Sony Xperia ion Review

August 16, 2012

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Android - Mobile Phone Reviews - Smartphones - Sony - Videos

The Sony Xperia ion is the new Flagship in Sony’s lineup of 2012 Xperia phones. The device has a great set of specs, but is it truly able to take on the Titans? Lets see.

Build Quality and Hardware

The most impressive feature of the Xperia ion has to be its build and design. The ion follows in the line of the Xperia P and delivers great overall build. Unibody shell that wraps around the sides of the 4.55 inch stunning LCD with Mobile Bravia engine. The top and bottom bits of the phone are plastic, possibly for better antennas, and network reception.

On the inside you have a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset with a Dual Core 1.5 GHz processor. The Xperia ion also has 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage, expandability is followed by not only microSD but also free box accounts of 25 GB.

Camera

The Xperia ion features a 12 mp camera that does excellent photography and full HD video. The sensor is an improved version of the Xperia S’s Sensor yet holding the same megapixel count.

The camera is exceptionally good at clicking images in low light and has high details even with objects up close. The camera truly shines outdoors where you will see flawless imagery in macro captures which truly bring out details in the phone.

The ion also captures 1080p video with anti-shake and the video output is impressive. The front also has a 1.9 MP camera which takes truly high quality images and can capture 720p video.

OS and Online

Android 4.0.4 comes out of the box even though the device was designed for Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The bottom button bar maintains full functionality and also adds new ICS features like multitasking menu via the home button.

The Android interface is smooth and without lag, adds a lot of new elements , and keeps most of the existing Timescape UX features. The Xperia sub menu also bring Xperia – Facebook integration, smart tag management and playstation certification .

Online browsing is just buttery smooth on the included browser and number of other browsers on the Android Google Play store, including Chrome. The smooth panning and pinch to zoom along with ultra fast rendering and full flash support, make the internet a fun place to be with the Xperia ion.

Multimedia and Audio

One of the best possible displays on a Android device, if not the best, is a display with MBE (Mobile Bravia Engine). The new range of Xperia devices all have MBE and high resolutions making the viewing experience simply amazing on these devices. The viewing angles extend to almost as far as you can look at the screen, and the level of black is just unmatched in any other LCD.

surround like audio that you should expect from the ion

Audio at first the ion sounded muffled from the inbuilt speaker, but after a quick reset regained the true surround like audio that you should expect from the ion. The equalization options also make the audio experience with headphones perfect. The Audio from the device is great in all aspects – listening to music, playing games, watching movies or simply attending phone calls.

Phone Messaging and Networks

The device functions well as a phone, networks are solid, and the inbuilt phone features are easy to use. The call connectivity was stable in transit and long call times were not influenced by low network issues.

Messaging using the onscreen keyboard with their new gesture input is phenomenally fast and smooth. If you prefer to use the traditional type to input option you can use that as-well. the keyboard can be customised to remember certain words and can also be skinned using various themes inbuilt into the Xperia Keyboard.

Networks like we mentioned worked great on the ion and 3G data transfers were fast and efficient with almost no issues with downstream or upstream connections.

Battery

Talk Time 3G network(data off): 7 Hours
Talk Time 2g (data off) : 8 hours
Internet : N/A
Music : 10 Hours
Video : 7 hours

Talk Time 3G network(data on): 5 Hours
Talk Time 2g (data on) : 6.5 hours
Internet : 7 Hours
Music : 9 Hours
Video : 6 hours

Talk Time 3G network(data off): 5.5 Hours
Talk Time 2g (data off) : 7.5 hours
Internet : 8 Hours
Music : 9 Hours
Video : 5.5 hours

Conclusion

With excellent built, great display and an impressive camera, the Xperia ion makes for a wonderful device that adds to the already full pool of smartphone devices. The ion is a distance from the Galaxy S3s and the One Xs of today, because it offers a premium product at a premium price. Different in only a certain way, lacking in few aspects, the Xperia ion’s design, usability and build type more than make up for its shortcomings. Performance wise, only a professional would know the difference between the ion and others.

The ion is for those who look to be different from the crowd, A crowd that is now overflowing with S3s, One Xs and iPhones.

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