Review
Roderick Scott 0
  

We were able to get our hands on the once dubbed “PlayStation Phone”, now the Xperia Play (courtesy of Verizon), and put it through our everyday testing to see if how the consumer could get the most use of it. The Xperia Play offers its users a 4inch touchscreen display w/ 854 x 480 resolution, slide out PlayStation gaming control pad, powered by a 1GHz processor + Adreno 205 GPU for 60fps (frames per second) gaming playback, running Android 2.3 OS, 512MB of RAM, front-facing VGA & 5MP camera w/ LED flash, stereo speakers, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3.5mm jack, micro-USB port, and a 1500 mAh battery. Let’s see how well a Verizon Android device & a PlayStation control pad work together, shall we?

So What’s Gaming Like On The Xperia Play?

Being an Android device sporting Sony’s PlayStation gaming controls, the Xperia Play makes for an ideal gaming phone.   The X Play has your typical directional pad, the four buttons (Square, X, Circle, & Triangle), Select + Start buttons, flattened versions of the dual analog joysticks, and L & R triggers in your normal PS arrangement.   So the buttons give you a natural feel for gaming for anyone who’s played a PS/PS2/PS3 or held a PSP/PS Go.

The X Play ships with six full games pre-loaded with Asphalt 6 (racing game that mixes Burnout-like takedowns), Bruce Lee (a Tekken-like fighting game), Crash Bandicoot, Madden NFL 11, Star Battalion, and The Sims 3.   The Xperia Play app allows you to download more games like N.O.V.A. 2, Assassin’s Creed- Altair’s Chronicles, Cordy, Gun Bros, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Brothers In Arms 2, PAC-MAN Championship Edition, Guitar Hero Warriors Of Rock, Spider-Man: Total Mayhem, and UNO to name a few of the more popular titles.  We were able to get a good amount of gaming in without any lag so thumbs up for that.  While the graphics are far from mind-blowing, your overall gaming experience will still trump any other phone due to complete gaming controls.  

Camera

The 5MP camera on the Xperia Play does wonders.   You can definitely take some great shots with the rear lens.  In day light or low-light, this lens and its image-processor can handle it.   You are armed with only a few camera options like changing exposure, white balance, and focus.   The single-LED flash & auto-focus helps in low-light situations, offering stellar camera phone performance although this a dedicated gaming phone.

                                                 
Unfortunately on the video recording side of things, the Xperia Play is behind the times.   The 5MP lens doesn’t offer the current industry standard of 720p HD video capture.   You are only capable of recording at 800 x 480.  Bummer.   Not a deal breaker but it would have made this an all-around good device.  
Battery Life
Equipped with a 1500 mAh battery, expect the X Play to offer great battery life…for an Android device.   You can definitely get a full day of usage without having to run to a charger.   On average, we got about 12 to 15 hours of battery life with medium usage (played some games, heavy of Twitter & Facebook, took a few photos, some browsing, and heavy SoundHounding).   The Adreno GPU on the processor boasts five hours of continuous gameplay but we doubt it.  Even it it falls a little short, what else offers real gaming on your phone without any added accessories.  
TG 2 Cents
In conclusion, we’re not sure if this phone will be for everyone but anyone who is a gamer can truly appreciate the marriage between PlayStation’s controls, Verizon’s 3G network, & the pure Android 2.3.   Moderately priced at $199.99 at Verizon but I’m sure you can find cheaper deals on Amazon, Wirefly, or Let Talk.   It does lack Verizon’s super-fast 4G LTE radio inside but with everything this phone is doing, a shorter battery life would defeat the purpose.   I can see many kids or adolescents truly enjoying a device like or the hard-core gamer at any age as well.   If you don’t already own one, head on down to your local VZW retailer to demo it for yourself.   This get two thumbs up from TGSB.  
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Categories: Android PlayStation Phone Review SonyEricsson Verizon Xperia Play