The Sony Xperia ion shouldn’t be made available here since it was an AT&T phone at the time of its announcement. Sony gave us the Sony Xperia S instead while keeping this LTE phone off our shores. However, Widget City got hold of some units and is selling it for Php24,900. Before you grab one just so you could be among the few to own one here, let me share a few points for you to ponder.
When Sony introduced the Xperia Ion early this year, I was amazed by it. But this was before we heard about the other flagship phones namely, the HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy S3, and I started looking for a quad-core phone from Sony. Thoughts of the Xperia ion drifted apart.
There’s still a place for a dual-core Android phone for a lot of people but should you get the Xperia ion? First, let’s check out its specs.
Sony Xperia Ion Specs: |
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1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S3 |
Adreno 220 GPU |
4.6″ Reality display with the Mobile Bravia Engine (1280 x 720 resolution) |
Android 2.3 Gingerbread |
1GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage, up to 32GB microSD |
12-megapixel Exmor-R camera |
1080 Full HD video recording at 30fps |
1.3-megapixel front camera |
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, NFC |
Bluetooth w/ A2DP |
HDMI port |
GPS w/ aGPS support |
132.0 × 68.0 × 10.6 mm |
Php24,900 |
It’s a Sony phone. Expect brilliant display, very good camera and great design. But for a dual-core phone, it still packs a last-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor. The current S4 processor is far better in terms of overall performance and architecture. Then it still runs on Gingerbread although ICS update is in the works. Besides, Gingerbread ain’t that bad either unless you’re a stickler for the latest OS.
Probably its greatest assets would be the microSD slot, and the LTE support. LTE is bound to be available soon in the country but do you really need that speed on a smartphone? And if you do, do you think you will pay premium for that service? If you don’t then LTE shouldn’t be a factor for you.
So what are your other options?
Sony Xperia S
If you want to stick to Sony’s design, the Xperia S is almost similar to the Xperia ion even on the size and weight. It has a smaller 4.3-inch screen to make way for the transparent strip near the base of the phone and it doesn’t have a microSD slot and LTE support. However, it only costs Php21,950 at the same store, almost P3k cheaper.
HTC One X
If you want the big screen, another option would be the HTC One X. Not only will you get a gorgeous 4.7-inch display on a beautiful polycarbonate unibody construction, but you’ll also get the power of a quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor. You won’t get a microSD slot and LTE support with this phone but it will only cost you Php24,350 at the same store. Still cheaper.
HTC One S
Now if the HTC One X’s quad-core and big 4.7-inch screen intimidates you, the HTC One S is a favorite of mine. It has a 4.3-inch screen, but only 540 x 960 resolution as opposed to the Xperia S’ 720 x 1280 res. There’s also no microSD slot here. It does however, have a dual-core dual-channel Qualcomm S4 Krait processor which in some ways can outperform the Tegra 3. This is another phone not readily available in official channels but over at Widget City, you can get it for Php23,950.
So if you have around P25k, which phone will you be getting? Frankly, I’d rather get the other three phones as opposed to the Xperia ion. I can live not having a microSD slot or LTE on my phone.