Review: Sony Xperia V

The Sony Xperia V enters into the new range of handsets from the Japanese firm, nestling in between the Xperia T and Xperia J.

The Xperia V looks very similar to the Xperia T, with a slightly smaller, 4.3-inch 720p HD display, thinker 10.7mm chassis and tipping the scales at a lighter 120g.

You'll find a 1.5Ghz dual-core processor powering Ice Cream Sandwich inside the Xperia V, which is the same as the T, but Sony has also managed to squeeze in 4G LTE connectivity, allowing you to take advantage of super speedy network connections.

The arched back harking back to the late Xperia Arc Sony Ericsson handsets is clad in rubber, allowing for a comfortable and secure hold, and the Xperia V feels solid and well built – overall a design we're fond of.

Interestingly for a water and dust proof handset, you can take the back off the Xperia V, giving you access to the full-size SIM card slot and removable battery – there's no obvious signs of watertight-ness around the back cover and we managed to peel it off easily, making us question if we'd trust taking this phone for a dip.

However our mind was put slightly at rest, as another Xperia V handset was getting a regular shower on the Sony booth – confirming its IPx5/7 certificate credentials, the highest level of water resistance currently on a phone.

There's just a couple of buttons on the right side of the Xperia V, a volume rocker switch above the power/lock key – an unusual layout as the lock key is usually on top, which meant we found ourselves hitting volume up when trying to lock the phone.

A covered microUSB and 3.5mm headphone jack can be found on the left and top respectively, helping to keep the water out, and we found the covers were easy to remove and clip back in.

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Although the Xperia V is packing the same power as the Xperia T, Ice Cream Sandwich doesn't feel quite as nippy on this 4G, waterproof handset.

The Sony Xperia V isn't slow, it just lacks the finesse of its bigger brother, and that puts a slight dampener on things.

Apps take that extra half a second to load, which is noticeable if you've just been using a quicker phone, and the camera app loads up in a couple of seconds.

The Xperia V is blessed with the same 13MP sensor as the T, and this allows you to snap high quality photos, with a range of effects and scene modes to choose from, plus auto-focus, 16x digital zoom and an LED flash to aid your photo taking escapades.

There's a second or so delay from pressing the shutter to the phone snapping a pic and making itself ready for the next, but we didn't find it to be a particular problem.

For those of you who like a physical shutter button then you're out of luck with the Xperia V, as an on-screen trigger is your only option.

The 4.3-inch screen sports Sony's Mobile Bravia Engine 2 technology, which increases the quality on the 720p display, making movie watching a pleasing experience.

We did notice that colours appeared a little washed out at times, but this didn't detract from the overall performance of the Xperia V during video playback.

Sony's Walkman and Music Unlimited apps are also present on the Xperia V, giving you access to an attractive and easy to use audio player and music streaming service.

If you fancy bit of gaming on the go then you'll be pleased to learn that the Sony Xperia V comes PlayStation certified – allowing you to play past console titles on your mobile phone.

As far as typing goes you are greeted by the standard Android keyboard in messaging, social networking and emailing applications, but Sony does offer a personalisation wizard, allowing you to fine tune the board to your preferred settings on the Xperia V.

The simple step by step guide meant we dramatically improved the keyboard for our style of typing within a minute and it's a nice feature from Sony, which we wish more manufacturers would consider, or even Google itself.

Sony is talking a lot about connected devices and the Xperia V comes packing NFC technology, which will be able to talk to other NFC devices, including speaker docks and headphones.

Obviously 4G is known to be a bit of a drain on battery life, but the Xperia V comes with a decently sized 1,750mAh battery, which should see you through the day – but we'll put that to the test during our in-depth Sony Xperia V review.

The Sony Xperia V will be available in selected markets during the fourth quarter this year, although an exact release date and price are yet to be announced.

TechRadar understands that there are currently no plans to bring the Sony Xperia V to the UK, but it's likely to make an appearance in the US.

Early verdict

The Sony Xperia V is a respectable mid- to high-end smartphone and as long as the 4G connectivity doesn't drain the battery and the water resistance tag doesn't let us down in our full review, it looks set to be a strong contender in the LTE market.

It may not produce the buttery smooth user experience that some of its rivals offer, but the upcoming Jelly Bean update should improve that aspect, and as long as the handset is priced correctly, the attractive design and large range of media content should make the Xperia V an enticing product.

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Review: Sony Xperia J

The Sony Xperia J is another smartphone in the Japanese firm's new series of handsets which carry on the design ethos of the late Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc and Xperia Arc S.

Sony is pitching the Xperia J as a smartphone which offers "a stand-out screen size for consumers looking to combine great style with affordability".

We reckon Sony has got it right in terms of design, with the curved, rubberised back of the Xperia J fitting snugly into our hand, and the body feel solid and well built.

It looks very similar to its bigger brother, the Sony Xperia T, which sports the same design, however the Xperia J allows you to whip off the back cover, allowing you to access the full-sized SIM port, micro SD card slot and the huge 1,750mAh battery – which should keep you going all day long.

The Xperia J sports a 1GHz single-core processor, 512MB of RAM and a 4-inch, 480 x 854 TFT display, which sees it fit in between the Xperia P and Xperia U from Sony's NXT range.

The bright, clear 4-inch screen displays Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich well, with the Xperia UI slapped over the top, and text and images appear sharp and easy to see.

The Xperia J runs Ice Cream Sandwich smoothly and although it may not be as quick as the higher powered Xperia T, it is by no means a slouch, and we didn't encounter any unexpected lag or slow down.

There is around a second wait when opening apps, but this isn't long enough to cause concern or irritation, however we did find the camera app did take two to three seconds to load up.

The Sony Xperia J offers you the stock Android keyboard, which is relatively easy to type on thanks to the 4-inch display giving us enough room to hit the right keys, and although it's not perfect, we could happily tap out emails and messages on it.

To help you snap photos with the 5MP rear camera there's a single LED flash on the back of the Xperia J, and within the app you also get auto-focus, a handful of scene modes and exposure adjusments – all of which are easy to access and understand.

The auto-focus does take a little time to settle, and if you are quick on the shutter button there can be around a three second delay as the focus sorts itself out, meaning you won't be able to snap in quick succession.

There's also a front facing, VGA quality camera on the Xperia J which can be used for video calls, or the odd vanity check, but with the low quality we'd recommend sticking with the 5MP offering on the back for taking photos with.

Unlike the Xperia T there's no physical camera button on the side of the Sony Xperia J, but you do get a power/lock key and volume rocker switch located at the top of the right side, which are easy to hit when the phone is held in one hand.

Video playback was acceptable for a mid- to low-end smartphone, although we did feel colours were a little washed out, but you could still quite easily watch a movie on the Sony Xperia J, with the lightweight (124g) body and its rubber back making it comfortable to hold for extended periods.

Music lovers will be pleased to learn that Sony has included its Walkman player app on the Xperia J, which we found to be an intuitive and attractive way of managing all your tunes, and with Sony's xLoud technology on board audio played through the rear speaker is louder and less distorted than on other, similarly priced handsets – meaning you can really annoy people on bus.

There's no word on pricing other than "affordable", but we hope the Xperia J will land at around the £200 (around $310) mark, putting it head to head with the HTC One V and slightly beefier Orange San Diego.

The Sony Xperia J release date is currently unconfirmed, but we've been told it will make its way into stores during the final quarter of 2012.

Early Verdict

The Xperia J is certainly a good looking handset, but we can't help but feel it's going to be outclassed by the Orange San Diego in the price bracket we expect Sony to put it in.

To say you're offering an affordable smartphone with a good screen and then pricing it the same as a handset with not only a beefier processor and camera, but also a higher-res screen, seems like a strange way to go.

That said the Sony Xperia J is still a decent handset and if you're taken by the design, choice of four colours (black, gold, white and silver), and Ice Cream Sandwich out the box then you can't go too wrong with this mid- to low-range smartphone.

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