so why not use them?
Touch Pad
The two touch pads are really neat, but I just can’t get used to them. The area is so small it’s difficult for me to really game effectively. However, it is more sensitive than the D-Pad I’ve found, but I’d rather have a more sensitive D – Pad in the end.
Summary:
I love the concept. It’s a phone that plays games. Well. It has a directional pad built in along with the other bells and whistles that come with a normal game controller. But it’s also a phone. This is awesome, and if you like to play games on your mobile device you should really consider this phone. However, I found that the phone and game portions of the device didn’t mesh as well as they could. You really can’t use the directional pad or touch pad anywhere other than in a game. For the rest of the time, half of your phone is unusable which I think is a real shame. I think Sony Ericson should have ditched balance and went with one of the characteristics. A gaming device that makes calls or a calling device that plays games with an emphasis on one or the other, but this phone seems to be balanced exactly 50/50 which I think hurts it a bit. But what do I know – check it out for yourself!
We tagged along with some folks from Sony to see some of their upcoming titles and gear, and we were not disappointed. They have a great line-up coming down the pipe and they are really putting some muscle behind 3D Technology. To be honest, I’m not sold on 3D just yet, but last night was definitely an eyeopener. I got to demo Virtua Tennis 4, Kill Zone 3, along with U.S. Navy Seals all in 3 D and they all looked fantastic.
Kill Zone 3:
This game is awesome! Not only were the graphics visually stunning, gameplay was relatively smooth and intuitive. I got to play with the Sony Move Sharpshooter apparatus which gives you the ability to play the game standing up and pointing a gun towards the screen. It has shooting options such as automatic, and semi-automatic, and you can reload by striking the bottom of the apparatus as if you are actually changing a clip. Very cool.
Virtua Tennis 4: It looked great in 3D and can definitely become a good work-out with the playstion Move Controller, especially if you play against anyone good! They have completely revamped the Virtua Tennis world and you can now look at a map of events which makes it feel RPG-ish. Your character suffers from fatigue as times goes along as well. There are also a bunch of mini games to sharpen your skills.
U.S. Navy Seals: I was most impressed with their use of 3D with this game. There are images on the screen that represent where your team is and enemies as well as ammo etc that seemingly float above the action. So your most important information is right on the screen with you, but not in the way. The shrubs and other objects in the game really pop out at you and I enjoyed sneaking up on enemies and executing a well thought out plan with my computer teammates!
We did get to check out the XPeria Play which is Sony’s Playstation phone. I think it looks great and it will definitely resonate with gamers who want a more serious gaming experience on their phones. It runs Android Gingerbread which is the latest Android release from Google, and also sports full directional and action button pad. It also has two analog stick touch areas which I thought was a great addition. It will be coming out for Verizon fairly soon.
