Sony Xperia U Review

Sony had launched its new Xperia family member "Sony Xperia U" in May 2012. It's the identical twin of Sony Xperia S, but a bit chubbier in size. Sony Xperia U is better and faster than its siblings and this time there is no lagging found on any aspect of its performance. This elegant smart phone has beautiful design and holds power pack goodies for users who are looking for a great handset with reasonable price. Though it's not that cheap but we are sure that in price of Sony Xperia U it difficult to find a hand set with such great features.

Sony Xperia U is equipped with stronger and faster Dual Core 1 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU. From application to multimedia everything runs on blazing speed. Sony Xperia U processing is controlled by Nova Thor U 8500 chipset which makes everything works smoothly. Beside powerful Dual Core CPU Sony Xperia U also features a fantastic 3.5’’ 16M-color display touch screen with WVGA resolution, and none the less the famous Sony Mobile BRAVIA engine. It also has a great 5MP camera for instant imaging and also capable of making 720p video recording. For its battery Sony Xperia U comes with a standard Li-Ion 1320 mAh which easily stay alive for almost two days, depend on usage.

Sony Xperia U has the same beautiful exterior body design as other Sony Xperia family has. Xperia U is a slightly fat and heavy in weight. But that doesn’t compromise any of its attributes. While holding it and carry it around it as comfortable as the Sony Xperia S or other smart phones of similar size.

Sony Xperia U body is build with plastic but has the perfect blend of class and durability as the brand name claims. Sony Xperia U felt very solid in hands and sure hold its expensive grade smart phone charms decently. Even on accidental drop on solid surface Sony Xperia U easily resist the shock and dings or scratches.

On front screen of Sony Xperia U no physical buttons present. There are only 3 transparent buttons (home, Menu and Back) are present on the lower side of the screen above the transparent strip. Navigation is very easy with these touch sensitive button and the transparent strip changes color as per the applied theme and screen color which makes it one of its kind smart phone. Front side of Sony Xperia U also has a front facing camera, ear piece and a proximity sensor.

Right side of Sony Xperia U holds 3 keys power key/lock, volume rocker and dedicated camera shutter key. All works great but the camera key is a bit small in size. Left side of Sony Xperia U holds only the micro USB port and if remove the back cover SIM slot is also place on left side.

Top side has the 3.5mm audio jack and secondary microphone where as on the bottom side has the primary micro phone and a tiny pin hole. On its back, is the 5MP Camera with Led flash.

With 1 GHz Dual Core Cortex-A9 CPU Sony Xperia U is amazingly faster than any other high end smart phone. Sony Xperia U CPU is boost by the performance oriented Nova Thor U5800 chipset. This combination holds the soul of endurance in Sony Xperia U.

From the applications to the multimedia it executes everything very smoothly. On multi tasking we didn't find anything getting slower. There is no issue with its touch and swipe performance as on continues run it stays perfect. Image process and video recording are very responsive with 1 GHz Dual Core CPU video recording is great and sound sampling and image sync perfect just like a camcorder. Internet pages rendering is great, no lagging on zooming in or out and text stays crispy and clear all times. The overall performance and screen visibility is outstanding as Sony Mobile BRAVIA engine hold the beauty and Cortex-A9 stays unbeatable on multitasking.

The most prominent and important feature of any smart phone is the Screen Display. In this segment Sony Xperia U stand among the top smart phones in market. It has 3.5 inch display screen with 16M-color and WVGA resolution. Screen stays perfectly visible all the times and specially when using the phone in sunlight we didn’t find any difficulty in visibility. Applications, menus, images etc all are visible deep and rich in colors with decent contras. Sony Xperia U has a 1.7 contrast ratio, it seems pretty average but its display magic is powered by the famous Sony Mobile BRAVIA engine. Images look more clear and vibrant in color and videos seem great with HD quality. Though there is no GPU present in Sony Xperia U but the Display resolutions is perfect with Sony Mobile BRAVIA engine.

Sony Xperia U offers a very decent 5MP camera. It’s great for capturing memorable moments, even users who don't have any idea of taking pictures can easily take great pictures. Sony Xperia allows still images of 2592 х 1944 resolution. Camera also features amazing options and setting like auto focus with different modes, smile detection, geotagging, scenes, and image stabilization.

Sony Xperia has 5 shooting modes which are very helpful when you just need instant snaps without tweaking its settings. 1: Normal, 2: Scene recognition, 3: Sweep Panorama, 4: Sweep Multi Angle and 5: 3D Sweep Panorama. Normal and Scene mode let users take pictures on fine quality. Sweep panorama is one of the great features which let user to experiment in whole new dimension. Sweep Multi Angle allows users to take great multiple images in seconds. Last but not the least is the Sony Xperia U 3D sweep Panorama very effective and easy to create 3D images but can only be seen on a 3D TV or any 3D device.

Sony Xperia U video quality is pure HD, capable of capturing motion picture on 720p with 30 frames per second. It can easily beat any decent handy cam without any hassle. Sony Xperia U camera offers continues auto focus for video making which kept the quality sharp and clear. The audio capture quality is also great and no lagging found between video and audio, credit goes to Dual Core Cortex-A9 power full processing.

Sony Xperia runs on the Android OS v.2.3.7 Gingerbread. Just like the Sony Xperia S its also stuck to the same old Android but Sony still didn't announced when will be the OS 4.0 ICS will be available for Sony Xperia U. Gingerbread is great with all the freedom of free apps of android world. Menus and settings work great on Sony Xperia U and there is no slower performance note throughout the testing. We hope OS 4.0 ICS will makes Sony Xperia U more upbeat and competitive as the Dual Core CPU will surely handle it well.

Sony Xperia U Wi-Fi capabilities are great. While browsing the internet web pages and text are very clear and visible. Rendering of web pages is fast and no slower speed issue noticed. Users can easily upload and download data even sharing with social network applications is perfect. Sony Xperia U comes with an internal 8 GB storage and there is no option available to expand it with microSD card. This can be bit disappointing for users who swipe data with microSD cards. For data backup micro USB port is the only option available with Sony Xperia U.

For navigation Sony Xperia U comes with GPS navigation with A-GPS support, quiet handy on travelling or visiting other cities. Beside this it also has Stereo Fm radio with RDS which keep users entertained while they listen to their favorite stations. Sony Xperia U comes with changeable bottom caps which makes it a bit fashionable.

So far on all the usage and tests we find Sony Xperia U very competitive to other smart phone. For storage capacity we are quiet disappointed as Sony Xperia U for allow storage expansion. There is no microSD card slot present. Beside the fat body we are quiet surprise why Sony didn’t add microSD slot.

Other then this we found OS Gingerbread disappointing as it's expected to be offered with latest Android OS 4.0 ICS. Other brands like HTC, Samsung etc are already offering latest Android 4.0 ICS with their new Smart phone.

Sony Xperia U is one of the significant smart phone which offers faster performance, great design and lasting durability. From business professionals to user who want a decent smart phone with great looks will surely get attention of Sony Xperia U. We highly recommend this amazing smart phone to all the users who are looking for a great phone with responsive touch and smoother swipes. Beside Sony Xperia U keeps you running and updated no matter you’re in office or in college or just hanging out with friends.

Sony Xperia U currently available in price range from 240$ to 270$ depend on different region and market situations. We find the Sony Xperia U very appealing as in price range like this there isn’t any other smart phone available with such high performance and perfect features. If you are not so crazy about high end smart phones like HTC, Samsung or any other brand then we recommend that you should check Sony Xperia U before taking any decision. It will save a lot and gives you great value.

Overall, we rate Sony Xperia U 8.5/10 Rating.