Sony Xperia U

The Sony Xperia U is the runt of the new Sony Xperia range. It's certainly a minnow compared to some of the gigantic blowers on the market these days. But what it lacks in stature, it more than makes up for by packing in a nifty 1GHz dual-core chip.

The Xperia U is no shrinking violet either, with snazzy coloured lights illuminating the transparent strip at its base, with swappable coloured bottom caps.

Sony unboxed the Xperia U at a press event on the eve of Mobile World Congress, where I got a chance to go hands-on with the hardware. Read on for my first impressions.

Design

The stand-out design feature of the Xperia U is its transparent strip near the base, which pulses with different coloured lights, depending on what you're looking at. Shades of light are selected to match the hues of particular photos from the gallery or the album art of the music you're listening to.

The glowing strip changes colour depending on what you're looking at or listening to.

There are also swappable caps that add a coloured plastic strip to the bottom of the handset, making it look as if it's wearing a really mini skirt. All this surface jazz might be too much for some people but you certainly can't say the Xperia U lacks personality.

Like its big brother the Xperia S, the U is sheathed in plastic so it's very lightweight. Its blunt-edged slab shape helps it feel classy rather than plasticky though. And while it's not the thinnest phone around, it doesn't feel or look too chunky -- it's a perfect 10.

Display and hardware

The Xperia U has a 3.5-inch screen -- the same size as Apple's iPhone 4S. Not everyone wants a supersized smart phone so that's where the Xperia U fits into Sony's new range.

Sony has added the mobile version of its Bravia TV technology to the Xperia U. Colours certainly looked vibrant and even jewel-like on the demo device I saw.

There's Sony's Bravia TV technology in the Xperia U's display, which looks impressive.

On the back of the U is a 5-megapixel snapper, which is a typical amount of pixels for a mid-range device. There's also a front-facing camera for making video calls.

I didn't get a chance to assess image quality on the Xperia U, but Sony has a good pedigree when it comes to making camera sensors. I'm hopeful the handset can still turn out a relatively decent shot. We'll be sure to get snap happy when we bring the device in for review.

Also on board are xLoud and 3D surround sound technology.

You'll find a 5-megapixel camera on the back as well as a front-facing cam for video calls.

Software and performance

The Xperia U will run Android Gingerbread from launch. It's a shame Sony hasn't stuck the latest version of Google's operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), on from the get go. The company does say the U will get an ICS update during the second quarter of 2012, so hopefully it will arrive without any delays.

On the sample I was looking at, the menus zipped around nippily enough. However, it wasn't the final build of the software and there were clearly still some bugs in it, with several apps crashing on boot-up. When we get the U in for review, we'll be sure to put the software through its paces.

With a 1GHz dual-core chip powering a perfectly proportioned screen (rather than a ridiculously over-sized hulk), I've got high hopes that the Xperia U will be a very zippy and responsive character indeed.

Outlook

There's no word on price yet but rest assured the Xperia U will be the cheapest device in Sony's new Ericsson-less Xperia range. For Android lovers looking for a budget handset that doesn't compromise where it counts, on power and performance, the Xperia U could be a serious contender.

Sony says the Xperia U will launch in the second quarter of 2012. Stay tuned for a full review.

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 900 / 2100 - ST25i
		HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 - ST25a
	Announced	2012, February
	Status	Coming soon. Exp. release 2012, Q2

BODY	Dimensions	112 x 54 x 12 mm
	Weight	110 g
		- Touch-sensitive controls

DISPLAY	Type	LED-backlit LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	480 x 854 pixels, 3.5 inches (~280 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes, up to 4 fingers
	Protection	Scratch-resistant glass
		- Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine - Timescape UI

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration; MP3 ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes
		- Sony 3D surround sound audio technology

MEMORY	Card slot	No
	Internal	4 GB storage, 512 MB RAM

DATA	GPRS	Up to 107 kbps
	EDGE	Up to 296 kbps
	Speed	HSDPA 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, DLNA
	Bluetooth	Yes, v2.1 with A2DP, EDR
	USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0, USB On-the-go support

CAMERA	Primary	5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
	Features	Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, 3D sweep panorama, image stabilization
	Video	Yes, 720p@30fps, video light
	Secondary	Yes, VGA

FEATURES	OS	Android OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread), planned upgrade to v4.0
	Chipset	STE U8500
	CPU	Dual-core 1 GHz
	GPU	DB8500
	Sensors	Accelerometer, proximity, compass
	Messaging	SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, IM, Push Email
	Browser	HTML5, Adobe Flash
	Radio	Stereo FM radio with RDS
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Black, White/ exchangeable bottom caps in white, black, pink, yellow
		- SNS integration - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player - MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV player - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk - Organizer - Document viewer - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input

BATTERY		Standard battery, Li-Ion 1320 mAh
	Stand-by	Up to 260 h (2G) / Up to 472 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 6 h 36 min (2G) / Up to 5 h 36 min (3G)
	Music play	Up to 45 h

video review

 

video review

 

video review

 

Share on Google Plus

About JD

This is a short description in the author block about the author. You edit it by entering text in the "Biographical Info" field in the user admin panel.