Now that Sony is the full owner of its own mobile phone business (saying goodbye to longtime partner Ericsson last year), we’re finally getting to see full Sony action on the phone front.
Sony has just launched its new fleet of Xperia phones in the Philippines. And this is, at the very least, a step in the right direction for Sony.
The phones are gorgeous. The specs are impressive. And Sony has made it a point to try to make each of them stand out in some way.
Xperia S
This is the top of the line model in Sony’s revamped offerings, and will clock in at around 30,000 pesos. It is a Playstation-certified smartphone that comes with a 4.3″ Reality Display that’s fueled by Sony’s Mobile BRAVIA Engine. Translation: whatever juju Sony stuffs into their TV sets is also in this unit, leading to really vivid displays.
More to the point, this is what Sony touts as their “All HD” unit. The screen is 720p (1280×720), and the main camera is a 1080p (!) 12-megapixel HD wonder. Yes you can shoot HD videos here. In fact, even the front camera, which most manufacturers normally pay little attention to, is a 720p cam. Yup, what would already be a high end camera for other brands is just the front camera on the Xperia S!
The camera is a rapid-fire unit that allows you go from zero to shot in just 1.5 seconds.
Oh, and it ships with two NFC radio “SmartTags.” These allow you to set your phone presets by just tapping the phone to a tag. More about this in a future article.
Xperia P
Second in the line, this phone features a 4-inch BRAVIA display and an 8-megapixel camera with HD recording. The P’s claim to fame is what Sony is calling its WhiteMagic display technology. It’s a new LCD tech that allows the screen to be even more visible even under direct sunlight.
(Sorry, Xperia S buyers, the technology isn’t ready for 4.3″ screens just yet.)
The Xperia P also ships with a couple of SmartTags.
Xperia U
This is for the youth. The U focuses on audio experience and offers Sony’s xLoud technology along with 3D surround sound.
Here’s another interesting feature for style-conscious teens: the transparent bar at the bottom changes color to match the dominant color of whatever image is being shown on the phone (or Album Art, as the case may be). It also comes with interchangeable colored bottom covers (in pink and yellow… must be a girl thing). Screen size is 3.5″, and it has a 5MP camera. Not bad for its price point, which is expected to be around 15 thousand.
Xperia Sola
The Xperia Sola’s claim to fame is that it allows you to navigate through the phone menus without even touching the screen. Perfect for germophobes, I guess.
Yup, just hovering your finger up to 10mm above the surface is enough to control the screen. So, uh, do we still call this a touch screen? heheh.
The Sola has a 3.7″ BRAVIA display and a 5-megapixel camera. And it also ships with two SmartTags.
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Yes, these are all Android phones, in case you were wondering. They’re currently shipping with Gingerbread, but Sony promises that they will all update to Ice Cream Sandwich “real soon.” At least the phones are already designed with ICS in mind, so that must be true.
