Sony Xperia E Android Smartphone

Sony Xperia E is an entry level Android Smartphone, lucky one to get Jellybean 4.1 update. The device is promoted with “No-Nonsense Android Phone” slogan, proved to be true to some extent. Talking about budget phones in the market right now, there are tons of choices. But there is a great different between reputed brand and dumped Smartphone. Thanks to evolution of android we are able see this revolution. The difference is clear here. Other mobile device manufacturer gives you a device with high end hardware configuration but dumped with the same Android OS. This can be a major reason why you do not the maximum overall performance. Some might be great in HD video output while poor on battery side, while some might be great with gaming but poor on multimedia. This is because a lot of effort is needed to mix the operating system well with the hardware.

Apple, Samsung, Sony, Blackberry, Nokia, etc are some of the few giants in the market which really put effort in their device giving out a masterpiece in the end. While other believe in flooding the market with budget phones promising many things. We will today discuss about Sony Xperia E. Not a great phone, but good for those who are looking for a durable android choice under reasonable price. Sony Xperia E is a clear mobile device with clean features. There is no overloaded stuff on it. A straight forward device with required features and smooth interface. After using devices by Samsung and HTC I am not really happy with the Android interface of Xperia E. This would be because of low budget.

Xperia E is loaded with nice features like TimeScape, PlayMemoriesOnline, HD Voice Quality, XLoud, WALKMAN, Mobile DATA Usage Meter, Music Unlimited, etc. And of course integration of device settings with different with other Sony products like PC, PS3 and Bravia TV. So here you are not just buying a mobile phone but a bit more than that. Xperia E has a 3.5inch front display with maximum resolution 320 x 480 and comes with only a single 3.2MP camera. It is powered by 1 GHz Processor with 512MB internal memory. The storage is just 2GB and dual sim support. In terms of hardware config as I said above that it is an entry level phone so you cannot expect much here. Sony has concentrated more on the look here instead of internal hardware. That is why it lies on the 50/50 list of my choices of entry level phone.

Design:

Compare to large screen size phones that lies around 4.5 to 5inch, the 3.5 TFT Capacitive Screens is not so great. The resolution offered is only 320x480. The phone looks small and has a decent body line. The front part mostly covered with screen has 3 capacitive buttons at the end. The screen output is average. Based on the resolution offered, messages, mails and contacts are clear enough. While web surfing or reading eBooks is not so helpful. In large screen size you get more clarity to because of better back panel. Xperia E has a TFT screen which is a very standard display not so vibration in terms of media playback. The touch performance is smooth. For multimedia and gaming the screen goes below average, while for app usage, chatting, etc it is fine. It is a scratch resistance screen with notification led on the top side. There is no front camera available.

The phone features simple designed packed inside rugged body made up of plastic material and rubberized coating at the backside offering a good grip. The rear panel has a rubber coating offering good grip while holding the phone. Overall Xperia E has an attractive body. It looks really different compared to other mobile phone. Instead of keeping it plain and simple, Sony has added a nice rubber coating with thin chrome ring separating the screen and back part. The edges have curved corner instead of straight. Compare to the front part, the back is bigger here giving more distinct look when kept on table. While other phones have a straight rectangular design fairly common from all side. Below the back panel lies the battery, sim and memory card slot. It is a dual sim mobile phone. The camera lies on the top side. There is no flash provided here. While speaker is placed at the bottom. The phone comes in three colors Black, White and Pink.

On the right side lies volume key, a stylish sliver color round power button and camera key. In terms of slim design, it is a bit thicker. But that does not spoil the look here. You can see in the images below, at the top lies a thin volume key. Sometime it is uneasy to access while next to that lies a round power button. It is fairly visible at the sides. And at the end a dedicated camera key. While on the other side lies a single micro usb port.

While on the top lies a 3.5mm headphone hack with MicroUSB port on the left. Xperia E is very basic in terms of design and hardware config, but it has many unique features. I am talking about applications here. We will test that later on in detail. In term of look Xperia E look simple. There are no special characteristic here. But this mobile is having high score over other models in terms of body cover. It is durable and rugged and looks stronger compare to other devices which only has plastic molded cover.

There is a single 3MP camera giving limited features for photos and videos. The camera also locks enhancement. Xperia E is not a serious mobile for photography. At the end I only want to talk about the screen visibility. It is nice in indoors but tough to read messages and mails. But when you are outdoor the sun visibility is very poor. It is hard to read contacts also. This is one of the major drawbacks here. While some devices which I had tested recently like Lumia 620, it comes with separate sun readability options. This enhance the backlit so you can read well if there in light from the background.

Multimedia and Gaming :

Low ram makes the phone performance limited in terms of playing games and watching HD movies. RAM puts a major impact on the apps and games performance and also on the multimedia usage. The videos take time when you try to skip them ahead. Performance wise Xperia is good in regular usage. Like calling, chatting, emails, notes, web surfing, etc. But when we talk about multimedia then I will rate this device 6 out of 10 and for gaming 4 out of 10. But for Music I will rate it 8 out of 10. Sony has really added some nice audio enhancement options here. Like XLoud. After turning it on the audio output 60% more increased. And it goes quiet well in headset also. The WALKMAN application is the only pre-install music player of Xperia E. Which is not just a plain audio player? It gives you additional options like finding the video of that music on YouTube, locating lyrics, etc. It works well on Wi-Fi for getting ample of more information about the audio file.

For videos as I said before it has limited features. Standard videos goes well but HD videos are bit slow to load. 1 GHz process is capable of handling huge media files, but due to low ram the phone lags with other process. And the same is application for gaming. The TFT screen will not make you happy in graphic output. Basic games like Angry Bird, Temple Run, etc works fine. Xperia E is not designed for gaming at all. Google Play here gives you access to tons of free games that you can test out on the device. Due to small screen gaming is not so good here.

Application and Interface:

Xperia E comes with Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich Update. But officially Sony has provided Android 4.1 Jellybean Update. With the old OS the output was poor. Lagging was common issue, but after updating the new android edition the output is greatly improved. We are having a small walkthrough video on that in our video section. It is recommended to run the update at once if you are expecting more performance from this device. It comes with some useful pre-installed applications like TimeScape, Connected Devices, Walkman, Smart Connect, PlayNow, AppXtra, Sony Select, TrackID, File Manager, and Update Center. Two things that you have to install separately is Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited. First lets test out the pre-installed apps. TimeScape here helps you to get real-time updates from your friends of Facebook. It works with Facebook and Twitter. You can just add your account in it and get new updates on the home screen directly. Connected Device here help you to stream your phone content to other device. That can be a home theater system, tablet pc, TV, etc. It offers you instant way of sharing your memories on bigger screen. Walkman is a nice music player with many useful options.

Smart Connect manages all the other things connect to your mobile phone. Like a headset or charger. You can create a set of events in it. For example after connecting the headphone the mobile will launch WALKMAN and start playing music. It is useful to add a set of ready to use settings on the phone. PlayNow and AppXtra are two services by Sony providing you some extra stuff. Like games, ringtones, sounds, etc. Sony Select also works in the same way. It offers you an app store through which you can download compatible applications for the device. TrakID is something very useful here. It allows you to search song information through recording it. Just launch the app and move the phone near to speakers. Track ID will search the song details and also allows you to download it. Xperia E comes with a File Manager and Update Center. Update center is effective here because offer you a one stop place to update everything by single click. While Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited are two separate apps available on Google Play. They gives you options to stream popular music and movies through internet. Video Unlimited features a direct streaming of popular TV Shows, movies, and lot more stuff. Both of them includes paid subscription.

Performance :

In terms of performance the phone is average. Being an entry level device it is a good beginner’s choice. This phone offers you features of great design, simple look and android benefit. Overall the phone goes well for long time usage. For music lovers the phone is really having some great option. Audio output is always a positive point of all Sony devices. The headphone provided with it offers nice sound output. While as I said it is not so great in terms of gaming. So you must avoid it if you are looking for better gaming support. The processor here helps the apps to work well. Applications like WhatsApp, WeChat works really well. Web surfing is also better. But due to small screen size the readability is affected. Jellybean 4.1 updates make the device better to use.

The interface is less freezing and optimized more. The phone can perform better if the ram is increased to 1GB. Xperia E works on 1530mAh battery. The battery capacity offers you standard 6hrs of Talktime. It goes well if you are not using internet here. But as per my usage, the battery capacity is good here. It works fine for the entire day if there are not useless android updates. On 2G and 3G network also the battery time lies near to 6hrs.

Conclusion:

As per my experience with this device, I will term it as a music phone. Those how are looking for a decent android phone with latest Jellybean and some awesome music features can go for Xperia E. The cost of this device is Rs.10,000. At the price range of Rs.12,000 they are many popular phones still in the market giving you Quad Core CPU, 5inchs screen, and 8MP camera. So here I found Xperia E bit pricy. I can recommend this device to those who needs a durable music phone. Neither for multimedia nor for gaming. Smart connectivity feature is another benefit of Xperia E. So if you are having different Sony devices at your home then Xperia E can act as mode of files sharing. At the end I just want to say that Xperia E is a classic phone. Termed as entry level you can expect average performance and good looks only.

Pros:

• Great Design
• Nice Music Features
• Smart Sony Apps

Cons:

• Poor Gaming Performance
• Poor Camera
• Poor Display