Sony’s Xperia U an android smartphone with dual core processor comes with a lot of surprises and is reasonably priced at under Rs. 16,500. This next gen smartphone comes with a an excellent screen clarity, a decent camera with HD recording, enhanced sound and exchangeable bottom caps – change the colour as per your mood.
The Xperia U weighs just 110 grams with a 12 mm thickness. The front side shows off the SONY logo followed by the touchscreen display, then the 3 sensitive dotted buttons and the bottom cap with transparent illuminating element. This illuminating element gives a unique look as it changes colours when playing music or when viewing photos.
Processor, OS and Memory
This Sony handset is loaded with a dual core (STE U8500) processor (this is not a Qualcomm processor) clocked at 1 GHz along with a GPU (DB8500). A powerful processor along with 512 MB RAM is a good combination for a smoother performance.
Android 2.3 OS comes pre-loaded but Sony will soon release the ICS firmware upgrade. There is a built in 8 GB internal memory of which 4G is for your storage and for downloading additional apps from Google Play. The 8 GB is a good option especially when there is no further support for external storage, yes the 8 GB is all that you have got on this phone and there are no slots for adding external memory.
Display screen
The capacitive touchscreen display is 3.5 inches with resolution of 854 by 480 pixels with 16 m colours which is just too good. Add to it the Mobile Bravia Engine further adds that extra sharpness and clarity to the images. You will not need any protective film as the display screen comes coated with mineral glass with anti-reflection and is scratch resistant.
Camera / Video
A camera of 5 megapixel resolution with 16x digital zoom, auto focus and LED flash does the work pretty well. The camera is as good as the phone. You can record videos in 720p resolution. There is a front facing camera (VGA resolution) for video chats / calls. Other camera features are full auto focus, face detection and 3D Panorama.
Connectivity
The Sony Xperia phone supports 3G, 2G (EDGE/GPRS), Wi-Fi with HotSpot, built in GPS, Bluetooth and USB with native tethering.
Entertainment
If you have used an Android phone before you know that the default media player is capable of playing many audio and video formats. The Xperia U comes loaded with TrackID music recognition, Timescape with Twitter integrated, Facebook, clear bass / stereo, xLound audio filter for loud music and there is also a built in FM radio. You can use the 3.5 mm jack for connecting headphones or use the built in loudspeaker.
Battery
A standard Li-ion 1320 mAh battery powers the Xperia U which gives a talktime of about 5 (2G) to 6 (3G) hours and standby time of about 10 (2G) to 19 (3G) days. You can enjoy playing music for up to 45 hours.
Sony Xperia U price in India is Rs. 16,499 with 1 year warranty.