Sony has finally launched what mobile gamers were eagerly waiting for. It has launched the world’s first Android gaming smartphone, Sony Ericsson Xperia Play 4G. With the advancements in the hardware supported by mobile devices, the gaming experience has improved considerably. Sony Ericsson Xperia Play 4G, is here just to exploit this advantage and offer all the gaming freaks a more enhanced gaming experience, while retaining all the quality features of a smartphone. The phone was officially launched this year at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
What is it:
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play 4G has been launched with AT&T carrier that would offer it the HSPA+ network. It comes with the latest 2.3 version of Android OS, Gingerbread. It runs on 1GHz Snapdragon processor that offers snappy experience on the phone even while multitasking. It has a 4-inch display, a 5-megapixel camera at the rear and all other features of a smartphone. But these are not the features that distinguish it from others. You don’t realize that the phone’s niche is its gaming experience until you see the slide-out game pad of the phone. The design of the game pad is based on PlayStation and the device offers pretty good gameplay.
Key features:
Gaming has never been easy on touchscreen phones and Xperia solves this problem with an additional slide-out game pad that helps you play games on your handheld device just like on PlayStation control. The gamepad has the D-pad on the left and other buttons on the right. There are two touch-sensitive circles in the middle of the gamepad that offer an alternative to the analog joysticks. The enhanced controls will stop you worrying about the controls and will give a more immersive gaming experience. AT&T has completed the installation of HSPA+ network that would help the device to access high speed, while playing games online. The 1GHz processor might not be dual-core but is powerful enough to run many graphics-intensive games without hanging the phone.
The 854×480-pixel FWVGA screen gives sharp and colorful graphics that serves as an icing on the cake. It helps in bringing graphic intensive games and apps to life. The capacitive touchscreen is responsive and the call quality is impressive. The Xperia Play 4G comes with two cameras, a 5-megapixel rear camera and a front-facing VGA camera.
What’s innovative:
AT&T is offering 4G speed on Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, which would offer unmatchable speed and will make the online gaming experience smoother. It is the first-ever smartphone with PlayStation-certified controls. The game keypad uses innovative controls to overcome the need of joystick or other controls for gaming on the phone.
Price and availability:
You can get a Sony Ericsson Xperia Play 4G for just $49.99 dollars with two years contract with AT&T. This is a staggering low figure for the first dedicated gaming smartphone based on Android.
Accessories:
You have a wide array of accessories available with the phone. The accessories included with the phone are a 3.5 mm headset, a micro-usb cable, charger, audio cable and a quickstart guide. You can choose from a number of Bluetooth headsets and cases for your phone.
The up side:
The new Sony Xperia Play is being shipped with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, while many other phones in this line are still looking to get upgraded to the latest Android OS. The new game-pad makes gaming on the phone more immersive and fun. The display is brilliant and the processor is snappy enough to offer unhindered gaming experience.
The down side:
The touch-sensitive thumb pads are not sensitive for games that require quick response or action. The camera quality is average and pictures are little fuzzy and washed out. It cannot record HD videos and the internal memory is less as it comes with preinstalled games that cannot be deleted. The buttons are not as desired and are small in size, which does affect user experience in certain cases.
Our experience:
According to our experience, Sony Ericsson Xperia Play 4G does enhance the gaming experience on a smartphone, but we will still advice to hold on to your Nintendo or PSP for the high-quality gaming experience. It is more of a beginning than a milestone and leaps and strides can be taken on gaming front on smartphones.
The bottomline:
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play 4G is not one of those high-end phones but is an impressive alternative to touchscreen-based gaming. You cannot play very high-end games on your phone yet, but your gaming experience will be improved considerably with intuitive controls. But still it lacks considerably in terms of features and people might not prefer it just because they could possibly play games on this phone.
