Rolled out in March 2011 by Japanese Swedish tech-tycoon , Sony Ericsson Xperia Play perfectly combines the smartphone with a gaming console. It's the first device, which comes with the capability of playing the games of Sony's PlayStation and hence is termed the part of PlayStation Certified program.

The handset is packed with 5.1 MP camera and 4 inches touchscreen. It runs on the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and features a slide-out game pad.

Design:

Xperia Play is a stylish looking yet bulky device with 119 x 62 x 16 mm size and 175 g weight. But, you'll find it easy and comfortable to hold, carry and operate without facing any type of hassle. Because of being a game-oriented device, it comes with a slide-out controller section, which contains an easy to navigate D-pad, PlayStation face buttons, 2 thumbsticks and shoulder buttons along with some menu keys.

Keyboard:

The keyboard isn't exact the same as in Android, but reminds it with plenty of crammed keys under the screen. But, you can find a more spacious version in landscape mode providing more accurate and fast typing with auto-correct option.

Display:

The 4 inches LED-backlit LCD capacitive touchscreen, although, can't match with that of Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc and Samsung Galaxy S, but, it can display the pics, videos and games on good resolution of 480 x 854 pixels. The on-board accelerometer and proximity sensors along with multi-touch inputting and Timescape user interface significantly enhance the worth of this screen.

User Interface:

The interface of Xperia Play takes cue from that of Xperia Arc. Its five Home screens can be populated as per your choice and contains four personizable icons along with a static menu launcher. Its Timescape widget is similar to the Friend Stream system on HTC handsets and contains postcards, which present the updates and text messages of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The device is running on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and company has separated it from its user interface trimming down its sizes from the earlier versions on Android devices. Thus, you can enjoy all the Android updates on this device on a fast speed.

Internet Browser:

The browser of Xperia Play is Android fare, thus bringing for you Flash support for watching web videos. We found the 1GHz processor fast enough compared to other counterparts and didn't face any jitter while playing the games. Bookmarking and apps installation are also simplistic to use. But, on the whole, the browsing is not sou much impressive as in LG Optimus 2X and iPhone 4.

Network and connectivity:

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play comes with the simple to establish connectivity capabilities including 3G/HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth. These all are joined by DLNA, GPS and micro-USB. But, the Achilles’s heel is that it's unable to stream content via other DLNA devices.

Applications:

The device lets you access to large numbers of apps from the Android market. With TrackID app, you can recommend the tune to your near and dear ones. The OfficeSuite app enables you in doing office work. Other general apps include calculator, calendar etc. We faced a bit lagging during the running of graphically intensive widgets.

Gaming

Xperia Play being a game-centric device sports a D-pad and PlayStation face buttons thus ensuring the quick and pleasing gaming experience. During our review, we tested the five pre-loaded games including FIFA 10, Bruce Lee, Crash Bandicoot, Star Battalion and The Sims. We found the games indeed funny and immersive while the gaming navigation quite simple and comfy.

Camera:

The handset boasts of dual cameras, from which 5.1 mega pixels rear facing camera can capture pics with an LED photo light. You can also add various other options like white balance, scene modes, color effects, exposure control and quality settings. With WVGA secondary camera, you can enjoy video calling.

Multimedia:

The phone comes with excellent multimedia capabilities. Its impressive music player can be handled via Home screen widget or main menu. The great stereo sound makes movie viewing experience more exciting on 4 inches screen. The video can be captured on 800 x 480 resolutions at 30fps. You can also opt for varied color effects, white balance setting and YouTube-optimised video.You can store your media collection with 400MB of on-board memory, further expandable up to 32GB with a micro SD card slot.

Calling and messaging:

We found the dialer of Xperia Play simplistic without any support to smart dialing. The quality of connection and volume was reasonably good. The calls through were also nice on our end, but the person on other line faced a bit echo. The messaging and emailing are also easy and simple to use on this device.

Battery life:

We found the battery of the handset average. Its 1500mAh battery needs daily charges with continuous usage. During our review, the battery delivered the 400 hours of standby time.


Pros:

•    Stylish design
•    Simplistic and comfortable slide-out gaming controls
•    Fast speed


Cons:

•    Weak games offering
•    Costly classic PlayStation titles
•    A bit dim display screen


The bottom line:

The Xperia play brings the excellent slide-out pad, good stereo speakers and impressive media playback. Even after being bulky, its stylish look is able to catch the eyeballs. But, we think that handset could have some better and not costly games. On the whole, the handset is the fair combo of  a smartphone with gaming console, bringing the best of both world in a single device.