The Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY is the first PlayStation certified mobile device to hit the market. This means that it has access to special ports of games from Sony's legacy of PlayStation titles, in addition to the growing number of games available to the Android platform. In order to make good use of its PlayStation certification, the PLAY features a unique slide-out gaming pad with controls that mimic a PlayStation controller, including two touch-sensitive pads in place of the usual analog sticks.
As far as its phone capabilities go, the PLAY is no slouch. It’s fast and responsive, and the version for Verizon Wireless in the U.S. has a basic version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread user interface, instead of the modified one that Sony Ericsson installs on the versions of the PLAY for the rest of the world.
The first thing you notice when you pick up the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY is its size and heft. At 119mm x 62mm x 16mm (4.68in x 2.44in x .63in) and 175g (6.17oz), the PLAY is no small phone in your hands. The real problem for me was the thickness of the device. While I understand that it facilitates the game pad, the Motorola DROID or DROID 2, both of which have slide-out physical keyboards, feel anorexic in comparison.
The tapered edges of the back cover do help the PLAY fit comfortably in the hand, but when I was using it as I would any other smartphone (read: not gaming), it just felt like it was bigger than it had to be for the task.
The front of the PLAY sports a 4-inch, FWVGA (480 x 854 pixel) touchscreen above four physical keys for the standard Android functions of back, home, menu, and search. The screen itself is not bad, though it definitely does not have the punch or wow factor of a Super AMOLED Plus or even a Super LCD display. It could stand to be a bit more responsive to my touch as well, as sometimes it would take multiple presses or swipes before the screen would register my input.
The display is also positioned off-center towards the bottom of the phone, which provided an awkward handling position when used in portrait orientation.
As far as its phone capabilities go, the PLAY is no slouch. It’s fast and responsive, and the version for Verizon Wireless in the U.S. has a basic version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread user interface, instead of the modified one that Sony Ericsson installs on the versions of the PLAY for the rest of the world.
The first thing you notice when you pick up the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY is its size and heft. At 119mm x 62mm x 16mm (4.68in x 2.44in x .63in) and 175g (6.17oz), the PLAY is no small phone in your hands. The real problem for me was the thickness of the device. While I understand that it facilitates the game pad, the Motorola DROID or DROID 2, both of which have slide-out physical keyboards, feel anorexic in comparison.
The tapered edges of the back cover do help the PLAY fit comfortably in the hand, but when I was using it as I would any other smartphone (read: not gaming), it just felt like it was bigger than it had to be for the task.
The display is also positioned off-center towards the bottom of the phone, which provided an awkward handling position when used in portrait orientation.
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