Sony Mobiles launched its new Sony Xperia U smartphone in Malaysia in May 2012 with the retail price of RM899. At that time, users were amazed at the extra low price offered to a rather high spec device, the Xperia U is indeed packed with 1GHz dual-core processor. About 10 months later the same phone is available at the price range of RM578 to RM599 on some online stores, you might even get it cheaper on your local phone shops.
The Sony Xperia U comes with a 3.5-inch TFT display sporting 854×480 resolution, a dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9 processor, 512MB RAM and 8GB of internal storage. It has 5MP camera with 720p HD video capabilities and also a front facing VGA camera. In term of dimension, it measures at 12mm thickness and weighs about 110 grams. Other specs include a scratch-resistant glass with Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine and also a Sony 3D surround sound audio technology.
The Sony Xperia U is available in black and white where the bottom portion can be replaced with multiple colours. The device main attraction is perhaps the transparent strip, which changes its color to match the screen contents, which makes it really amazing.
At time of release, the Xperia U is preloaded with Android 2.3 Gingerbread but is upgradable to Android 4.0 Ice cream Sandwich.
Main Highlights
- Quad-band GSM /GPRS/EDGE support
- 3.5″ 16M-color capacitive touchscreen of Full WVGA resolution (854 x 480 pixels) with Sony Mobile BRAVIA engine
- Android OS v2.3.7 Gingerbread, planned Android 4.0 ICS update
- Dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU, 512 MB RAM, NovaThor U8500 chipset
- 5 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging, Multi Angle shot
- 720p video recording @ 30fps with continuous autofocus and stereo sound
- Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
- GPS with A-GPS
- 8 GB built-in storage (6 GB user-accessible)
- microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
- Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
- Stereo FM radio with RDS
- Voice dialing
- Adobe Flash 11 support
- Deep Facebook integration
- Accelerometer and proximity sensor
- Transparent stripe changes color depending on screen content
- Replaceable cap at the bottom allows easy customization
Main Draw Back
- Limited storage with no expansion options
Verdict:
The lack of a microSD expansion card may encourage users to think twice before buying the device, but despite that, the phone seems to be one of the hottest in the market. Other devices worth to consider perhaps are the Sony Xperia GO and the Xperia Sola, pricing at almost the same range but these two phones have microSD card support.
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