Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Review
It is always a fun day around here when we get our hands on a phone that isn't just a phone but a true mobile gaming device. Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is a Playstation phone in a nutshell. It runs Playstation games has a complete game pad underneath it's phone exterior. How will this phone hold up as a normal phone or will it fail as a complete package? Let's get down to the business shall we? For a video review as well check out my YouTube page here.
Hardware
The gamepad
There really is only one way to start this review and it is by talking about the main element of this phone and that is the gaming device underneath the phone's exterior. To access the gamepad you simply have to slide up the phone as if it were to be a typical slider keyboard, however where you are used to seeing a full QWERTY keyboard you get a complete gamepad that resembles the good 'ol Playstation controller you are used too. The Circle, X, Triangle, and Square buttons welcome you, a directional pad is there as well and instead of two thumb sticks you have two analog pads that act like a capactive touchscreen. The two shoulder buttons are also there to make their appearance.
The thing that really impressed a lot of people was the sliding mechanism. Absolutely flawless, you don't even have to force it all the way up. As soon as it hits the halfway point it finishes the job. The screen doesn't tilt at an angle it stays perfectly parallel. You can tell Sony Ericsson spent a lot of time and a lot of effort into making this mechanism perfect.
Construction
Exterior
Here is where it takes a sad turn. Due to Sony Ericsson using some poor quality plastics in constructing the Play we often ran into creaks and squeaks. For all the great they did with the sliding mechanism they failed to follow through with the housing of the phone. One thing we did notice was just how bulky the device was. Being an Android phone they usually pride themselves on their slim physique. However bulky it is the one thing it has going for you is that it does fit nicely in your hand.
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