Sony Xperia P

Sony just unveiled two new additions to its growing Xperia line of Android smartphones, in the shape of the Sony Xperia P and Sony Xperia U. Both are mid-range handsets but of course mid-range now means dual-core and feature packed. We got a few minutes of hands-on time with both and here are our first impressions, starting with the Xperia P.

The Sony Xperia P is an attractive handset with a simple design that has just enough flair to set it apart. Like the previously announced, and now shipping, Sony Xperia S and the Xperia U, it features a clear plastic section slicing through the bottom. This, for some reason, contains parts of the antenna but more obviously it's a rather nice style trick, especially as it has the labels for the touch sensitive buttons etched into it. Moreover, it lights up when you get a call or some other form of notification comes through.



The physical form of the handset is very simple with just a gently curved back and a very starkly rectangular front. It's nothing fancy but it looks good and more importantly feels good too. This is not just because it generally feels well put-together but is also down to its anodised aluminium back. Since seeing the lovely matt plastic finish of the Nokia Lumia 800, we've come to appreciate just how nice plastic finishes can be made but nonetheless, you can't really go wrong with metal.



The Xperia P also has a good screen. The 4in panel packs-in 960 x 540 pixels, making it nice and sharp. The LCD panel also features WhiteMagic technology, which incorporates a white subpixel alongside the classic RGB trio for each pixel. This allows the screen to either be much brighter in sunny conditions or to reduce power consumption by 50% in gloomier environments. Whatever you call it, the technology seemed to work with the screen proving very bright and visible in the blessedly bright demo area.



Next on the intriguing features list is a dock that not only features HDMI and microUSB repeater ports but also has full size USB for connecting wireless keyboards and USB storage devices, and it can be setup to respond to your normal TV remote control for easy control of multimedia playback on your TV.




The Sony Xperia P pretty much holds up to its billing. It's attractive, well built and easy to use but doesn't necessarily do anything to set the pulse racing. As such, it'll largely come down to pricing as to whether it's worth getting. We'll be back with the full review soon.