Sony Xperia sola review

Sony Xperia sola 

 

 

 

Specification

 

Display:  3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen 16M colors display

                resolution of 480 x 854 pixels, (~265 ppi pixel density)

               Touch-sensitive controls

               Multitouch input method

               Scratch-resistant glass

               Floating touch display

OS:         Runs on Android v2.3 (Gingerbread) OS (upgradable to v4.0)

Processor:Based on NovaThor U8500 Chipset

                  Powered by a Dual-core 1 GHz processor

RAM: 512MB RAM

Storage:8GB internal memory (5GB user accessible),

              Support microSD cards up to 32GB for memory expandable

              Accelerometer, proximity, compass

Camera:5 megapixels (2592х1944 pixels) rear facing camera

              16x digital zoom, Autofocus and LED flash

               Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection

               3D sweep panorama, image stabilization, Red-eye reduction

                720p@30fps video recording with continuous autofocus & video light

Radio:Stereo FM radio with RDS

Sound:Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic

           MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player

           MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV player

            3.5mm headphone jack & stereo speakers

            xLOUD and 3D surround sound audio technology

Connectivity: 

                     GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 (2G network)

                     HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 (3G network)

                     GPRS and EDGE support

                      Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot

                      Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP, EDR

                     NFC capability

                     Uses microUSB v2.0 interface

                     SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, IM, Push Email

                     HTML5 browser and Adobe Flash Player

GPS :            A-GPS support

Java via Java MIDP emulator

SNS integration

Google Search, Maps, Gmail,

YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk

Document viewer

Voice memo/dial/commands

Predictive text input

 

Hardware

Though Sony came with translucent band which made the phones look stylish, but its absence makes the Sola more graceful. The Sony Xperia Sola can be bought in black, red or white.There is no transparent bar or curved back, but Xperia sola comes with an all square design which at time may pric in your pam. Another differentiating factor is the thin bottom, which is a change from Xperia NXT series.

Sony brings not a huge smartphone and prefer the pocketable one. It offers 3.7-inch display, a sufficiently thin body at 9.9mm and weighs just 107 grams.Sony Xperia sola features a plastic body with soft touch finish applied to the better cover. The phone does not seem to have a scratch-resistant screen. After a few days of use, the screen is full of scratches even on not been playing rough.In hardware specifications, Xperia sola has a trio of capacitive buttons located below the display, and they work fine. There is a volume rocker, two-stage dedicated camera and Micro-USB port on the right and the power button on the left. The top and bottom are pretty much clean apart from the 3.5mm audio jack on the top.

The back consists 5MP camera, LED flash, Xperia branding and speaker. Remove the battery cover and consumers will find the microSD card and SIM card slots. The battery is not users-replaceable, which is a let down.

Xperia sola come with Floating Touch technology, which allows you to browse the web by hovering your finger above the screen so it acts like a moving curser, without actually having to touch the display.

Display

The Xperia Sola's 3.7in LED-backlit display uses Sony's Reality Display and Mobile Bravia engine technology, which claims to enhance sharpness, contrast and colour saturation of photos and videos while also minimising digital image noise. The screen has a resolution of 480x854 and a pixel density of 265 ppi which gives it a good feel.The display size is perfect for basic web-browsing, playing casual games and other daily chores, but multimedia junkies and heavy gamers might find it a little small. The Sola surprisingly has better viewing angles and visibility under sunlight, than Sony' flagship despite having a lower quality screen overall.

Camera

Xperia sola's 5MP camera performs quite well. There is a dedicated camera button, you don't even have to unlock the device to click an image. Produces excellent results in both low and bright light conditions. There also a ton of settings for the camera - ISO, exposure value, white balance, smile detection, metering and more. However, the zoom is a bit jerky as in the case with most phones.

While the outdoor and indoor shots with proper lighting taken with the smartphone's camera lived up to our expectations, disappointment was  the shots taken using the smartphone's built-in flash. The shots were washed out and had a white layer on them.

Another downside for the smartphone is the missing front camera. Secondary camera has increasingly become a standard for smartphones and even the entry-level models have started coming with one.

The smartphone camera supports up to 720p video recording.

Software

Sony is shipping Xperia sola with Gingerbread on-board, and company is yet to release an Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) smartphone.

The interface is good with subtle animations and effects. Xperia sola has the usual five-pane homescreen (you can't add or delete panes), with four docked shortcuts (two on either side of the launcher shortcut). These are visible on all five homescreen panes and are user configurable

The smartphone also comes with ability to create folders and take screenshots, both of which were introduced in Ice Cream Sandwich release, giving you some respite before the actual update reaches the smartphone.

The pre-loaded apps, includes Timescape, which is like a hub of your social network feeds, along with TrackID, Timer, Stop Watch, Recommender, World Clock, WisePilot, Neo Reader, and Office Suite apps in order to add value to the consumer experience.

Performance

In the world of smartphones filled with Qualcomm and NVIDIA chips, Sony Xperia sola runs on ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8500 dual-core processor and works better than qualcom core processor in HTC One V. The dual-core processor ensures smooth functioning of the phone and there is no lag.

Connectivity

It includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, and DLNA. Both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth work as expected, but NFC isn't much use right now apart from when you try Smart Tags from the company. The NFC functionality should be improved after the ICS update. The call quality is decent and so is the network reception.

In terms of the multimedia usage, the smartphone played 720p videos flawlessly, however stock player wasn't so great with 1080p videos. It also includes a fancy music player on-board, which worked quite nicely and when clubbed with the xLoud feature gives decent audio output.

Battery life is increasingly becoming a key deciding factor in smartphone purchases. Xperia sola includes a 1,320mAh battery, which is non-user-removable. Moderate users will able to get through the day without charging, but heavy users won't be so lucky.

Likes

Decent performance, Solid build

Dual-core processor

Quad-band GSM /GPRS/EDGE support

3.7" 16M-color capacitive touchscreen of Full WVGA resolution (854 x 480 pixels) with Sony Mobile BRAVIA engine; Floating touch display

Dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU, 512 MB RAM, NovaThor U8500 chipset

720p video recording @ 30fps with continuous autofocus and stereo sound

8 GB built-in storage (5 GB user-accessible)

microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1

Standard 3.5 mm audio jack

Voice dialing

Adobe Flash 11 support

Accelerometer and proximity sensor

NFC connectivity and included NFC tags

Dislikes

No front camera

No Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of box

Display has poor viewing angles

Stiff and unresponsive shutter key

Non user-replaceable battery