Sony Xperia: A Smartphone with Gamers in Mind

I generally wouldn't consider myself an early adopter. I don't like overspending on a piece of technology that hasn't had a chance to work the kinks out of its design. When Sony announced the Xperia Play, I had finally found a competitor to the Windows 7 phone for my next mobile device. I'm a pretty hardcore gamer, and mobile phones of this type have finally gotten to a level to appeal to me. The only problem was my contract with AT&T that guaranteed I would keep my iPhone for another three months. Luckily AT&T recently upgraded the coverage in my area to 3G, so I was able to swap with my brother and exercise his Verizon upgrade for an Xperia.

The Xperia is basically a smartphone combined with a gaming handheld. It runs on a single core snapdragon processor that I wasn't totally sure of until I played Madden on it. It also has a 5.0 mp camera that looks even better than the Droid's digital pictures, and sports the newest Android 2.3 gingerbread OS. The gaming controls slide out, and are very similar to the controls on any other Playstation device.

So far I have been content to play the games that were pre-loaded on the Xperia, and some NES games I have running on an emulator. Asphalt 6 is by far the best experience I have ever had on a mobile gaming device. I also play a lot of Madden 11 and have gotten into Playstation classics Crash Bandicoot and Syphon Filter. I am still waiting for a God of War title, but I wouldn't buy a Sony handheld just for better games.

In fact, I wouldn't buy a gaming handheld. I owned a Sega Game Gear when I was 10, and it was great back then. If I'm at home I have my X-Box, and if I'm not at home I always busy my time with something. Having the Xperia by my side has allowed me to find out all the down time that can be occupied by Cool Boarders or some Android game like Angry Birds. The entertainment isn't valuable enough to buy a dedicated handheld, but a smartphone that is set up for gamers is a great compromise. It's definitely a market I would have never found myself in had it not been for the multi-use aspect of the device. This device is perfect for a gamer or casual gamer that doesn't want a handheld, but enjoys an occasional game on their phone.

While I am overall satisfied with the Xperia, it does have a few problems that could be improved on. The battery life is better than average if I use the phone normally with minimal gaming, but it goes quickly if you game for more than a couple hours. It's also bulky for a phone of this generation, but that is definitely a compromise for all the features. My main concerns are the display needing perfect lighting to be visible, and the fact that there is no 4G available. I don't have 4G in my area, but it would be nice to know I'm covered if Verizon upgrades the service. A lot can change in two years, and I am a little bit apprehensive about getting in the contract, even though it's not in my name. The phone alone feels like an upgrade from an iPhone and the Droid 2.0, and that is ultimately what I look for in new technology.

So all in all, I got exactly what I paid for, and the phone is exactly what I expected. This may have been an impulse buy I will soon regret, as new technologies often tend to be. Even if I get tired of the games, there is still a top of the line smart phone there with the newest technologies running it. If Verizon's 4G LTE is in your area, I would definitely recommend skipping the Xperia for the much faster data stream.