Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Smartphone Review

Key Features
Positive Aspects
Negative Aspects
Should You Buy?

The new Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is sort of unique in the world of smartphones. It has been named the "Playstation Phone" and it is designed particularly with gamers in mind. But even if you are really into games, is the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play the right smartphone for you?

Key Features Of The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

Estimated Price: $340 - $600
Release Year: 2011
Operating System: Android 2.3
Size: 4.69 by 2.44 by 0.63 inches
Weight: 6.17 oz
Storage Options: 8GB card included, expandable up to 32GB
Processor: 1GHz Snapdragon
Screen: 4 inch capacitive touchscreen
Resolution: 854 by 480 pixels
Cameras: 5.1 MP
Internet: HSDPA, 3G, Wi-Fi
Battery Life: 8 hours 25 minutes talk time, 425 hours standby
Service Provider: Verizon Wireless

Positive Aspects Of The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

Gaming
It's pretty much a given that this phone will have the edge over its competitors in its gaming features. You'll notice that this is a touchscreen phone that also has a slide out gaming pad. This features two touch pads, the classic Playstation icons (cross, circle, square and triangle) and a D-Pad. No other smartphone currently comes with these controls.

You'll get five games loaded onto the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, most of the titles you'll recognize (e.g. Fifa 10). This is pretty good selection out of the box, and newer games are also very affordable. The graphics are not amazing, but they are better than the graphics you'll find on any other smartphone currently available to buy.

Good Storage Options
Although the 8GB standard memory size for the device isn't huge, it's useful to have a memory card slot on the phone, especially if you end up downloading a lot of games.

Battery Life
You'll get a battery life of 8 hours 25 minutes when talking on the phone, and up to 425 hours on standby, which is pretty good for a smartphone. You should remember, however, that gaming - one of the main purposes of this gadget - will deplete the battery faster.

Camera
The camera on the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is pretty standard for a smartphone at 5 megapixels (and a front facing camera for video calls). It has a number of useful extra features, including easy upload to social networking sites, LED flash, geo-tagging and scene mode. The photos generally look very good on this phone.

The major drawback of this camera is the video. Where most rivals can record 720p, this can only manage a 480x800 pixel video resolution.

Music player
This smartphone comes after a long line of Sony Ericsson music phones, so it makes sense that the Xperia Play has a very good music player. It has good features for keeping your collection organized. Even better, the included headphones have controls on the lead, making it extremely easy to use and giving it the edge in this area when compared to other smartphones. The only way it lacks is that it doesn't come with FM radio - most other smartphones have this.

Screen
The screen comes with a good resolution at 854 by 480 pixels. This means that all images on the display will look bright and sharp (important when you're playing games!)

Negative Aspects Of The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

Bulky
Because of the fact that the Sony Ericsson Xperia play has both a touchscreen and a slide out gaming control pad, it is inevitably bulkier than other smartphones currently on the market. This is unavoidable, but if getting the smallest, lightest smartphone available is what's important to you then you'll want to look elsewhere.

Gaming
Although the gaming is undoubtedly the selling point of this smartphone, there are a few downsides that we had to mention in this review, too. For one, the games are cheap but they're more than normal smartphone apps which you'll use to play games on the likes of the Apple iPhone 4. It may be worth the extra price, however, for the improved controls and better graphics.

Unfortunately, the app that comes preloaded onto the device doesn't make it that easy to download games. Most users will be able to work around this, however.

Cost
This isn't a cheap smartphone, thanks to its many featured and integrated gaming controls. Because other smartphones don't offer these features, it's easy for Sony to rack up the price. Compare the cost of the console to other games consoles, or even portable devices such as the Nintendo DS, and you may question whether it's worth buying this phone solely for the gaming. It's only worth it if you truly want the smartphone features to match.

The good news is that it's still cheaper than some of the top phones on the market, and the price may well be worth it for gamers.

Should You Buy The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play?

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is really a unique smartphone. Not one other top device has focused so strongly on gaming. This really is its greatest strength, but may be its greatest weakness as well. The gaming features certainly aren't perfect, but as long as you can find enough game titles, then you will most likely have fun playing games on this device. And, so far as smartphones are concerned, it isn't more costlier than other bestsellers currently available. Get the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Smartphone from Amazon.com.

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