I don’t know much about Android phones because I’ve only gone through Blackberry and iOS devices so here is an attempt to share to you 10 things that caught my attention with the Sony Xperia P in the short two weeks I had with it.
1. Beautiful, Edgy Design
I’m not so used to such an edgy, rectangular device in my hands but after playing with the Xperia P, I felt that it was a good-looking smartphone that is comfortable to use.
It has an aluminum metal matte finish and a transparent strip at the bottom that houses the capacitive touch menu buttons. One thing’s for sure ““ it didn’t look cheap in my eyes. The device is solid and there are no moveable pieces inside of it.
2. Stunning Display, even under broad daylight
That would be the first thing I noticed the moment I switched on this phone. This smartphone’s display is quite stunning. It has a 4″ display powered by the Mobile BRAVIA Engine and has Sony’s WhiteMagic technology. Graphics and videos are so clear, bright and sharp. WhiteMagic automatically adjusts the brightness of the screen depending on ambient lighting.
A lot of people have commented that this smartphone’s display is still good under broad daylight so I put it to the test and it’s true ““ I didn’t have to worry about glare. I had no problems using the smartphone under broad daylight and this would be perfect if I was lounging on the beach (Ah, the things I take into consideration). I tried to take a picture but it didn’t really do it justice. Check out the yummy bowl of Ramen on the Xperia P as I view it under broad daylight:
3. 8 Megapixel camera and scene selections for the photographer in you
The camera would be one of the biggest factors I have to take into consideration in selecting a smartphone. The smartphone has an 8-megapixel camera on the rear but a VGA resolution on the front. It also has the high-end handset standard of 1080p video recording capabilities.
The Sony Xperia P has automated scene selections so you can maximize settings to get your perfect shot. I thought it also worked well in low light situations. It also has a physical camera button on the right side of the unit for your convenience, whether you’re taking a portrait or landscape shot. I wish they made the button bigger though.
4. Apps are easy to download
This was a big deal for me because it’s my first time to use an Android device. However, I didn’t have a problem setting up the Android Market because it only asked me for my Google credentials and voila! I was ready to download all the apps that I needed for the smartphone.
5. Timescape
Timescape is an interesting way of viewing all my social media into one dashboard. I could browse all the updates from Facebook, Twitter, calls, SMS, emails, music, photos ““ well, you get the idea. Clicking on an element brings the information into the browser or into its designated app.
Timescape isn’t really a new feature by Sony but I really just wanted to include it here because it was such a cool feature and I didn’t need to download an app to organize all of these things that actually matter to a lot of us today ““ a customizable dashboard of all the essential information that we need everyday.
6. Short Battery Life
What would you expect from a smartphone with a beautiful display? A short battery life. I can’t complain about this too much though because everyone probably feels the same about their smartphones. As I look at it, if I want a beautiful touch-screen display with all those fluid transitions while I do all my hand gestures while browsing, then the battery life is bound to be sacrificed at some point. With all my social media updates + Internet browsing + photo-taking + uploading, the smartphone’s battery life didn’t last me a day.
7. Responsive Touch Screen Interface and Keyboard
The Sony Xperia P has a comfortable and responsive QWERTY keyboard with an impressive spell check system. The touch screen interface is also very fluid and didn’t lag while scrolling thanks to its dual-core processor and 1GB RAM.
8. Organization
Other than the fun-factor of this smartphone, I was able to do a lot of organizing in it as well. It has the OfficeSuite app which supports viewing Word, Excel, Powerpoint and PDF ““ it was pretty useful and I was comfortable in viewing files with it. It also has Cloud integration so it’s a plus that you don’t entirely need to save files in your local drive. Aside from the OfficeSuite, I thought the calendar was useful as well ““ you can sync it with your Facebook account so that your events can appear in your calendar entries.
9. No Memory Card Slot and uses micro SIM
Unfortunately, this smartphone doesn’t have a memory card slot so you’re stuck with 16gb of storage. A bit of a bummer since I’d wish for more memory to take advantage of the multimedia the smartphone can bring. Take note that it uses micro SIM too so better have your regular-sized SIM clipped.
10. Impressive Media Playback Options, strong built-in speakers
I liked the Media Playback options of the smartphone. With the music player, you’re able to access playlists, tracks, albums and artists easily, no need to use a music manager. I was also pleasantly surprised that the built-in speaker was strong enough. Even with headphones on, it was still quite an experience. I guess Sony will always impress you if it has anything Multimedia-related.
Overall, the Sony Xperia P is a well-rounded multimedia smartphone with a stylish design, a brilliant display and a camera that can satisfy your needs for taking still shots and videos. You can’t go wrong with its dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. The Sony Xperia P is a good choice (you will have to be more patient with the battery life but as I mentioned a while ago, most smartphones have that problem anyway), and with an SRP of Php22,990 (some stores are selling it for less) it has good potential. And that’s coming from a non-Android user.
| Sony Xperia P Specs: |
|---|
| 1GHz dual-core NovaThor U8500 |
| Mali-400MP GPU |
| 4″ Reality display with the Mobile Bravia Engine (540 x 960 resolution) |
| Sony WhiteMagic technology |
| Android 2.3 Gingerbread |
| 1GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage, no microSD |
| 8-megapixel Exmor-R camera, f/2.4 |
| 1080 Full HD video recording at 30fps |
| 1.3-megapixel front camera (720p) |
| WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, NFC |
| Bluetooth w/ A2DP |
| HDMI port |
| GPS w/ aGPS support |
| Li-Ion 1300 mAh battery |
| 122 x 59.5 x 10.5 mm |
| 4.2 oz |
| SRP: Php22,990 |
