Having left the name Sony Ericsson behind it, Sony’s revitalised mobile division is wasting no time in pumping out as many top-tier handsets as possible. The Xperia S has only been on the market for a few months and already it’s getting usurped by the Xperia T – a handset which comes pre-loaded with Ice Cream Sandwich, NFC capabilities and a massive 4.6-inch TFT screen.
The other talking point is contained within the device itself in the shape of a Snapdragon S4 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, backed by 1GB of RAM. Sony is insisting this puts the Xperia T on a level playing field with its quad-core rivals, like the HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy S3, but is this merely empty marketing hype? Let’s find out in the FoneArena review below.
Hardware
The Xperia T is a strange mixture of design influences, and combines the refined edges of the Xperia S with the unique curved back of the the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc. The front of the device is dominated by that massive screen, but is surrounded by a glossy plastic bezel, which looks and feels a little cheap, if we’re honest.
There are capacitive touch buttons at the bottom.
The 3.5mm audio jack is at the top.
Around the back, Sony has introduced a matte-finish plastic casing which ensures that the phone doesn’t slip out of your palm too easily. The unit we reviewed had a silver back, but it’s also available in black. The familiar Sony ‘S’ logo is found at the bottom, while at the top of the phone you’ll notice a recessed camera.
The Xperia T is short on actual buttons, with just three appearing on the right-hand edge of the phone. These control power (and screen lock), volume and camera shutter.
Having a dedicated camera button is a real bonus if you ask us, as it allows you to open up the camera app quickly and easily, and also means your phone feels more like a real imaging device when you’re taking shots.
There is a micro USB slot on the left side
The 4.6-inch screen uses Sony’s Bravia Engine to create a convincing and bold picture, and the results are striking – even when compared to a super-bright AMOLED panel, like the one on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. The screen also copes well in direct sunlight, although it does have a tendency to appear a little washed-out when placed alongside some of the better displays out there.
Software
Unlike the Xperia S, which shipped with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), the Xperia T has Android 4.0 on-board (also known as Ice Cream Sandwich). This technically means that it’s still behind the curve when it comes to software updates – Android 4.1, AKA Jelly Bean, is already available on some devices, such as the Nexus 7 tablet – but seeing as both 4.0 and 4.1 are quite similar, it’s less of an issue. It’s highly likely that the Xperia T will see an OTA upgrade to 4.1 in the not-too-distant future, anyway.
Sony has made quite a few alterations to the the way in which the UI works, placing its own menu system over the existing framework of Android 4.0. The most obvious change is the introduction of what Sony is calling ‘Small Apps’, which sit in the multitasking screen and allow you to perform quick actions like calculations or taking notes. It’s a unique feature that we could see ourselves relying on a lot in the future, and Sony is promising that more Small Apps will be made available via the Google Play Store soon.
Aside from a few hiccups here and there, Sony’s UI is solid. The jerkiness which was apparent on previous handsets – such as the Xperia Play and Arc – is absent, thanks largely to the powerful Snapdragon S4. Sony still insists on including its near-useless Timescape widget, but thankfully you can remove this from your home screen and forget about it; it aggregates all of your social networking activities in one place, but it’s so lightweight you’re better off using alternative apps instead.
Storage
You’ll find an impressive 16GB of onboard storage with the Xperia T, 2GB of which is available for application data. For modest users this will likely prove to be enough, but more demanding individuals will be thankful to learn that the Xperia T also packs a MicroSD card slot, which allows you to cheaply add more space.
Because the phone lacks a removeable battery, the only way to access the MicroSD card slot is via small plastic flap on the side of the phone, which also conceals the Micro SIM slot. If you’re still hanging onto your old-fashioned ‘large’ SIM, then you’ll either need to order a new one from your network provider or take a deep breath and trim down your existing one so it will fit.
Camera
Sony has really excelled when it comes to mobile cameras lately, thanks to its excellent Exmor R technology. The 13 megapixel snapper is almost identical to the one seen on the Xperia S, and offers similar results. Low-light shooting is made possible thanks to the Exmor R sensor and the presence of a subtle but effective LED flash, and 1080p video recording means you can capture HD movies, too. Still images can be a little over-compressed when you’re taking shots in dim conditions, but on the whole we were impressed with how the camera on the Xperia T performs – just as we have been with many other Sony handsets of late. Check out the camera samples below.
1080p HD Video sample
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9tLPc8H2hs
Performance
Sony’s insistence that the dual-core Snapdragon S4 can match the performance of rival quad-core chipsets – like Nvidia’s Tegra 3 – seems credible, at least based on initial impressions. The Xperia T is a seriously fast phone, thanks to the fact that the CPU is clocked at 1.5GHz. In benchmark tests, the results are slightly less clear.
Quadrant Benchmark
Quadrant Standard places the Xperia T above many of its quad-core opponents, but AnTuTu thinks otherwise.
AnTuTu Benchmark
The scores of the Xperia T are similar to the One S that has a similar Snapdragon S4 MSM8260A processor. All the other quad-core phones out performs the Xperia T in this test.
Browsermark
Xperia T tops in the BrowserMark.
NenaMark
Xperia T leads in the NenaMark GPU benchmark.
When you compare the Xperia T to other top-tier devices it does seem to provide a very similar experience, both from an application and gaming perspective. We did notice a few moments of slowdown and jerkiness during our review, but possibly no more than usual for Android. Sony has clearly done an excellent job of keeping up with its rivals, but time will tell if the lack of a quad-core chipset will limit the Xperia T’s long-term aspirations.
Battery Life
Despite the Xperia T’s large 1850 mAh battery, the phone’s stamina isn’t anything out of the ordinary. Like so many modern smartphones, you’ll need to charge this up at least once a day if you’re planning on making the most of its capabilities. We imagine that the power-hungry CPU and large 4.6-inch display are the main culprits, but it’s worth noting that the Xperia T offers around the same level of staying power as its closest competitors.
The actual battery life you get from the phone depends largely on what activities you’re doing. Watching a HD movie will drain the power cell in about five hours, but careful management of your juice will allow you to extend the life of the Xperia T to over a day – although this naturally means disabling many key features, such as synchronisation of email, Bluetooth and NFC.
As we’ve previously mentioned, the battery inside the phone isn’t removeable, so you can’t carry around a spare in your pocket for those moments when you’re running dangerously low on power.
Conclusion
Sony is clearly keen to make its mark on the burgeoning Android sector, and the Xperia T continues the good work done by the Xperia S. However, it rarely feels like a step up from its predecessor; the improvements here are slight, and in some cases – such as the camera – there’s not really any change at all. If you already own the previous model then there’s little reason to even consider this as a potential upgrade, likewise if you’ve purchased a top-tier Android device in the past six months or so.
The Xperia T makes much more sense if you’re moving upwards from an older phone, where its enhancements will seem like much more of a big deal. Of course, you should also consider rival devices such as the Galaxy S3 before making a purchase, but Sony’s latest effort certainly isn’t a phone you’d be ashamed of owning, and it enables the veteran manufacturer to remain on level terms with the likes of LG, HTC and Samsung – for the time being, at least.
Pros
- Fast performance from the Snapdragon S4
- Bold, bright screen
- Sony’s UI is better than ever
Cons
- Not running Jelly Bean
- Non-removeable battery
- Not much of a step up from the Xperia S