Sony Xperia sola User Reviews

nherylicup posted on 16 May 2013, 01:53

6

Good at first

nherylicup has owned it for less than year before publishing this review

It's been 5 months since I used this phone. At first, it's good but as you have more numbers of applications, it's really annoying because it keeps on lagging.

I am using Nokia E5, and comparing to Sola, my E5 has better camera and speaker. but this is not android that's why I bought one. I was thinking that choosing this model is far better than Samsung Galaxy S but apparently not.

This has poor performance, it keeps on lagging, and sometimes it's restarting automatically.

I don't know if it's because of ICS or it is just the nature of this phone.

Can somebody help me how can I improve the performance and battery life of my sola?

I usually charge my phone 2-3 times a day since I am considered as super user. I play games, I surf, I watch videos/movies and listen to music.

Build quality 8/10 easy to handle.

Reception 6/10

Call quality 6/10 internal and external call, slow to respond.

Internet 6/10 it lags from time to time even when you have good internet connection

Multimedia 8/10 music player doesn't consume too much battery but sometimes it responds slowly.

Camera 6/10 The quality is good but it is so slow.

UI speed 4/10 slow to respond in most of the applications.

Everyday usage 7/10 just enough.

Text input 7/10 there's delay when you type.

Display 10/10 Nothing to say. It's very good.

Battery 3/10 Poor quality of battery especially when you are using internet. The built in battery is not a great help.

Pros

• Display
• Quality of images
• Multimedia
• NFC

Cons

• Battery
• Slow to respond
• No front camera
• No jelly bean update yet

lorenzattractor posted on 08 May 2013, 20:18

6

Not quite...

lorenzattractor has owned it for less than year before publishing this review

The Xperia Sola is my first smart-phone running Android, and the experience I've had with it comes close to abysmal. From the moment you turn on the phone, to the moment you start doing the simplest of tasks, like making a phone call, you start noticing how terrible it is. The small amount of RAM (512mb) translates into constant lagginess and the phone freezing a lot. Most of the functions the phone does, it does terribly. It can’t even get the call quality, the camera or the multitasking right, heck; the battery barely makes it through half a day and top it all, it’s non-removable, so you’ll have to carry that charger all of the time. The Sola isn’t even getting Jelly Bean, even though Sony promised it for all 2012 devices, so this is yet another con to consider when getting this particular device.
Needless to say, the Xperia Sola still gets a few things right. The first thing to notice is the design. Even though it’s not one to turn heads, it looks good and the build quality makes the phone feel sturdy. The screen, although not a High Definition one, looks sharp and accurate, and given that it’s a relatively small screen (3.7 inches), it makes it easy to handle with one hand. Another neat feature the Sola has, is the Bravia Engine, which in some way helps enhance the quality of the videos, and photos in the album. Other than that, there’s pretty much nothing else to talk about this phone.
The Xperia Sola is a phone that is best to avoid at all costs and don’t let the price...  

The Xperia Sola is my first smart-phone running Android, and the experience I've had with it comes close to abysmal. From the moment you turn on the phone, to the moment you start doing the simplest of tasks, like making a phone call, you start noticing how terrible it is. The small amount of RAM (512mb) translates into constant lagginess and the phone freezing a lot. Most of the functions the phone does, it does terribly. It can’t even get the call quality, the camera or the multitasking right, heck; the battery barely makes it through half a day and top it all, it’s non-removable, so you’ll have to carry that charger all of the time. The Sola isn’t even getting Jelly Bean, even though Sony promised it for all 2012 devices, so this is yet another con to consider when getting this particular device.
Needless to say, the Xperia Sola still gets a few things right. The first thing to notice is the design. Even though it’s not one to turn heads, it looks good and the build quality makes the phone feel sturdy. The screen, although not a High Definition one, looks sharp and accurate, and given that it’s a relatively small screen (3.7 inches), it makes it easy to handle with one hand. Another neat feature the Sola has, is the Bravia Engine, which in some way helps enhance the quality of the videos, and photos in the album. Other than that, there’s pretty much nothing else to talk about this phone.
The Xperia Sola is a phone that is best to avoid at all costs and don’t let the price fool you. Even its small repertoire of neat features is not enough to save it from offering a horrible experience. I did however learn a lot from this device. Never buy an Android device with less than 1GB of RAM and whose OEM doesn’t show initiative to support. There are better devices out there with even better prices.

Build quality 9/10 Even though it's plastic the device feels quite sturdy.

Reception 8/10 What little I've used the Sola as phone, I've had good reception.

Call quality 3/10 The phone's in-ear speaker is horrendous. One can barely hear the person on the other side. The speaker on the other hand was quite loud, especially when xLoud was on.

Internet 6/10 Internet browsing was average at best. While the browser seemed capable with all it's functionalities, it's constant lagginess was a major letdown.

Multimedia 5/10 The Walkman player was horrible. Didn't even work with last.fm. On the bright side, it's android, so there's tons of great players to choose from.

Camera 4/10 The camera takes some decent pictures for a mid-range device, but the app itself takes forever to load and take pictures.

UI speed 3/10 UI speed? The dual-core processor means nothing here. My Focus Flash with it's single core processor is not only faster, but smoother than this turtle.

Everyday usage 5/10 The phone itself is not very good on everyday use. Even the simplest action, like a phone call, can be a pain.

Text input 6/10 The keyboard has some nice features, but if you have big fingers like me, your chances of hitting the right key will be very low.

Display 9/10 The display is possibly the only good thing about the device. Despite the fact that it's not a 720p screen, it looks sharp and quite accurate.

Battery 3/10 I'm not sure who thought it'd be a good idea to put a tiny 1320mAh battery on this phone. Even with average use, this phone doesn't even make it past half a day.

Pros

• Vibrant display
• Great design

Cons

• Battery life
• Non-removable battery
• Horrible call-quality
• No Jelly Bean
• Constant lag

lorenzattractor alternatives:

Nokia Lumia 620

kaktusz posted on 30 Apr 2013, 14:06

6

Disapointing...

kaktusz has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review

Hi!

This is my first smart phone and I'm not too glad that my choice stayed with xperia. I was considering three phones in this price range - htc one v, xperia sola or nokia lumia 620. While I can't say anything about htc, nokia seems much more better than xperia, since my friend bought it about the same time as I bought xperia, and we have compared them a few times and now even windows OS doesn't seem so scary as every one was drawing it.

OK, now to cons - phone is super slow sometimes, it always takes too long to loud an application and to travel from one page to next (haven't noticed such lags in nokia's windows, which seems much faster), but if I can live with slow OS there are some things which I really hate in this phone, and which I have found other users have also, so it's not some defect, which only my phone has, like terrible signal, death grip problems and very weak gps signal receiver. More than few times I have missed calls when I don't know how, signal just disappears , while phone is just lying in my pocket.

Overall, I can't understand, why this phone has so good reviews and no one mentioned these cons, while searching google it seems that many people have them. So, my first smart phone turned out to be disappointment in Sony (such a shame, since I loved old sony ericssons so much) and probably in android also...

If You are considering of buying this phone, I can't advise You that, better go with nokia, or if You doesn't want windows OS, then better try...  

Hi!

This is my first smart phone and I'm not too glad that my choice stayed with xperia. I was considering three phones in this price range - htc one v, xperia sola or nokia lumia 620. While I can't say anything about htc, nokia seems much more better than xperia, since my friend bought it about the same time as I bought xperia, and we have compared them a few times and now even windows OS doesn't seem so scary as every one was drawing it.

OK, now to cons - phone is super slow sometimes, it always takes too long to loud an application and to travel from one page to next (haven't noticed such lags in nokia's windows, which seems much faster), but if I can live with slow OS there are some things which I really hate in this phone, and which I have found other users have also, so it's not some defect, which only my phone has, like terrible signal, death grip problems and very weak gps signal receiver. More than few times I have missed calls when I don't know how, signal just disappears , while phone is just lying in my pocket.

Overall, I can't understand, why this phone has so good reviews and no one mentioned these cons, while searching google it seems that many people have them. So, my first smart phone turned out to be disappointment in Sony (such a shame, since I loved old sony ericssons so much) and probably in android also...

If You are considering of buying this phone, I can't advise You that, better go with nokia, or if You doesn't want windows OS, then better try your luck with some htc or samsung.

Build quality 8/10 One of few good things about this phone.

Reception 2/10 Bad, death grip problems, when signal disappears completely for some time.

Call quality 8/10 call quality is ok.

Internet 6/10 changed standart browser right away

Multimedia 10/10 Ok, this I have to admit, music player is very good.

Camera 5/10 very average

UI speed 4/10 not fast enough, nokia 6020 which has almost same specs is much faster

Everyday usage 8/10

Text input 8/10

Display 3/10 display is ok, but I give it a 3 for it's constant flickering ( and no, turning off auto adjust brightness doesn't change anything)

Battery 7/10 standard battery for smartphone, have to recharge it often but they all have this problem. :)

kaktusz alternatives:

Nokia Lumia 620

awanrulez49 posted on 15 Mar 2013, 03:52

7

XPERIA SOLA

awanrulez49 has owned it for less than year before publishing this review

First 6 months are good with xperia sola but now xperia sola make me disappointing because suddenly the touch screen of my mobile stopped responding.i hate it. samsung is great inspite of plastic build quality.

Build quality 5/10

Reception 7/10

Call quality 6/10

Internet 5/10

Multimedia 10/10

Camera 6/10

UI speed 9/10

Everyday usage 7/10

Text input 9/10

Display 10/10

Battery 6/10

Pros

• Display
• design
• multimedia
• fast processor

Cons

• bad camera
• low battery life
• bad build quality
• low ram

Ariel8945 posted on 20 Feb 2013, 16:49

9

Awesome Xperia Sola

Ariel8945 has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review

Es un gran compañero de trabajo, muy robusto muy estilizado, realmente no me ha dejado botado con ningun juego, su precio es super conveniente y accesible...ademas de que sony esta mejorando bastante su forma de hacer smarphones... sin duda desde que tengo mi Xperia Sola soy un Fanboy de sony

Build quality 9/10

Reception 10/10

Call quality 10/10

Internet 9/10

Multimedia 9/10

Camera 9/10

UI speed 9/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 9/10

Display 9/10

Battery 7/10

Pros

• Good Camera
• Excelent Reception
• Beatiful design
• Low Weight

Cons

• Battery :(

Niloy posted on 28 Jan 2013, 02:57

9

Sony Xperia Sola

Niloy has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review

Sony xperia sola is a great smartphone for a mid-range. Its cheaper than most of the other mid-range smartphones. This phone can run many games smoothly thanks to its dual core processor. The RAM might be a bit low but the processor covers it up. It has relatively high ppi (265 ppi) so the screen display is crystal clear. The WALKMAN player is just too good. Thanks to the sony mobile bravia engine, the picture quality is great given the right conditions. The only worst thing about this smartphone is its battery life. While browsing internet, the battery charge falls rapidly. One more thing, was it really that hard for sony to put up a front camera? I guess not. I believe this phone deserves a jelly bean update. I was shocked to hear that the xperia J is getting a JB update while my cell phone is not. Sometimes sony really pisses me off.
Overall, the phone is great. You'll love this smartphone once you get your hands on it :)

Build quality 9/10 Very good build quality, not to mention its slim, sexy design, screen is scratch resistant, back panel is finger print resistant but the battery is non-removable.

Reception 9/10 Good network reception.

Call quality 9/10 Very good call quality and there is hardly any noise.

Internet 9/10 Internet browsing is smooth.

Multimedia 10/10 Music quality is awesome. The best thing about the music player is its 3D surround sound. Video player is also good. It can smoothly run 720p videos.

Camera 8/10 The image quality is great for taking outdoor pictures but the quality drops down when you take indoor pictures. Its very unfortunate that such an awesome smartphone lacks a front camera.

UI speed 9/10 Very fast and responsive. The phone does not lag at all.

Everyday usage 8/10

Text input 8/10 Text input is not bad for a 3.7 inch screen.

Display 10/10 The display is awesome. Texts are sharp and clear.

Battery 6/10 Very disappointed with the battery. It has only 1320 mAh so it hardly lasts a day.

Pros

• Fast processor
• Very good camera
• Supports NFC
• Light
• Slim
• Cheap
• Floating touch
• Awesome screen
• Great music player

Cons

• No front camera
• No Jelly Bean update
• Non-removable battery
• Low battery life

james-t posted on 01 Jan 2013, 08:03

9

Sony Xperia Sola

james-t has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

sony xperia sola is simply awesome for its price!!! i recomended it to everyone that want a smartphone with great value and low price...it is a realy useful smartphone with many abilities and a realy fast double core 1ghz processor without lags!

Build quality 9/10

Reception 10/10

Call quality 10/10

Internet 10/10

Multimedia 9/10

Camera 9/10

UI speed 10/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 9/10

Display 9/10

Battery 8/10

Pros

• double 1ghz processor
• nfc
• value for money
• screen
• android update to ICS 4.0
• usefulness
• floating touch
• design
• sound

Cons

• battery

niksshah posted on 01 Nov 2012, 14:16

9

Awesome SOLA...!!!

niksshah has owned it for less than year before publishing this review

Amazing phone overall... Killer Sony looks...

I have had his phone now for almost 4 months and it is REALLY great.
Due to very high pixel density and BRAVIA engine, display is crystal clear with labels appearing distinctly.
The touch is very smooth, but the disappointment being floating touch doesnt work properly while browsing as claimed...

Processor being 1GHz, phone works almost very smoothly... Though RAM being 512 is a bit of a low point,because when you are using many apps which run in background then phone becomes slow..

I personally liked the built in music player very much..Sony has integrated many amazing options within the player...

One of the major disappointment..... NO front camera...so if u want to make video calls you have to use rear camera....nd i dont understand how can you chat face to face with rear camera...

But the overall feel u get using this phone is great.

Build quality 9/10

Reception 9/10

Call quality 9/10

Internet 9/10

Multimedia 10/10

Camera 7/10 During day, the pictures clicked are totally awesome but during night time or in indoors, quality reduces considerably(even after adjusting the settings)

UI speed 8/10

Everyday usage 8/10

Text input 8/10

Display 10/10

Battery 8/10 1350 mAh battery...a disappointment.. should have had minimum 1500...

Pros

• Pixel density
• Looks
• Call quality
• Smooth touch

Cons

• No front facing camera
• Battery life
• 512 RAM

niksshah alternatives:

Samsung GALAXY S Advance

marcangeloboniel posted on 31 Oct 2012, 05:34

10

SOLA IS THE BEST

marcangeloboniel has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review

Iven been using this for 2 months already and it did not disappointing me its a very fast phone, HD gaming compatible, very easy to use, nice floating touch and using it even with gloves.

NICE WORK!! SONY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SOLA IS THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!​!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Build quality 10/10

Reception 10/10

Call quality 10/10

Internet 10/10

Multimedia 10/10

Camera 10/10

UI speed 10/10

Everyday usage 10/10

Text input 10/10

Display 10/10

Battery 10/10

Xperia_23 posted on 12 Oct 2012, 05:11

9

GOOD

Xperia_23 has owned it for less than year before publishing this review

this phone is great...the build quality is great..the screen dosent scratch i am using it for four months and dosent have a single scratch even without a screen protector,it is very fast and responsive too i like timescape ui more than any ui out there,the display is one of its greatest..even if you scan the screen real hard you wont see any pixel

The audio quality is average it is not very loud but it is clear..the baterry life is average it last for a day with normal-heavy use...the camera is average too..the pictures dosen't look good in low light..internet is fast..altough the stock browser has slight lag...the lag is fixed by secondary browser like opera mini,dolphine etc.

the multimedia is great..the music player looks good and the UI is very user friendly..it is a perfect phone for mid range devices.. it is better than any of its competitiors ... ICS update will increase the speed of this phone and also ICS will make this phone responsive it can even react to the screen even wearing gloves....AWESOME PHONE!

Build quality 10/10 exceptional build quality, feels good in the hand, compact, slim, stylish design, screen is not easily scratched, back panel is finger print resistant

Reception 8/10

Call quality 10/10 Very clear and loud almost cancels all noise

Internet 10/10 the internet is fast...

Multimedia 10/10 Multimedia feature of this phone is great,it looks great and functions great, it is more than enough for my needs

Camera 8/10 camera is average but enough

UI speed 10/10 Very fast and responsive, i also like the widgets of timescapr, also time scape skin look great and simple elgant

Everyday usage 10/10 it is good enough for my everyday needs

Text input 10/10 text is very clear, and typing is easy for me and good looking keyboard, it also features text input method or swype

Display 10/10 Awesome screen! good colors, deep blacks, elegant.

Battery 8/10 battery is average it is good enough for a day of usage

Pros

• AWESOME screen
• HD video recording
• Responsive UI
• Great UI skins
• Great widgets
• Deep colors
• fast processor
• Good build quality

Cons

• Average camera
• average audio

arundhruw posted on 30 Sep 2012, 01:36

9

awesome smartphone

arundhruw has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

The Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich firmware started to roll out for the Sony Xperia P a week ago and it looks like the update for the other NovaThor chipset-based Xperia handsets won’t be too far behind. The Sony Xperia go, Xperia sola and Xperia U have all had firmware version 6.1.B.0.544 certified by the PTCRB.

This is the same ICS firmware that is currently rolling out to Xperia P handsets. It’s tricky to work out when exactly the firmware will actually be available, but a fortnight is normally a good rule of thumb. This doesn’t always work however as sometimes the firmware is released even before we see it pop up on the PTCRB website. Sony Mobile committed to a Q3 release for the Xperia U so as we approach September, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see it be released in the next few weeks.

Build quality 10/10

Reception 10/10

Call quality 10/10

Internet 8/10

Multimedia 8/10

Camera 10/10

UI speed 10/10

Everyday usage 8/10

Text input 8/10

Display 10/10

Battery 7/10

Pros

Cons

• no front camera
• no jelly bean update

mo7as posted on 25 Aug 2012, 19:27

9

mo7ass

mo7as has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review

the most common problems in this phone is the irremovable and weak battery and there is no front camera also the rom is to small
the best thing is the screen and resoulotion and the smart tags with nfc

Build quality 9/10 un removable battary

Reception 9/10

Call quality 9/10

Internet 9/10

Multimedia 9/10

Camera 9/10

UI speed 9/10

Everyday usage 9/10

Text input 9/10

Display 9/10

Battery 9/10

bhaskarkumar posted on 15 Jul 2012, 01:57

9

xperia "sol(e)a"

bhaskarkumar has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review

it is a good mid range smart phone has all good features
iam totally satisfied wid xperia sola
it has unique looks n has floating touch for now it is limited to browser but hope that sony introduces some of floating touch enabled apps in their ics update.
it is better than other mid range competitors like htc one v and samsung galaxy ace 2
a better battery life would be great but it lasts for a day.
its response is super fast and touch is silky
its video n audio quality is also great

Build quality 8/10 the build quality is great it has a plastic back cover wid a rubber like coating so it is dust free.it has an unique design

Reception 9/10 its network reception is good

Call quality 9/10 its call quality is good sonds can be clearly heard no disturbance

Internet 8/10 browsing is so smooth heavy pages also can be loaded in a quick time it supports flash player also

Multimedia 9/10 music quality is great it has some equalisers n 3d surround options overall music quality is good video player is provided wid mobile bravia engine wat else u want just awsome 720 p videos r treat to watch

Camera 8/10 its camera is good but not great its c olours r faded a bit n inbuilt camera key is not so great n responsive but it can snap pictures over a second

UI speed 9/10 it is an dual core processer wat more can u expect in a mid range mobile its speed is good

Everyday usage 9/10 its interface looks r supb nd very responsive it has various facebook enabled widgets on home screen n timescape is awsome phone book is good n easy to search

Text input 9/10 its text input is good it has an average screen size so it is comfortable

Display 9/10 display is great texts r sharp n clear even on zooming image quality is good touch is silky

Battery 8/10 battery is average it comes over a day we have to charge it daily for normal users it is ok

Pros

• it is easy to carry
• dual core processor
• nfc
• multimedia
• fast processor

Cons

• gingrebread launch have to wait for ics
• no secondary camera

shreyasdilip posted on 03 Jul 2012, 14:18

9

Xperia Sola!

shreyasdilip has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review

Build Quality is average at best! The plastuc case doesnt feel premium and it does creak a little if its held tight.. It can withstand drops though, tha\ts for sure! The Scratch-resistant glass is completely a gimmick, dont even think about using it without a screen protector!

Reception is above average, it holds on to a signal pretty well, Wi-Fi including! Speeds are very good and comparable to the best out there

Call Quality is fantastic, voices are deep and are very clear.. Wish there was more volume though! Its good for normal use, but its a bit hard to hear in crowded places.

Internet is good.. The stock browser becomes slightly laggy when opening heavy websites, but I'm sure ICS will fix that! The speed is good, floating touch as of now is another gimmick, but one ICS comes along, hover events will be supported and it'll be fun to see what devs come up with.. Its not at all a battery drain and nothings wrong with a fun feature thats unique to your phone that even the mighty iPhone doesnt have :)

Multimedia-wise the phone is good as the screen is pretty large, but watching movies will be a strenous experience, casual video watching and youtube videos are well suited on this and theres of course the BRAVIA engine to boost the colours, music quality is on par with the best there is, I personally dont prefer the Beats EQ because only certain genres are specially supported.. Overall music quality will please any audiophile, Sony has retained its respect in this category.....  

Build Quality is average at best! The plastuc case doesnt feel premium and it does creak a little if its held tight.. It can withstand drops though, tha\ts for sure! The Scratch-resistant glass is completely a gimmick, dont even think about using it without a screen protector!

Reception is above average, it holds on to a signal pretty well, Wi-Fi including! Speeds are very good and comparable to the best out there

Call Quality is fantastic, voices are deep and are very clear.. Wish there was more volume though! Its good for normal use, but its a bit hard to hear in crowded places.

Internet is good.. The stock browser becomes slightly laggy when opening heavy websites, but I'm sure ICS will fix that! The speed is good, floating touch as of now is another gimmick, but one ICS comes along, hover events will be supported and it'll be fun to see what devs come up with.. Its not at all a battery drain and nothings wrong with a fun feature thats unique to your phone that even the mighty iPhone doesnt have :)

Multimedia-wise the phone is good as the screen is pretty large, but watching movies will be a strenous experience, casual video watching and youtube videos are well suited on this and theres of course the BRAVIA engine to boost the colours, music quality is on par with the best there is, I personally dont prefer the Beats EQ because only certain genres are specially supported.. Overall music quality will please any audiophile, Sony has retained its respect in this category.. Codec support is pretty limited but all it takes is a trip to the Play store to get your favourite video to play

Camera in my opinion is pretty average, if lighting conditions are good then pictures are good, but in anything other than very well lit areas, it becomes pretty bad! Focus is off, colours are retained though..

UI Speed is satisfactory, its snappy and there are no major lags! It doesnt randomly restart nd boot speeds are fast.. You cant expect top level responsiveness, but for an average user it will suffice!

The phone serves very well in everyday usage, with no major problems

Text input is good.. The stock keyboard is good with well-spaced out keys in portrait, due to the 16:9 aspect ratio, it is narrower than a similar 3.7 inch display like the One V.. WIsh they release one with a physical keyboard though!

Display is again average, The black levels are deep but the colours are not very good to look at.. Keeping an other LCD screen like the One V close to it, it makes the display look washed out! But its good enough,outdoor visibility is ok for an LCD, just dont expect AMOLED type goodness

Battery is very average! But for a 1320Mah battery, the life is fantastic, wish that they could have included a bigger one, since its non removable! It lasts about 2 days with very light usage and about a day with normal-heavy use and about 7-8 hours of intensely heave use

Build quality 7/10

Reception 9/10

Call quality 9/10

Internet 8/10

Multimedia 9/10

Camera 6/10

UI speed 8/10

Everyday usage 9/10

Text input 9/10

Display 7/10

Battery 8/10

Pros

• Dual-Core
• Cheaper than competitors
• Floating touch might be a great feature in the future
• NFC support
• Seeing Sony's track record, JB might just come to this phone

Cons

• Very average camera
• No ICS out-of-the-box
• Non-removable battery
• Scratch prone display