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Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play Overview

Expected UK Release Date: Available

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Key Features
Gaming Focused Smartphone
Motion, Gesture & 3D Gaming Experience
4 Inch TFT 16 Million Colour Capacitive Touch Screen (854 x 480 Pixels)
Onscreen QWERTY Keyboard & Slide Out Touch Sensitive Gaming Controls
Android Operating System with Sony Ericsson Timescape™ User Interface
5.1 Megapixel Camera with Touch Focus & Video Record
WLAN WiFi® Technology
WebKit Web Browser with Google™ Search
Instant Messaging & Email (Google Mail™)
Conversations Style Messaging
3G HSDPA & HSUPA Technology
Media Player with TrackID™ & Stereo Speakers
Twitter™ & Facebook™ Application

Design

100%

Usability

80%

Features

100%

The above ratings are average figures, which have been generated from submitted mobile phone reviews.

Our Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play Review

Overview
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play is a 3G touch screen Smartphone which comes equipped with a real game controller style casing. This amazing Smartphone supports high quality sound & graphics for a truly fantastic gaming experience. It supports high quality mobile communication capabilities & many entertainment features especially its outstanding gaming experience. Its other features include a brilliantly clear 4 inch touch screen, 5.1 megapixel camera with video recording capabilities, Google Maps™ with street view & Google Voice Search™ support, Wi-Fi® connectivity & much more. The XPERIA Play has the Android operating system which supports all the latest Google™ apps & the user can enjoy the highly useable Sony Ericsson Timescape™ user interface on their Smartphone. The XPERIA Play is as member of the much desired Sony Ericsson XPERIA range which includes the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Pro which also supports a slider & touch screen style casing.

Appearance & Size
This gaming focused Smartphone has a striking looking casing thanks to its uniquely designed touch screen & slider form casing complete with its slide out game controller. The XPERIA Play is available in either a black or white coloured casing with a luxurious high gloss finish. The front on the casing is filled by the four inch touch screen which supports a 16 million colour display & 854 pixels by 480 pixel screen resolution. A virtual keypad or QWERTY style keyboard can be enjoyed on this screen when necessary for the user. The overall size of the casing is 11.9cm by 6.2cm by 1.6cm when in its closed position, & it weighs a total of one hundred & seventy five grams.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play 3G Smartphone front open view

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play 3G Smartphone placeholder 2

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play 3G Smartphone placeholder 1

Imaging, Media & Entertainment
This Smartphone offers its user the ultimate in mobile gaming as the XPERIA Play comes with slide out gaming controls & a beautifully clear touch screen display. The user can play motion & 3D games which are either preloaded or available via download. The games controls are arranged like a games console handset therefore easy to use for all those gaming enthusiast. Friends can join in to as the XPERIA Play supports multiplayer gaming. A built in 5.1 megapixel camera feature allows the user to capture still photos or video footage when the user is on out & about. This camera feature comes with an assortment of settings, features & options providing the user with the flexibility to capture their photos or videos in the perfect format & with the desired effect. There is a built automatic focus, image stabiliser & flash, plus the user can select geo tagging for their captured photos. There is also a discretely placed front facing camera lens which supports a VGA lens & this can be used when the user is on a video call. The video capabilities on the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play include high quality video capturing via the 5.1 megapixel lens, video streaming & video playback. For music entertainment there is an integrated music player with stereo sound support & an album art cover display can be viewed on the four inch touch screen. There's a music recognition feature available & the XPERIA Play supports easy ringtone downloads via PlayNow™.

Communication & Messaging
Staying informed of friends whereabouts & news is made easy thanks to the XPERIA Play's integrated social network capabilities which include a Twitter™ & Facebook™ applications. The user can also enjoy video calls & this Smartphone supports video chat ready & Google Talk™ providing easy to use communication options. There is a wide selection of messaging & communications features available for the user, so therefore the user can simply choose the best method of communication to suit their needs. Conversation layout messaging can be viewed on the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play & the services include text, multimedia & instant messaging, plus email with Google Mail™ support.

Technology & Internet
When surfing the Web on the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play the user can use pan & zoom touch screen controls & use a Google™ search, complete with Website bookmarks & social network compatible browsing. This Smartphone supports a navigation feature with Google Maps™ allowing the user to view street views & 3D maps on their screen, plus a Google voice search™ facility allows the user to say their next location rather than type it. The XPERIA Play has four hundred megabytes of internal memory plus its memory card slot will hold up to thirty two gigabytes of further memory. It is a 3G HSDPA & HSUPA capable Smartphone which works over quad band GSM networks & 3G HSDPA 900 & 2100 networks. Its Wi-Fi® technology provides easy access to nearby hotspot or wireless LAN's allowing the user to gain simple access to the Web. A fully charged battery will provide an estimated 8.4 hours of talk time over a GSM network or over a 3G network approximately 6.4 hours of talk time. The XPERIA Play can connect to other compatible devices using Bluetooth® connectivity or micro USB connectivity, plus high speed transfer rates can be enjoyed thanks to the handsets EDGE & GPRS support.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play Specifications & Features

Screen
4 Inch TFT 16 Million Colour Capacitive Touch Screen (854 x 480 Pixels)

Imaging
5.1 Megapixel Camera
Flash
Auto Focus
Touch Focus
Image Stabiliser
Send to Web
Geo Tagging
Video Record
Video Light
Video Player
Video Streaming
VGA Front Facing Camera
Picture Wallpaper
Wallpaper Animation

Messaging
SMS (Text Messaging)
MMS (Multimedia Messaging)
Instant Messaging
Email (Google Mail™)
Exchange ActiveSync®
Conversations
Predictive Text

Sound
Media Player
Album Art
PlayNow™
TrackID™
Stereo Speakers
Bluetooth® Stereo (A2DP)
MP3 & AAC Music Tones

Entertainment
Motion Games
Gesture Games
3D Games
Dedicated Gaming Keys & Controls
Downloadable Games

Organiser
Phone Book
Calculator
Calendar
Google Calendar™
Alarm Clock
Flight Mode
Speaker Phone
Document Viewer & Reader
Vibration Alert
Infinite Button
Twitter™ Application
Facebook™ Application
Video Chat Ready
Google Talk™
aGPS Navigation
Google Maps™ with Street View
Android Operating System
Sony Ericsson Timescape™ User Interface
Onscreen QWERTY Keyboard
Touch Sensitive Gaming Controls

Connectivity
3G HSDPA
HSUPA
Bluetooth® A2DP
Micro USB
EDGE
GPRS
WLAN WiFi®
Modem
Synchronisation PC

Network
Quad Band Technology (GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800 & GSM 1900)
HSDPA 900 & 2100

Internet
WebKit Web Browser
Pan & Zoom Browsing
Google™ Search
Google Voice Search
Bookmarks
YouTube™ Compatible

Memory & Talk Time
400 Mbytes Memory plus Supports up to 32 Gbytes MicroSD™ Memory
8.4 Hours of GSM Talk Time
6.4 Hours of 3G Talk Time
425 Hours of GSM Standby

Weight & Size
175 g
119 x 62 x 16mm

Your Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play Reviews

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Reviewer: Frankie - UK
Date: 17th Oct 2011

Agree fully with Ben before me. Cracking games phone & why buy an iPhone when you can have this bad boy at half the price. If it's a label you are after then what better than a play station phone. Great phone & perfect games console. Get it, you won't want to put it down.

Design

100%

Usability

100%

Features

100%

Reviewer: Frankie - UK
Date: 17th Oct 2011

Agree fully with Ben before me. Cracking games phone & why buy an iPhone when you can have this bad boy at half the price. If it's a label you are after then what better than a play station phone. Great phone & perfect games console. Get it, you won't want to put it down.

Design

100%

Usability

100%

Features

100%

Reviewer: Ben - UK
Date: 7th Apr 2011

After been a bit of an Apple Fanboy for a while & owning various iPhone's, I decided to give Android a go (XPERIA Play Gingerbread V2.3). All I can say I WOW what a great OS system don't get me wrong the iPhone's OS is also great but on the Android everything has been thought a lot more with the user in mind, everything is customisable & Sony's version on a whole is brilliant.

Now on to the phone I had mixed feelings when waiting for the phone after reading various reviews on the phone. The phone is a good build quality not as good as the iPhone but that's twice the price! Like in the reviews the screen isn't as bright as other phones on the market, but honestly it is nowhere near as bad as some of the reviews made it out to be. What I have found is fingerprints stand out a little more that's it! (Maybe this can be fixed in the next update). The game play is also very good & responsive with many classic games already on offer.

It has also been mentioned that space (memory) is an issue (only coming with 512MB of internal memory) it simply isn't it comes with a 16GB micro SD card & all apps can be stored on this.

Overall I think this is an excellent phone although as mentioned the screen could be made a little brighter.

9 out of 10 ( better & half the price of an iPhone).

Design

100%

Usability

80%

Features

100%

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