Sony Xperia SP User Reviews Back
Please note that each user review reflects the opinion of its respectful author and not of PhoneArena.

AndyYan
A midranger that flies high above its class
AndyYan has owned it for less than year before publishing this review
Attractive package and LED strip, aluminum frame, 2000mAh+ battery, single-hand-friendly, MSM8960T SoC that even beats up my Nexus 4 in most benchmarks, microSD compatible, LTE and DC HSPA+, and now available with CM11! This thing is hands down the BEST midranger you can get! Or in other words, this does not belong in midrange - folks like S4 Mini and One Mini just couldn't match. Especially as I got this beauty second-handed for only ~$100 :)
Some minor setbacks, though: Screen has bad viewing angles, and touch sensitivity is bad, even with gloves mode on, I couldn't make it respond to my touch when my body is not in contact with the aluminum frame. Plus, it doesn't have good 3G reception. For the camera, autofocus sucks, especially when recording video, where it loses focus every 5 seconds or so. Also, dedicated camera key doesn't work as expected, often failing to focus when tap-to-focus works.
Overall, this is definitely the top of your short midranger list when you're out hunting for one! Won't regret it! (unless you really, really care about the setbacks above)
AndyYan alternatives:

iLoveAmexica
too good to be a mid-range
iLoveAmexica has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review
king of mid-range phones. 1.7ghz processor,
Android 4.1.2, promised 4.4 update
the battery stima mode is just awesome
A transparent light strip at the bottom which is quite sexy,
best phone with the best value

gundamexia450
Best Mid Range Smartphone on Budget for 2013
gundamexia450 has owned it for less than month before publishing this review
This phone is one of the best smartphone that have been marketed in 2013. Reasonably big and excellent processors, it can be used in everyday usage. One of the great things about this phone is that LTE capable. For a budget phone, it provides a premium and LTE capable feel. It put it in different dimension than those low brand LTE capable smartphones.

ahonda55
Very good, but..
ahonda55 has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review
Hello, I have this phone after HTC wildfire S and HTC One V, and my sister owns S3, well, this device is brilliant, nice build quality, nice screen nice sound and those regular things, but, some of the most daily used features are not encluded, like turn over to silent and quite when picked up and pocket mode, no Beats Audio which made a noticable difference in sound, those were in HTC devices, SONY just added the LED and some very minor features wich are not that handy for everyday usage, sorry Sony, HTC is the king when it comes to software creativity.
This phone is cost effective and fast, but it suffers from VERY VERY weak WIFI signel reception, All in all, I like it and I recommend it.
This phone screen doesn't have the OGS technology, which means that there is an air gap between the screen and the touch screen digitizer, this doesn't make a huge difference but you will notice that.

Charlie_boy
Arguably the Most Cost-Effective Mid-ranger of 1st Half of 2013
Charlie_boy has owned it for less than year before publishing this review
What pulled me into buying a phone from the mid-range segment is that these model have almost all the feature a power-user needs, less the cost of the flagship devices. (I'm just an occasional gamer, so I don't need those quad-cores)
I was looking for an android phone with dual-core CPU, at least 1GB RAM, 720p to 480p resolution within a 4.5 to 4.9 inch display, with a battery that's above average. In short, a well-performing phone with some endurance. So after using the comparison tool I narrowed it down to these: Xperia SP, Motorola Razr HD, and Samsung Galaxy Premier.
And regarding update support, it recently got updated to JB4.3 (as of Mar2014) which improved it's camera performance a bit!
Charlie_boy alternatives:

najib1312
Affordable price tag with Premium Feel
najib1312 has owned it for less than year before publishing this review
Bought this phone 3 months back for USD307. Definitely a bargain price for this specs. LTE 4G is an added bonus. The real show stealers however are Adreno 320 GPU, Transparent bar (I personally LOVE this) and the battery life (1.5 days on average).
DISADVANTAGES:
1) Camera - It's good. But when compared to other phone in similar price segment such as Xperia T/TX/V/ION/S/SL, the results are clearly inferior. The good thing is u can take a shot in less than 2 seconds and it's perfectly usable for sharing in social media sites.
2) Internal storage is limited to 5.5GB. For heavy gamers, even though the performance is flawless, the storage is a limitation.
najib1312 alternatives:

mudassarfa
superb
mudassarfa has owned it for less than month before publishing this review
This phone is overall a very good phone especially the battery performance. Playing games are simply superb in this phone thanks to adreno 320. The graphics are very smooth and vivid. Only issue is the camera performance but I am sure that many could live with it. I strongly recomend this phone to everyone

mayur_arjun
Best daily use phone!!!
mayur_arjun has owned it for more than one year before publishing this review
Camera quality is a bit poor but overall a good mid range phone. Video recording is poor under low light but under good light conditions recording is good. Front cam is not that bad under light but worst under low light. Rear cam can capture good quality photos under any condition.

m.qasimali
I thinks its best mid range phone.
m.qasimali has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review
I thinks its best mid range phone because of its better performance better GPU for gaming ad better display of 320ppi 720p. Metallic edges, Gorrila Glass protection, the Battery Timing is pretty decent, and with many sensors that are not included in most of the mid range devices.

andrewantwan
pretty good phone
andrewantwan has owned it for less than month before publishing this review
I got this phone about a month now and I can say that it is a very powerfull phone feels good in the hand great screen it can handle powerfull games like asphalt 8 with ease it just stutter a bit when moving from apps I highley recommend it if you don't mind the camera quality

inhato
XPERIA SP
inhato has owned it for more than one year before publishing this review
actually this is a good phone, but not the build quality. after six months i bought this phone, it started to be a laggy phone. i love the screen, but not the camera. i really don't like the camera, it's even worse than Galaxy Grand Neo to get a focus.

johnjohn2001
OMG
johnjohn2001 has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review
this phone is just awesome.....it has a very fast 1,7 ghz snapdragon s4 pro dual core processor, a good 8 mpx cameraand good battery life....Also, it is very snappy and it doen't lag at all,a HD (!) display which at it price point (at least here in greece it costs about 199 euros),a led strip which make it fancier....THIS PHONE IS THE BEST PHONE AT IT'S PRICE POINT!!!!!
johnjohn2001 alternatives:

iMirulFariz
Awesome phone!
iMirulFariz has owned it for more than one year before publishing this review
This phone is worth buying! Everything is perfect! But this phone's front facing camera isn't the best. It is just a basic VGA camera. Overall this phone is really awesome. You will not regret after buying this phone

eefathi
Great Phone!
eefathi has owned it for less than year before publishing this review
im having this phone about 4months, and now im using existenz rom with great recently updated stock kernel from sony.
im all satisfied, at first time i bought this phone, it got a little slow on xperia launcher, but with recent update from sony, it fixed.

milic97
cool
milic97 has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review
4.6inch Screen with Sony's own Bravia Engine,
1.7ghz processor,
android 4.3 jelly bean,
fast processor,
elegant slim body,
high graphic,
phone is great support growing applications and games, too good phone, not even so expensive, the best from Sonja middle class

alirezabo
Nice phone with huge battery usage!
alirezabo has owned it for less than month before publishing this review
I've bought this phone about 3 weeks ago, Everything is going well but the battery usage is very high and it'll drain in less than a day...
If your days are busy and you work too much with connectivity tools like wifi and 3G or etc.. think of it before buying, no other problems I think.

memohada
the best with best price
memohada has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review
the phone is at all perfect, what you find that the camera is little pit not professional, i was had xperia s with 12.1 mega pixel it was awsome but the sp did it too it's very good but not perfect in camer, any thing ils i found it more than very good especialy on the most heavy games with 3 hour online playing like modern combat 4

Ashroft98
SPlendid! Performs excellently !
Ashroft98 has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review
Peforms like a charm!More like a lower High End device to me rather than a higher Mid Range device.Camera sometimes work like a miracle but sometimes don't.It does possess with some software related problems.But with the 4.3 update,it will absolutely solve those and fully exploit the potentials inside this beast.Thankful to have this awesome piece of machine.
Ashroft98 alternatives:

WilsenL
Mid Range terbaik (best mid range for smartphone)
WilsenL has owned it for less than month before publishing this review
Saya mencari kualitas smartphone untuk mid range dari berbagai sumber dan dari teman-teman yang menggunakan, mereka lebih cenderung ke sony xperia sp. dan hasil yang saya dapat sony xperia sp bagus. walaupun kekurang sedikit touch screen kurang responsive apabilan secara horizontal. tapi saya menggunakan gloves mode untuk membantunya. But this smartphone the best for mid range.

Makato
like it ;)
Makato has owned it for less than month before publishing this review
is a good mobile phone with good finishing touch, good display, I'm just disappointed with only VGA front camera, is a good mobile phone and recommend. is the best upper mid-range product. All games run very smoothly indeed.

VictorHu
Dont Buy White Version
VictorHu has owned it for less than month before publishing this review
OVERALL I like this phone.With LTE..SD card slot..corning gorilla glass..HD quality display...HD camera.
But the camera results is noisy when you zoom it (5MP) but it clear when 3.2MP.
The white version I had, got spoiled in silver paint for aluminium frame. One inside the edge between aluminium frame and the glass. Other in USB port. It looks the quality of silver paint is bad. WHEN I try to zoom it all over silver paint, I found many spoiled silver paint. I try to replace it one to one replacement on the store and I got same defect for all white (me and store open 3 sealed xperia sp white). When I look at other color (black), black version got smooth paint on the aluminium frame.
That is why I suggest you don't buy white version. Buy black or red.
This phone worth of it except the white version.

samuelcl
Great Phone
samuelcl has owned it for less than month before publishing this review
The phone is great, it lasts me a couple of days even after heavy usage. And the LED strip is a really nice touch to the phone, It gives the phone a distinct look as compared to all most all the phones out there that look like a square with a round edge slab.

simplysam.singh
Awesome Midrand phone
simplysam.singh has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review
I think its best phone ever i have seen in this price range good music quality, Bravia Engine 2 very impressive, Camera is not good at all but we already have SLR so doesn't matter for me, Dualshock 3 gamepad support good for me because i love games and this phone gives me everything that what i want from a midrange smartphones.
Thanks to sony

bhaskarkumar
sony's [sp]ecial
bhaskarkumar has owned it for less than month before publishing this review
best upper mid-range product
if u want an high-end performance at a decent price tag from a trusted brand go for it without any hesitation.
better than its competiters in this price range.
it also beats all the flagship models of last year like samsung galaxy s3 and HTC one x.

cheetieng
SP!!
cheetieng has owned it for more than one year before publishing this review
No doubt it's the best phone at this range. It's a beast ! beats the hell out of the S3 like it's nothing. People might say that S3 is better because it's a quad core. Well guess what you could google it if you want to a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro Dual Core processor is way above the Exynos Quad Core and if you need more proof, the phone's scores in Antutu is 16486 , Quadrant is 7584 and Nenamark is 59.9 FPS . Scores which the S3 couldn't even dream of. And it even packs the monster Adreno 320 GPU, the same one used in Xperia Z & ZL. Battery backup is really good indeed. Lasts a whole day with moderate usage like gaming , watching videos and listening to music and also with the internet switched on the whole time. The LED strip on the bottom is indeed an attraction. Don't hesitate ! Just go for it.