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Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Review
Phone rating: 
In a nutshell: The Sony Ericsson Play is the first ever Playstation
phone. The Play takes mobile gaming to a new plane, with Playstation-like
controls, plus motion control and gesture control using the phone's
front-facing video camera! It's also a high-powered smartphone running
Android Gingerbread. The hardware is top notch too, with a giant 4 inch
display, 5.1 megapixel camera, assisted GPS with Google Maps and Street
View and a DLNA connection so you can plug the phone into a HD-ready
TV. Available in Black or White.
Review: April 2011.
 Is
it a phone? Is it a PlayStation? No, it's the PlayStation phone, properly
known as the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play.
At first, it seems to be just another touchscreen smartphone. A rather
heavy one, and a little thicker than most. But slide it open and it
turns into a PlayStation game controller, with access to a range of
3D games. It was a concept just waiting to happen - all it needed was
a processor fast enough to power 3D games (1GHz Snapdragon processor
and Adreno 205 GPU) and a big 4 inch screen and voila!
The Sony Xperia Play is built on the Android operating system and uses
the latest version of Android, called Gingerbread. This means that you
get a fast, powerful and user friendly operating system, with power
features and access to over 100,000 downloadable apps. Sony Ericsson
have been releasing Android phones for over a year and have brought
a number of novel concept phones to the market, including the tiny Xperia
X10 Mini and the futuristic-looking Xperia
Arc, but the Xperia Play is probably the most original concept phone
so far. The implementation of Android on the Play is similar to that
on the Arc, with five home screens plus Sony Ericsson's Timescape enhancement
providing seamless integration of facebook, twitter, email, calendars
and contacts.
To transform your phone into a games console, you simply turn it into
landscape mode, flip open the slide and a genuine PlayStation game controller
is unveiled, complete with D-pad and face buttons (circle, square, triangle
and cross). The buttons work well although the touch-sensitive thumbpads
in the centre are perhaps less responsive. There's an accelerometer
to sense which way up you're holding the device, and you can touch the
screen to make things happen too. Does this tactile "in your hands"
experience compensate for the fact that you've only got 4 inches of
screen and less than HD resolution? Well, the success of other portable
games consoles indicates a clear "yes" answer to that, so
the question really should be, "how does the Xperia Play experience
measure up to the 3DS experience?" The truth has to be that a dedicated
portable games console will give you a better experience, as it's built
to do just that one job. But there's still plenty of enjoyment to be
had from the Xperia Play.
In addition to the gaming features, the Xperia Play comes with a 5
megapixel camera with flash and autofocus. At this price point we might
have expected an 8 megapixel camera, but we can't have everything. The
Play also has a front-mounted VGA video camera.
The Play has assisted GPS of course, with Google Maps pre-installed.
This is the very latest version of Google Maps, with plenty of extra
features to play with, such as Street View and Latitude (share your
location with your friends). It's remarkable how polished the system
is and how well it works on a mobile device.
The Play is a fully-featured media machine too, with a media player
capable of handling playlists and album art, plus an FM radio with RDS.
Sound quality from the stereo speakers is really quite good for a phone,
and you can plug in a proper set of headphones with the 3.5mm headphone
jack.
A feature first seen on the Arc and also present on the Play is the
Noise Shield. This uses a secondary microphone at the back of the phone
to pick up and cancel ambient noise, so the person you're talking to
can hear you better.
Connectivity is outstanding, with 3G HSPA and Wi-Fi for fast internet
access, Bluetooth wireless access and USB. There's also an HDMI port,
so you can plug your phone into a HD Ready TV and play your games large!
Web browsing on the Play is a good experience, with pages loading quickly
and rendered well. The browser responds well to the touch, whether you're
scrolling with your finger or using two fingers to pinch-and-zoom. Flash
video is supported and you can watch youtube clips.
The built-in memory of 400MB is less than we'd have liked, with many
other high-end phones having 8GB or more, but you can augment this with
a microSD memory card up to 32GB. An 8GB card is included in the sales
package.
Battery life. Hmmm. The Xperia Play has a 1500mAh battery, which is
the largest you'll find on a mobile phone at present. But it needs it!
Sony Ericsson are claiming 5.5 hours of game play, but if you plan to
make calls and do other stuff you'll have less time playing games. But
it's only a mobile device, so this is perhaps the best anyone could
realistically expect. Just remember to charge your phone every night
and you should be OK.
Finally, let's talk money. The Xperia Play is one of the most expensive
phones on the market, more expensive than the Sony
Ericsson Xperia Arc or the Google Nexus
S for instance. For this kind of money you could get a less expensive
Android phone plus a Nintendo 3DS. You'd have a better phone and a better
games console. Sure, you'd have to carry two devices instead of one,
but that's the way life is sometimes. It's perhaps inevitable that combining
two devices in one leads to compromise. There are certainly compromises
here. The games controller isn't as polished as a dedicated one (3DS
for instance) and as a phone the Xperia Play is rather large and very
heavy. It's very expensive too. We'd recommend it, but with reservations.
Features of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play include:
- 5.1 megapixel camera with digital zoom, autofocus and LED flash
- Front-facing VGA video camera (video chat ready)
- Display: TFT capacitive touchscreen, 480 x 854 pixels (4.0 inches),
16 million colours with auto-rotation
- Media player with album art, TrackID and PlayNow
- FM radio with RDS
- MP3/ AAC ringtones
- Stereo speakers
- aGPS with Google Maps, Street View, Latitude and geo-tagging
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, email, conversations
- 3D games with dedicated controls, motion gaming & gesture gaming
- Picture wallpaper
- Personal organiser functions
- Vibration alert
- Internet: WAP 2.0, GPRS, EDGE, HSPA, web browser, RSS feeds, YouTube,
Voice Search
- Memory: 400MB plus microSD memory card (up to 32GB supported)
- Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth, USB, 3.5mm audio jack, HDMI
- Quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900) plus 3G UMTS/HSPA
- Size: 119 x 62 x 16 mm
- Weight: 175g
- Battery: 1500mAh
- Talktime: 8 hours 25 minutes
- Battery standby: 425 hours
Sony Ericsson Xperia Play User Reviews
Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this
phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so
please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive
language, and please, no advertising!
Average rating from 21 reviews:
Reviewed by Em from UK on 12th Jun 2012
All my friends who have Xperias are getting the ICS update- but my Xperia
Play isnt. Still, not too bad of a phone, but ive had to remove the
battery a few times when things have slowed to a crawl
Rating: 
Reply
Reviewed by Drury from Uk on 5th Jun 2012
Brought this for my son in september its now frozen hard to turn on
and all i get is the front screen saying make of phone i cant seem to
get this resolved anywhere anyone any ideas brought new unlocked but
ebay but seller not about now pooooo
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by Hotcheese from Ireland on 1st May
2012
Worked great until the internet stopped working. It says i am connected
to my wi-fi but when i use anything to do with the internet it says
there is no internet connection and then force closes
Rating:  Reply
Reviewed by paw from england on 6th Mar 2012
the phone is outstanding bought it 2 months ago in o2 (payg) i had about
70quid discount in o2 so actually paid 79.99 - bargain - u can`t go
wrong
Rating: 
Reply
Reviewed by MINANTRA from UK on 6th Mar 2012
I paid £100 for this phone (£150 from 02 - £50 for a Xmas gift = £100),
so it's a bargain for what you get regardless of pro or con ;)
However...
Pro – big clear screen, great battery life (at least 2 days if
using a launcher), camera, Timescape, Android 4.0 OS (ice cream sandwich)
coming this month, Xperia Play games variety, D-pad and game buttons
work very well playing games, the majority of games games run smoothly,
looks great in white!
Con – the phone is heavy and bulky (yes I know its because of
the slide out joy pad but it could be more streamlined), internal memory
is low (I would have liked at least 16GB internal memory because using
external memory not all apps can be moved to the MicroSD card for some
reason), the music player is basic, Sony Ericisson Bridge for Mac is
slow and a bit clunky but does the job, the touch-sensitive thumb pads
are rubbish, Android Market is expensive and not as slick as Apple's
App store.
THE BIG CON is that Sony seem to have given up on the PlayStation part
of the Xperia Play as Playstation Pocket is rubbish and there are still
only 10 games available since launch 1 year ago, and all are overpriced
at £3.99! Where are all the PlayStation games Sony promised? I guess
now the PlayStation Vita is out there is no hope for the Xperia Play,
Shame!
Rating:
Reply
Reply by MINANTRA from UK on 8th Mar
2012
I forgot to mention a couple of things in my previous post - the build
quality and price. The build quality is a bit ropey, it feels lose,
it creaks and flexes a bit and there is a noticeable gap when the phone
is closed between the screen and the game pad. I also feel that if I
dropped the Xperia Play it wouldn't survive! Lastly, the phone is not
available for £150 anymore from O2 who have stopped selling it, and
in fact I cant find it for that price anywhere (unless you buy secondhand),
however it is available elsewhere - Play and Amazon sell it for £290
and some places sell it for £400! I have to say at a price more than
£150 this phone is really not worth buying.
Reviewed by zhao from liverpool on 15th Dec 2011
good phone
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by alex from england on 14th Dec 2011
the phone works well as a phone but he gaming aspect is apsolutally
fantastic,the controles are perfectly pesitioned and you can getit for
£149.99 which is realy good value for money and is a fantastic christmas
or birthday presants.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by Jake from England on 12th Dec 2011
I think this phone should be upgraded to a 5 star review, given it's
new £150 price! Completely obliterates the competition (Wildfire S,
Galaxy Ace etc.) as just a phone. But add to that the fact it's a gaming
device- simply put it's an unbelievable bargain.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by Gabriel from England on 30th Nov 2011
Pro- Price dropped to under £150 in the UK, makes this a compelling
proposition against other Android such as the Wildfire S or the Samsung
Galaxy Ace. The Play has a bigger screen (with corresponding increase
in pixel count) & faster processor then the two mention before. The
recent software upgrade has now enabled 720 HD recording. SE has committed
to upgrading all their 11' range to the next Android 4.0 ice cream sandwich
in early 2012, which is reassuring. The included 8gb card and games
are also a bonus for those on a budget. Con The phone is kinda bulky
even taking into account of the slide out joy pad. The D-Pad works great
but touch-sensitive thumbpads is rubbish, not the most accurate and
generally inferior to the D-Pad next to it. The limited onboard memory
is a bit disappointing when it comes to installing apps as not all apps
can be moved to the MicroSD card. No HDMI but you can install Vscreens,
a program that lets you share images and video onto your computer or
Tv if that's any compensation. Other observation- Battery last about
just about a day with a 2 hours commute throw into it. The music playing
side is slightly inferior to iOS products when it comes to usability
but sound quality is comparable in everyday listening when I paired
it with my Westone UM2 dual-driver in-ear headphones. Games generally
runs smoothly, but occasional frame drop does occur when I was playing
NFS Shift.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by danny from america on 14th Nov 2011
Not that good of aphone. It looks cool at first but then my phone was
not even a foot off the ground a nd I dropped then leaving behind a
huge crack. Sometimes it says sd card is not mounted in. And I have
to take off my back case take the sd card out and put it back and sometimes
that doesn't evenn work I recomend getting a diffrent phone.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by omar from luton on 1st Sep 2011
awesome phone does everything i need better than iphone
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by kym from Australia on 1st Sep 2011
Well I went and got a xperia play and has been a grate phone until my
touch screen went salute after 24 days had it sent off to be fixed now
my screen is fixed but the phone itself has slowed down so bad that
it takes about ten min to do anything wont load games its turning me
right off the idea of a playstation phone think ive got
Rating: 
Reply
Reviewed by Peter from England on 20th Aug 2011
I think this phone is great. Sure there isnt that many games optimised
for it at the moment, but gradually little gems are starting to pop
up- i just recently downloaded Dead Space and it plays really well with
the slide out controller and has fantastic visuals too. Got a new update
with SE and its given me new apps, boosted the sound of the mp3 player
& other little tweaks. The only minor letdowns are the camera being
'only' 5mp and the video sadly doesnt record in hd (though it will play
hd videos!). Overall though, its not let me down, plays games well,
mp3 is top, internet (with flash player) works a treat and hey, i can
phone and text people with it! Recommended
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by qasim from england on 15th Aug 2011
dont listen to aziz who says best phone ever get HTC INCREDIBLE S BEST
PHONE IN THE WORLD BETTR THAN XPIRIEA PLAY
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Aziz from England on 22nd May 2011
Best phone ever, beats the iphone
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by john from england on 7th May 2011
What a phone! The xperia play is an amazing phone. The gaming experience
us wonderful with a 4 inch screen and dedicated controls is excellent.
But there are a few problems. The phone sometimes doesnt read the sim
or the memory card at times. There is no hdmi port for the model i have.
I cant find any 3d games. Apart from that grest phone!
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by tom from london on 30th Apr 2011
Hay guys I wrote a review on here the 22nd April praising this phone
when actually after a few days you begin to realize that its rubbish
or maybe its just a bad batch that I have revived my phones work antenna
is zoo weak it barely picks a signal up yet I can connect m mac book
and everything is ok zoo its got to be the phone also not all apps in
the app market work with this phone nearly 6/10th apps I have downloaded
have had to be force closed as the phone does not support them Sony
get me wrong the hard ware of this device is impeccable but the software
on this phone is ridicularse in actually now battling Vodafone to return
this phone as I am not happy in not sure as to go for the xperia arc
or an I phone again hmm if I was I would stay clear if your a new android
user as you will not be impressed I would wait till all bugs are fixed
in another firmware fix your upset me SE :-(
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by tom from london on 22nd Apr 2011
This phone is probably the best phone on the market at the moment .
Its not a replacement for my psp go because i cant put my psp games
on this device although that being said the android system on this phone
2.3.2 is very smooth abd polished its fast not as fast as some o the
dual core phones but nothing you would notice in day to day use i love
this phone as i am a playstation phanatic anyway and got to grips with
the physical gamepad as soon as i got it out the box akthough the touch
analog sticks are a bit sensitive but usable . If your thinking between
this and an i phone i would recomend this as just touch screen phones
j feek will soon
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by John from Scotland on 14th Apr 2011
I got this last week, nothing but trouble, screen freezes then have
to remove battery to make it work again, the touch screen is not as
good as my old phone when browsing, ringer not loud enough, I put it
in the rubbish.
Rating: Reply
Reply by Mobile Phones UK from UK on
14th Apr 2011
This is a spoof review, right?
Reply by John from Scotland on 14th
Apr 2011
Sir, I really did put the phone in the rubbish, I was so dissapointed
with it, gone back to my Nokia x6!
Reviewed by ahmad from uk on 10th Apr 2011
this is a sickk phone and when i play games on it i can connect it to
my 50inch tv and the graphics are amazing sony has done a good job on
this one.
Rating:
Reply
Reviewed by Paul from England on 10th Apr 2011
I've had this phone for two weeks now, and I feel in a position to know
most of the ins and outs. I'll start with battery life. For an Android
handset (and I have experience with 5 other models) it is really very
good. I do a lot of gaming and browsing during the course of a day,
and I find it tends to last without the need for a recharge. I won't
comment on the OS itself, other than to mention it runs 2.3.2, so almost
completely up to date. It also means Flash support and tethering. The
camera is useable and quality is not too bad, even if the LED flash
leaves things a little washed out. There are better phone cameras, but
that isn't the reason you're buying this phone, is it? Video recording
is a little disappointing, not being 720i hd, but again, not the main
reason to get this phone anyway. The gaming experience, on the other
hand, is exactly why you want this phone. The slide out gaming pad is
a joy to use. The difference it makes on dedicated games (or those that
you set the controls up) is unbelievable. In the two weeks I have had
it I have become hooked on Asphalt 6 and Crash Bandicoot (ahh the memories!).
These both use the keypad, and are a great example of getting it right.
Of course, all the old Android games work, and still utilise the touchscreen,
so all the old favourites are still there. The sound quality is very
good, as you would expect from a phone designed to play games, and this
means that your music sounds better too. The SE interface is not too
bad, but of course there are a lot of alternatives, such as ADP (although
this tended to crash on my handset) and Launcher Pro (no problems with
this). The only real problem I have so far come across is during calls.
As with all touch screen phones, the screen goes off during a call,
but unfortunately with the Play, when you press the Home button (as
per hand book), the screen does not always come back on. I have found
this worse for incoming calls, but it is not l imited to them. There
are currently only two methods to get the screen back on, and that is
either put the phone on charge or reboot the phone by taking out the
battery. It appears that there are a couple of people who have suffered
this (read up about it on XDA Developers forum) and it looks like a
software update will be required to sort it out. This issue is the reason
the phone only gets 4 stars. Once this issue is solved (if SE ever fix
it) it does everything I want from a phone.
Rating:
Reply
Links
Sony
Ericsson Xperia Play deals
Sony
Ericsson Xperia Play White deals
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