SONY XPERIA P REVIEW

This year has been a big one for mobile at Sony. After a decade of
producing mobile phones in partnership with Ericsson, the Japanese
company officially took over the joint venture in early 2012 and began
marketing its first phones under the name “Sony.” The Xperia P is the
middle child of a trio of new Android phones from Sony. It’s not the
top of the line or largest, but it isn’t the smallest either. And like every
middle child, it’s going to catch flak from both ends. Read on as I try
not to give the P too much of a complex.
Video review
Look and feel
With a scant 4-inch screen, the Xperia P is smaller than your average
smartphone these days, with the notable exception of the iPhone 4S,
which is smaller still. While a 4-inch screen will feel cramped to some
of you, others might be relieved to see a smartphone with a screen
that isn’t pushing 5 inches.
Though it’s petite, the P’s size makes its boxy, futuristic design more
charming than larger Sony devices like the Xperia Ion . Our review unit
had a sparkly silver finish to it, which classes up Sony’s love for
straight lines. It also comes in red and black. Though I wasn’t
particularly kind to the design of the Ion, the entire look and feel is
more cohesive in the NXT trio of phones, including the P. This comes
at the cost of battery access. Like the iPhone, you cannot manually
swap your battery.
The face buttons — back, home, menu — are almost magically placed
inside a strip of clear plastic along the bottom of the phone, which is
strange, but they work, so who’s complaining? Most of the rest of the
controls are along the right side. Thin, stylish camera, volume, and
power buttons adorn the side, along with a single speaker — there’s no
matching left speaker, if you’re wondering. The speaker gets quite
loud, but does tend to break up a bit at high volume, and its
placement is exactly where the power button probably should be,
forcing it into an abnormally low position about a third of the way
down the phone. The low power button also made it awkward to reach
for the volume key. This won’t be a problem for those with smaller
hands, but I’m no Andre the Giant, so you may want to hold this
phone before committing to purchase. All three of these buttons are
also a hair on the thin side, making them somewhat uncomfortable to
press even if you can stretch your thumb to reach them.
On the left side of the phone is a micro SIM tray along with Micro
HDMI and Micro USB ports. The headphone jack is on the top right.
Overall, the Xperia P looks nice and represents an improvement over
the Ion, but has some issues with button placement.
Software and operating system
Though Android 4.0 updates are rolling out to some Xperia P users, we
have not gotten ours yet, leaving our Xperia P with the rather old and
outdated Android 2.3. If you only care about appearances, however,
this shouldn’t bother you. Sony has managed to spruce up the user
interface, adding its trademark blue, black, and white design. We don’t
have many complaints, except that you will want to avoid moving
background images as they’ll gum up the works and lag the phone
down. Just as on the Xperia Ion, Sony’s interface is clean and easy to
navigate. If you’re shopping for an Android phone, this one shouldn’t
screw with your expectations too much.
Connecting the phone to a Mac did present problems. If you have K
PC, you’re covered as the Ion comes with PC software pre-loaded, but
Mac owners, you’re out of luck. Even with the official Android File
Transfer software, I was unable to connect the Xperia P to a MacBook
Air to transfer files. Perhaps Sony has ceded MacBook Air owners to
the iPhone?
The Xperia P doesn’t come with much in the way of custom software,
which is mostly a good thing — download all you want from the
Google Play store. It does come with a few things like a custom update
app, a Power Saver app, and WhatsApp. Nothing much to get worried,
or excited, about. If the P gets picked up by a U.S. wireless carrier,
expect more bloatware.
Hardware specs
The most impressive thing about the Xperia P is its screen, but not in
a way the traditional specs would reveal. Though it measures only 4
inches across and has a 540 x 960 pixel resolution, I haven’t ever used
a phone with a brighter screen. Thanks to new “WhiteMagic” LCD
technology, the P displays whites that are brighter than a commercial
for Tide detergent. It’s a lovely screen, though it doesn’t have the wow
factor that an AMOLED screen can have.
The rest of the specs are more ordinary: The P has a 1GHz dual-core
processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal flash memory (no microSD),
an 8-megapixel rear camera, a VGA (particularly lame) front-facing
webcam, NFC, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1 (old), Wi-Fi, and most other
common features and sensors.
As for Quadrant, our trusty little benchmarking test, the Xperia P
performed rather poorly, scoring only a 2,400, a bit under the Galaxy
Nexus, but far worse than newer phones like the HTC One X and
Galaxy S3, which both scored around 5,000. What does this mean to
you? Not much, but if you’re buying a phone for gaming or have any
plans to really push your smartphone to the limits, opt for another
device.
Camera
The Xperia P’s 8-megapixel camera does its job. The photos in the
comfort of our cushy office in downtown Manhattan came out all
right. Not great, mind you, but not bad. It had some issues focusing in
areas of high light, sometimes getting itself stuck in an endless loop of
refocusing on light sources, but mostly, it works. Outdoor shots look
particularly nice, and the P picks up a good amount of detail. Just
don’t expect it to match or outperform top competitors like the
iPhone 4S, HTC EVO 4G LTE, and One X.
On a sadder note, though all front-facing cameras seem to be crappy
these days, Sony has gone bottom of the barrel here with a VGA
camera only capable of 640 x 480 pixel pictures. Pictures from it will
be smaller than those you’d probably see on Facebook these days.
Talking and texting
Voice reception has been decent in NYC, and calls have been
exceptionally clear on both ends. Conversations were easily
understood on speakerphone as well. I did have a problem with the
phone app not responding once a call was over (I couldn’t hang up),
but that only happened one time. The texting app works fine, and is in
the style of the iPhone, with little chat bubbles for you and the person
you’re texting. Only the tiny size of the keys on the touch keyboard
presented an issue.
The version we’re running is unlocked and running on AT&T’s 3G
network. The Xperia P is not currently being sold by any U.S. wireless
carriers.
Battery performance
Battery life has not been a big issue, likely because the P doesn’t
connect to LTE and has a modestly sized screen. Expect to charge the
phone every night, as usual. According to Sony, the upgrade to
Android 4.0, whenever it comes, will boost the standby battery life of
the P, so more improvements will come. The P also comes with a
Power Saver app, which will help conserve battery life in tight
situations by turning off non-essential features.
Conclusion
The Xperia P is not a record-setting handset, though it’s WhiteMagic
screen is certainly a winner in my book. The design is clean and the
hardware is fast enough to satisfy most users. Assuming the update to
Android 4.0 comes through for everyone with the P (some users have
gotten it already), it could be a good option for those looking for a
smaller handset. Phones keep getting larger and larger. It’s good to see
a solid phone in a smaller size.
Highs
Super bright WhiteMagic screen
Compact size is a plus
Voice calls sound good
Sleek Sony design
Lows
Button layout uncomfortable
Android 4.0 update still pending
No microSD
Crappy front camera