Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play vs Apple iPhone 4: Smartphone showdown
- — 07 March, 2011 11:30
Sony Ericsson's XPERIA Play Android phone has also been dubbed the 'PlayStation phone'
After months of rumours, Sony Ericsson finally confirmed it will launch its XPERIA Play Android smartphone — dubbed the 'PlayStation phone' — in the coming months. Does this gaming smartphone have what it takes to compete with the Apple iPhone 4?
Check out our detailed preview of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play and see our roundup of the best upcoming smartphones in 2011.
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play has a large, 4in multitouch display, a touch-sensitive joystick, a D-pad and four of the PlayStation's famous control buttons: triangle, square, circle and X.
With this in mind, how does the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play stack up against the iPhone 4 when it comes to specifications?
Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play vs. Apple iPhone 4: Specifications
| Feature | Apple iPhone 4 | Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play | Verdict? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating system (OS) | Apple iOS | Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread | Draw |
| Display technology | Capacitive retina IPS | LED-backlit LCD | iPhone 4 |
| Display size | 3.5in | 4in | XPERIA Play |
| Display resolution | 640x960 pixels | 480x854 pixels | iPhone 4 |
| Multitouch | Yes | Yes | Draw |
| Camera | 5 megapixels, LED flash, autofocus, geotagging | 5 megapixels, LED flash, autofocus, geotagging, image stabilisation | XPERIA Play |
| FM radio | No | No | Draw |
| GPS | Yes | Yes | Draw |
| Internal memory | 16GB or 32GB | 380MB | iPhone 4 |
| Expandable memory | No | microSD card slot | XPERIA Play |
| Dimensions | 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3mm | 119 x 62 x 16mm | iPhone 4 |
| Weight | 137g | 175g | iPhone 4 |
| Application store | Apple App Store | Google Android Market | iPhone 4 |
| Processor | Apple A4 | Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon (1GHz) | Unknown |
| 3G networks | HSDPA 850/900/1900/2100 | HSDPA 900/1900/2100 | iPhone 4 |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11b/g/n | 802.11b/g/n | Draw |
| Bluetooth | 2.1 with A2DP | 2.1 with A2DP | Draw |
| HDMI-out | No | No | Draw |
| Quoted talk time | Up to 7 hours | Up to 6 hours 25 minutes | iPhone 4 |
| Quoted standby time | Up to 300 hours | Up to 413 hours | XPERIA Play |
| Adobe Flash support | No | Yes | XPERIA Play |
| Dedicated gaming controls | No | Yes | XPERIA Play |
Comments
xperia
1
xperia play is way better than the iphone
Gamer
2
Ummm, there are a lot of factors that were ignored in this article.
Cornerstar31
3
Mr. Experia
There is nothing mentioned above, where it's visual that the Experia wins.
Android sucks big time on Games, although they try to make you think it's a gaming Device. Gingerbread comes no where near of iOS, so the mockup isn't really correct at the first point where it begins.
400 Mb of Storage is really laughable, and don't start over the sluggish SD-Card standard. The only thing u can use SD for is for photographs. Also the real low-res display on the SONY is no comparison to the Retina Display. Also in the mockup, they've should point out that HDMI, USB, and SD is optional through converter cable and Camera kit. Just jailbreak it. So you could SSH it and change the product code to iPad 2.
Also this chart should mention, that flash is available through the SkyFire app(No Jailbreak required) through the AppStore.
So both the editor of this article and Mr. Xperia should look up the facts.
king b
4
Me. Experia, you say android sucks at games i dont think you quite understand this phone is a plystation phone name in conjunction with the best gaming company in the world are you crazy.
Also what they failed to mention in this article is that the Xperia Play has a bravia screen which is used in their Sony Tvs if this article was actually accurate there would be no comparison between the iphone 4 and the xperia play.
Flash avaliable through skyfire lol, as an application it does not support the proper official use which android has.
The iphone 4 is the 6th most popular phone in the UK whose in the top? 1 blackberry the rest are ANDROID i rest my case
Niklas
5
the Graphics processor in xperia play (Adreno205) are more powerful than the one in iPhone4.
Tegra2 is the chipset surpassing A205 in performance. samsungs 540-GPU is about equal in graphics performance as A205, perhaps a nudge faster. A little faster in some games, but A205 is better for a few. But iPhone 4 has 535-GPU wich is slower.
As a gaming device the Xperia play has the edge, because the hardware is superior here for that purpose. But it's still a bit of taking a chance when buying a X-play because we don't know what the future hides for it.
On contrary the iPhone has already a lot of quality games on offer in appstore and proven success. Android market have got many strong games now, but still have quite a bit of catching up to do to reach appstore.
When the playstation-store launches for certified Android-phones things might change as the comprehensive catalouge from playstation has many many great games.
But still it isn't launched so we still don't know. Until then the edge still is with iPhone4 on this one.
But Androids future looks bright and very interesting because of the massive support from 3rd parties and Sonys playstation store around the corner. And on top of that when more playstation-certified phones reach the market the demand will increase. Android grows like a mad virus, and could propably be the biggest smartphone OS before this year is over.
Shane
6
I hate when sites like this compare an unreleased device and a device that has been on the market for 9 months. It's not really a fair comparison, especially in the mobile space where tech is moving so rapidly right now. I'm not saying this just because I'm an iPhone user. It goes both ways. I wouldn't think it would be fair to compare the iPhone 5 when it's released to a Droid X for example.
james
7
I dont have any iphones nor do I have the xperia play. However Im seriously contemplating buying the xperia play for one big reason. Im a gamer. This phone is the only phone that has dedicated gaming controls. The phone may be bulkier but its processor is faster and more powerful than the iphone. I am also a programmer and if a machine be it a PC, Games Console, PDA, or Smart Phone has a faster processor then it will execute the lines of code quicker meaning it has greater potential. However until it arrives in the shops we have no idea if its a piece of over hyped junk, or the next big thing.
<a href="http://morepowerfulthan.com">MorePowerful
8
Very informative article with interesting views on mobile technology.
Ross Catanzariti
9
Hi Shane,
Appreciate your feedback. This is merely just a specifications comparison, and then just a summary of what we can expect from the XPERIA Play; basically as much as we know without having seen the device yet.
I think It is a fair comparison, because the XPERIA Play will be competing with the iPhone 4 (and eventually 5) as soon as it is released.
Brian
10
IPS is a type of LCD. They are both LED backlit. I'm assuming the Xperia Play uses Sony's Super LCD (which is IPS) but it could just be a cheaper TN panel (I hope not).