Sony may just have a winner in the newly revealed Xperia SP and here’s why we think so.
After the high-end Xperia Z and Xperia ZL, Sony has now shifted its focus to the mid-range segment with the new Xperia SP, that it revealed yesterday. The Xperia SP has all the trappings of a premium device but is expected to sold at around the Rs. 25,000 mark when it hits store shelves in the next couple of weeks. The good news is that the Xperia SP is expected in Asia and Europe first, so you can expect to get your hands on the phone very soon.
The Xperia SP has a 4.6-inch 720p display and is powered by a dual-core 1.7GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and an Adreno 320 GPU. Imaging is handled by an 8MP camera also capable of recording 1080p videos @30fps. The Xperia SP will come with Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and a 2370 mAh battery.
We’ve been analysing all that the Xperia SP offers and there are plenty of features that we think have potential. Here are a couple of them:
1. Display
At 4.6-inches the Xperia SP’s display shouldn’t feel overly large and should be conducive to single-handed operation as well. The display should also be capable of high quality output considering the fact that it has a resolution of 1280×720 pixels and offers 319 ppi, making it ideal for watching videos and flipping through images.
2. Notifications Strip
The Xperia SP sports a unique transparent bar at the bottom of the phone that lights up whenever you get a call, message, email etc. The cool part is that you can change the colour of the light according to who is calling, so you can immediately identify who’s calling even without looking at the screen. Since the strip is transparent, you’ll be able to see the strip lighting up irrespective of whether you have the phone on its face or on its back. If you’re feeling a little peppy, you can also set the notifications strip to flash along to the beat of the music that’s playing on the phone.
3. Build & Ergonomics
Even though the Xperia SP isn’t priced as high as the most premium devices in the market, it should feel like a premium device. The phone is set in an aluminium frame, that gives it solidity, and at 155 grams, the phone isn’t too light or too heavy. Sony has also done a great favour to smartphone users by giving the Xperia SP a dedicated hardware camera button, a basic feature that’s missing from most phones nowadays. The most used buttons like power/lock, volume control and camera are all arranged on the right side of the phone towards the center. This will ensure that you don’t have to reach too high or too low along the side of the phone with your thumb in order to control it.
4. Camera
The Xperia SP’s 8MP camera may seem standard at first, but we think it will perform well in real-world situations. This is mainly because the Xperia SP uses Sony’s own Exmor RS CMOS sensor, a sensor that’s based on Sony’s full-fledged cameras. The Exmor RS sensor also powered the Xperia Z’s 13MP shooter and we were quite impressed by its performance, so we don’t think it’s too much of a longshot to say that the Xperia SP will probably also be good at shooting photos.
5. Battery
While a phone’s battery life can only be properly tested through real-world usage, looking at the Xperia SP’s specs-sheet has us expecting very good battery life from the phone. At 2370 mAh, the Xperia SP’s battery has a higher rating than most other smartphones with a 4.7-inch display including the Nexus 4, the Samsung Galaxy S3, the LG Optimus G and the HTC One X . As a result, the Xperia SP’s battery should last as long (if not longer) as any of those phones.
We think that at launch the Sony Xperia SP will fill the void that’s currently there in the Rs. 25,000 price-point. We hope to get the product soon and have the review up just in time for its April-end launch.