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Tell us how Sony’s novel Xperia 1 phone works for you
Senior editor Chris Velazco's first experience with the Sony Xperia 1 was a mixed bag -- while the handset featured a gorgeous 4K HDR OLED screen and a speedy Snapdragon 855 chipset, its 3,300mAh battery was underwhelming and the speakers didn't do justice to the viewing experience. While the 6.5-inch panel and 21:9 aspect ratio made for easy split-screen multitasking, the inclusion of a vibration motor was distracting and the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack was (as usual) disappointing. In the end, Chris gave the adventurous device a decent, but not outstanding, score of 76.
Sony Xperia 10 and 10 Plus hands-on: Tall screens, modest specs
Sony's smartphones have grown increasingly niche over the past two years -- but that's not a bad thing. The company honed its efforts on cameras and displays, pushing out intriguing handsets that are aimed squarely at the multimedia enthusiast. In 2019, the company's new group CEO Kenichiro Yoshida will have replaced Kaz Hirai for about a year, and big changes are coming. For one, the Xperia phones are getting new names -- say goodbye to the XZ, XA and XYZ (that last one's a joke). Instead, the Xperia 1 is your new Sony flagship and the Xperia 10 and 10 Plus are its latest midrange handsets. We got to see the Xperia 1 very briefly and went hands-on with the 10 and 10 Plus.
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact review: light in the hand, heavy on the wallet
Sony's consumer electronics division is in an ongoing state of flux. Having already given up on PCs and e-readers, the company recently pledged to make fewer TVs and smartphones in a bid to get its books back in the black. How Sony's strategizing will affect its output of tablets remains unclear, but no doubt a keen eye is being kept on the reception of its latest slate, the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact (don't let that mouthful of a moniker fool you -- Sony only classes the 8-inch tablet as "compact" to differentiate it from its two previous 10.1-inch devices). The company is renowned for the quality of its premium products, and like the two smartphones that make up the rest of the Z3 family, its newest tablet is a testament to that legacy. Cutting to the chase, it's an elegant and powerful device, but with prices starting at $445/£300, those credentials might not be enough to make you choose Sony over the competition.
How would you change Sony's Xperia SP?
You know the deal, we trawl our reviews archive, and then ask you what you think would have improved the product. This week it's Sony's Xperia SP, and in the hands of Jamie Rigg, it was deemed to be imperfect, but charming nevertheless. It was full of bloatware, had terrible WiFi reception and had a bland design, but the capable camera, snappy performance and long battery life more than made up for it. But what about you lot? Would you care to weigh in on what made this phone a delight or otherwise? Head on over to the forum.
Sony camera UI leaks from 'Honami' system dump, gets ported to existing Xperia devices
We've been hearing stacks of rumors recently about a Sony flagship called Honami, which will supposedly come with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 and a 20-megapixel camera. A system dump, purportedly from a Honami phone, surfaced last week and now XDA developer "krabappel2548" has managed to dissect the camera app and get it working on some existing Xperia devices -- including the Xperia Z, ZL and Tablet Z, so long as they've been suitably prepped for hacking. From the resulting screenshots, it looks like Sony is set to introduce features such as augmented reality, "Time shift" (which sounds a lot like HTC's Zoe feature), live filters and an image search engine dubbed "Info-eye." All of this sounds reasonably in tune with the "One Sony" strategy of focusing on mobile and imaging. If Honami is real, and if it comes with the right hardware to support the updated camera module, it could be a big deal.
Sony Xperia S39h spotted in leaked photos, looks to be a dual-SIM Xperia L
An unannounced Sony phone with the model number S39h has been spotted by Xperia Blog. There are no specs or launch details to share, but Engadget China has it pegged as a dual-SIM phone. It's similar to the Xperia L (S36h), albeit with some small differences like a relocated front-facing camera. Not as glamorous as a dual-SIM Galaxy S 4, perhaps, but two signal bars are always nice to see.
Sony Xperia TL comes to AT&T on November 2 for $99 with a two-year contract
We've already gotten our collective mitts on Sony's Xperia TL, and come November 2nd, you'll be able to do the same by plunking down $99.99 and inking a two-year contract with AT&T. In case you need a refresher, the LTE handset runs a skinned build of Ice Cream Sandwich, packs a 1.5GHz dual-core S4 processor, 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, NFC and a 4.6-inch 720p display powered by the firm's Mobile BRAVIA Engine. Since Sony's smartphone flagship is lucky enough to call itself the official James Bond phone, it'll come stuffed with behind the scenes footage of the upcoming film Skyfall and Bond-themed ringtones, wallpapers and more. For the full lowdown on the Xperia TL's arrival on Big Blue, hit the jump for the press release.
'MyXperia' trademark filing suggests Sony might launch its own cloud service
There's no shortage of cloud storage sites and apps, but it looks like Sony might be trying to get a little more involved in ethereal storage. According to this European trademark filing spotted by Juggly, Sony Mobile has staked a claim to MyXperia, outlining that the service (or mobile app) involves itself in the "upload, storage, retrieval, download, transmission and delivery of digital content and media." In short, the kind of stuff you already do with your cloud service of choice. While Sony has no shortage of cloud-based services, MyXperia.com currently sends you to a bare-bones login page, underneath the Sony Mobile umbrella -- it looks like we'll have to wait for some account credentials before we get to take a look.
Sony Playstation Mobile store now live, offers cross-platform games and apps from $0.80
After what feels like a mighty long time since it was first announced, Sony's cross-platform PlayStation Mobile store is now up and running with an initial line-up of games (plus one lonely-looking app) for the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation Certified Android devices. That hardware category currently includes Sony's latest tablets and Xperias, plus HTC One-branded handsets -- check the source link for a full list and installation instructions. So far, we can access PSM on the Vita via a new tab on the PlayStation Store, and we know that readers are having luck on devices in the US -- including the Xperia Play -- but the One X (both global and AT&T) has only given us error messages. If you succeed or fail, please post your results below and we'll update accordingly. Update: Okay, there are definitely teething problems on HTC devices and we're reaching out for an explanation. Meanwhile, owners of the Nexus 7 and the Xperia Ion on AT&T bring happier tidings. Update: Depending on which Sony page you visit, you may or may not see the statement below, which HTC has confirmed to us is true: ""HTC mobile device owners cannot access PlayStation®Mobile for the moment. However, we are working with HTC to ensure PlayStation®Mobile launches as soon as possible. We will update you soon." [Thanks to Paul and all who've commented]
Sony starts delivering Ice Cream Sandwich update to Xperia go, Xperia U and Xperia sola
Well, it looks like Sony's in-house software developers have decided this is the perfect week to deliver delicious treats to a large portion of the company's mobile lineup. Not long after outing updates for the Tablet S and Xperia Ion (in the US), the electronics giant is now bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to handsets such as the Xperia go, Xperia U and Xperia sola. The refresh itself brings a slew of novel traits to the trio of Xperia slabs, including a "new way to experience" music, photos and video, improvements to the lockscreen, the ability to resize widgets and the addition of a "multitasking" button. While the standout features remain the same across the board, the Xperia sola does get an added bonus in the form of a so-called, self-explanatory glove mode -- which is made possible by the device's "floating touch" technology. Sony does note that availability of the 4.0 upgrade will vary by market and, not surprisingly, carrier requirements. Let's just hope you get to enjoy the changes soon.
Sony Xperia Tablet S review: Sony's second-gen Android slate has a slimmer design, faster guts
More Info Sony Xperia Tablet S official Sony Xperia Tablet S hands-on Sony's Xperia Tablet S gets the full tear-down For Sony, it's all about the presentation. To be sure, since the company put all of its mobile products under one roof, it's achieved more of a balance between style and substance than it did with the original Tablet S and Tablet P -- two devices that had a lopsided emphasis on unique, proof-of-concept designs over user experience. It's fair to say those initial tablet efforts failed to resonate with consumers, leaving the company with little recourse other than an all-out do-over. Which is why the new Xperia Tablet S has a lot to prove: it can't get by based on looks alone. Running skinned Ice Cream Sandwich and packing a quad-core Tegra 3 SoC, this 9.4-incher maintains the same 1,280 x 800 IPS LCD panel used on the first-gen S, and even assumes the same folded-over magazine shape -- albeit, in thinner form. Yes, that full SD slot remains, but you might not need to rely on it now that the tablet comes with up to 64GB of built-in storage. So, will an emphasis on OS, ecosystem (Video Unlimited, Music Unlimited, Crackle, Reader, etc.) and a slimmed-down build make up for the blunders of the first-gen Tablet S? Will a $399 starting price help this WiFi-only tab stand out amongst the Android competition? Stick around as we find out whether this S is more than initially meets the eye.%Gallery-165044%
Sony's stacked Exmor RS phone camera sensors detuned over quality worries
Sony would still like you to get excited about its upcoming Exmor RS stacked CMOS image sensors -- just not too excited. Both the 8-megapixel IMX134 and 13-megapixel IMX135 are scaling back from their original RGBW (red, green, blue, white) coding to an ordinary RGB over concerns that they aren't meeting Sony's "image quality standards" as originally designed. Consequently, either sensor will be less sensitive to light and diminish some of that high dynamic range magic. The company also doesn't want to get our hopes up for a quick arrival on shelves and clarifies that there's a phased launch starting in January. Mobile shutterbugs may be crestfallen knowing that Sony won't have the best possible camera sensor in future Xperia phones, but the honesty at least guarantees that the company gets a timely return on its $994 million investment.
Sony Xperia T lands at the FCC, lets us peek under the hood
There isn't much mystery left to an FCC-bound phone that's already been announced and thoroughly handled, but we must admit that Sony does a pretty good job at making the federal approval documents more exciting than most. How? More often than not, the confidentiality request has already been lifted, leaving us with a user manual and a full trove of teardown photos. Such is the case with the Xperia T, announced recently at IFA 2012. Aside from these additional elements, there likely isn't much for the average gadget-loving American to geek out about -- this particular model offers pentaband HSPA+ / UMTS but lacks LTE, which means it's probably only going to find its way to purple mountains majesty through the efforts of T-Mobile (or importers, worst-case) -- we're still holding out hope for the AT&T-branded version that leaked a few days ago, however. No matter its fate, follow us below for a gallery full of revealing photos. %Gallery-165231%
Sony Xperia T shown on UK's Phones4U... with AT&T branding
Seeing the trademark AT&T globe brandished on the front of the Sony Xperia T may simply pass as a pleasant surprise for US customers if it were leaked through a Stateside e-tailer, but the GSM giant's logo popping up on a UK website is more of a head-scratcher. Yet, as you can see in the shot above, the Phones4U image of the new Xperia flagship (likely the TX, in this case) sports the famous icon below the screen, in place of the traditional Xperia branding. To add more fuel to the rumor fire, the back of the AT&T-ized variant is broken up into three segments, setting it apart from the international version's one-piece. Naturally we remain skeptics on the matter, but the two pieces of evidence at least hold a little more weight than your standard website blunder.
O2 UK denies Xperia Ray, Arc and Neo owners Ice Cream Sandwich
It's bad news for Xperia Ray, Arc and Neo owners on O2's UK network, as the carrier's reported it won't be updating these Sony handsets to Ice Cream Sandwich. O2 claims it has tested three versions of the OS update and decided not to approve it, due to increased hardware requirements resulting in "speed and performance" issues. This is curious, since Sony itself had no problems getting Android 4.0 up and running on the devices -- even if it did take a while. If you know your way around a ROM, you probably stopped scoffing Gingerbread a long time ago. However, if you're yet to tinker and ain't scared by O2's "you can't go back" warnings, an hour or two on some specialist forums should have you sticky in no time (at your own risk, of course). Update: O2's been in touch assuring us the decision was not taken lightly, and that although Sony has released ICS for these handsets, they did so with clear disclaimers on performance concerns (see the Sony source below).
Early benchmark scores are in for the Sony Xperia T, TX and V
We've already benchmarked the Galaxy Note II and the ZTE Grand X IN at IFA, and as the week wraps up we're circling back to test the mettle of other handsets announced here in Berlin. We ran mobile benchmarks on Sony's new flagship Xperia T, the Xperia TX (the US version of the T) and the LTE-enabled Xperia V. All three devices pack dual-core Snapdragon S4 Krait processors clocked at 1.5GHz, and they're currently running Ice Cream Sandwich -- though a Jelly Bean update is reportedly on the way. Meet us past the break for a first look at how these smartphones stack up.
Sony Xperia sola: a pint-sized Android handset with floating touch (hands-on)
Sometimes getting lost in the maze-like sprawl of the Messe can turn up unexpected surprises. In this case, we chanced upon Sony's Xperia sola hiding in plain sight at Sparhandy's booth. The petite Android handset, formerly codenamed "Pepper", was officially announced earlier this spring and even crept up in FCC filings. But until now, we'd never had quality hands-on time with the 3.7-inch Gingerbread device. For its diminutive size, the wee phone sports a 854 x 480 LCD display powered by Mobile BRAVIA Engine, a dual-core CPU clocked at 1GHz, 5-megapixel rear shooter and NFC functionality for Smart Tag use. As you might expect, the sola fits quite nicely into the palm of your hand, though its tiny screen can pose an issue for those with larger digits. And speaking of touch navigation, this Sony phone separates itself from the rest of the Xperia pack with the inclusion of floating touch technology -- much like the Galaxy Note 2. What's that? Well, turns out this device can detect your finger's presence up to 20mm away from the screen, allowing users to highlight links, but only from within the browser. Apart from that neat touch, which in practice, is a bit awkward to properly use, the phone functions exactly as it should for the low-to-mid range it occupies. Performance is appreciably quick and pages loaded up in the browser in just about 30 seconds time. There's still no word on whether the sola will ever make it stateside, but if you're keen to see that hovering functionality in action, head past the break for a video demo and check out our gallery below. %Gallery-164038% Mat Smith contributed to this report.
Sony Xperia J approved, torn down by FCC in first 24 hours of its official existence
Of Sony's trio of Xperia phones announced yesterday at IFA 2012, we've now seen the smallest and most budget-friendly model -- the Xperia J -- make it through the mounds of red tape and federal approval. Fortunately for us, Sony didn't bother requesting confidentiality on the various teardown photos that typically are kept away from prying public eyes. As always, it's important to withhold any assumptions that this particular device will make it to any US carrier; FCC approvals never offer any guarantee, and the J's lack of LTE isn't going to help matters. Still, this seems like an ideal device for a prepaid operator to pick up, so we'll keep our fingers crossed. In the meantime, gaze upon the full teardown in the gallery below. %Gallery-163875%
Sony's Xperia J arrives in style and on budget, we go hands-on
The Xperia T may have been Sony's flagship phone for this year's IFA, but the company's promised some style for a tighter budget in the form of the Xperia J -- what exactly "budget" means in this case, we're not exactly sure. The style thing we get, however -- the J's a pretty nice-looking phone and clearly in the aesthetic vein of its Sony Xperia brethren. The 4-inch FWVGA display is nice and bright (we had to turn it down a bit, even with that white Sony tablecloth in the background) and fairly shiny, offset by a matte black back. At 9.2mm thick, Sony's talking up the handset's svelte design. And it's certainly slimmer than a lot of handsets we've seen -- though not even close to the slimmest. It's also not the most powerful handset we've seen by any stretch with a 1GHz single-core processor inside, but it does a zippy enough job with the Ice Cream Sandwich it's rocking. All in all, the J seems like a fairly solid choice for those who don't want to shell out an arm and a leg on its bigger brother -- although we'll hold off full judgment until we figure out exactly what "budget" means. Check out our hands-on video after the break. %Gallery-163660%
Sony Xperia Tablet S hands-on (video)
Sony officially launched its new tablet here at IFA -- and it's keeping that folded-over profile. Happily, it's running Android ICS. We've just spent some time with the Xperia Tablet S here in Berlin and it's looking like Sony wants this to be the center of your media-consuming world. The new tablet pals up with the company's range of phones, bearing that familiar Xperia branding on a freshly hewn metal slab. Yes, the new tablet sidesteps the plastic build of Sony's last two tablets going for a solid metal build. Fortunately, it feels just as light in the hand, while that folded design also remains well-balanced. We're particularly pleased with the tactile finish on the folded-over surface of the tablet -- it's very grippable. Internally, we're dealing with a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, while a 10-inch 1,280 x 800 IPS display will be showing off all that media and gaming content. Browse our gallery of images below and check out our hands-on video and first impressions after the break. %Gallery-163657%
