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Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Review

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Smartphone Review

Specs of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
Positive Aspects of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
Negative Aspects of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
Is The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play The Right Smartphone For You?

If you love playing video games, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play may have been designed with you in mind. Cleverly nicknamed the 'PlayStation phone', this is one of the more specialized smartphones on the market today. Although designed for gamers, will all users find this smartphone useful?

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

Specs of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

Cost: $340 - $600
Introduced: 2011
Size: 4.69 by 2.44 by 0.63 inches
Weight: 6.17 oz
Operating System: Android 2.3
Storage Space: 8 GB card onboard, micro-SD slot for expansion up to 32 GB
Processor: 1GHz Snapdragon
Display: 4 inch LCD touchscreen
Resolution: 854 by 480 pixels
Internet Connectivity: HSDPA, 3G, Wi-Fi
Camera: 5.1 MP
Life of Battery: 8.5 hours of talk time, 425 hours standby time
Service Provider: Verizon Wireless

Positive Aspects of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

Video Gaming: This smartphone is a gamer's dream, blowing away the competition in video game features. The Xperia Play is a touchscreen phone that contains a slide out pad you can use as gaming controls. The pad resembles a PlayStation controller in that it has the D-Pad and the four icon buttons, cross, box, triangle and circle. You won't find another smartphone on the market that has this feature.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play comes equipped with five games, most of which you be familiar with if you are a big gamer. You can find new titles at very affordable prices. The graphics of these games are better than what you would find on any other smartphone on the market today.

Storage Space: As a gamer, it's important to have enough space on your smartphone for games. With the expandability of 32 GB, this is definitely adequate space for most users.

Life of the Battery: Playing video games on your smartphone is great, but it runs down the battery pretty quickly. With the Xperia Play, you'll have 8.5 hours of talk time, with 425 hours of standby time. This will keep you from having to charge your phone constantly, and allow you to continue playing.

Camera: The 5 MP rear-facing camera takes sharp quality photos for a pretty standard smartphone camera. The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play will also upload your photos to Facebook and other social networking sites. The video recording leaves a little room for improvement with only a 480 by 800 pixel resolution. Most smartphones in its class can record at 720p.

Music Experience: Sony Ericsson has a reputation of providing its users with a great music experience with their smartphones. The Xperia Play keeps this reputation in check. It provides great sounds and also will organize all your music files. This smartphone even features controls on the lead for your headphones. Although it lacks an FM tuner, this smartphone provides great sound and keeps all your music in order.

Display: With gamers in mind, the Xperia Play has a vibrant and clear screen with a resolution of 854 by 480 pixels.

Negative Aspects of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

Chunky: Due to the fact that Sony Ericsson is packing both a slide out control pad for your gaming and a touchscreen into the same device, this smartphone may feeling a little chunky in your hand or pocket. Unfortunately there isn't much you can do about this issue. If the size and feeling of your smartphone are big selling points, you may want to consider a different phone.

Video Gaming: The gaming features are clear to be the key selling point of the Xperia Play. However, there is a downside. The games are pretty basic and brought across from the original PlayStation. You might be able to look past this once you experience how the gaming pad and screen graphics really enhance game play. Some users have also reported having trouble downloading games due to the gaming apps that come preinstalled on the smartphone.

Price: With a range of $340 - $600, this is clearly not a cheap smartphone. If you are only looking for the gaming features on the Xperia Play, you may want to take a minute and consider maybe just buying a gaming console for that price. Because this is such a unique and personalize phone, Sony is able to charge a higher price. On the bright side, this smartphone is still cheap than other phones in its class.

Is The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play The Right Smartphone For You?

You will not find another smartphone like the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play on the market. With its PlayStation gaming pad and superior graphics, this smartphone is perfect for the user who is a big time gamer. Although there are limited titles available, Sony has been working to release more games to the public. The Xperia Play will allow you to play games anywhere with just a sliding of the control pad.

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