Sony Xperia T

SONY XPERIA T REVIEW

The Sony Xperia T is looking to turn heads. Running with the tagline "the ultimate HD experience", Sony wants to muscle in on the big boys of the Android world. Considering it's the phone 007 will be using in Skyfall later last year, it should come as no surprise that the Xperia T is a high-end smartphone that's packed with features. There's no two ways about it, we're not enamoured of the Sony Xperia T's looks. Sony has returned to the curvy, inward arching design of the Xperia Arc, rather than continue the standout style of the Xperia S, P and U. It feels like a step backwards stylistically and the finish isn't all that special either - it feels plasticky and details like the plastic flap that covers the SIM and microSD slots looks really cheap. You've got a choice of black, silver and white. Features wise, though, Sony is much more on the ball. Not only do you have the aforementioned microSD for expanding storage but there's a class-leading 13MP camera with shutter button and 1080p video recording. And, there's one rather impressive screen. The Xperia T has a 4.6in LCD display with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, making it super sharp. It also employs Sony's Bravia television tech to make for superbly rich colours, deep blacks and great viewing angles. Ergonomics are pretty good too. The side mounted power button falls within easy reach for activating the screen as do the volume controls, and the curvy design sits nicely in the hand. Sony has also conformed to Google's guidelines and used soft-keys for the main navigation buttons. Powering this phone is a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, which seemed to do a pretty good job of keeping it feeling nippy. Also helping is that it runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich. Jelly Bean will be even faster and an update is the works but it won't be available for a little while yet. Sony has customised the Android interface quite a bit, with the most prominent features being the music player, gallery and video player apps - we particularly like the varied icon sizes in the gallery. The Xperia T is a deceptive phone, with a design that looks and feels narrower than it actually is. Despite that huge display, it falls within the same dimensions as smaller-screened smartphones, with Sony shedding at least some of those exaggerated borders. It lands favorably with Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS, something that was notably missing when the Xperia S landed. But, with a software update now readily available on that older phone (we refreshed the older phone with the latest software to compare in this review) it's difficult to pin any major improvements or innovations that the Xperia T brings to phone buyers.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES

SONY XPERIA T PRICE

Price in USA $524

Price in UK £345

Price in EURO €213

Price in PAK Rs.52,990

Price in INDIA Rs.30,990