Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo vs Apple iPhone 4: Smartphone showdown
- — 15 March, 2011 14:30
This year is set to be a big one for Sony Ericsson. The company is releasing a number of XPERIA-branded Android smartphones in Australia in the coming months, including the much publicised Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play and the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc. It is also bringing to market the XPERIA Neo: An Android smartphone that is heavily focussed on entertainment and yet another phone that will compete with Apple's iPhone 4.
Read out our detailed preview of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo and see our roundup of the best upcoming smartphones in 2011.
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo features a built-in HDMI port, a Bravia graphics engine that is claimed to offer smoother and crisper video playback, along with an 8-megapixel camera that borrows a sensor from Sony's Cyber-shot digital camera line.
With all this in mind, how does the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo stack up against the iPhone 4 when it comes to specifications?
Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo vs. Apple iPhone 4: Specifications
| Feature | Apple iPhone 4 | Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo | Verdict? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating system (OS) | Apple iOS | Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread | Draw |
| Display size | 3.5in | 3.7in | XPERIA Neo |
| Display technology | Capacitive retina IPS | LED-backlit LCD 'Reality Display' | Unknown |
| Display resolution | 640x960 pixels | 480x854 pixels | iPhone 4 |
| Multitouch | Yes | Yes | Draw |
| Camera | 5 megapixels, LED flash, autofocus, geotagging | 8 megapixels, LED flash, autofocus, geotagging, face and smile detection | XPERIA Neo |
| FM radio | No | Yes | XPERIA Neo |
| GPS | Yes | Yes | Draw |
| Internal memory | 16GB or 32GB | 320MB | iPhone 4 |
| Expandable memory | No | microSD card slot | XPERIA Neo |
| Dimensions | 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3mm | 116 x 57 x 13mm | XPERIA Neo |
| Weight | 137g | 126g | XPERIA Neo |
| Application store | Apple App Store | Google Android Market | iPhone 4 |
| Processor | Apple A4 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 'Scorpion' (1GHz) | Unknown |
| 3G networks | HSDPA 850/900/1900/2100 | HSDPA 850/1900/2100 | 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 | Yes | XPERIA Neo |
| Quoted talk time | Up to 7 hours | Up to 7 hours | Draw |
| Quoted standby time | Up to 300 hours | Up to 400 hours | XPERIA Neo |
| Adobe Flash support | No | Yes | XPERIA Neo |
Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo vs. iPhone 4: Design and display
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo is not as thin as the XPERIA Arc, but it still has a major emphasis on its design. It is constructed of glossy plastic and features a curved shape that Sony Ericsson claims is ergonomically designed to fit perfectly in the user's hand, particularly when taking photographs.
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo's 3.7in screen is slightly larger than the iPhone 4's 3.5in display. Sony Ericsson describes it as a 'Reality display'; this sits alongside other fancy display names including the iPhone 4's 'Retina display', the Samsung Galaxy S II's Super AMOLED Plus' display and the 'Nova display' of the LG Optimus Black. In short, Sony Ericsson claims the Reality display is brighter and clearer than competing displays.
Apple's iPhone 4 uses IPS technology (the same used on the iPad, and thanks to its high 640x960 pixel resolution it has been described as a retina display, due to the human eye being unable to distinguish individual pixels.
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo Android phone has a 3.7in 'Reality display'.
Comments
Benny
1
According the spec. table here, Neo is significantly thicker. So the winner is Neo? The thicker the better?
rol
2
How does the SE Neo's touch screen work compared to iPhones? Atm i have iPhone 3G but im looking for a change, i love the touch screen in iPhones the glass and its very very sensitive. If the SE neo touch screen is anything like iPhones screen i could seriously think buying it
james hunter
3
i PROBABLY BUY SONY ERICSSON ARC very nice design.
3xxx
4
True. I am cancelling my order for iphone 4. The price of iphone 4 is not worth the features -- 1 year ago, you can buy an iphone if only for the "image" of apple; nevermind the features. Now apple is crap. Android is "in."
If Apple continued to develop like Android, it would have kept its "premium" image. Now, all is just crap.
Steve Jobs behaves like a spoiled brat -- rejecting adobe flash for iphone, ridiculing FM radio as "too '70s for iphone", ignoring usb support and sd card support for iphone, putting external antennas on iphone 4 (very bad mistake), and shutting down customer care for iphone generally speaking.
What Apple rejected, Android developed -- Android has an apps store that is 80% full of free apps, a very customizable OS with lots of updates (2.2, 2.3,3.0), and Android is installed on every conceivable size and make of phone to give customers "choice". With Android, you don't need to stick with just 1 type of phone (like iphone 4), but you can choose : if you like keyboards, or without keyboards; 3" or 4" touch or qwerty phones... the choice is dizzyingly VARIED
Jay Dayrit
5
For me Xperia Neo is much better, except it only lacks the gyroscope feature.
It will launch somewhere May in the Philippines costing about $530 compared to iPhones costing $1040.
DaDude
6
hey Jay Dayrit, Xperia Neo does have gyroscope, Google it.
Wa Wa
7
Fair play to SE as they kept it all quiet but at last someone is bringing the smart phone back to a managable size, Neo is the one for me and it has a 2 year guarantee !!!!!!!!!
ThatGuy
8
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo DOES NOT -- DOES NOT -- have a gyroscope. Google it.