Sony Xperia sola Review
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Sony is no stranger to making good-looking custom interfaces, and we are quite happy with what we see on the Xperia sola. Pretty widgets, smooth animations, and gently floating live wallpapers make us almost forget that underneath all this eye-candy lies the aging Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread. But worry not as an update to Ice Cream Sandwich is to be released this summer.
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The Sony Xperia sola comes with Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread | |||
The Sony Xperia sola is the first among the company's smartphones to come with “floating touch” technology, which is just a fancy way of saying that the screen can detect your finger even from a distance of a centimeter or so. While surfing the web, this can be used to highlight web links as if you were hovering with your mouse cursor above them. Also, the default wallpaper reacts when your finger is in proximity. As a whole, floating touch is nothing but a gimmick for now, but further uses may be introduced in the future as the API will be made available to developers.
With a display of such size, one might think that the on-screen keyboard would be tricky to use, and boy how wrong would they be! In fact, the stock virtual keyboard is extremely accurate and responsive regardless of what orientation it is being used in, and on top of that, you get an auto-complete bar and on-the-fly typo correction.
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On-screen keyboard | |
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Timescape is a feature that has been present on all recent Xperia smartphones. For those not familiar, it serves as a centralized hub for social network feeds, and as a whole, it can come in handy if you are into social networking. Another useful tool that Sony has thrown in is the Data monitor application, which does exactly what the name implies. In addition, you get Recommender, which aggregates applications that you might like, and also lists what your online friends are watching, playing, or listening to. McAfee Security is what will protect your smartphone against malware.
Processor and memory:
This is one of the few times when we get to see the NovaThor U8500 dual-core chip in action. As implemented in the Sony Xperia sola, it performs quite well and handles most tasks without breaking a sweat. Clocked at 1GHz and paired with 512MB of RAM, it ensures smooth operation under most circumstances. Sure, there is a slight lag when a live wallpaper is applied, but that doesn't really make navigation any less comfortable. 3D games such as Temple Run and Tiki Kart 3D run flawlessly.
| Quadrant Standard | AnTuTu | NenaMark 2 | |
| Sony Xperia sola | 2294 | 5415 | 27,7 |
| Motorola Defy Mini | 951 | 2391 | 15,6 |
| Samsung Galaxy mini 2 | 1922 | 2695 | 15,5 |
Casual smartphone users won't run into any storage capacity issues too quickly as 8GB of on-board storage come standard with the Sony Xperia sola. Those who enjoy carrying lots of photos or a bigger portion of their audio collection on their smartphone, however, should consider expanding the smartphone's storage with a microSD card.
Web Browser:
In terms of features, the stock web browser has it all, including text reflow, multiple windows, and Adobe Flash support. However, it doesn't perform well when rendering heavy web pages, and that is a flaw that was not present on any third-party web browsers that we tried.
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The stock web browser of the Sony Xperia sola | ||
Connectivity:
As expected, all basic connectivity features are present on the Sony Xperia sola: Wi-Fi b/g/n, 3G at up to 14Mbps on the downlink, Bluetooth 2.1, A-GPS, and FM radio. As an added bonus, you get a pair of SmartTags, which take advantage of the smartphone's NFC chip. Gimmick? Not really. In fact, that is a feature that some users might find quite useful. The device can be configured in a way that when a tag is in contact, a number of actions would be performed, such as the change of a setting or the launch of an application.
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32 Comments
1. bobfreking55 posted on 22 May 2012, 09:48 3 9
Great phone --- but I will never buy any android device not running ICS again.
2. darac posted on 22 May 2012, 09:53 16 0
I love this industrial understated design.
Awesome work by Sony.
And it's cheap, has two cores, a beautiful, subtle and classy UI, and works smoothly!
Suck that, android haters!
3. darktranquillity posted on 22 May 2012, 10:47 8 0
Best part is 8gb internal memory with sd slot:-x
6. hunted posted on 22 May 2012, 11:38 7 1
Galaxy ace plus really cant be a better option than this, it looks big but not better than this Sola. Also the Galaxy Ace plus doesnt have front facing camera & HTC one v doesnt have memory card slot.
Sola rocks
7. Jyakotu posted on 22 May 2012, 14:08 3 0
I think docking points off an Android for not launching with ICS shouldn't be allowed. I'm sure when Sony was developing this phone, they did so with Gingerbread in mind. And also, if an update is coming in Summer, what's a couple months of waiting.? PA and other mobile reviewing websites should know that most new Android phones aren't going to be released with ICS. There are still manufacturers releasing phones on Froyo for goodness sakes.!
25. spancer_87 posted on 02 Jul 2012, 08:18 0 0
I for one know exactly how unreliable Google Android upgrades can be when it comes down to the promises made for Xperia models of 2011 and up, so you should not be surprised if both summer and autumn passes by, and still no ICS upgrade is available.
8. Nathan_ingx posted on 22 May 2012, 16:44 2 0
Dear Nick T...when you review a phone, check what you have written and go through it once again!
On page one i see an image of the phone showing the "front-facing camera" and look what you wrote on the CONS corner...number 2 to be exact!!!!
12. Nick_T posted on 23 May 2012, 01:40 0 0
Sorry for the confusion. This is but a sensor, not a front-facing camera, although it really looks like it.
13. Nathan_ingx posted on 23 May 2012, 04:38 0 0
Glad you acknowledged it!! :) Good on you mate!!
14. Birds posted on 24 May 2012, 09:56 0 0
Don't you be going off on Nick T. He knows what he talks about!!!!!! loljkjkj
9. p1natic posted on 22 May 2012, 19:15 0 0
im really confused.
gsmarena specs shows that Sola doesnt have a secondary cam and yet here it says that it has.
Which is really it? its confusing.
10. hitechredneck posted on 22 May 2012, 22:34 0 0
That picture is deceiving according to Sony in uk it does not have a front facing camera. Check it out.http://www.sonymobile.com/gb/p
roducts/phones/xperia-sola/
15. mike.messiah posted on 27 May 2012, 06:31 0 4
I had high expectations from the NovaThor chipset.. but sadly, its not as power efficient.. The 1320MaH battery puts it in the league of budget androids...and we all know how they fare in terms of stamina...Very dissapointed at the non removable/upgradable battery thats as low as the Galaxy Ace, and Galaxy Ace was very poor in battery department..
I have seen the Floating Touch gimmick is a pain to use...its already difficult clicking links on such small screens, imagine aiming ur finger above a link!! Saw the video by gsmarena...looks tedious and very time consuming. No wonder other manufacturers have ditched this technology
Better to opt for Galaxy Ace 2... bigger and removable/replacable battery,bigger screen(3.8inch),better snapshot & video capture quality,front camera...and has the same NovaThor chipset.
16. issy_i posted on 27 May 2012, 15:31 2 0
This phone is great!
Do not think twice. Just get it!!! I almost bought htc one v, but this phone has better specs.
17. opopp posted on 28 May 2012, 00:01 0 0
i have seen in many websites that sola's headphone sound is not very loud is it true and which one is better sola or u......i dont want to know about any other brand mobiles either.......
19. ABSHK posted on 31 May 2012, 13:16 0 0
really cool phone
for more info http://www.technotrump.com/sony-unveils-xperia-sola-t he-smartphone-with-a-floating-touch-technology/
20. dlff168 posted on 08 Jun 2012, 04:24 1 0
I had a look & played with the HTC 1V & Sola. They are very similar in price, size & spec. IMHO, I find that the 1V is laggy probably due to the 1core pocessor. Built-in memory is only 4GB as compare to Sola 8GB. On the plus side, is a well built solid phone, the screen display is better than the Sola & comes out of the box with ICS. On the whole I would still prefer the Sola & I bought one.
Good mid-range decent size phone & gets its job done.
21. farzinphonearena posted on 10 Jun 2012, 05:18 0 0
i heard it has benn designed just for microSIM cards, is that right??? i want to make sure of the authenticity of this claim. let me know thanks
23. soulannihilator posted on 25 Jun 2012, 09:49 0 0
I'm torn between this phone and HTC One V. Sola obviously has better specs, but HTC One V seems to have a better camera with more features. ICS out of the box as well. Also has other features like Beats audio and has better battery life as well.
24. abhishek1993c posted on 29 Jun 2012, 06:58 0 0
i wanna buy a phone .
budget around INR 20k
shud i consider it ????
memory matters to me. sec. camera doesn't matters and dual core is a must...
plzz suggest....
26. abhishek1993c posted on 05 Aug 2012, 02:41 1 0
hey phone arena guys !!
i bought dis phone on 1st AUG
u shud make a correction
there is only 4 gb of user accessible internal memory .
and 2 gb for apps
27. abhishek1993c posted on 05 Aug 2012, 02:43 0 0
and battery is of 2 days if u use above avg
28. suradipray posted on 09 Aug 2012, 07:42 0 0
I had purchased Xperia sola on 27.07.2012 from mobile store. I have hardly used it because I had just inserted the sim on 05.08.2012. But already I am facing 2 big problems :
1. The leftmost letters of the qwerty keypad are not working most of the time.
2. Very very poor battery back up. I dont play games or listen to music till now, just surf the net for 30 mins to 1 hour a day. But even after charging fully the battery doesn't even last for a full day while I am also using the power saver mode to save battery.
I already contacted the sony customer care executive on 08.08.2012 and asked for a replacement. But he told me that it can be replaced only within 7 days from purchase date. He told me to do a factory reset but that didn't work too. Now I have to visit sony service center and the phone can only be repaired.
I am very very dissapointed with sony which I trusted blindly as I was super happy with the Bravia led and DSC HX 100v digicam which I have.
30. Seiei posted on 18 Oct 2012, 21:59 0 0
didn't i see you commenting in gsm arena before ? with the same words
29. Arunkumar8791 posted on 26 Sep 2012, 08:30 1 0
got it before a month nice to use.. speaker volume is low
32. fouadwagdy posted on 16 Dec 2012, 13:25 0 0
what about 2 smart tags ,and the Document viewer (Office 2007, Office 2003,pdf)?
