Sony Ericsson Xperia Play - It's Playtime!

Playtime with Sony Ericsson

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play needs no introduction if you've been following the mobile news like a bloodhound. Being the first PlayStation-certified device, this Android smartphone has to set the standards for devices aspiring to be the future of mobile gaming. While we got some hands-on time with the Xperia Play during its , nothing beats the real deal, with full functionality and game content being made available on the unit.

Unlike the thinner c, the Xperia Play is far from being a svelte and thin model. Measuring in at 16mm, the Xperia Play is nearly twice the thickness of its Arc sibling. The accompanying 175g weight is apparent the minute we held it in our hands. The Xperia Play has a mostly plastic exterior, which gave it a less than premium feel in terms of build quality.

Unlike the earlier Xperia phones, the Play comes with four physical buttons instead of the usual three - Back, Home and Menu. An additional Search button, which is often seen on other Android devices, has been added into the lineup. Right above the buttons is the 4-inch screen.

Fingerprints are definitely unavoidable on the Xperia Play, be it on the display, sides or rear of the device. Its 3.5mm audio and microUSB ports are located on the left profile, leaving the right profile for something that is quite familiar - shoulder buttons, otherwise known as the L and R buttons found on the PlayStation controller. As such, the volume button is now nestled between these shoulder buttons, which is a departure from the smartphone norm.

Once we slid the display to the right, we realized that the volume buttons sitting on the right profile isn't exactly easy to access in that position. Fortunately, the shoulder buttons don't share that predicament, since it is positioned slightly lower than the volume controls.

That aside, the Xperia Play's main attraction is found right under the display – the PlayStation control buttons. These buttons are responsive, but our thumbs just did not play too well with the flat and small controls. Touch-sensitive analog controls are positioned in the middle, with a start and Select button just below the distinctive PlayStation buttons. As we found out while play-testing the analog controls, they aren't always the best options.

An interesting point to note comes from the battery cover of the Xperia Play. Removing the said cover will trigger the device to unmount the microSD card. According to Sony Ericsson, a small switch is held down by the cover. Once removed, the switch is promptly lifted, which automatically unmounts the microSD card. Considering how the microSD card is hot-swappable, i.e. easily removed without removing the battery and shutting the device down, this is a very practical approach to prevent data corruption on your portable storage.

The Gingerbread Game

In an earlier episode of ZoneOut, we've shared our views on the top five features of the Xperia Play. To refresh your memory, here's a quick recap:

Sony Ericsson has been very clear about putting Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) as its biggest focus. The Xperia Play is no exception to that rule, running the same operating system (OS) as the Xperia Arc. If you've read our earlier Xperia Arc review, you might have learned of the changes that came with this updated mobile OS. From Google, you will now have Adobe Flash 10.2 support on the Xperia Play, plus a few updates to apps management and wireless hotspots added into the equation.

Sony Ericsson has also tossed in some incremental changes to its customized user interface. Dubbed as the Sony Ericsson UX interface, we spotted livelier animations when we tweaked around with its home screen. More widgets are now available, and the four anchored shortcuts at the bottom can also be turned into folders housing multiple apps at a go. Timescape, which made its debut on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, returns on the Xperia Play with minimal changes to its layout and usability.

As a PlayStation-certified device, the Xperia Play is more than just an Android smartphone with PlayStation controls. Within the menu, you'll find the preloaded Xperia Play Launcher. This app is essentially a collection of Android games that are optimized for the Xperia Play. These featured games are mostly found on the Android Market, and differ from its usual counterparts due to its customization for the Xperia Play controls.

Certain games such as Asphalt 6 HD (which is free for the Xperia Play) and Spider-Man: Total Mayhem HD are found beyond the Android Market, redirecting you to the Gameloft website where you can purchase and download them.

Other than the optimized Android games, the Xperia Play will also get specific PlayStation One classic games. One of which is Crash Bandicoot, which will be available right off the bat on the Xperia Play. Similar to the Xperia Play launcher, these PlayStation One games are aggregated into another app, known as PlayStation Pocket. As of now, the content is pretty limited. A quick check on other Android devices confirms that the games are exclusive to the Xperia Play, even though it's located with the Android Market.

According to Sony Ericsson, the combined titles from the Android and PlayStation classics number more than 50. This number will definitely increase over the months. Furthermore, by the end of the year, when the PlayStation Suite initiative goes into full gear, more PlayStation games will be ready for Android devices such as the Xperia Play. In the meantime, we've had a go at a few games that have been optimized for the Xperia Play controls, so do take a few minutes to hear what we have to say on this matter:

Setting the Gameplay Benchmark

The Xperia Play is first and foremost a Google Android 2.3 smartphone. And that means we'll be subjecting it to the routine benchmarks that were recently adopted. Our focus is upon the Xperia Play's CPU and GPU performance, given how it is supposed to support resource intensive gaming apps. For that, we put the Xperia Play through two specific benchmarks which are available for download on the Android Market - NeoCore and Quadrant.

• The first benchmark is Quadrant, which measures the device's performance based on its CPU, I/O and GPU. Simply put, Quadrant is a benchmark that gives you a general idea of how your device performs against other Android devices.
• The second benchmark is NeoCore, targeting the device's GPU performance. This is especially important for the Xperia Play and its role as a full-time Android gaming smartphone.

Our usual disclaimer still holds true - these benchmarks should give an approximation of the overall performance but each user is unique in his or her handling of the device, and as such, the individual performance may vary. However, this does give you a median look at how the Xperia Play performs. Our tests were conducted on devices from a fresh reboot, on a stock firmware, compared against the following Android devices with similar specifications - Samsung Nexus S, HTC Incredible S, and the LG Optimus 2X.

The benchmark numbers revealed a few interesting results, and we'll start with the Quadrant scores. The LG Optimus 2X, with its dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 CPU, is undoubtedly leading the pack. It is included as a reference for the performance gap between single-core and dual-core processors, which begs the question as to why Sony Ericsson didn't include such dual-core technology on the gaming-centric Xperia Play. Perhaps, time constraints and pre-planning played a role, but hopefully, we might see an upgraded Xperia Play with stronger hardware specifications next year.

With regards to both the Nexus S and Incredible S, the Xperia Play shares similar specifications to these two single-core devices. On the NeoCore scores, the Xperia Play has a slight advantage, but falls short on Quadrant. Remember, Quadrant is an overall benchmark, which covers memory performance. In this aspect, it's not surprising to see the Incredible S getting a better score thanks to its higher 768MB RAM, while the Nexus S has shown that its Hummingbird processor performs slightly better than Qualcomm's next generation MSM8255 processor.

Putting the numbers aside, the Xperia Play was also subjected to the usual routine, with more emphasis placed on its gaming performance. Browser speeds, apps switching and interface navigation returned smooth transitions. When we got too ambitious with the apps loading, the Xperia Play had a few moments of sluggishness.

Gaming-wise, you would find it quite adequately powered for PlayStation One games. You have to remember that such games, for its time, had graphics and gameplay that were relatively dated, and required much less processing power to perform smoothly. Rather, it is the new wave of Android games that could be the benchmark for the Xperia Play.

This was aptly seen through games such as Asphalt 6 and Galaxy on Fire 2, which taps into the full potential of the Xperia Play's hardware. And we are glad to say that the Xperia Play handled both games well.

Beyond the Gaming Realm

While we've harped upon the Xperia Play's gaming features, it is still a smartphone. As such, we have to consider its multimedia performance, be it audio, video or imaging. The lack of any audio and display enhancement is apparent in its specifications. With no SRS WOW HD surround sound like the nor the Bravia Mobile Display as seen on the Xperia Arc to complement its multimedia performance, one wonders if it is adequately armed.

Our experience with it says otherwise. You might not get the same level of performance when it comes to image quality, audio reproduction or wide viewing angles on the screen, but for us, we found it sufficient for the usual audio and video playback gig. More importantly, our 24FPS test videos had a smooth run on the Xperia Play, which was especially apparent during the fast chase scenes. The accompanying audio playback, as we've said, is nothing spectacular. It might lack a powerful bass enhancement, but audio clarity, especially voice, was a given.

As we move into the second half of 2011, we will see more smartphones armed with a higher megapixel count camera sensor. The Xperia Play opts for the mid-range 5-megapixel camera, accompanied by a single LED flash for low light shooting conditions. We weren't expecting professional grade pictures from the Xperia Play. But thankfully, it did exceed our expectations for its imaging quality, with a vertical and horizontal LPH reading of 800 on the resolution chart.

Color-wise, the camera struck a good white balance, with no strong tendencies towards the warmer or cooler color hues on the color palette. Nonetheless, its downside is apparent in our usual image test, where fur details were slightly obscured and lacking.

Smartphones have always been scrutinized for their battery performance, more so for the Xperia Play due to its gaming focus. The usual battery test routine is once again conducted on the Xperia Play - looping a test video with a 240 x 320 resolution under the following test conditions:

• Screen brightness and volume at 100%
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connection active
• Constant data stream via email and Twitter

Once more, we pit the Xperia Play against the earlier mentioned devices, namely the LG Optimus 2X, Samsung Nexus S and HTC Incredible S.

Surprisingly, the Xperia Play scored quite well in the routine battery test. As apparent from the charts above, it stood out as the clear winner, clocking at 379 minutes against the dual-core LG Optimus 2X and the more recent Android 2.3 Samsung Nexus S. Given how the Optimus 2X fares more than an hour less than the Xperia Play, we can see where the benefit of the single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor comes in for the Xperia Play. What puzzled us was how much worse the Samsung Nexus S and the HTC Incredbile S fared compared to the Xperia Play. Factors that could have led to these results could include the new Android 2.3 OS, the Sony Ericsson UX interface or perhaps both working in tandem for better power management and efficiency.

Sadly, even with its higher battery stamina, the Xperia Play's portability index is still the worst of the lot. The thickness and hefty weight of the device is unavoidable, and for some, it's something that cannot be overlooked.

Due to the Xperia Play's gaming proposition, we placed more emphasis on battery drain through gaming. Should you be depending heavily on the HSDPA connection for various web activities and indulge in an extended gaming session like we did, the Xperia Play is only good for slightly more than half a day. In other words, keep the Xperia Play well fed if you wish to enjoy it on your daily commute. Alternatively, manage your power consumption wisely by lowering the screen brightness and volume, and keeping data synchronization to the bare minimum.

Game (Not) Over

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is not your usual smartphone. With its competitors promoting thinner and sleeker profiles, the Xperia Play is a far cry from such claims. Its thick profile and hefty weight, coupled with a mostly plastic exterior, doesn't exactly strike a good first impression for many. What it lacks in aesthetic appeal, it makes up for with practicality through its dedicated gaming controls, hidden underneath its 4-inch display.

The all too familiar PlayStation controls, from the directional keys, the triangle, square, circle and X buttons, to the shoulder buttons and the analog touch pad, present a unique proposition to gaming on smartphones. Unique, but not exactly great due to the stiff and small controls, which are nevertheless still preferable to the unresponsive analog touch pads.

Gaming on the Android platform is given a fresh breath of air, with more games available through the Xperia Play launcher, redirecting one towards Android games within the Android Market that are optimized for the Xperia Play controls. In particular, Sony Ericsson did well to provide the latest Google Android 2.3 as its operating system.

Further to that, the PlayStation-certified logo's significance stretches beyond the PlayStation controls etched onto the Xperia Play. As the year progresses, we can expect more PlayStation One classics made available on the Xperia Play, either through the PlayStation Pocket app, or the upcoming PlayStation Suite initiative which will link Sony's existing PlayStation Store to distribute more PlayStation One games on the Android platform.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 1GHz processor powering the Xperia Play is no slouch, but we felt that this PlayStation-certified device would have been better fitted with a dual-core processor for performance and future-proofing. Regardless, its benchmark scores were still relatively adequate and expected of a single-core processor. Games played smoothly, be it from the Android basket or the PlayStation One inventory. Video and audio performance were at best average, more so for the former since it omits the Bravia Mobile Display engine found on its Xperia Arc sibling.

With well-managed expectations, we were pleased with how the images from the Xperia Play's 5-megapixel camera turned out. What it lacks (quite slightly) in details and sharpness, it makes up for with color reproduction.

The Xperia Play is undeniably packed with features for all occasions. And therein lies the constant thorn in all smartphones - battery life. While the Xperia Play lasted through a 6-hour loop of the test video (at 240 x 320 resolution), the Xperia Play performed less than ideally on the daily run. With its battery having slightly more than half a day's worth of intense gaming, web surfing and cellular activities, keeping a full charge on the Xperia Play will be a wise choice.

Make no mistake, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is definitely no Nokia N-Gage. Its accompanying Android app ecosystem and an upcoming tie-up to Sony's extensive classic PlayStation games will be a definite crowd puller. With more than fifty titles currently optimized for the Xperia Play, one can expect this number to rise in the months to come.

While its content is ever expanding, will the Xperia Play still be relevant one year down the road with its single-core 1GHz processor, and the average LCD display? If you think the Xperia Play can withstand the test of time (two years, given the rate at which smartphones are upgraded), you can probably accept the S$888 price tag or an appropriately subsidized two-year plan exclusive to SingTel.

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