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[Mario007]

Welcome to the Official Thread for the Sony Xperia T. Since the vast majority only think of Samsung's Galaxy S series when it comes to Android devices, even here on GAF, it is time to raise awereness of true global flagship for Android for the second half of 2012. So, allow me to introduce the Xperia T and tell you why it's the best phone out there.

Design

When you ogle the Xperia T for the first time you'll note the arched back – a design nod to the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc and Xperia Arc S, however the plastic rear which adorned the co-branded predecessors has been ditched, with Sony opting for a rubberised finish instead.
We must stay we much prefer the rubber texture on the rear of the Xperia T, compared to the glossy finish on the handsets it mimics – as it provides a solid, firm grip in the hand, with the arch in the chassis allowing the phone to nestle snugly in the palm, so no risk of dropping this one.The Sony Xperia T feels tough and well made.

Dimensions 129.4 x 67.3 x 9.4 mm
Weight 139 g

But enough words. Let the pictures do the talking:

Display

Type: TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size: 720 x 1280 pixels, 4.55 inches (~323 ppi pixel density)
Protection: Shatter proof and scratch-resistant glass
- Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine

Sony Xperia T screen comparison with Galaxy Nexus's AMOLED screen:

We watched several full HD movie trailers on the Xperia T and we must say they looked fantastic, with sharp lines, smooth playback and clear detail making movie watching on the handset a pleasing experience.
Of course the Xperia T only features a 720p display, not full HD, but it's good to know that it can cope with 1080p files, plus Sony's Bravia Engine adds extra quality to the 4.6-inch display.

Performance

Chipset Qualcomm MSM8260A Snapdragon
CPU Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait
GPU Adreno 225
System memory 1024 MB RAM

Benchmarks comparing the Xperia T to all other flagship phones (apart from the iPhone5 and Optimus G as they were not released when then the benchmarks were taken):

The Krait cores helped the three new Xperias pass the BenchmarkPi with flying colors - none of the quad-core smartphones currently on the market could come anywhere near their achievement. To be fair, though, BenchmarkPi doesn't make use of the multi-core architectures, so the dual-core Kraits have an advantage here.

The NenaMark 2 results of the Sony Xperia T, TX and V proves that the three new smartphones are Adreno 225-powered. The kind of framerates that the new Sony smartphones achieved are beyond the capabilities of any of the previous Qualcomm mobile GPUs.

Finally, we come to the overall performance test with Quadrant and the Xperia trio made it three out of three against its quad-core rivals. An impressive achievement indeed.

However the dual-core chip is by no means sluggish, with Ice Cream Sandwich running smoothly on the Sony Xperia T, allowing us to breeze through the five homescreens, floating widget selection and app list.

To be honest it easily feels fast enough, and the lack of four cores isn't something you should worry about, and it could even keep the price below beefier competition.
Apps opened speedily and we didn't experience any lag during our short test, however the handset didn't have a SIM card in it, nor was it connected to Wi-Fi, so there was no background syncing action going on here.
Update: We managed to nab some time with a Wi-Fi connected Xperia T at IFA 2012, and it didn't seem be suffering from any sort of lag.

Xperia T v iPhon5 real life performance test. T is only a second or so slower than the iPhon5 and that's with T not running Jellybean yet.
Internal Storage and Battery

Card slot microSD, up to 32 GB
Internal 16 GB
Standard battery Li-Ion 1850 mAh
Stand-by Up to 450 h (2G) / Up to 410 h (3G)
Talk time Up to 7 h (2G) / Up to 7 h (3G)
Music play Up to 16 h

Camera

Primary 13 MP, 4128x3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Features Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, image stabilization
Video Yes, 1080p@30fps, continuous autofocus, video light, video stabilizer
Secondary Yes, 1.3 MP, 720p@30fps

You can quickly access the camera application direct from the homescreen and the Xperia T can also immediately snap a photo as soon as you launch the app for instant capture – although as it fires up in under a second anyway we found this quick snap function more annoying than useful.

There's auto- and tap-to-focus present, which settles on its target quickly, resulting in less than a second delay from pressing the shutter to the Xperia T taking a snap – making rapid fire photos a possibility.
You can use the dedicated shutter button on the side of the Xperia to snap a photo (and launch the app when the phone is unlocked), or prod the shutter key on screen if you're less of a fan of the physical option.

Sony's pedigree in digital cameras shines through on the Xperia T, with a wealth of options and features to help you get that perfect snap, including Sony's Exmor R sensor, face and smile detection, red eye reduction and an image stabiliser.

The rear camera on the Xperia T can also shoot full HD, 1080p video, while the front facing camera is capable of capturing 720p video – something we don't see very often from snappers plonked on the front of smartphones.

Sony promised great things from the 13 MP Exmor R sensor – let’s see if the Xperia T delivers.

The Exmor R is a back-illuminated sensor, which, according to Sony, is twice as sensitive as a conventional front-illuminated one. This leads to far superior low-light performance, but as you can see the Sony Xperia T does pretty well in good light.
The images have plenty of detail, the colors come up pretty good and contrast is well balanced. The macro is quite impressive as well – the Sony Xperia T lets you get really close to the subject. However the Xperia T over-enthusiastic metering results in some pretty bad exposure issues. More often than not, the highlights get blown out, as seen in the first picture on the part of the yellow building facing the sun. Individual channel clipping isn’t too rare a sight either – the red on the flower is not what we saw in reality.

The camcorder shows similar problems with overexposure. On the other hand, the Sony Xperia T camcorder does very well with exposure adjustment when you move from lighter to darker images or the other way round. The transition is quick, yet smooth enough, so as not to be irritating.

Xperia T camera footage

Photo comparison with Pureview 808: (first picture is Pureview, second is T)

More at the link.

Timescape UI

Sony likes to tweak the visual appearance of Android on its smartphones and the Xperia T is no different, however it doesn't go overboard and the handset is still easy to navigate, while providing a more unique style to a system which can look samey on different devices.
We're fans of Sony's exploded widget display it's developed for Android – pinch out on any homescreen and you're greeted with all the widgets available, which float around the screen in a cloud-esque manner.
There's your standard array of Android widgets as well as some extras Sony has added, including its Timescape social widget – which will pull in all your social networks into one tidy feed - and a handy settings toggle, allowing you quickly turn on/off features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC.

The Android multitasking menu, accessed from the dedication on-screen button, has also gone under the Sony design knife, and to good effect too.
It not only shows the thumbnailed previews of currently running apps (which you can close which a swipe from right to left), but also links to mini apps which pop up on the screen.
You've got a choice of mini apps including calculator and a note pad – both of which open up the full application in a smaller, moveable window on the homescreen (or over any open application) – allowing you jot down a number or calculate a quick multiplication.
If you want the full functionality of the mini app, you can quickly and easily launch to the full-screen version, or simply close it using the cross in the corner if you've finished with it.

It's a handy feature which we've also seen arrive on Sony's Tablet S via the Ice Cream Sandwich update – and it's good to see it making the jump to the smaller screen as well – although it's slightly more fiddly on a 4.6-inch display, especially for those blessed with larger digits.
Dive into the phone and contacts apps and it's very much a standard Android affair, with a touch of Sony gloss over the top – providing an intuitive system for organising all your best buds and giving them a bell – as well as joining them with various social networks.
Messaging has its bases covered with dedicated text and email applications, as well as the official Facebook and Twitter apps pre-installed on the Sony Xperia T.
The default keyboard is the stock Android offering, however Sony has included its personalisation option, which allows you to choose from three keyboard layouts, add and remove buttons such as commas and full stops and set up the spell check/auto correct to suit your style of writing.

The handy step-by-step guide meant we dramatically improved the keyboard for our typing requirements in less than a minute and the responsive touchscreen meant we could type at speed without issue.
Update: TechRadar managed to get its hands on a Sony Xperia T with internet connection at IFA 2012, and the handset comes with the default Android browser installed, which offers up all the key tools you need for your online activities.
Mobile sites managed to load in a couple of seconds, where as full websites such as TechRadar took a little longer, and we had to wait about 10 seconds for everything to fully load on the screen.
Scrolling, panning, zooming and text re-flow are all relatively smooth, but browsing isn't as slick as the likes of the One X or Galaxy S3, possibly the first time we've seen any real hint of slow down with the Xperia T's dual-core processor over its quad-core counterparts.

Availabity

Global: By the end of September.

Some countries (China) have already seen the release of Xperia T.

In the US, AT&T seem to be the exclusive carrier that will carry Xperia T, called the Xperia TL.
Xperia TL hands-on impression from various sources

In the UK, O2 will have a special 'James Bond' Edition.

In some countries Xperia T is replaced by it's variant Xperia TX with removable battery. These are the differences:

The Sony Xperia TX is outwardly similar to the Xperia T, though there are a couple of important distinctions. The first thing we noticed is that the TX is thinner - 8.6mm vs. 9.4mm.
Of course, that's for their thinnest parts, which in the middle of the phone. The curved back of the Xperia TX also felt "curvier" than the one on the T, likely due to it being thinner.
The phone is also lighter and a smidge taller and wider, though that's hard to notice even when you hold both phones in your hands.
Another difference between the Sony Xperia TX and the Xperia T is that the TX comes only in HSPA+ version although it still uses the Qualcomm S4 SoC with two 1.5 GHz Krait cores coupled with the Adreno 225 GPU.

Reviews


Recmbu:

It was so close to being an across the board contender, but short of the final round the Sony Xperia T ran out of juice. Nothing can take away from the fact that the T is a beautifully designed amalgam of the Xperia S and Xperia arc with some soft touch thrown in for good measure. It also offers a great screen, charming user interface and a very good camera as well as a class leading multimedia experience. Available on pre-order for just over £400, it’s one of the cheaper flagships as well, so competes aggressively with the likes of the HTC One X, LG Optimus 4X HD and Samsung Galaxy S3. In saying all that though, it can only be recommended with the disclaimer that it may well die before the day’s out.

4/5

Phonearena:

The Sony Xperia T doesn’t offer groundbreaking features compared to the other flagships out there, but it is a pretty compelling package nonetheless.

The sturdy arched design will appeal to many, and the 13MP camera will let you capture those impromptu moments on the fly because of the dedicated shutter key.

There are no major gripes with the handset either – it is zippy, with expandable storage and easy to access card slots. The only minor issues are with the screen - its coating reflects too much light outside, which tampers with the view under direct sunlight, and the viewing angles are weak.

Our biggest expectations were towards the 13MP “stacked” Exmor RS sensor, but apart from saving space inside the phone, this version of it doesn’t offer much better capture than its predecessor, and the pictures and video quality is about what we find in the other high-end phones of today.

8/10

Engadget:

The Xperia T is a deceptive phone, with a design that looks and feels narrower than it actually is. Despite that huge display, it falls within the same dimensions as smaller-screened smartphones, with Sony shedding at least some of those exaggerated borders. It lands favorably with Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS, something that was notably missing when the Xperia S landed. But, with a software update now readily available on that older phone (we refreshed the older phone with the latest software to compare in this review) it's difficult to pin any major improvements or innovations that the Xperia T brings to phone buyers.
We still carry a torch for Sony and its tech launches, but our attention is rightfully shifting to the competition. Having both the S and T models side by side, it looks like one is the prototype of the other and we're not even sure which came first. Onscreen buttons and a marginally higher-resolution camera are certainly improvements, but a fully-priced Xperia T is hard to recommend over the now-discounted Xperia S.

GSMArena:

The Sony Xperia T is by all means an impressive phone. The dual-core Krait does a great job of competing with many other flagships not only on its home turf, but in the quad-core arena as well. Add to that a display that pushes out an impressive amount of pixels without issue, and a streamlined Android ICS interface that introduces some nifty features and optimizations not offered by other OEMs, you have a package that is very well put together.
However, when it comes to looking at a complete package - particularly one involving a flagship - it's important to take the price tag into account. At the time of release, many manufacturers promote their flagship as their technological pinnacle and tend to hike the price up accordingly, so it's important to see just how much bang you're getting for your buck.
Currently, the Xperia T can be found for €550 in most markets, which is rather steep, especially considering that certain quad-core smartphones can be had for less.

...

While we've looked at devices which are much better than the Xperia T on paper, we can't forget to factor in build quality and design. The Xperia T feels sturdier and more solid than both the HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy S III (with the glaring exception of the poorly-designed microSD/SIM card cover), and the curved back panel not only makes holding the Xperia T a more pleasurable experience, but also separates it from a design template that currently dominates the market.

And while the Android experience is something that has largely been the same across different OEMs, Sony has struck a great balance between great-looking apps and features on an optimized Android core that looks fresh yet familiar. True that while the Xperia T may be behind in the numbers race, the software package that it delivers is truly among the nicest we've seen.

Sometimes it's not enough to simply have the best around - you want to make a statement. Where some makers let the numbers talk, Sony are trying to appeal to emotions with the Xperia T's top notch design and feel. We're happy with the meal, but we guess there's room for dessert. And we sure hope Jelly Bean doesn't take too long.

Techradar review:

The Sony Xperia T is a very, very good phone. Everything about it is slick and well-executed and the performance is certainly what we expect from a £400 device.
However, the Sony Xperia S was a very, very good phone. When a new model comes out, we look for it to improve upon the previous one and unfortunately, hand on heart; this doesn't improve on the last generation of smartphones as much as it should.
Admittedly, it's not about simply ramming higher specs into a thinner and lighter phone – we've moved past that now. But it should be about offering a fresh experience with new features and offering us a die hard reason to shell out for an upgrade.

4/5

User Impression:

I havent bought the phone yet. My apartment mate just bought it. Right now i have a 3gs and note.
I am impressed by the phone to some extent . First the phone looks good but not good as the press shots sugest. And the curve on the back is barely noticeable from from front or back.but from slightly side view it is one of the most beautiful gadget. Back is made of soft rubber like plastic which has a great feeling when holding. Build quality is good which was problem with previous xperia arc. It makes my note feel like a cheap plastic toy.
Screen is gorgeous but colours look slightly less vibrant next to my note but they look more natural which very evident if you take pictures from both devices and compare it to real objects. There also seem to have more range of colours like some shade of yellow are indistinguishable in my note but clearly visible in xperia.viewing angles are also slihtly better but there is no blue tint like my note.
Camera is very fast and pictures are rich in detail.but i only checked on xperia screen not on monitor and in good lightning.13 mp may sound a lot more than 8 but i found no major bw xperia and note. One thing i can say is it takes picture very fast.
The highlight for me was sound quality when using headphones. I am no audiophile but you can easily hear diff between t and note.
On software side xperia customization looks very good and is fast.

My short review if you want to know anything specific feel free to ask

Two things i will like to add are
The button placement of power volume and camera seem strange at first but beside volume button the other two feels natural.volume buttons required some time getting used to.
And the 2nd thing is the virtual keyboard.it is the best virtual keyboard period. I dont knw how to describe it but it feels so natural

So, have I persuaded you to join James Bond and buy an Xperia T?

TV ads:

New ad for the T emphasising the NFC photo sharing and quick capture

Xperia T James Bond ad

Sources:
http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_t-4899.php
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Sony-Xperia-T_id7332/photos
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/sony-xperia-t-1093680/review
http://www.xperiablog.net/2012/09/07/xperia-t-display-versus-galaxy-nexus-super-amoled/
http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_tx_t_and_v_benchmarks_are_here_promising_too-news-4722.php
http://blog.gsmarena.com/hands-on-with-the-sony-xperia-t-camera/
http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ifa_2012-review-803p2.php

Xperia T unboxing video

 

[GTP_Daverytimes]

The real Andriod Flagship (along with Xperia V), so sad it has been ignored by the masses.

 

[Mario007]

The real Andriod Flagship (along with Xperia V), so sad it has been ignored by the masses.

Yeah, I was getting quite annoyed in the iOS v Android v WP thread when everyone was only mentioning Galaxy S3. Thus came about this thread. The phone looks awesome and seems to perform as such too!

 

[markot]

The real Andriod Flagship (along with Xperia V), so sad it has been ignored by the masses.

blame sony

 

[Woody Invincible]

The Xperia Play I bought is so damn shitty. Never again Sony.

 

[RS4-]

Need it

 

[Kiraly]

The next best thing

 

[Mario007]

blame sony

How so? They're actually advertising the new Xperias pretty aggressively and this one will even be in the James Bond movie.

 

[Kill Your Masters]

Looks sexy.

so sad it has been ignored by the masses.

Problem is this:

The Xperia Play I bought is so damn shitty. Never again Sony.

blame sony

Yup.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Awesome phone. They are shipping out tonight to people on the advanced preview programme. So we can get ready to see real reviews.

 

[antipod]

The V is so much better looking in my opinion. Actually one of the best looking Android devices ever. The T isn't near it.

Sony is making great phones and I hope they actually manage to get people to buy them.

 

[GTP_Daverytimes]

The V is so much better looking in my opinion. Actually one of the best looking Android devices ever. The T isn't near it.

Sony is making great phones and I hope they actually manage to get people to buy them.

Indeed it is, the V was the secret flagship.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

AT&T exclusive? Better luck next time.

 

[Sapiens]

Indeed it is, the V was the secret flagship.

Will I be able to simply whip my credit card out and get one unlocked?

That's always been my biggest frustration with phones. I do not like to buy from carrier and the good, non apple phones, generally come from carriers only.

Being in canada makes this even more difficult.

 

[Ravage]

Looks good. I might get one when i renew my contract later this year.

 

[MeBecomingI]

Will I be able to simply whip my credit card out and get one unlocked?

That's always been my biggest frustration with phones. I do not like to buy from carrier and the good, non apple phones, generally come from carriers only.

Being in canada makes this even more difficult.

Yeah, having to deal with the telecommunications industry in Canada is a nightmare. I certainly hope Sony makes the V available to buy unlocked. I will likely buy one outright and then I can leave Rogers and go to SaskTel.

The V certainly does seem like the real flagship, but the T will get the bulk of resources for now. Regardless, these phones look incredible and they've been getting some high praise. I can certainly see the difference between Sony and Sony Ericsson right now... it is like night and day.

 

[Mario007]

Looks sexy.




Problem is this:



Yup.

Well to be fair their 2 previous flagship models, the Arc and S have gotten nothing but praise from people.

Awesome phone. They are shipping out tonight to people on the advanced preview programme. So we can get ready to see real reviews.

Awesome, i can't wait to see how it'll do!

Yeah, having to deal with the telecommunications industry in Canada is a nightmare. I certainly hope Sony makes the V available to buy unlocked. I will likely buy one outright and then I can leave Rogers and go to SaskTel.

The V certainly does seem like the real flagship, but the T will get the bulk of resources for now. Regardless, these phones look incredible and they've been getting some high praise. I can certainly see the difference between Sony and Sony Ericsson right now... it is like night and day.

It's cause the V is coming later than the T and V is built around LTE like the ION was, whereas T can be used and sold everywhere.

Will I be able to simply whip my credit card out and get one unlocked?

That's always been my biggest frustration with phones. I do not like to buy from carrier and the good, non apple phones, generally come from carriers only.

Being in canada makes this even more difficult.

Not sure about the V, but there was some talk of T being available unlocked only from January..Sony did say that that wasn't true, but we'll have to wait and see.

 

[freshair]

I find that Sony phones (formally SE) tend to lack the AWS bands for T-Mobile. So as much as I'm a fan of them, I can't use them!

 

[Akira]

I like the Xperia phones, but after seeing iPhone 5 the design of the T now looks a quite a bit less premium, especially when looking at the difference in chamfer size and material. Still looks better than the other Android flagships with the exception of One X. That said, the Xperia V is on the same design tier as iPhone 5 and the One X.

 

[mackattk]

Come on T-mobile, where you at?

 

[DrFunk]

I find that Sony phones (formally SE) tend to lack the AWS bands for T-Mobile. So as much as I'm a fan of them, I can't use them!

Come on T-mobile, where you at?

The Xperia T is pentaband, amazingly, so Tmo dudes can use it

 

[Mario007]

I like the Xperia phones, but after seeing iPhone 5 the design of the T now looks a quite a bit less premium, especially when looking at the difference in chamfer size and material. Still looks better than the other Android flagships with the exception of One X. That said, the Xperia V is on the same design tier as iPhone 5 and the One X.

The american varient of the X has a metalic frame around the phone but I wasn't able to find a picture for it. It should look a bit more premium-like.

 

[snoopeasystreet]

Not sure I like the look of it. It looks over designed or something.

 

[GTP_Daverytimes]

^^^ The V looks a lot simpler and more elegant

 

[KZObsessed]

I'm gonna be buying my first smartphone very soon and if I decide to go for an android phone it'll be this. Really don't like Samsung Galaxy SIII design.

 

[Tallshortman]

What's the subsidized price for this on ATT? My contract is coming up and it's between this and the new iPhone.

 

[Mario007]

What's the subsidized price for this on ATT? My contract is coming up and it's between this and the new iPhone.

It's not announced yet. The leaked roadmap from Sony showed this phone Sim free at 536 euro, which is actually a 100 euro less than the basic iPhone model and Galaxy S3. So if they both come at 199 on contract in AT&T, it could cost around 149 dollars or even 99 as the ION did when it launched in May.

^^^ The V looks a lot simpler and more elegant

Yeah V is more of a full evolution of the Arc.

 

[soapypanda]

Sony needs to make a 5.5/6 inch phone. would be so purrrdy.

 

[DrFunk]

New camera images from GSM Arena:
http://blog.gsmarena.com/we-take-th...-give-you-some-samples-to-feast-your-eyes-on/

Sony needs to make a 5.5/6 inch phone. would be so purrrdy.

I love your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter

 

[Mario007]

New camera images from GSM Arena:
http://blog.gsmarena.com/we-take-th...-give-you-some-samples-to-feast-your-eyes-on/



I love your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter

Cheers will update the OT

 

[richiek]

Apple's gonna sue.

 

[GTP_Daverytimes]

Apple's gonna sue.

Why?

 

[Mario007]

Apple's gonna sue.

Suzuki went on to say that the reason why some manufacturers are diversifying operating systems is due to the patent threat. However, Sony has no such concerns given the vast patent portfolio it has, along with the rights to Ericsson’s patent library. “We are not afraid of lawsuits, because we have an extensive portfolio of intellectual property rights,” said Suzuki.

.

 

[Kiraly]

So sad that this thread got only 30 replies in a day..

 

[GTP_Daverytimes]

.

Yea, i always wonder why some of these big companies don't go after Sony. I can only imagine that many companies out their are probably infringing on Sony's patent and Sony is just waiting for the day those guys sue them, then again i might be wrong.

 

[Alucrid]

So what carriers will have this? Verizon only has the Xperia play right?

 

[Mario007]

Yea, i always wonder why some of these big companies don't go after Sony. I can only imagine that many companies out their are probably infringing on Sony's patent and Sony is just waiting for the day those guys sue them.

Yeah I think if Apple tried to sue Sony, then Sony would go on the offensive. But they quite like the status quo, I guess, since they do supply Apple and Apple is suing their biggest competitor in the Android ecosystem.

Having said that, the amount of patents Sony must own, along with Ericson's patents, should put off anyone trying to sue them.

So sad that this thread got only 30 replies in a day..

Yeah it's gonna be an uphill battle for sure. It's really disheartening when you look at the Galaxy S3 or iPhone 5 threads and then this one

So what carriers will have this? Verizon only has the Xperia play right?

So far we only know of AT&T in the US (it's in the OP)

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Sony needs to make a 5.5/6 inch phone. would be so purrrdy.

Supposedly a phablet is coming at CES/MWC ~ 5-6" with a higher than 720p screen, but maybe not as high as 1080p. I think 1600x1000 is a good bet.

Internals on the phablet are unknown, but some have said A9600 from STE paired with their new integrated LTE modem which is sampling soon (Q4 2012). APQ8064 is also a possibility, but as yet Sony have never shipped a phone without an integrated baseband, a larger device may allow for a larger battery to enable a non-integrated radio.

 

[Alucrid]

Yeah I think if Apple tried to sue Sony, then Sony would go on the offensive. But they quite like the status quo, I guess, since they do supply Apple and Apple is suing their biggest competitor in the Android ecosystem.

Having said that, the amount of patents Sony must own, along with Ericson's patents, should put off anyone trying to sue them.



Yeah it's gonna be an uphill battle for sure. It's really disheartening when you look at the Galaxy S3 or iPhone 5 threads and then this one



So far we only know of AT&T in the US (it's in the OP)

Whoops, missed that. Shit...well...maybe I'll switch since my contract is probably up soon.

 

[freshair]

The Xperia T is pentaband, amazingly, so Tmo dudes can use it

HOT.

Now I have to decide which is cheaper unsubsidized/unlocked, the Xperia T or the Lumia 920.

D:

 

[GTP_Daverytimes]

Yeah I think if Apple tried to sue Sony, then Sony would go on the offensive. But they quite like the status quo, I guess, since they do supply Apple and Apple is suing their biggest competitor in the Android ecosystem.

Having said that, the amount of patents Sony must own, along with Ericson's patents, should put off anyone trying to sue them.



Yeah it's gonna be an uphill battle for sure. It's really disheartening when you look at the Galaxy S3 or iPhone 5 threads and then this one



So far we only know of AT&T in the US (it's in the OP)

It always boggles my mind how many patents these guys must have amassed over the years, i really will not want to be the company that sues Sony. Anyways the Xperia T and V is really a start-over for Sony, hopefully the next iterations in 2013 will bring more attention to the Xperia line of phones. I truly think Sony are the best in the mobile space currently, unfortunately their sales don't reflect it.

 

[Luscious LeftFoot]

Never owned an android phone...

So this will be launched with ICS instead of Jelly Bean? How is sony with android updates?

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Yeah it's gonna be an uphill battle for sure. It's really disheartening when you look at the Galaxy S3 or iPhone 5 threads and then this one

The problem for Sony is that they don't do blanket coverage for the US, they need to have the phone available on all networks, AT&T, VZW, Sprint, T-Mob and MetroPCS. That way they will get a lot more coverage in the US media, right now a phone exclusive to AT&T (the network that US blogs hate the most) using hardware that has already been in other phones just isn't that interesting. If Sony were to have a super wide launch of the Xperia T, price it at $99 on a two year contract for a couple of months to get people interested this thread would be very popular.

However, Sony just haven't learned how to deal with carrier dominated countries. They are improving, with the ION they have rolled out their first proper update (ICS for the AT&T ION just went live) and I think they are getting to grips with it. SE was from a European country and they have a decent European heritage, but the rules are different in the US and they have been very slow as have Nokia, for the same reasons.

Anyway, the signs are good that Sony have started listening to consumers, they released a larger screen device with up to date hardware and the rumours about the phablet are encouraging. If they can get their time to market down from 1 month to around 2 weeks (like Apple) then I think they will be able to compete very effectively in 2013 onwards, and they have a very good shot at becoming the flagship Android OEM if they can backup the words with awesome devices and wide releases. 2012 is like a preview of what is to come from SMC and so far it has been decent.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Never owned an android phone...

So this will be launched with ICS instead of Jelly Bean? How is sony with android updates?

Sony are slow but comprehensive. They are the only OEM to have updated their whole 2011 line to ICS and while plans for the 2012 devices haven't been released, it is expected that all 2012 devices will be updated before the end of January. I have a friend who is using the JB alpha on his Xperia S and he says it is great, very smooth with fluid animations.

 

[Mario007]

It always boggles my mind how many patents these guys must have amassed over the years, i really will not want to be the company that sues Sony. Anyways the Xperia T and V is really a start-over for Sony, hopefully the next iterations in 2013 will bring more attention to the Xperia line of phones. I truly think Sony are the best in the mobile space currently, unfortunately their sales don't reflect it.

So do I actually. I have had the fortune of owning 6 SE phones and they were all great. I was also lucky that I went from P990i straight to Xperia Arc S so I skipped the fiasco that they had going on with the X8 and X10. But eversince the 2011 they are amazing. The 2011 line-up was a beacon of bright light in the world of phone design and the Arc is still iconic to this day.

What I love about Sony's phone is that they are able to deliver the same results with lesser specs and lesser price than Samsung or HTC. I mean Xperia T is still 'only' a dual-core phone but look at those benchmarks and the screen the phone is powering. It was the same with Arc S last year getting sneered at for being only single-core.

Their smartphone sales are up 50% from last year, so hopefully this'll continue.

Never owned an android phone...

So this will be launched with ICS instead of Jelly Bean? How is sony with android updates?

T launches with ICS 4.0.4 It should be upgraded soon after launch, so I'd say within 2 months. Sony are pretty good with their updates. Their entire 2011 line-up (apart from PLAY) got updated from GB to ICS and that includes even pretty weak phones like Mini or Active.

Having said that their NXT line-up launched with GB this year and they still have to update Sola and U, but those updates are coming in October, around 4 months after the phones have launched. Sony has said that you should expect your phone to be supported for 18 months by Sony with updates. They are still evaluating updating their last years line-up to Jellybean too.

So while they're about average on speed of the updates, they seem to care to update most of their devices.

 

[HallucinatingElvis]

Fuuuuck me, that's coming to AT&T?! I did not know this. Upgrade due in November and so many choices :-(

 

[Mario007]

The problem for Sony is that they don't do blanket coverage for the US, they need to have the phone available on all networks, AT&T, VZW, Sprint, T-Mob and MetroPCS. That way they will get a lot more coverage in the US media, right now a phone exclusive to AT&T (the network that US blogs hate the most) using hardware that has already been in other phones just isn't that interesting. If Sony were to have a super wide launch of the Xperia T, price it at $99 on a two year contract for a couple of months to get people interested this thread would be very popular.

However, Sony just haven't learned how to deal with carrier dominated countries. They are improving, with the ION they have rolled out their first proper update (ICS for the AT&T ION just went live) and I think they are getting to grips with it. SE was a European country and they have a decent European heritage, but the rules are different in the US and they have been very slow as have Nokia, for the same reasons.

Anyway, the signs are good that Sony have started listening to consumers, they released a larger screen device with up to date hardware and the rumours about the phablet are encouraging. If they can get their time to market down from 1 month to around 2 weeks (like Apple) then I think they will be able to compete very effectively in 2013 onwards, and they have a very good shot at becoming the flagship Android OEM if they can backup the words with awesome devices and wide releases. 2012 is like a preview of what is to come from SMC and so far it has been decent.

I completely agree. But, to be honest, even Samsung had huge troubles penetrating the US market. Same still goes for HTC. The only reason why Galaxy S3 is on all carriers and out fast is because the S2 was such a success. With the S2 Samsung had to wait for ages to get it to the US.

I think the point about ION is a very good one. Sony actually had to wait around 5 months to release the ION on AT&T. That is ridiculous, especially since the Xperia S, for some weird reason, did not make it to any carrier in the US either. T will be finally the first phone that will launch globally around the same time and be available form the carriers also.

Also you're right about the specs. It's such a shame this phone is already getting slagged on the internet for having just two cores. Even big websites don't use it comparison to other flagship devices. It's like they ignore the T on purpose or something.

 

[GTP_Daverytimes]

So do I actually. I have had the fortune of owning 6 SE phones and they were all great. I was also lucky that I went from P990i straight to Xperia Arc S so I skipped the fiasco that they had going on with the X8 and X10. But eversince the 2011 they are amazing. The 2011 line-up was a beacon of bright light in the world of phone design and the Arc is still iconic to this day.

What I love about Sony's phone is that they are able to deliver the same results with lesser specs and lesser price than Samsung or HTC. I mean Xperia T is still 'only' a dual-core phone but look at those benchmarks and the screen the phone is powering. It was the same with Arc S last year getting sneered at for being only single-core.

Their smartphone sales are up 50% from last year, so hopefully this'll continue.
.

This is also what impresses me about Sony Mobil, their ability to optimize and get the best out of the processors they are using is second to none. They don't seem to be interested in jumping into the whole "QUAD CORE OMG" bandwagon and i like that but i have to say its probably hurting them a bit. I was watching a preview on YouTube and the guy that was previewing the Xperia V said that it was a "basic" handset, probably came to that conclusion based on it being a dual core (while forgetting it was an S4 Krait processor). How do you call a phone that beats every other phone out there (in Quadrant) "basic", and to top it off most tech blogs don't even put the Xperia T or V in their flagship face-offs.

 

[unrenowned]

After the Xperia S clusterfuck I ended up with I'll never get a Sony phone again.

 

[Mario007]

This is also what impresses me about Sony Mobil, their ability to optimize and get the best out of the processors they are using is second to none. They don't seem to be interested in jumping into the whole "QUAD CORE OMG" bandwagon and i like that but i have to say its probably hurting them a bit. I was watching a preview on YouTube and the guy that was previewing the Xperia V said that it was a "basic" handset, probably came to that conclusion based on it being a dual core (while forgetting it was an S4 Krait processor).

Website like the verge or phonearena call the V a mid-range phone. I mean seriously...

I completely agree though. My Arc S was way better optimised and ran so much better than my new Motorola RAZR which has 2 cores and twice as much RAM.

It's the same story for the display. Sony isn't on the AMOLED bandwago but look at the comparison in the OP, their screens are actually better. I can attest to this by comparing my RAZR and my brother's Arc S. It's also a weakness of their marketing I guess. If they called the Xperia S's screen with 342 ppi something cool like Retina, maybe then the journalists and public would swallow it up.

After the Xperia S clusterfuck I ended up with I'll never get a Sony phone again.

Huh? I thought S was generally well received?