Sony Xperia SL a premium phone with excellent features is now available for Rs. 30,999. This is a dual core phone with 4.3 inch screen running ICS along with a 12 megapixel rear camera.
The SL Xperia design
The design is similar to other Xperia models, a power button on top, volume rockers on the right along a dedicated camera button. There is also an HDMI port just above the volume rockers.
It is a full touchscreen phone with no dedicated buttons on the front side and after the touchscreen area there is a transparent white band, below which is the Xperia logo. The handset itself is light weight at 144 grams though not as light as compared with some other brands. The dimensions are 128x64x10.6mm.
OS Icing
The Sony Xperia SL runs on the Android ICS or Android 4.0 OS. It could also get the Jelly Bean update within few months (though no confirmation yet, but being a SONY brand and taking clue from the other handsets that have been upgraded to ICS from 2.3, possibly the SL could also benefit is the same tradition is followed. Along with the ICS OS the handset also comes with the Sony’s default Timescale User Interface.
Performance – under the hood
The Xperia SL comes with dual core advantage. It houses the MSM8260 dual core processor from Qualcomm which is clocked at 1.7 GHz. To improve performance at its optimal a 1GB RAM has been included that will ensure lag free and trouble free performance. Add to it the Adreno 220 GPU will ensure you can play most of the HD games or high end apps.
4.3 inch Display screen
The screen size is 4.3 inches LED Backlit LCD capacitive display with a resolution of 1280×720 pixels (16 Million colours). The screen quality is simply awesome with 342 ppi. The higher the ppi the sharper the edges (fonts / graphics / icons) – on the SL it is Razor sharp display.
Again being a SONY brand it also comes with the Mobile Bravia Engine, same technology found on Bravia TV which improves display output. Multi touch is supported – up to 10 fingers. Furthermore the display galas sheet is shatter proof and scratch resistant.
Memory and Storage
As mentioned the RAM is 1GB and internal storage is 32GB. The reason why there is this huge storage capacity is because of a missing micro SD slot. But with 32GB internal, you really don’t need the micro SD cards.
Connectivity
Sony Xperia SL has all those common features like Wi-Fi, FM Radio, Bluetooth 2.1 and microUSB. It supports 3G HSDPA 14.4 Mbps and HSUPA 5.8 Mbps, EDGE at up to 237kbps and GPRS of up to 86kbps. Additional features are NFC, USB tethering and Wi-Fi Hotspot / Direct.
12 MP Camera
There is front 1.3MP camera for video chat and for recording videos in 720p resolution (30fps) and a primary 12 megapixel camera with auto focus and LED flash placed on the rear side. The 12MP camera can record still images in 4000×3000 pixels resolution and can record videos in 1080p @ 30fps.
Other camera features are face detection, smile detection, image stabilization (still as well as in video mode), touch to focus, geo-tagging, continuous auto focus and 3D panorama.
Others
Do note that the Sony Xperia SL will work only with a micro SIM card. If you are using an ordinary SIM, you will need to get it upgraded. The shopkeeper or sales person may fix this issue (temporarily) by cutting off the SIM card to fit into the Micro SIM slot, which may still work, however you could experience problems with 3G connectivity. Hence it’s better to get the SIM upgraded to Micro SIM.
Accelerometer, proximity, gyro and compass sensors are present on the SL handset. There is HDMI port, SNS integrated (some apps pre-loaded), HTML 5 / flash support, TrackID music recognition, Google services (Talk, Mail, Google Play etc) and noise cancellation with dedicated mic.
Battery
A 1750 mAh battery powers the Xperia SL handset with estimated talktime of about 8 hours and standby time about 17 days. The battery mAh value is however not confirmed. You can play continuous music for almost 25 hours.
Sony Xperia SL review
The handset is loaded with many interesting features, especially the 32GB internal storage, 1GB RAM, screen resolution and the 12MP camera which makes it a good buy. The pricing is on a higher side and a tough choice to make when there is the quad core Samsung Galaxy S III available for Rs. 34,900. A difference of approx 4,000.
Its quad core with a little less features (8MP camera , 16GB internal) as compared with SL that comes with 12MP, 32GB but with dual core processor. The Xperial SL is available in White, Black, Pink and Silver colours with 1 year warranty. Between Samsung Galaxy S3 and Sony Xperia SL, I will no doubt go with the S3.
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