Xperia ion. Sony Xperia ion HSPA - Technical specifications. Information about the make, model, and alternative names of the specific device, if available.

Sony initially released the SONY XPERIA ion smartphone in the US market for the local mobile operator AT&T. In the states, the smartphone, as they say, went to the masses and the company decided to release it in other markets, including Russia.

But the following story turned out: the smartphone officially began to be sold in our country only in September, this is a very late date for such a smartphone. At this time, analogues from competitors are already being sold on the market, for example Samsung Galaxy SIII costs 22 thousand. rub., yes great smartphones from LG and HTC. The launch price for SONY XPERIA ion was 24 thousand. rub. and the phone went unnoticed, as they say, “it didn’t flood”!

For Sony itself, this means absolutely nothing. This is not a flagship for the company; the flagship remains the SONY XPERIA S. If so, then the SONY XPERIA ion is a “plug” between the SONY XPERIA S and the expected new flagship SONY XPERIA TX.

But nevertheless, there is something to tell about SONY XPERIA ion.....

Device Specifications

Manufacturer: Sony

Model: Xperia ion

Year of manufacture: 2012

Opera. system: Android 4.0.4

Battery capacity (mAh): 1900

Dimensions (mm): (width x height x thickness) 68 x 133 x 10.6

Weight (g): 144

Processor type: Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 MSM8260

Clock frequency (MHz): 1500

RAM (MB): 1024

ROM (MB): 2048

Built-in memory (GB): 16

Communications: GSM 1800, GSM 1900, GSM 850, GSM 900, UMTS 1900, UMTS 2100, UMTS 850, UMTS 900

Wi-Fi: 802.11b,g,n

Other: EDGE, GPRS, GPS, HSDPA, HSPA+, HSUPA, NFC, UMTS/WCDMA, GLONASS

Screen size: 4.55

MultiTouch: Yes. 10 touches.

Protective screen coating: Yes, Sony's own glass.

Screen resolution (px): 720 x 1280

Screen type: TFT

Video accelerator: Adreno 220

Rear camera (MP): 12

Autofocus: Yes

Flash: Yes

Front camera (MP): 1.3

Speaker: Mono

Headphone output: 3.5

Other: FM Radio, G-Sensor, Gyroscope, Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Digital Compass

Memory cards: microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC

Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB

Features: Matrix Sony cameras Exmor R, screen with Mobile BRAVIA Engine technology

Packaging, accessories

The smartphone comes in a flat rectangular package. The packaging contains an image of a smartphone and a brief Technical information. The same packaging is available for smartphones: Sony XPERIA U, Sony XPERIA Sola, Sony XPERIA P, Sony XPERIA S.

Equipment:

2. USB cable.

3. Charger.

4. Warranty card.

5. Various documentation.

6. Adapter for microSIM card.

The battery is not removable. As you can see, the equipment is budget. It's strange that the manufacturer didn't put HDMI wire included

Appearance, design

By appearance SONY XPERIA ion looks just great. For me personally this is one of the best designs in the smartphone market. Moderate thickness, sharp corners, pleasant weight, monolithic black body - all this creates the appearance of a fashion model. When the screen is turned off, the entire front part of the smartphone becomes a single whole and looks very impressive. The phone fits perfectly in the hand thanks to the rounded back. In appearance, the smartphone is suitable for both men and women, but the red color is more suitable for the fairer sex.

The smartphone is made of high-quality matte and glossy plastic. The back part is almost entirely made of metal with a pleasant texture (inconspicuous vertical stripes). The top and bottom consist of matte plastic inserts. Glossy plastic runs along the perimeter of the screen. Few fingerprints remain on the screen and back of the smartphone.

The build quality of the SONY XPERIA ion is simply excellent, I would even call it a reference. There is simply nothing to complain about. Everything is done as high quality as possible. Naturally, there is no play, creaking or other defects. The build quality is top notch.

Functional connectors on the device body:

1. At the top end, exactly in the middle, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack.

2. On the right side is the on/off/unlock/lock key for the smartphone. Just below is the volume key. At the very bottom there is a separate button for the camera.

3. There is a microphone hole at the bottom.

4. On the left side there is HDMI connector and USB, which in turn are covered with a single plug. It is good when the various connectors on the case are covered with plugs, as this greatly reduces the risk of dust getting into the connector or damaging it.

5. On the front of the smartphone there is: a proximity sensor, a speaker, a front camera lens, and an LED notification indicator. At the bottom of the screen there are touch keys: menu, home, back, search. The keys are painted white and are not backlit. The backlight is only available in the form of strips under the keys themselves. Controversial decision. Under the keys is the inscription "XPERIA". There is no automatic brightness control sensor.

6. On the back of the smartphone there is the main camera, flash, second speaker, inscription and logo "XPERIA".

Functional elements

The smartphone has Android 4.0.4 version. An update to 4.1 is rumored to be promised before the end of the year. The main menu is built according to the 4x5 formula for three desktops. A shell from Sony called TimeScape is installed, it is one of the best shells. The shell itself has extensive settings. Navigation through the menu occurs smoothly and without any delays.

Support for microSDXC memory cards has been implemented. 64GB card. works great.

As mentioned above, the smartphone has a separate button for using the camera. A picture can be taken both from a locked state and directly when the camera is active. A very convenient feature, you can always take a photo in right moment. In the camera settings you can turn off the shutter sound, which is good when you need to take a photo in secret, so to speak. The sensor that is installed in this smartphone exactly the same as that of the SONY XPERIA S. The 12 megapixel camera allows you to take excellent pictures and even in the evening the pictures come out at a good level. I also think that this moment this is one of the best cameras on a smartphone.

Examples of photos:

The camera allows you to shoot video in the now fashionable format like FullHD at a frequency of 30 fps. The video looks quite high quality on a 42-inch FullHD panel.

Screen. Screen size 4.55 inches. MultiTouch for 10 touches. Screen resolution 1280x720 pixels. Type TFT. Excellent screen for color reproduction (natural colors), great sharpness. IN this screen There is no air gap between the screen and the protective glass, so the image on the screen looks simply amazing, as if alive, you want to touch it. It's a pleasure to watch the film in HD format. Keep in mind that a protective film is already applied to the screen using the factory method, which will additionally protect the screen from scratches. The screen behaves well in the sun; information is almost always visible. The only thing is the viewing angles are not very large. With a strong deviation, the colors on the screen fade, but this is most likely nitpicking rather than some significant drawback. There is a large margin in brightness, which is very good.

I’ll say a few words about the touch keys: they have some kind of inhibited reaction to touch, sometimes you have to press two or three times for some action to occur. Sometimes this drawback is very annoying when you need to do something quickly.

I really liked the sound in the smartphone. The speaker is moderately loud. There is a sophisticated equalizer with extensive sound settings. The smartphone has a Walkman application, which also hints at the music component of the smartphone. Excellent set of headphones. In general, lovers of high-quality music will be pleased. This smartphone is perfect for the role of an MP3 player.

The smartphone has an HDMI connector, which allows you to display any information on a monitor or TV screen. It is very convenient to view captured photos or videos.

In work, testing

The smartphone is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 MSM8260 processor and an Adreno 220 video accelerator. This is certainly not the best hardware considering the end of 2012, but nevertheless this combination allows you to play modern 3D games quite comfortably. N.O.V.A 3, Dead Trigger, etc. go without problems. When working in 3D, the smartphone heats up noticeably, but this does not affect its operation in any way.

Results in synthetic tests:

There is a full-fledged GPS module. There are no problems with navigation so that there is no point in dwelling on this point in detail. Works with Navitel.

Wi-Fi. This smartphone has problems with Wi-Fi operation. The signal is not very strong, perhaps this is a problem with the metal cover and poor placement of the antenna.

I liked the quality of the transmitted speech. The sound is very clear, without interference or distortion. All thanks to the second microphone, which is responsible for noise suppression.

Possibility implemented fast charging. It takes approximately 45 minutes to fully charge.

Out of the box, the smartphone has support for the following formats: 3GPP, MP4, Matroska, AVI, WebM, so there is no point in installing the player separately.

The smartphone also has an NFC chip. For some reason it was not possible to set up work using this protocol with the Samsung Galaxy SIII....

Battery life

Installed in the smartphone non-removable battery at 1900mAh. The power consumption test results are as follows:

1. Work in “just phone” mode - 92 hours.

2. Playing an MP3 file. Headphones, maximum volume - 27 hours.

3. Mixed cycle work: games, Internet, video, calls, music - 12 hours.

4. Video playback - 6 hours.

The indicators are quite consistent with the declared battery density. But playing an MP3 file seemed short in time.

conclusions

The smartphone will be almost perfect. The price is rapidly falling and if you want a smartphone with excellent design, workmanship and camera, then you should definitely look at the SONY XPERIA ion.

Competitors. At the time of writing the review, the cost of SONY XPERIA ion is 21,890 rubles. IN price category up to 22 thousand rubles you can buy: HTC One X, LG P880 4X HD - as you can see, these are solutions for 4 nuclear processors and here the SONY XPERIA ion is simply outright losing to its competitors. And for 20,350 rubles. we actually get Meizu MX M032 with Galaxy SIII filling.

pros

1. Great appearance.

2. Excellent build quality.

3. Very good camera.

4. Good sound.

5. Resistant to scratches on the body.

Minuses

Of the minuses in this smartphone, I would only highlight the not very responsive touch control buttons.

I repeat: an almost perfect smartphone. And one of those that I want to replace my Galaxy SIII with.

So, today we will be presented with a phone called Sony Xperia Ion. Exactly this model has become quite popular among the average user. The players weren't particularly impressed by it. But why did this happen? After all, Sony has always been famous for its smartphones. It is this topic that we will study now. In truth, in order to understand the question posed, you will have to carefully examine Sony specifications Xperia Ion. They are responsible for the basic capabilities of the phone. Let's start studying the topic as soon as possible.

System

Let's start with what many users pay attention to first - with operating system phone. To be honest, it is this that often forces some potential buyers to abandon one or another smartphone model. How are we doing with the Sony Xperia Ion?

Quite positive, but it could have been better. The thing is that this model has the Android operating system installed. Everything seems to be normal - customers have gotten used to it and even loved it. But the main catch here is in the assembly version. This is 4.0.3. At the moment she is considered quite old. In principle, this is not so critical. After all, you can easily and simply update the operating system using the Internet and a special menu item. Don't want to update yourself? Then yes, a slightly outdated operating system will be a problem for you.

CPU

Sony Xperia Ion is not just a phone system. It's also good hardware. And the main role here is played by such a thing as the processor. It is he who is responsible for the power of the device. It is believed that the better it is, the faster the phone model will become. And how are things going with our smartphone?

Quite good. The Sony Xperia Ion processor has 2 cores with a clock frequency of 1.5 GHz. This is a pretty good indicator for regular phone. Of course, this model is not suitable as a gaming smartphone. But for calls and working with the device in a “business” format, it’s fine. So if you are looking for a gaming smartphone, then you will have to give this one up. But otherwise, pay attention to it.

Moreover, quite powerful processor allows us to simultaneously run up to 10 applications and work with them comfortably. Sometimes this can be very useful. Especially if you are a business person and you need to constantly work with your phone. The Sony Xperia Ion, the review of which is presented to our attention, is exactly what will suit you best. This option It is considered a very good phone.

RAM

According to its composition modern smartphone somewhat reminiscent of a computer. It has many similar components. For example, such a part is RAM. It is quite important for the functioning of a smartphone. And nothing can be done about it. This type of memory is responsible for the performance and speed of the smartphone. It must match the processor.

Ion's performance in this regard is quite good for an average phone. After all, the RAM is installed with a capacity of 1 GB. Modern new products, as a rule, offer us from 2 to 4 GB. So, “Experia” is really a smartphone that will be “no frills” and will be more suitable for business purposes than for modern entertainment. So it all depends on your needs. According to them, you will have to decide whether the model is good or bad. Only in terms of its characteristics, the Sony Xperia Ion is really worthy of attention. 1 GB random access memory goes well with a processor with a clock speed of 1.5 GHz. And this, in turn, helps ensure the speed of the operating system on the device. Just what all potential buyers in general need. Nobody will like a “slow” smartphone.

Storing personal files

Also quite important point Here there is such an item as free space on the smartphone. It is responsible for the amount of valid data to be stored. And any modern buyer, regardless of his purchasing goals (games or work), wants to get a model with a large data indicator. The bigger, the better. And this is quite normal. Especially when you consider the volume of modern documents and multimedia.

Sony Xperia Ion phones are equipped with 16 GB of memory. Of these, approximately 1.5 goes to the operating system. The result is about 14.5-14 GB. In principle, this is enough for many. You will soon start to miss this space. And in this case, you will have to look for a way out of the situation. Fortunately, there is one.

Memory card

The thing is that if there is a shortage of space in the phone memory, you can install additional card. It is inserted directly into the device, after which it can be used without problems. Unfortunately, modern phone models are sometimes made without this feature. And this fact is very upsetting. In addition to expanding free space, a memory card has another advantage - it makes data mobile. Have you changed your phone? We transferred the memory card to a new device and continue to use our personal data. No problem!

And the Ion smartphone allows us to take advantage of this opportunity. This model has a slot for a microSD memory card. To be honest, this is the most common option. The maximum allowable card size is 64 GB. But it’s better not to fill it completely. Otherwise, failures and malfunctions in the operating system will begin. Therefore, it is better to limit yourself to filling approximately 63 GB of the memory card. This will help you avoid unnecessary problems. Otherwise, you may find the phone simply terrible. Although in reality this is not the case at all.

Display

Of course, for modern buyers, phone size matters. It is generally accepted that the larger the device, the better. Yes, if you want to play the latest gaming industry titles on this device, then this is indeed so. But it’s just not very convenient to carry such a smartphone. And hold it in your hands too. There should be harmony in everything.

Sony Xperia Ion receives very positive reviews for its screen. Its diagonal is 4.5 inches, and the resolution is quite high - 1280 by 720 pixels. To be honest, this should be enough to watch movies in good quality directly on the device. Just what the modern user needs.

In addition, the Ion smartphone gives us a bright, clear and unforgettable picture. After all, this device is capable of showing up to 16 million colors and shades. You should not admire this indicator - for modern phone This is fine.

It is also worth noting that “Experia” has a touchscreen that is well protected by special glass. This makes the touchscreen resistant to damage, falls and scratches. Try using this model and you will be pleasantly surprised.

Camera

The Sony Xperia Ion takes amazing photos and videos. And this feature is often paid attention to. After all, for a modern person, it is important that a smartphone replaces many other gadgets. For example, a camera or a real camera for shooting video. This is especially true for expensive models.

There are two cameras in this model. And you shouldn't be surprised by this. Nowadays, many phones are equipped with a front and rear camera. And that's okay. The first type is used for taking selfies, as well as for video calls and related calls. The quality will not be very good. For example, in our case - 1.3 MP. This is a good indicator for a front camera.

The rear camera is a type of device familiar to everyone. It is needed for photography and video. The quality of the image we receive depends on the quality indicators of this part. And that means this moment is very important. And here things are going very well. This model is equipped with a 12 MP camera. It also has autofocus and flash - very useful additions that will make your photos better and clearer. If you want to get pretty inexpensive phone, which will be suitable for photography, then the Sony Xperia Ion is a great option for you.

Battery

Also quite an important part is the phone battery. It's no secret that modern buyers often suffer from the fact that their phones quickly run out of charge. And therefore we have to look for smartphones that are more universal in this regard. The Sony Xperia Ion is just that. Lithium ion battery allows you to work with the device for a long time without recharging.

A little specifics. For example, this model can last about 1 month in standby mode. With regular conversations - 2 weeks. And if you want to play on your smartphone and actively use the Internet, then you can count on approximately 3-4 days of device operation without recharging. Quite a decent indicator, which can only please us.

Connection

Communication support is also included in the Sony Xperia Ion. The characteristics of this indicator are good. This phone allows you to use 2G and 3G connections. Just what the modern buyer needs. True, 4G is not supported here. And this is sometimes scary. Don't be afraid - even without this new network The smartphone will be able to provide good and reliable communication.

It is also worth noting that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are present here. These two capabilities allow you to receive and send data wirelessly at high speeds. This means that with the help of Experiment you can quickly exchange data. Sometimes this can be very useful.

Equipment

When purchasing, it is also important to know the equipment included with the device. The standard package includes: headphones for Sony Xperia Ion, instruction manual, warranty card, receipt, battery and charger.

To be honest, without these components you can begin to suspect the store is selling a counterfeit. It is by the packaging that many people determine how high-quality the product is. True, in order to leave the store in full “combat readiness” you will additionally have to purchase a phone case and a protective film. Sometimes these components can be extremely useful.

What can be repaired

Unfortunately, despite all the advantages of the model, buyers quite often have some components repaired by the Sony Xperia Ion. You shouldn't do this yourself. It would be better to take the device to a specialized service. There, for a small fee, they will fix any problems that arise.

What components break most often? For example, a touchscreen. The Sony Xperia Ion, the photo of which is presented to our attention, quite often stops responding to touches. In this case, replacing the screen will help.

Also among the main problems of the model are the battery and speakers. Fortunately, no repairs will be required if you handle the device very carefully.

Results

So, we have learned what the Sony Xperia Ion is, and also understood which of its components are most often subject to repair. In addition, we also sorted out the reviews about the model. And now it’s time to decide whether this smartphone is right for us.

As already mentioned, for the average user this is quite decent option at a good price. IN Sony average Xperia Ion will cost approximately 8,000 rubles. And this makes me very happy. You don't plan to play the latest games mobile games? Then it is quite possible to consider "Experiment Aion" as an option. But for those who like to play, it’s better to look for another model.

Content:

For the majority, this model will most likely turn out to be something of a continuation, only with an emphasis on a modified design and increased body size.

Thus, an interesting situation is now emerging when there are three very similar devices from the Sony Xperia line on the market at the same time. These are the Xperia S, Xperia ion and Xperia acro S models. The latter two are very similar in characteristics, but the model tested today does not have protection against moisture and dust.

The main functions of the smartphone are as follows. 4.55-inch HD screen, Android 4.0.4, 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal memory, microSD slot, dual-core 1.5 GHz processor, 12-megapixel camera with autofocus and 1080p video recording, large battery at 1910 mAh.

Contents of delivery

• Smartphone


• Stereo headset with attachments


• USB cable


• High Power Charger

Design

Sony Xperia ion turned out to be larger than other Sony smartphones. There is a simple explanation for this; it has the most big screen of all available models of the brand. The dimensions of the smartphone body are 133x68x10.8 mm, weight 144 g. The model is stretched upward and quite a bit wider compared to the Xperia acro S, the weight even decreased slightly in comparison.

By its appearance, we can immediately determine that this is a device from Sony. The angular body, straight lines, strict shapes – all this hints at the key features of the appearance of this year’s product.

There will be two colors available, black and burgundy, it can also be called dark red. Sony has a model Xperia P, in my opinion, it has a similar body color.

Above the screen there is a speaker, a 1.3-megapixel front camera and a proximity sensor. Next to it there is also a light indicator for notification of events of various types; it is illuminated with different lights, highlighting the events.

Below the screen there are touch buttons; a search key has been added to the basic menus and back, which is often found in models created for the American market. The symbols indicating the purpose of the buttons are not backlit. There are illuminated lines under them, but in the dark they do not highlight the icons, so you have to act blindly, from memory. This is not very convenient.

The screen is edged with a black frame with a low edge. This plastic part runs along the entire perimeter of the case, distinguished by semicircular shapes at the upper and lower ends.

On the left, under the combined plug, there are microHDMI and microUSB connectors.

There is a microphone hole at the bottom.

At the top end there is a 3.5mm headphone jack.

On the right is a row of mechanical buttons: a screen lock key, volume control key, and a shooting button. I liked their shape better than that of the Xperia acro S. They are also more comfortable than those of the Xperia S, the lock button located on the side is especially good; you don’t need to stretch your fingers to reach it, everything is thought out better here.

The rear part is almost entirely made of aluminum. There are only small plastic inserts at the top and bottom, as well as on one of the sides. The sloping shape has a positive effect on ergonomics, making the smartphone convenient to use.

The compartments for the SIM card and memory card are located under a removable plastic cover. The smartphone has a regular-sized SIM card.

At the back at the top there is a round cutout of the camera lens, next to it is an LED flash. Slightly below the speaker hole.

Screen

The Sony Xperia ion has a screen diagonal of 4.55 inches, a resolution of 720x1280 pixels, and up to 16 million colors. This is a beautiful picture with clear fonts. The pixel density is high, it is 323 ppi.

The capacitive screen supports 10-point multi-touch and responds well to touch. The smartphone does not have an air gap between the glass and the matrix, which has a positive effect on picture quality.

The proximity sensor turns off the screen when the phone comes close to your face during a call. Thanks to the built-in accelerometer, when you turn the phone on its side, the image on the screen changes orientation from vertical to horizontal. There is no automatic screen brightness setting in the menu, although the sensor itself is present.

Implemented Mobile function Bravia Engine, familiar from this company's TVs. Its peculiarity is that when this option is activated, the contrast and sharpness of the image increases. The picture is bright, the colors are rich and natural. Using examples of Sony Xperia ion next to Sony Xperia acro S.

The display is covered with tempered glass, it should serve reliable protection from scratches and abrasions. But just in case, all smartphones will be sold with the factory film attached. It is practically invisible; additional protection never hurts. On the street, the data on the display is perfectly readable in the bright sun, which is rare for its class.

Filling

The smartphone runs under the operating system Android systems 4.0.4. Powered by a dual-core Qualcomm MSM8260 processor with a frequency of 1.5 GHz, an Adreno 220 graphics chip. There is 1 GB of RAM, as well as 16 GB of internal memory, there is a card slot microSD memory. This means that everyone can choose the optimal amount of data storage for themselves if they are not satisfied with the size of their own memory.
Nice shell high speed operation, smooth reactions in the menu, all this creates convenient conditions for comfortable use of the smartphone. There is nothing to complain about, everything is fast and good, everyone will be satisfied with the device.

Menu

At the top of the screen there is a service line, which displays the time, battery charge, and signal reception level indicator. Active connections and other data are also displayed there. By clicking on it, you can find out in more detail about what programs were downloaded, what messages and letters were received, or what files were received via Bluetooth.

Both preinstalled images or wallpapers from Sony, as well as your favorite pictures, are used as design elements. There are seven different colored menu themes available. In addition, shortcuts and folders are placed on the desktop. For the latter, you can choose one of eight design options and assign a name to it. Icons are added by dragging and dropping from the phone menu directly into this area.

There are also widgets here, they can also be added to the desktop. There can be five such screens, their number does not change. It works interesting feature: You can swipe with two fingers from different angles, all desktops will be reduced and displayed on one screen. The widgets have been improved, for example, a large list of icons is available for making various connections, which is initially hidden in a small rectangle. Weather forecast data is animated and beautifully displayed.

The Application Manager is activated by the Home button. It displays 8 programs and is essentially not a traditional task manager. As you know, Android closes applications on its own, based on the amount of free RAM.

When the screen is locked, the display shows the date and time. To unlock the screen, you need to swipe your finger along from left to right. If you do it the other way around, the silent mode is activated, as indicated by the additional icon. Can display here Additional Information about missed calls, new messages, emails, calendar events and Facebook notifications. If such notifications seem unnecessary, you can turn them off.

The smartphone menu consists of several work zones, initially there are three. If you install additional applications, then over time there will be more such areas. There are 20 icons on the screen on a translucent background, under which you can see the wallpaper installed on the main screen. Icons can be arranged in a way that is convenient for the user. There is also sorting by several criteria: alphabetically, frequently used, recently installed.

Phone book

The smartphone has a convenient assistant for importing contacts both from a SIM card and from Facebook and Google accounts; they are displayed in a single list. A backup copy of the list of numbers is created on a memory card; the data can later be restored. Sorting by first and last name works.

When you create a new contact, many fields are created. This Various types telephone numbers, email addresses, means of quick communication (AIM, ICQ, Gtalk, Skype and others), residential addresses and others (nickname, note, Internet call).

The smartphone has a list of letters of the alphabet located on the right side of the screen. If you press your finger on this line and move it down or up, a letter pops up on the screen - a kind of quick search, which helps in cases where the phone has several hundred, or even thousands of contacts. The search works by the first letters of the contact name for both language layouts.

There is a menu of favorite numbers where you can add the most popular contacts. Available quick menu: you need to click on the place for the icon with the contact photo, after which you can call, send a message via SMS or e-mail, see data on Facebook.

Call log

Straight from phone book There is access to the call log, it is highlighted in a separate tab. There, a single list contains dialed numbers, received and missed calls; for clarity, they are marked with icons of different colors. By clicking on a line, you can delete a number from the call log, add it to a contact, or perform some other actions. When you select a number from the list, it will display detailed information about the call.

By viewing your call history, you can not only make phone conversation with the selected subscriber, but also send him an SMS or email from this list, without going to another menu. Dialing is carried out using a convenient virtual keyboard. There is an automatic search for numbers that match the numbers.

Messages

For SMS and MMS there is a shared folder, where received messages go. When sending, adding various objects to the SMS can automatically convert it into an MMS. Messages are grouped by recipient into a correspondence feed. When dialing a subscriber's number, the phone displays a list of matching numbers in alternating numbers.

While typing, a small field reserved for characters will appear. The longer the message, the more the space allocated for the character set increases. The device can copy, cut and paste text. A convenient cursor is used for navigation, which helps to correct typos and highlight the necessary sections of text. In addition, you can use arrow buttons.

Smart text input is available, where word correction and auto-completion systems help you type text, allowing you to avoid wasting time correcting errors. Possible word options are shown in a separate line above the keyboard. Copying and pasting of fragments is supported. Now Sony has implemented Swype, which simplifies text entry.

Email

To work with email, automatic setup starts mailbox(unless it's Gmail, which connects immediately after the email address was entered during the initial activation of the phone). It includes entering basic information (login, password). The phone perfectly understands various encodings, supports loading attachments (you must insert a memory card, otherwise this function will not work) in familiar formats.

When creating a letter, you can also attach various files from the device memory to it. The function of copying text and automatically checking the mailbox works (the interval is set manually). The device simultaneously runs two applications - Gmail and Email. The only difference is that in the first, mail comes only from the gmail.com server, while the second application works with any mail storage. You can create several accounts for email, and each of them has its own color. This is convenient because you can view mail for each mailbox separately, or display messages from all accounts into one. Sorting mail by date, subject, sender and size works.

Camera

The smartphone uses a 12-megapixel Sony module Exmor R with back-illumination, autofocus and LED flash. Today this is the most powerful module among Android smartphones. To launch the camera, use a dedicated key on the side of the smartphone. Hold it down for a few seconds and the shooting mode will start. This can be done from any application, it is not necessary to go to the main menu. I liked the high launch speed of the camera, as well as the very fast saving of pictures.

The most original feature of the device is fast shooting. The smartphone can take a photo in just 1.5 seconds. You need to point the device at the target, hold down the shutter button, and in a moment a photo will be taken. It’s very convenient because you don’t need to unlock the device, wasting precious time. The main thing is to hold the button until the frame is displayed on the screen, otherwise you may shoot the wrong object.

The interface is designed not only for landscape, but also for portrait mode. The screen displays auxiliary icons that make it easier to set up photography modes and conditions. In the upper left corner there is a settings mode, at the bottom the flash is turned off. At the top right is a lever for switching between photos and videos, then there is a shutter button. Even lower is a stack of icons that show thumbnails of recent photos. If you click on it, you can go to the gallery.

Available various parameters:

Image capture mode: normal, scene recognition, panorama, 3D panorama, multi-angle view, front camera.

Photo size: 12M (4000x3000), 9M (4000x2250), 2M 4:3 (1632x1224), 2M 16:9 (1920x1080 pixels).

Shooting conditions: normal, portrait, landscape, night photography, night portrait, beach and snow, sports, party, document.

Focusing: single autofocus, multi-autofocus, macro photography, face detection, infinity, touch focusing.

Flash: auto, off, fill, red-eye reduction.

Timer: 2.10 seconds.

Exposure number.

Image stabilizer.

Geotags.

Shutter sound.

Shooting method: screen button, touch shooting, key only.

Quick start: start and remove, start only, turn off.

White balance: auto, indoor lighting, fluorescent, daylight, cloudy.

Measurement: center, middle level, point.

ISO: auto, 100, 200, 400, 800.

Capturing a smile.

The phone takes pictures very well and allows you to take high-quality photos and videos.

Gallery Here you can see photos and various images stored in the smartphone’s memory, as well as videos. The gallery works in both vertical and horizontal orientation. They are divided into small groups, sorted by date. There is a separate map that contains images with geotags, as well as a group with different pictures from social networks. At the beginning of each group there is a large miniature, and next to it there are smaller images. The image opens in full screen, scaling works using multi-touch. Files are sent via email, Bluetooth, SMS or posted to Picasa. You can assign images as desktop wallpaper or assign them to a contact. Rotating images and reducing their size are supported. A photo editor is available that helps you add various effects to your existing images. The video is played from the gallery, where a separate folder is allocated for the videos. There's nothing special to say about the phone here. Adreno 220 is not the most powerful accelerator. The smartphone is capable of playing avi videos, but not all of them. Many have no sound or no picture. It is best to use a third-party player, then it will be more convenient to watch high quality video on this big great screen. Timescape Timescape combines tabs that combine messages from various social networks: Facebook, Twitter, VKontakte. In addition, there is data on phone calls, SMS and MMS, and email. The displayed data can be customized, and unnecessary data can be hidden. The update is also installed: manually or automatically. Additional applications are installed from the market. For example, you can supplement the set with the Foursquare program. Messages are presented in the form of translucent panels on which the name of the sender, the message test itself, and the source from which the message came are written. The list scrolls very quickly, without a hint of delay. In general, the thing is beautiful and interesting, the main drawback is related to the not very beautiful design- if the author of the message has an avatar, then this image will be displayed stretched across the entire width of the transparent panel. Player The player menu has been redesigned. Now it consists of a couple of tabs. The first is reserved for the song played in currently, and the second contains all the information about the music in the device’s memory. To listen to music, you can select tracks organized by several categories: artist, album, tracks, lists, SenseMe, and favorite tracks. Each group is highlighted in a separate box, under which the number of data is indicated. A search function is available, which is useful for working with large music storage. Information is sorted into alphabetical order, for accelerated scrolling, you can use the cursor that appears on the screen, as well as the initial letters. I would also like to highlight the SenseMe function, which came from Walkman players. It allows you to choose tracks to suit your mood, which is very convenient. To do this, you will need an application that is installed on your computer and with its help you can analyze your entire media library by entering the necessary data into the file tags. From the list with music, you can add songs to a playlist or send them via MMS, Bluetooth or email, as well as cloud service. A mixing mode is provided. The screen displays the name of the artist, the name of the album and the song being played. In music playback mode, the album cover is displayed (if it was assigned previously), and there are playback control buttons on the screen. You can switch tracks not only by pressing buttons, but also by flipping through album covers. If desired, the song is set as a ringtone, and you can also find additional data about the song using tools from Google, YouTube, or download additional modules through the Play Market. Equalizer settings available. These are the following presets: normal, heavy music, pop, jazz, unique, soul, light, bass boost, treble boost, special. The last profile allows you to set your own parameters for playing music. The xLOUD function allows you to get very loud sound from the speaker. It’s not difficult to notice the difference; this option allows you to hear your phone in any, even very noisy, place. Enables surround sound emulation: concert hall, club, studio. The function of editing data directly on the phone is very interesting and useful. You can take a song, make changes to the tags, correct the title, the smartphone itself will find the cover or offer one of the options. Player control buttons now appear on the lock screen when playing music in the background. Previously, there were very few of them, but now it has become much more convenient to control the player. The included headset is of very decent quality, these are some of the best headphones that you can currently get with your phone. A set of replaceable rubber nozzles is also included. Separate button helps answer calls, control the player: start-stop, forward-backward functions work. Despite what is said about compatibility with Apple accessories, you won’t be able to get this functionality. The mid frequencies are well developed here, and the lower range is also pleasant. Fans of deep bass can try playing with the equalizer. The sound reserve is not the largest, it is there, but sometimes you have to set the volume to maximum. Radio The smartphone has a radio receiver that has the function automatic search stations, you can switch manually. Also, several dozen frequencies are stored in the phone's memory. You can easily switch between your favorite stations by clicking on small icons that will move between waves. While listening to the radio, you can record a snippet of a song, identify track information using Track ID, and post the information to Facebook. TrackID allows you to identify a melody playing on the radio on your smartphone or somewhere nearby. Not only the song title will be displayed, but also the album title, artist name and cover art. Applications The calendar can be configured to display information for a whole month, week or specific day. You can set the alert type and tone for recorded events and meetings. There is a division of information by storage location, each option has its own color label. The new entry is given a name, period and location. You can specify which calendar it will be synchronized with, you can send invitations to contacts from notebook. The repetition period is set (every day, weekly, monthly, yearly). A reminder will help you not to lose sight of the recording - the alarm will go off in advance. Alarm The smartphone allows you to save several alarms in memory. The repeat can be set either once or every day, only on weekdays or weekly. You can also set specific days. The signal melody is set, you can add a vibration alert to it and text file. Sets the period for the signal to be triggered again. Displays time in different time zones. There is a stopwatch and a timer. The calculator works in both portrait and landscape orientation. Play Market will be a useful source for installing new applications. There is a convenient search function, as well as dividing programs into categories, which greatly simplifies browsing. You can look at the reviews, evaluate the rating and express your opinion about the software. Each application is equipped brief description and images for greater clarity. Purchased applications are displayed in a separate list, which is convenient: if purchased new phone, you can immediately install those programs that you previously purchased. Standard for most modern devices The application allows you to view videos and search among them. The application runs in full screen mode. Built-in Office version Suite can work with Word files, Excel, PDF, Power Point. Weather forecast and news are useful every day. The Facebook application will allow you to communicate on the network of the same name directly from your mobile device. Built-in Google Talk chat. The Google+ social client is also installed on the smartphone. You can create notes. You can set a number of actions to be performed when certain accessories are connected. The smartphone works as a remote control for controlling equipment. File browser installed. The flashlight turns on. Barcode reading possible. Built-in Google search. Access to the content store opens. A backup copy of the data is created. Browser A convenient application is used for Internet surfing. A navigation bar is displayed at the top of the screen, and to the right of it there is a shortcut that allows you to bookmark the page. The phone remembers the most visited pages and has a log of pages viewed. Several windows open, search for words on the page, highlight text, as well as a practical function for changing the screen brightness directly from the browser. Thanks to multi-touch, pages can be easily scaled (virtual keys also work to change the size of what is displayed). The font size changes, saving passwords works. Excellent scrolling speed allows you to comfortably use your smartphone to view pages. GPS navigation Used for navigation Google Maps. Traffic jams are displayed, so the application has become fully functional and convenient not only for pedestrians, but also for car owners. There is a function for determining the current location, calculating the route from the starting point to the ending point, and specifying the method of movement: by car, on foot or public transport. The route is laid out on the map, with key places indicated in the form text messages, which are displayed on the screen in the form of a column, you can switch between them: view the route in advance or vice versa, go back and plot another path. Scaling works using multi-touch or virtual buttons. The location data is clearly displayed thanks to the convenient Google option Street View. Connections The smartphone operates in the GSM 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS 900/1700/2100 bands. There is Bluetooth 2.1 with support for EDR and A2DP, in addition to support for other generally accepted profiles. Job Wi-Fi module b\g\n is implemented at the usual level. The smartphone remembers entered passwords for networks and can automatically connect to them while within their range. The device can work as an access point and serve as a source for accessing the Internet for other devices. Using a microUSB connector allows you to connect your phone to a computer for synchronization and charging the battery. The presence of a microHDMI slot allows you to connect your smartphone to various external sources (TV or monitor) and broadcast media content from the device to them. NFC support allows you to use Smart Tags in conjunction with a smartphone. Working hours Non-replaceable installed lithium ion battery capacity 1910 mAh. Official data on operating time is as follows: up to 10 hours talk time, up to 400 hours battery life in standby mode, up to 12 hours in music mode, up to 3 hours in video mode. In continuous video playback mode at maximum brightness, the device worked for 4 hours and 4 minutes. Using the widget it is easy to set the energy saving mode. It defines several profiles, each of which varies the number of functions used. Thus, for example, you can immediately reduce the screen brightness or turn off Wi-Fi with one click. There are settings in the menu that allow you to set certain operating parameters when the battery is low. The charge lasts from morning to evening, if you use the Internet, social networks, listen to music, and at the same time make calls. For infrequent use network connections You can extend one charge over a couple of days. But most likely, you will have to charge the phone once a day at least, and maybe twice. Conclusion Sony Xperia ion sells for about 25,000 rubles. “Gray” phones cost 16,500 rubles. A large smartphone acts as an alternative to the Xperia S, here bigger screen and an aluminum body with no removable parts, except for a small plastic part. Despite its rather large size, the smartphone is easy to use, all the buttons are where they need to be. I would like to praise the smartphone for its screen with honest HD resolution and very good behavior in the sun, something that very few devices have. When it comes to multimedia tasks, the Sony Xperia ion copes equally well with a variety of goals. The high-quality camera pleases with the resulting pictures and videos, and the gallery works quickly. In addition, the model itself is quite fast and reacts without pauses, the interface works smoothly. The advantage of the smartphone is its high-quality music player, although the sounds through the model’s speaker are not very good, they turn out to be slightly rattling. The call can be heard normally, but in noisy environments it may be missed. I liked the model, it’s nice, it has everything you need. Although it would be better if the phone worked longer, active use mode drains the battery quickly, so you have to charge the smartphone twice a day. But this is a common occurrence on many large screen smartphones. A beautiful phone with a high-quality screen in a stylish case and attractive multimedia components is a good addition to model range Sony on the Russian market. Competition with similar Sony smartphones cannot be avoided, but the user can choose exactly those qualities that are more important to him between three similar smartphones in the Xperia line: Xperia S, acro S and ion. © Alexander Pobyvanets, Test laboratory Article publication date: September 25, 2012

The Sony Xperia Ion smartphone was presented at the beginning of the year, but only reached our latitudes closer to autumn. Initially, the company planned to sell this smartphone exclusively in the US from AT&T, but then changed its mind and decided to expand its geographic availability. On Russian market The LT28h model has arrived, differing from the LT28i in the lack of support for LTE networks. In our country they are still developing, and the Sony Xperia V is on the way, so whoever needs to have support for this type of connection in their phone, it makes sense to wait for a waterproof new product. Xperia Ion is a slightly different bird. This is one of two smartphones from the company with a 4.55” screen (the other is Xperia T/TX) and the only device on the market that combines such dimensions and a metal body, which makes this phone very interesting. Let's take a closer look.

Specifications Sony Xperia Ion (LT28h):

• Network: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), WCDMA/HSPA up to 42 Mbit/s (850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz)
• Platform (at the time of announcement): Android 2.3 Gingerbread, now Android 4.0.4 ICS
• Display: touch, capacitive, multi-touch, 4.55", 1280 x 720 pixels, HD Reality, Mobile BRAVIA Engine, 16 million colors, TFT, 322 ppi
• Camera: 12.1 MP, flash, autofocus, Exmor R, Full HD shooting (1080p)
• Front camera: 1.3 MP, HD video
• Processor: dual-core, 1.5 GHz, Qualcomm MSM8260 Snapdragon S3
• Graphics chip: Adreno 220
• RAM: 1 GB
• ROM: 2 GB
• Internal memory: 16 GB (eMMC)
• Memory card: microSD (up to 32 GB)
• A-GPS, GLONASS
• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n), DLNA
• FM radio
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
• microUSB 2.0
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• Distance and position sensors, digital compass, gyroscope
• Audio: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, MIDI, OGG
• Video: MPEG4, H.264, H.263
• Photo: JPEG, BMP, WBMP, PGN, GIF, PNG
• Battery: 1900 mAh
• Talk time: up to 10 hours GSM networks, up to 4 hours in WCDMA networks
• Standby time: up to 400 hours in GSM networks, up to 350 hours in WCDMA networks
• Operating time music player: up to 12 hours
• Operating time in video playback mode: up to 3 hours
• Dimensions: 132 x 68 x 10.6 mm
• Weight: 144 g
• Form factor: monoblock with touchscreen
• Type: smartphone
• Announcement date: January 9, 2012
• Release date: 2nd quarter 2012 in the USA, August 15, 2012 in Russia

Video review

Design, construction and equipment

The phone comes in a standard box for the latest Sony phones. Inside you can find a reinforced block charger EP850, high-quality MH750 headphones, a cable for charger and synchronization with a PC, as well as a bunch of papers with information about the rules for using the gadget and warranty obligations. Unfortunately, there were no NFC tags in the kit, but this could be a nice addition for this not the cheapest smartphone.

We received a red device for testing; there is also a completely black one. It looks much harsher and feels a little different than red, but the latter looks very fresh and will certainly appeal to the fair half of humanity (although it is also very suitable for guys). The device fits well in the hand, although the size and weight, of course, have an impact. I'm glad that the device is monolithic. Perhaps even the most monolithic of all Sony smartphones to date. Unless the Xperia Acro S can compete with it. Which, however, is not surprising, since both smartphones have a minimum of moving parts. In the Xperia Ion, only the top cover is removed, under which slots for microSIM and microSD are hidden. The lid holds tightly and definitely won’t come loose. for a long time use. This is a non-removable cap on the Xperia P (review), which, in theory, should not be removed. In general, the Xperia Ion from the back is very similar to this representative of the NXT line, except that there is no transparent strip.

On the back you can see a 12-megapixel camera and flash, the Sony Ericsson logo, which has already begun to get rid of in new devices and accessories, and a nice speaker grille (loud enough not to miss a call). The cover itself is made of metal and cannot be removed, and the inserts are made of soft-touch plastic, which, fortunately, does not peel off like the Xperia S body. On the front side is the main advantage of this device - a 4.55" screen with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels , with natural color reproduction and normal viewing angles. It should be noted that the company constantly mentions a 4.6” display, significantly rounding the size upward. But it’s still more correct to consider 4.55”, which is what we do. Pixelation is not noticeable, and the screen itself is quite bright and contrasty. The video on it is a pleasure to watch. Of course, the black color is not as black as that of AMOLED displays, but the colors here are also calmer. Moreover, as a recent comparison of foreign colleagues showed, Xperia screen Ion is much more contrasty and brighter than the latest display Xperia smartphone T, which, although it boasts a more detailed picture, looks much worse. In addition to the screen, on the front side you can see a speaker, a front-facing 1.3-megapixel HD camera, a proximity sensor, an LED and four touch keys illuminated by separate stripes. There is no light sensor here; the display brightness is adjusted manually. It is indicated in the white paper, but benchmarks do not see it. I also did not notice that the brightness adjusted to the lighting level.

The right side of the device is equipped with a power key, volume control buttons and camera activation buttons. The smartphone boasts support for the FastCapture function, which allows you to take pictures from a locked state, so a separate button may come in handy. On the left side there is a plug that hides the microUSB and microHDMI connectors. The plug fits tightly, but is a little wobbly, but during use it did not loosen even a millimeter, so it inspires confidence. The top of the Ion invites us to use headphones and plug them into the 3.5 mm jack, and the bottom of the device is equipped with a microphone and a mysterious slot leading somewhere into the depths of the smartphone and apparently intended for opening it in a service center.

By the way, we couldn’t find a strap mount on the case, so this is one of the few Sony smartphones that lacks such an important detail for someone. To be honest, wearing a huge, heavy metal block around your neck can only be tempting in one case - if you want to go to the bottom of the river.

In general, the design of the phone leaves a very pleasant impression, the build quality is excellent, there is practically nothing to complain about. Always so, Sony! It seemed that the device was much more convenient to use with the left hand than with the right. The touch keys are quite comfortable to use, but may require some getting used to.

Software

In respect of software Xperia Ion is completely the same as Xperia S (review) and others like it, being its complete software clone. The phone has been updated to the latest firmware from Android 4.0.4. Accordingly, all the goodies available Xperia S in this update, migrated to Ion. It uses the company’s already familiar proprietary shell, which cannot boast of unrealistic animation effects like in Sense or the possibility of deep settings like in TouchWiz, but is quite simple and stylish, and most importantly, easy to use. I like the interface from Sony for its minimalism and uniform style. If it sometimes worked a little smoother and faster, then it could easily be called ideal.

The desktop is presented in the form of five screens, there are design themes. The menu allows you to customize the list of applications as you wish. In Settings you can find features familiar to the company like xLOUD, which is responsible for increasing the speaker volume, and the Mobile Bravia Engine, which makes viewing photos and videos a little more enjoyable by adjusting color and contrast. In practice this is not very noticeable, but upon closer examination you can see small differences.

With the release of Android 4.0 firmware, settings for lock screen notifications and changing its background image became available. In the Xperia section you can see a few more branded chips– PlayStation Certified, which means that the device supports PlayStation games and the PlayStation Mobile service, which, however, does not work in our country and is not yet planned, which, however, does not prevent you from making it think that you are an American and use it more or less fully. Information about such manipulations can be found on the Internet, but I am more than sure that the procedure for this setup will discourage many people from using paid ported games from PSone and some others, which can be downloaded from many places and used with some PlayStation emulator available V Google Play. This section also contains Facebook integration into Xperia, which allows you to share various information from your smartphone directly to this social network without using a proprietary Facebook app. In the input parameters, you can select the type of keyboard, its mode and covers, as well as configure the necessary functionality.

From interesting applications You can highlight the Walkman player with many settings, an advanced equalizer, various visualizations, a selection of music to suit your mood, downloading data about tracks from the network and the ability to edit information about them, an Album gallery with a breakdown of all images by date, a location map and displaying pictures and photos in linked to phone network accounts. Also worth noting is Movies, which is a video player with an online mode that can load various information about movies and videos.

The radio is quite simple. It’s good that it exists, otherwise it has now become fashionable to abandon it. In the application, you can recognize songs using Track ID and like songs on Facebook.

There is a Flash application, it works very simply and clearly.

Notes allows you to create small notes and reminders, and the widget of this application will always remind you of this. Synchronization with Evernote seems like a nice addition.

Of course, the aggregator of all social activity– Timescape, which appeared already in the Xperia X10 and has not changed much since then. The app is a live feed of your social networks, and various desktop widgets help you track your friends' statuses and activity on Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare. There are some additional extensions on Google Play.

Messages, Contacts and Phone are downloaded from Xperia to Xperia. Very convenient applications, pleasant to use.

The alarm and clock can be set to start when the charger is connected in the Smart Connect accessory settings menu. This is quite convenient if you charge the device before going to bed. There is also a Stopwatch and Timer here.

Track ID appeared back in Sony phones Ericsson and allows you to identify musical compositions heard, for example, in a cafe, simply by recording a short excerpt.

Connected devices are used to synchronize the contents of your smartphone with various wireless devices or to play files from your devices on your phone.

Perhaps the most important of all applications is Backup copy and recovery. It appeared in Android firmware 4.0 and allows you to backup all your settings and applications in case of unforeseen situations.

Media Remote is a program for controlling various Sony equipment using your smartphone.

Saving energy allows you to configure various power supply parameters that operate on a schedule or in connection with NFC tags, as well as those activated by pressing a button on a special widget.

Update Center monitors all system and application updates on your phone.

Smart Connect is used to connect and configure various smart accessories, such as SmartWatches. It can also be used to set different scenarios for the behavior of the device when performing certain functions.

There are several preinstalled third party applications. These are Evernote (for notes), Moxier Pro (for mail), Opera Mini (for browsing), Wisepilot (for navigation), McAfee (for virus protection), Office Suit Pro (for creating and editing documents), Neoreader (for recognition barcodes), Adobe Reader (for reading PDF files), Astro Manager (to view files on your phone's memory and SD card), and the EA App Store.

The rest of the programs are standard for Android.

Camera

The 12-megapixel camera module is similar to that in the Xperia S. Accordingly, the quality of the photos is comparable. Overall, I like the result, although it is, of course, very far from the Nokia 808 PureView (review). Video in Full HD quality is also quite good. I liked the very fast operation of the viewfinder. The camera interface is standard for Sony. Exmor R technology allows you to take good pictures in poor lighting, but it does not always succeed in all lighting conditions. Below you can see examples of photos in comparison with the Xperia P, which has an 8-megapixel camera.

Contents of delivery:

• Smartphone
• Network adapter
• USB cable
• Stereo headset
• Documentation

Until the Sony Xperia TX goes on sale, the ion is the flagship of the company's mobile division. Let's see what kind of device this is, what will please or disappoint you.

Design, construction

If the Sony Xperia acro S came to us straight from Japan, then the ion is a product originally created for the US market. We must understand that for any company producing smartphones, making a joint project with American operators means a kind of victory - the circulation is great, and the glory is great. The orders are quite large, usually hundreds of thousands of pieces. The device in question was sold (is being sold) by AT&T, the decision to supply it to Russia is quite strange - since the appearance of ion on sale confuses the cards in the Xperia line. I don’t think there are many people who are ready to understand what is happening with Xperia; many still believe that the very best from Sony now is the Xperia S. In fact, until the TX goes on sale, it is the ion that will remain the most the very device from Sony. Due to display size, characteristics, camera. I don't know how good or bad this is, I'm just stating a fact.

The device itself is great, to put it mildly. A sort of heavy shovel. Comes in regular packaging, there are two body colors, black and red, I got red. It’s curious that even though I would never wear a smartphone of this color, it’s not feminine at all - keep in mind that here it’s not soft red or raspberry, but dark red. The entire front is black, with red battery cover and velvety plastic areas on the top and bottom. At the back you can see the traditional logo, below it is the inscription Xperia. The design of the photographic area is interesting, there is a large camera lens, under it there is a flash circle, below there is an area with perforation, there is a microphone. There is a massive flap on the left side, hiding HDMI and microUSB connectors under it, and a 3.5 mm jack on the top end. Accessories for Apple seem to be suitable, but in fact the EarPod headset does not work. Above the display there is a front camera lens, a speaker, light and proximity sensors. There is also a small indicator light; it blinks if something happens to the device, for example, while charging.

Dimensions are 133 x 68 x 10.8 mm, weight 144 grams. This smartphone looks much better in black, there is one good addition - almost all rear end made of metal. As for the size, everything is easy to explain - the ion has an impressive display size and quality. In general, this device can safely be classified as a mini-tablet just because of the screen. Naturally, now in terms of resolution there has been a step forward in a number of devices, and ion is not on the same wavelength here, but the screen is still good.

Comparison with Apple iPhone

To insert microSIM and microSD cards into the phone, you need to remove the top flap and simply pull it off. The assembly of the smartphone is good, nothing creaks or cracks, and there are no unnecessary gaps either. I used the device as a second phone for quite a long time, during which time nothing bad happened to the body, except that the paint peeled off slightly from the frame around the camera lens.

Display

As I said, the TFT display diagonal is 4.55 inches, resolution is 1280 x 720 pixels. The screen is protected by glass, the glass is not scratch-resistant, and there is a film that is invisible to the user, as in many other Sony devices. Capacitive screen, multitouch supported, four fingers maximum. In my opinion, the screen is good by today's standards; everything is fine here with viewing angles, colors, and contrast. If you are used to watching videos on the go, then a smartphone with such a display will help in a bold undertaking, the same can be said about browsing websites, playing games, and working with programs. Size matters, and a device with a 4.5-inch display really goes a little beyond the boundaries - it’s not clear what to call such a device. After all, this is truly a thing at the intersection of the world of smartphones and the world of tablets.

But the price to pay for the screen size is the body size. And before purchasing, I would recommend twirling the ion in your hands. There has not yet been a single person who would not say: “What a healthy shovel.”

Control

On the right side there is a power button, just below there is a volume rocker. Considering the fact that the ends here are beveled, pressing these buttons is not very convenient, plus, they do not have such a deep travel. You need to get used to it. Below on the right side there is a camera button, this is very cool, many of us are used to using a hardware control for shooting. If the display is locked, you can press and hold the button, the camera will launch and immediately take a photo. The camera can be launched by moving the unlock slider not to the right, but to the left.

Under the display there are four traditional Android buttons: calling an additional menu, Home, return and search. The buttons are touch sensitive, backlit, and have stripes underneath them. Sony had a signature feature - regular buttons in Android devices, it’s a pity that in modern devices this was abandoned. You can get used to the sensors, they are sensitive, but it would be better to see a traditional solution.

The screen, as you understand, is also one of the control elements; there are no problems with sensitivity and processing speed.

OS, performance, features

While I was using ion, an update came out called 6.1.E.1.20. Used Android version 4.0.4, you can read about the OS in the review on our website.

About performance: using Qualcomm APQ8060, dual-core processor, 1.5 Hz, GPU Adreno 220, 1 GB RAM. The device is quite fast, this applies to both launching applications and working with them. But there is also something strange, for example, the backlight goes out with some kind of twitching.

Peculiarities:

• In the call settings there is an item “Noise Suppression”, reducing background noise during a call; by default this function is enabled. I tried to use it when music was playing on the speakers nearby, the people I called didn’t notice much of a difference (I tried it both with noise reduction turned off and with it on). But on the street, if there is wind, the function’s operation is noticeable

• There is an xLOUD mode, increasing the volume of the speakers, I recommend turning it on immediately, it becomes noticeably louder
• There is no inclusion in the brightness settings automatic settings, but there is a light sensor
• Among the display locking modes there is unlocking using the owner's face, the function works quite normally - they say the battery runs out much faster if you use this method
• To take a screenshot, you need to press and hold the power and volume down button
• A number of applications are customized, for example, this is a player. It's called a Walkman, you can customize the equalizer yourself or use presets, and there's also surround sound. But there are no settings such as ClearStereo; this is the prerogative of other devices. The sound quality is not bad, but the iPhone 5 is head and shoulders above in this regard, I listened using the same headphones, the same tracks - the volume of the ion is not so high, the sound is bland

• Preinstalled Evernote programs, McAfee Security, Astro (file manager), NeoReader (QR code scanner), Moxier Pro, Opera Mini and Wisepilot for navigation. There is a game loader Electronic Arts, you can try before you buy. I would highly recommend that you install it right away Chrome browser, I like it in both the iOS and Android versions

• Your own widgets - clock, control of wireless interfaces and basic functions, help, Timescape, Walkman and others
• It’s interesting that for audio, in addition to standard files, Ogg support is announced
• When connected to a TV, a special menu appears (TV Launcher), but I’ll talk about this in a separate review
• As in the case of the Sony acro S, the ability to play AVI is not written anywhere, but the device copes with such films with a bang, as you can see in the screenshots. It’s good that the user does not have to install additional software

According to official sources, the device operates in UMTS HSPA+ networks 850 (Band V), 900 (Band VIII), 1700 (Band IV), 1900 (Band II), 2100 (Band I); GSM EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900. Don't count on LTE, it's in the ion version for AT&T.

Wireless interfaces

Like other top Sony smartphones, this device can do a lot, it supports Bluetooth, version 2.1 with EDR, the ANT+ profile for sports wireless gadgets works, it supports GLONASS, NFC, DLNA. Naturally, there is Wi-Fi. It’s a shame that the kit didn’t include a specific HDMI cable for a specific “short” connector; I have no idea where the user should look for it.

Memory

The device has 1.3 GB of memory, 11.24 GB is available to the user, you can always expand your capabilities by adding microSD card(up to 32 GB). It seems to me that Sony may well install more memory inside; after all, most smartphones are positioned as multimedia, and if you often take photos and videos, the built-in memory will very quickly run out. Why not install 32 or 64 GB? This has not been unheard of for a long time.

Nutrition

The device uses a 1900 mAh battery, it seems that you can count on a long service life. It seems to me that among other “androids” ion really has a long life, I talked for half an hour a day, took pictures more, listened to music. If you remove the backlight, you can achieve work within a day and a half. But if you use it actively, get ready to look for an outlet later in the evening. Everything is, in general, typical.

Camera

The camera resolution is 12.1 MP, can shoot video in FullHD, as always with Sony, when taking photos there are many useful and not so useful effects - panoramic 3D view, multi-angle 3D view, regular panoramic view. You can choose the shooting method, touching a button on the display, just a key, or a combined method; it was quite possible to do without this setting. For quick launch There are your own scenarios; by pressing a button, you can start the camera and take a photo, or just start the program. If you wish, you can disable the function altogether. I took all the pictures for the material using automatic mode.

Naturally, for most consumers, the key parameter was and remains the sensor resolution. The numbers, it seems, should speak for themselves. Marketers are accustomed to hitting innocent heads with incomprehensible but sonorous terms, here you have 4 cores (!), 12 MP (!), 64 GB (!), FullHD and complete stuffing. In fact, main question- why do I need it, and is it necessary? The camera in the Sony Xperia ion can help you capture (and capture well) a piece of reality. But is such permission necessary if many smartphone owners now post photos on Instagram or Facebook? Don't think. It seemed to me that the post-processing of the images suffered slightly; they were quickly saved, but the colors were too bright, sometimes unnatural. But otherwise, ion pleasantly surprised me, especially with its detail. Yes, in some pictures you can see that the camera misses, there is chromatic aberration, colors are washed out, but if you shoot on a sunny day, you will be surprised when viewing the frames on a computer. Let's say I really liked how ion copes with portrait photography, you can even make out the pores, there are no problems with colors and detail. In poor lighting conditions, it makes no sense to blast the area with a flash, this can just have the opposite effect, it’s more interesting to try to shoot something as it is.