The Sony Xperia T takes over from the
Sony Xperia S as the Japanese company’s new flagship device.
It runs Android 4.0
Ice Cream Sandwich and is powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, backed by
1GB of RAM. The 4.6-inch display uses Sony’s Bravia TV technology and on the
back of the handset you’ll find the 13MP camera – one of this phone’s best
features. There’s also NFC, something missing from Apple’s iPhone 5.
Sony Speria T
Although the Sony
Xperia T is part of the Android family, the interface looks different from
Android on a Samsung, HTC or LG phone. Sony has covered the OS with its own
TimeScape skin, and added a few extra themes and widgets not available on other
devices. The Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system has improved
dramatically over the last couple of years, and you can see the fruits of
Google’s labor here on the Xperia T. Swiping between homescreens (there are
five) is a fluid and smooth experience. You can drag and drop apps together to
create folders and organize your homescreen with widgets from the Android Ice
Cream Sandwich stable. Before you get to the interface, you’re confronted with
the lock screen. From here you can swipe left to open the phone or swipe right
to launch the camera. You can also answer or ignore calls and, in what is very
useful feature, skip tracks if you’re playing music.
The Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
operating system has improved dramatically over the last couple of years, and
you can see the fruits of Google’s labor here on the Xperia T.
The Xperia T has a
rear-facing 13MP camera, which is definitely one of its top features. Both the
quality of the photos, and the range of features included are superb. You also
have a 1.3MP front-facing camera, capable of 720p HD, for video calls or Skype
chats. If you want to shoot in the standard 16:9 aspect ratio, you have to drop
down to 10MP, but there’s more to a camera than just the number of megapixels.
“You can play a range of old PSone games
on the handset”
Pan and scan
A few of the usual
camera settings are available, including red eye reduction, geo-tagging, smile
detection and a self-timer. A couple of other notable features have made it
onto the Xperia T, such as the panorama shot. You pan the camera across from
left to right and the Xperia T will stitch the result together to create a
sweeping panoramic vista. A feature Sony is keen to emphasis is the quick
capture option that debuted with the Sony Xperia S last year. This enables you
to hold down the shutter button – even when the phone is locked – and it will
fire up and take a picture in under a second. In practice this works very well
and means you won’t miss the vital picture because you’re too busy unlocking
the handset and loading up the camera app.
With a 13MP rear camera, the Xperia T
has one of the best snappers on any phone
Shooting video on the
Sony Xperia T is similar to the still capture mode, although you’re given a
couple of extra modes, such as sport capture and night time. You can shoot
video in 1080p at 30 frames per second to produce decent footage.
Play time
Thanks to the Walkman
and PlayStation brands putting in an appearance, music and gaming are pretty
well taken care of. There’s 16GB of internal storage and if you’ve bulked that
up with a microSD card there’s plenty of space to work with.
Watching video on the
Xperia T works particularly well. The 4.6-inch HD Reality Display offers a
respectable 1,280 x 720 resolution and a 323ppi density, and for high
definition content, this is up there with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S3
and iPhone 5 in terms of clarity.
Gamers will be drawn
to the Xperia T because of the PlayStation Certification. This enables you to
play a range of old PSOne games on the handset, with favorites such as Medievil
and Cool Boarders providing plenty of cause for nostalgia. That said, there’s
still not much more than a handful of old games. No doubt Sony is concentrating
on getting PS Vita up to speed, but a few choice PSP games ported over would
make this a bigger deal. You also need to sign up with the PlayStation Network
in order to get to these titles.
Watching video on the Xperia T works
particularly well.
Tucked inside the Sony
Xperia T is a standard Li-ion 1,850mAh battery. It’s not as large as the
2,100mAh monster inside the Samsung Galaxy S3 but the dual-core processor
doesn’t require as much power as Samsung’s quad-core offering. The Sony Xperia
T is a solid body phone, which means the battery can’t be swapped out.
Sony has bundled a
number of first-party apps, but unless you’re heavily into the Sony ecosystem
already these apps don’t offer much in the way of new experiences. If you’ve
used Android before, chances are you’ll have profiles and favorites stored on
other Google Play apps that you’ll want to continue to use. It’s a bit of a
problem for Sony because, although it has all this excellent IP to draw on in
terms of Walkman and PlayStation, it’s offering it at a time when many users
have already made commitments to the established players.
The Sony Xperia T is a solid body phone,
which means the battery can’t be swapped out.
The Sony Xperia T is a
very, very good phone. Everything about it is slick and well-executed and the
performance is certainly what we expect from a $543.6 device. However, the Sony
Xperia S was a very, very good phone. When a new model comes out, we look for
it to improve upon the previous one and, unfortunately, hand on heart; this
doesn’t improve on the last generation of smartphones as much as it should.
Admittedly, it’s not about simply ramming higher specs into a thinner and
lighter phone – we’ve moved past that now. But it should be about offering a
fresh experience with new features and offering us a die-hard reason to shell
out for an upgrade.
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Details
·
Price: $542.09
·
Website: www.sonymobile.com
Specification
·
Screen: 4.55-inch 1,280 x 720
·
Processor: 1.6GHz dual-core
·
RAM: 1GB
·
Storage: 16GB
·
Cameras: 1.3MP (front), 13MP (rear)
·
OS: Android 4.0.4
·
Wireless: GSM, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC
·
Battery: 1,850mAh
·
Connectivity: Micro USB, 3,5mm
The good:
·
Quick capture on camera, great screen,
PlayStation Certified
The bad
·
Only 16GB internal storage, no Android Jelly
Bean, mediocre battery performance
Dimensions
·
Height: 129.4mm
·
Width: 67.3mm
·
Depth: 9.4mm
·
Screen size: 4.55-inch
·
Weight: 139g
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