Back at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, Sony unveiled its all-new line of Xperia handsets. It can also be noted that Sony and Ericsson has officially ended their long-term partnership thereby omitting the latter’s name on Sony’s latest mobile devices. And speaking of which, you might as well know that two of the company’s Xperia smartphones have already been set to be made available sometime within the second quarter. The first phone will be dubbed as the Sony Xperia Ion while the other phone will be dubbed as the Sony Xperia S.
As of now, the price and specific date of release for these phones are yet to be told. Even so, there are those that are quite willing to spend for a high-quality handset. In that case, you would need to consider a lot of factors such as the phone’s overall look, performance and value-added specs. Don’t worry though. For in this post, we will evaluate the quality of Sony’s two new Xperia phones. All that you need to do is to pick the handset that you like most. And whenever you’re ready, read on.
APPEARANCE
Looks wise, both phones can somewhat be compared to a rectangular chocolate bar and they are both covered with black. But we can say that the Sony Xperia S looks more attractive than the Sony Xperia Ion. Even so, they don’t differ much in terms of weight and dimensions. The Xperia S weighs an average of 144 grams while its solid body doesn’t go any thinner than 10.6mm. On the other hand, the Xperia Ion is as light as the Xperia S but a bit thicker than the former.
Moreover, the Sony Xperia S can take pride of its vibrant 4.3 inch LED-backlit LCD capacitive display with 720 x 1280 pixels of full screen resolution while the Sony Xperia Ion can take pride of its larger 4.55 inch LED-backlit LCD capacitive display with 720 x 1280 pixels of full screen resolution. If you want a phone with a large display, you’d better go for the Xperia Ion.
OPERATING SYSTEM
You might be disappointed to know that both phones will be powered by Android 2.3 Gingerbread. But guess what? Sony did note that it will be releasing an update that will upgrade these handsets’ firmware to Android Ice Cream Sandwich v4.0. That being said, you have a whole lot of reasons to be patient. Like Sony’s previous handsets, the phones will be layered with a custom user interface called TimeScape.
PERFORMANCE
In terms of performance, we can say that both are of the same level. That’s right! The Sony Xperia S and Sony Xperia Ion will both be running on Qualcomm’s 1.5GHz of Dual Core Snapdragon processor. Therefore, you can expect that these handsets can launch your favorite apps with less lags and errors. Regardless of which, you can be assured that you can effortlessly swipe through your homescreen. Well, we couldn’t really assure that there won’t be any trouble but that’s normal. It really depends on how you manage your phone.
MEMORY
If you are quite particular with your phone’s memory capacity, we suggest that you take the Sony Xperia Ion with 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and up to 32GB of expandable storage via micro SD card. The phone will definitely give you a lot of storage space for your media files. We can say that the handset is quite ideal for those who just can’t afford to miss a day without recording a video. But if you’re not a video buff and you just like to stream your favorite movie trailers on YouTube, you can opt for Sony Xperia S. Just like Ion, the phone is equipped with 1GB of RAM but it lacks support for micro SD. You’ll have to be contented with its 32GB of internal storage.
CAMERA
Photo and video buffs should definitely go for the Sony Xperia Ion. Aside from the phone’s vast space for media storage, it can also take pride of its 12MP rear facing camera with auto focus, touch focus, geo-tagging, LED flash, 3D Sweep Panorama and face and smile detection. It is also equipped with a 1.3MP front facing camera that you can readily use for video calls. Just like the Xperia Ion, the Xperia S is equipped with the same camera specifications but its memory may not be enough to handle your large-formatted videos. At least, with Ion, you have room for storage expansion.
CONNECTIVITY
When it comes to connectivity, it’s obvious that you would go for a phone with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support. Plus, it would be a whole better if it comes with a built-in 4G LTE network. In that case, you’d definitely be convinced to get the Sony Xperia Ion since it’s fully-packed with Bluetooth, NFC, USB, Wi-Fi, 2G/3G and LTE. Moreover, the phone will be coming to AT&T.
Meanwhile, those who can’t benefit from LTE can always choose the Sony Xperia S. The smartphone will come with Bluetooth, USB, NFC, Wi-Fi and it can also connect via 2G or 3G. If you see no reason to use the LTE, then the Xperia S will do just fine.
CONCLUSION
As a wrap-up, we can say that both phones are quite tempting. The Sony Xperia S leads in terms of looks but it can’t beat the Xperia Ion in terms of memory and connectivity. If you’re living outside the US and you can manage to get an unlocked version of the Xperia Ion, then it doesn’t really matter which phone you choose since they are both responsive and reliable. As for those who are in the US and would want to make the most out of their bucks, it would be a wise choice if you go for the Xperia Ion. Just make sure that your area can be reached by AT&T’s blazing-fast 4G LTE.
In choosing a phone, it’s always important to assess your needs. If you like taking photos and you want to browse the web without limits; the Xperia Ion can definitely fulfil your needs. If you are just an average smartphone user and you can’t help but crave for a classy-looking handset, better go for the Sony Xperia S.
