When Dr. Martin Cooper developed the first hand-held mobile in 1973, little did he know how this unassuming gadget would change our lives and the world of telephony forever. Evolution had its way and the smartphone juggernaut came into being. With a plethora of smartphones to choose from and incessant new launches, the race for the slickest and niftiest mobile phone continues to set mercury levels soaring. Breathing down heavily on competition's neck is Sony, which made its foray into the U.S. 4G LTE market with Xperia Ion.
An established brand name, Sony's mobile phones are synonymous with quality, user-friendly interfaces, and finesse. With a slew of features up its tech-savvy sleeve, Sony has constantly embraced vision and metamorphosed with the times. Its bevy of smartphone beauties bear testament to this evolution.
It's no surprise then that Sony's latest Android, Xperia Ion, incidentally its first 4G LTE venture, is vying for top honors in the smartphone mêlée. Armed with a HD reality 720p display, 12 megapixel camera, and HDMI output to boot, the $99 Sony Xperia Ion Android LTE smartphone is pulling out all stops to woo the customers. If this wasn't enough to reinstate its super phone status, the Ion packs a punch with its 16GB internal memory, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, DLNA media streaming, 1GB RAM, and access to the hugely popular Sony Entertainment Network.
Hankering for more? The Fast Capture camera lives up to its name and can take pictures in just 1.5 seconds! And if the Ion's slick features weren't enough to entice, the PlayStation certification surely will!
Priced at $99.99 (2-year contract-based), the Sony Xperia Ion aims to thwart smartphone competition in this price bracket. The Nokia Lumia 900, iPhone4, HTC Droid Incredible, Palm Pre Plus et al boast of similar hardware advantages, but the Sony Xperia Ion stands out on several counts.
Despite being edged out in the software features, the Ion scores on hardware. The Ion has a 4.6-inch HD display (323ppi), compared to Lumia's 4.3 inch one (217ppi). Moreover, at only 4.09 ounces the Sony Xperia Ion is lighter than Nokia Lumia 900 (5.64 ounces). Even the processors give insight into the operations. The Qualcomm APQ8055 Snapdragon 1.4GHz Scorpion processor of Nokia Lumia is no match for Ion's 1.5GHz Qualcomm MSM8260 Snapdragon 1.5GHz dual-core processor.
Critics may assert that the modest looking Sony Xperia Ion's non-removable battery is a huge drawback and makes the phone pale when compared to its competitors. Moreover, the phone tends to snap up pictures automatically, by default, once the camera is activated. However, the dominant criticism dogging Sony Xperia Ion is that it doesn't run on Ice Cream Sandwich, Google's latest mobile operating system. The Ion runs on Android Gingerbread 2.3.7, which many consider to be Neanderthal. Detractors endorse that Ice Cream Sandwich is way better than Gingerbread and it's time Sony moved on.
Even though the OS leaves a lot to be desired and compromises on the phone's potential, Sony Xperia Ion's hardware is one of the best in the business and value for money at $99. Sony's first non-Ericsson phone is undoubtedly a sharp shooter, which hits the right notes and manages to strike a chord with the consumer.
