We expected to see Sony mobile handsets after its break away from Ericsson, though not this soon, Sony Xperia U is the latest addition to the Xperia line-up packing some interesting goodies at a reasonable price. If you’re looking for a cheaper smart phone with impressive hardware that doesn’t compromise where it counts, Sony Xperia U is a big contender. Xperia U may not match high-end devices such as Samsung Galaxy Noteand LG Optimus 4X HD P880but what it lacks is stature, its performance is good enough to make up for ignorable flaws. It packs a 1GHz Dual core processor and a 3.5inch display screen, which’s not something you’d find on most mid-range devices on the market. Apart from the hardware component, Sony Xperia U stunned us with beautiful snazzy colored lights illuminating the transparent strip located at its bottom, the colored bottom caps are changeable too. The Xperia range is famous for outstanding designs and in this case, Sony Xperia U is not an exception.
We’ve seen more devices with better
features than Sony Xperia U; however, none of them comes close to its amazing design. The design’s main center of attention is a transparent strip located at its bottom that illuminates different colored lights depending on what you’re watching. Shades of light are chosen to rhyme the hues of different pictures in the gallery or the album art of the music you’re listening to. On top of the snazzy colored lights illuminating the transparent strip are colored caps that add a colored strip to the bottom of the device. The front panel is largely occupied by a 3.5inch screen featuring the mobile version of Bravia TV technology, which’s now a typical concept with most of Sony’s devices. On the back-side of Sony Xperia U is a 5.0Megapixels snapper which’s standard to a device of its caliber though 8.0Megapixels sensor seemed more appropriate. Summing up Sony’s own integrated technologies are the xLoud and 3D surround sound features for those who care.
A major disappointment on Sony Xperia U is a Gingerbread version of Android OS instead of the available Ice Cream Sandwich, although there may be a scheduled upgrade, such schedules aren’t always guaranteed. At 480×854 pixels screen resolution, text and images look sharp and browsing web pages is quite an experience with minimum scrolling, the capacitive screen supports up to 4 fingers multi-touch points making multi-touch gestures such as pinch to zoom seamless. Apart from the 4GB internal storage, you may not expand it further as a MicroSD car slot is missing. Sony Xperia U is only 12mm thick, so it will fit in the smallest pocket, at 110g the phone is amazingly light too.
Sony Xperia U Features/Specifications;
- Operating System: Android v2.3 Gingerbread (Planned Upgrade to v4.0 ICS)
- Processor: Dual-core 1.0GHz STE U8500 Chipset
- Display : 3.5inch (480x854p) (280ppi) LED LCD, Capacitive, 16m colors
- Camera: Pri: 5.0Megapixel (2592X1944p), Sec: VGA, LED flash, Auto-focus
- Storage: 4GB Internal storage, 512MB RAM
- Connectivity: USB, MicroUSB (MHL) v2.0, Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP, EDR
- Internet: 14.4Mbps HSDPA, 5.76Mbps HSUPA, 802.11b/g/nWiFi/hotspot
- Other ft: GPS, Sensors: Proximity, Accelerometer, Compass
- Battery: Standard Lithium ion 1320mAh
Sony Xperia U Price in Kenya: (unavailable)
I understand why you dislike the proprietary SE connectors but please don’t forget that those of us who have used SE phones for a while are likely to have a number of peripherals that use those connectors. Now if we wish to swap to a phone like this we have to throw all those away as well. For some people their continued presence was an advantage!