Rumors that Sony would create a phone that including the capabilities of its widely acclaimed Playstation video gaming system had been swirling around since the Android OS came out- it was the perfect way to incorporate a phone into more immersing gaming experience by allowing that phone to be able to run over 200,000 applications as well as any Playstation specific games that Sony could cook up for it. Well the wait is over and that phone is the XPERIA Play.
Hardware:
Right away when you pick up the Play, the first thing that comes to mind is how perfectly it fits into the hand. Whoever the designers are, I would personally like to thank them for making the first phone that feels simply amazing to hold. The back cover is curved in such a way that the contours match those of the hand exactly, allowing the phone to sit perfectly in the hand. Unfortunately, however, the whole phone is constructed of a flimsy plastic that looks like it might snap if you looked at it the wrong way. That plastic is also a bit slippery and a complete fingerprint magnet. When you slide the phone open, you are greeted by the usual set of Playstation buttons for which you will use to control the XPERIA Play specific games. The sliding mechanism is solid and there is no hint of give. It is easy and a joy to use the sliding mechanism, and is also easy to perform with one hand. The inside of the phone when slid out is constructed of aluminum, which really leaves me wondering why they couldn't use the same material around on the back of the phone. Overall industrial design is excellent, but the material choice is less than superb.The screen is a WVGA (854 pixels by 480) 4 inch display that looks great, but the brightness leaves something to be desired, as it is rather hard to read in broad daylight. The pixel density is good, but since qHD is quickly becoming the norm, it would have been nice to see that included as well. Around back, the Play has a 5 megapixel camera that can produce some nice looking shots, but performs poorly in the dark. Again, it would have been nice to see a higher resolution camera, as many phones now include a 8 megapixel sensor .Photos were also slightly over saturated. The four buttons around front are of the hard type (as opposed to capacitive or touch), and were easy to locate and press. One small caveat was the fact that the buttons did not light up in the dark as on most phones, so they were hard to find when not under some form of light.
Overall Grade- A-
Software-
I'm going to come right out and say it- the software on the Play is superb. That is, of course, because Sony provided a Vanilla experience with the Play. That is to say, Sony did not try to change the operating system almost at all, and it gives a much more fluid experience. There is hardly a hint of lag when scrolling through the home pages, and thankfully Verizon kept the bloatware to a minimum on the device- only 2 apps, which must be some sort of record for them. The only addition that Sony decided to include is the XPERIA Play application, which launches any and all Play specific apps, of which they have included six for your enjoyment.Overall Grade- A+
Internal Components:
Sony opted to include the same Qualcomm setup as the Droid Incredible 2- which is a huge mistake. The 1 ghz processor coupled with 512 megabytes of RAM is fine now, but with many phones, including my own Motorola Atrix, now including dual core processors, the lack of foresight here by Sony is stunning. It handles games fine now, but in a year or two, it won't be able to take higher quality games. That decision especially makes no sense because this phone is supposed to be a gaming rig, specifically made to play games on. It's even in the name of the phone.Overall Grade- C+
Gaming experience:
The gaming experience is a very important part of what this phone is. First and foremost, this phone, whatever else it may be, is a gaming phone, and at that it excels. Sliding out the game pad automatically brings up the XPERIA Play application, and from there you are presented with a coverflow of Play specific applications installed on the phone. Swithching to the other tab allows one to see what other apps are available in the Android Market that are specifically designed for it. Game performance was good, and for anyone who has used a Playstation in their life, the controls are intuitive, although there may be a learning curve if you havn't used one before. The game pad was clicky and the buttons were easy to press, although the optical directional pads were hard to use.
Overall grade: A
Wrap up
I wish I could give this phone an A grade. I really do. At most of the categories on this list, it excels with flying colors. But Sony Ericcson's suprising lack of foresight means I can't really recommend this phone to it's target audience when it will have trouble playing the most advanced games in six months.
Grade- B
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