The Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY is the commencement PlayStation certified mobile device to hit the market place. 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 adept utilise 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 get, the PLAY is no slouch. Information technology'due south fast and responsive, and the version for Verizon Wireless in the U.S. has a basic version of Android 2.iii Gingerbread user interface, instead of the modified 1 that Sony Ericsson installs on the versions of the PLAY for the rest of the globe.

Is the Xperia PLAY the mobile gaming fanatic's dream phone? Maybe to an extent thanks to the gaming pad, simply for the rest of us it's just an boilerplate Android telephone which is both practiced and bad. Read on for more details and watch MobileBurn's videos for some hands-on activeness with the Xperia PLAY.


Hardware

The showtime thing you notice when y'all option upwardly 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 pocket-size telephone 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 comparing.

The tapered edges of the dorsum cover do help the PLAY fit comfortably in the mitt, but when I was using it as I would any other smartphone (read: non gaming), it but 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 higher up iv 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 cistron of a Super AMOLED Plus or even a Super LCD display. It could stand to be a bit more responsive to my touch on 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 telephone, which provided an awkward handling position when used in portrait orientation.

The buttons themselves are pocket-size and a bit fiddly, though they did work when I needed them too. The cheap chrome stop on them has got to become, though; it looks bad at present, and I imagine it will not wearable well over fourth dimension. The residuum of the phone is fabricated of glossy plastic, which not just gives a cheap feel to the PLAY, but is also a serious fingerprint magnet.

The rear cover constantly looked filthy with smears and fingerprints, so I was constantly wiping it off with my t-shirt. A textured or soft-touch back would have lent a lot to the experience i would expect to become from a $200 smartphone. The power push button, which is tucked in the upper right corner of the phone, is very tiny and hard to access. Information technology features an integrated notification light, which is cool, though I found it a flake tough to notice since the push button is tucked behind the display.

As far every bit the gaming pad goes, certain functions worked well, while others missed the marking. The four-style directional pad and the foursquare, triangle, circle, and X buttons worked nicely and were responsive during game play. The touchpads that are designed to mimic analog sticks were a different story though. I found it difficult to utilise them to control objects in games, and found them to practise unlike things from what I was expecting quite often. With the thickness of the Xperia PLAY, I think Sony Ericsson could have used the analog stick found on the PSP gaming handheld without much trouble.

The shoulder keys that are accessible with your index fingers when gaming were non very responsive either. There were multiple times when I would press the keys and not become any response in games. Thankfully, the actual slider mechanism of the gamepad feels solid and sturdy, and should withstand a good amount of utilize.