Performance and battery life
Xperia
SP
·
Quadrant v2: 8,088
·
Vellamo 2.0 HTML5: 2,517
·
GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt 1080p Offscreen (fps): 31
·
CF-Bench: 14,382
·
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms): 1,051
·
AnTuTu: 16,466
·
Battery life: 6:34
Xperia
SP
Xperia
Z
·
Quadrant v2: 8,019
·
Vellamo 2.0 HTML5: 2,198
·
GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt 1080p Offscreen (fps): 29
·
CF-Bench: 16,079
·
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms): 1,900
·
AnTuTu: 19,876
·
Battery life: 5:35
Xperia
Z
Xperia
T*
·
Quadrant v2: 4,981
·
Vellamo 2.0 HTML5: 2,375
·
GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt 1080p Offscreen (fps): 55
·
CF-Bench: 9,568
·
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms): 1,775
·
AnTuTu: 6,977
·
Battery life: N/A
Xperia
T
Galaxy
S III
·
Quadrant v2: 5,875
·
Vellamo 2.0 HTML5: 1,626
·
GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt 1080p Offscreen (fps): 15
·
CF-Bench: 12,922
·
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms): 1,194
·
AnTuTu: 10,344
·
Battery life: 9:02
Galaxy
S III
One
X+
·
Quadrant v2: 7,457
·
Vellamo 2.0 HTML5: 1,897
·
GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt 1080p Offscreen (fps): 12
·
CF-Bench: 14,558
·
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms): 1,107
·
AnTuTu: 15,921
·
Battery life: 7:32
One
X+
The Xperia Z slightly bests the SP in
several categories, but that is what is expected based on its extra cores and
additional gig of RAM However, as they said, the proof is in the pudding.
General performance is stable on the SP. The flipping through menus and home
screen panel is pretty fast. The phone keeps up with even the most frantic of
swiping. Applications load quickly, and you will not have to wait as you might
with lesser hardware. Internet performance is equally as good, as emphasized by
the near 1,000 ms score in the SunSpider test. Mobile and desktop sites loaded
up in a second or less, and only very rarely did we notice tiling when zooming
out from a page. Really do not need to say much when considering the basic
usage, which says a lot about how powerful the phone is.
The SP takes about 45 seconds to boot, but
another 15 to 20 seconds before Android and Sony's skin have loaded fully and
it becomes useable. Gaming performance - the author's favorite - is really
worth mentioning. As we have said, you have more details from 720p screens, and
the SP handle games like Riptide GP and GTA III on the demanding setting with
only the odd dropped frame. For more passive form of consumption, the Bravia
Engine really makes video pop out at you, and you have the option of enjoying
it on a HDTV since the SP supports MHL standard. Audio performance through
headphones will make you happy - you have good range, from treble right down to
bass, and the ClearAudio+ tech adds to the quality, and the volume. That extra
bump in volume is a very important. With leaky headphones that hang in your
ear, cranking it all the way up will only just about drown out the rattling of
a London Underground train. That is, it is not worth mentioning if you got a
set of in- or over-ears. The small loudspeaker on the phone's back is good for
hands-free calls, but do not try to play music from it. It becomes a distorted
cacophony of ill-defined noise.
Using a standard battery test, the SP's
sizeable 2,370mAh pack depleted after 6 hours and 34 minutes of looping video
(with the contrast-boosting Mobile Bravia 2 engine disabled). Does that mean
anything in the real world? Basically it will survive after a day of working
with constant use - pictures, video, browser, etc. Moderate to frugal users who
stick to less intensive tasks, such as checking the odd website and answering a
few emails, should get through 2 days before having to recharge. It was nice to
not have to worry about running out of battery, so even when the percentage
charge starts getting low, you know it's still got a lot of energy left.
There are no complaints about the network
signal reception. Call quality was good and clear, without any concerns from
those on the other end. The SP has Bluetooth 4.0 with support for A2DP, two
low-energy profile and a few other things. It recognizes accessories rapidly
and makes connection just as fast. Assisted GPS and GLONASS are supported, with
homing in taking a matter of seconds, at most. NFC pairing was inexplicably
intermittent, but the real problem is the Wi-Fi signal receiver. Terrible,
horrifying, very bad - all valid words describe the extent to which it will
maintain the connection. When connected, the signal remains stable, but at a
distance of 20 feet with a router located across the wall, it's hard to believe
that it remains connected.
There are 3 distinct models of Xperia SP:
C5302, C5303 and C5306. Our Model is C5303, supports GSM (850/900/1800/1900),
HSPA + (850/900/2100) and LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20) networks. The C5302 is
an HSPA+-only model, while the C5306 supports a different range of LTE
frequencies. Unfortunately, we do not have a 4G SIM to check out the LTE speed,
but HSPA + in this editor's South London area, speeds averaged 10 Mbps down and
2 Mbps up.
Conclusion
Despite being a brand new Sony handset with
LTE and plenty more to offer, no US carrier partnerships for the SP have been
announced to date. However, in the UK, all major carriers are involved. While
the SP is not released with O2 and Vodafone, you can pick one for free from $30.75
per month at Orange or $31.5 per month at T-Mobile, which also offers a
pay-as-you-go price of $385. If you want to take advantage of 4G radio soon,
you will need to hit up EE. You can get the phone for free with $39 per month.
To put that in perspective, HTC's One SV is $15 per month more expensive. While
we like the One SV as a budget 4G model, it makes Xperia SP becomes quite a
bargain item, with Sony's offering trumping it in performance and screen
resolution, among other things.
The Xperia SP is not perfect. It got a
glare and easy to be dirty screen despite its HD resolution. Other issues: a
penchant for bloatware and other small flaws like the terrible WiFi reception.
Design can be quite simple for those who do not like the transparent elements
but the build quality is solid. Also commendable is the powerful camera, long
battery life and internal hardware offering great performance at this price. It
is hard to get across when you're reviewing individual facets is just how
charming the handset is. You know it's not in the same class as the HTC One and
the Galaxy S4, but it is somewhat close. The fact that is too close to that if
you want to see it as a mid-range device, it's easy to conclude the Xperia SP
is the best mid-range device. It's attractive, does what you ask without
complaining and has character.
Info
·
Price: $385
Pros
·
Attractive design, good build quality
·
Camera performance is good in all respects
·
Running good
Cons
·
Poor screen
·
Only 8GB of internal storage
·
Poor Wi-Fi Coverage
Verdict
·
A modest LTE device which is good-looking offers
outstanding performance at an affordable price.
|
Specifications
·
Dimensions: 130.6x67.1x9.98 mm (5.14x2.64x0.39
inches)
·
Weight: 5.47 ounce (155g)
·
Display size: 4.6 inches
·
Display resolution: 1280x720 (319ppi)
·
Display type: TFT LCD, Reality Display, Glove
mode
·
Battery: 2730mAh Li-Polymer
·
Internal storage: 8GB
·
External storage: microSD (up to 32GB)
·
Rear-facing camera: 8MP, BSI, f/2.4
·
Front-facing camera: VGA (0.3MP)
·
Video recording: 1080p 30fps
·
NFC: Yes
·
Bluetooth: V4.0 with A2DP; LE profiles
·
SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (MSM8960)
·
CPU: dual-core 1.7GHz
·
GPU: Adreno 320
·
RAM: 1GB
·
Wi-Fi: dual band, 802.11 a/b/g/n
·
Wireless charger: None
·
Operating system: Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
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