Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY: A Review of the Ultimate Gaming Phone
Here's the long-awaited advancement in the smartphone gaming experience. After whispers of a “Playstation Phone” surfaced with the unveiling of the Sony Superbowl commercial, the release of the new gadget brings a detailed gaming experience to an ever-evolving smartphone market.
It is the first phone to be part of the Playstation Certified program, which means it can download games using the Playstation Suite software. The Sony Ericcson Xperia PLAY runs on the Android Gingerbread OS and is now available only in Verizon stores.
The Xperia PLAY is equipped with a 4-inch TFT (480 X 854) display screen, a thin row of basic function controls, and a familiar-looking controller available via the slide-out gaming pad. The slide-out game pad reveals a digital D (directional) pad, two analogue touch pads, two shoulder buttons and the four, classic PlayStation icons: circle, cross, square, and triangle.
The Xperia PLAY delivers the same technical capabilities as any other popular smartphone on the market, teamed with the immersive gaming experience that any gamer would want. Gamers can browse the pre-installed Playstation Suite application and choose from 50 game titles. Seven games come preloaded on the phone in the U.S.: Madden NFL 11, Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior, Asphalt 6: Adrenaline, The Sims 3, Star Battalion, Crash Bandicoot, and Tetris.
The Good: The Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY has a slide-out game pad that makes gameplay more immersive, and it comes preloaded with popular game titles like Crash Bandicoot and Madden. Additional features include a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a VGA camera on the front for video chatting. The phone will also be able to connect to the Internet via 3G or Wi-Fi signals.
The Bad: The Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY's touch-screen gaming controls are not nearly as responsive as you’d expect, photo quality is average at best, and it lacks an HDMI port and 4G LTE. Unfortunately, the phone is currently only available on the Verizon network, but Sony hints other networks are on the horizon.
The Bulky: If you consider the gamepad and display screen as two separate components, the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY is essentially two smartphones stuck together, which makes usability with one hand difficult.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Specifications
Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS
1 GHz Scorpion ARMv7 processor
4-inch screen (480 x 854)
5 Megapixel rear camera with LED flash and Autofocus, .3 megapixel front camera for video calls
720p HD video capture
400MBs of built-in memory, microSD/microSDHC up to 32GBs, 8GB card included
A-GPS
3.5 mm audio jack
802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi Hotspot functionality
Bluetooth
GPS
DLNA
Li-Po 1500 mAh
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This is a pretty good phone but it has let itself down by making absolutely everything into an app, sometimes (albeit rarely) my homepage crashes, sometimes my messaging crashes. The phone screen will turn off during a call (to prevent your face pressing buttons) and when the phone is moved away from your face it can take a while to come back on even when the call is over. The phone is a little unresponsive at times too. Other than that it's a really good phone and I'm glad I got it.
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Guest
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I got the phone today and already am having problems. I can't find the 6th game that's meant to come with it (I've found 5). The touch screen isn't that good (its ok) and its camera is only 5 mp. But other than that its awesome!
A PlayStation phone was the best idea ever. I'll post more comments as I find more pros and cons.
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Guest
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I love the Xperia Play, its awesome!
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Guest
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Hi I'm thinking of getting the Xperia play should I get it?
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Guest
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Can i connect my friend xperia play to mine, in order to play games without wifi?
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Guest
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hhhnn
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Guest
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Add A New Comment...
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Guest
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Which one is better an xperia or an iPhone
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Guest
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Iphone
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Guest
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xperia rules
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Guest
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Should i get one
What's call of duty like
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Guest
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should i get the xperia play, or revolution..?
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Guest
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Frustrating, Big, Heavy, Crashes, Games play better on other phones. God aweful phone
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Guest
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itz very nice phone as well...but still scare of the flex cable!!!
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Guest
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I'm getting it soon and I'm pree keen :D
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Guest
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I live in the country and apparently don't have enough signal to play anything but Tetris
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Guest
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i might get one....but to make sure i don't get a bad phone is the sony ericsson xperia play worth getting. A gaming device and also a phone. im a gamer myself. been hearing some lag and bugs happening to the phone. is this worth buying or should i just walk out with another phone in my hand. what do you guys think?
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Guest
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I'm thinking about getting this but it might be out of my price range. Do you know how much this phone is? Is it worth that money? But I will probably get the phone because it looks good!
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Guest
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i really want to buy this phone, but heard that it always has problems alot? and its quite expensive i dont want to waste any money, having second thoughts abit :(
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Guest
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awesome video!!! so cool !
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Yo I just got it like yesterday. Only thing I really don't like that kinda bugs me is the screen's brightness. It's like you always have to have it on max batter life. Awesome games though and frontal camera is ok; it gets the job done. Back camera is damn good. I had a 3MP before this and they don't compare. The button keys and gamepad slide out but don't light up. Its no big deal after learning where the buttons are.