The Review
We haven't had a chance to fully test this product yet, but we've assembled this helpful overview of relevant information on it.
Sony's Xperia Ion phone comes with a huge 720p screen and a 12 megapixel rear camera.
Sony Ericsson handsets don’t make it over to the US often so the Xperia Ion could be considered a lot of firsts for the company. For one the Xperia Ion is Sony’s first LTE device. There’s a lot to this 4G device including a 4.55-inch 720p touchscreen. Beyond the 4G it is Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity as well as a USB 2.0 port, microUSB and an HDMI port. The phone runs Android 2.3 but Sony is supposed to put out an update to get it to 4.o Ice Cream Sandwich. Ions run on a dual core 1500 Mhz processor and has about 16 GBs of internal memory which can be expanded using the microSD and microSDHC slots. The phone has a 12.1 megapixel rear camera which can record 1080p videos. Plus, there’s a 1.3MP front-camera.
Features List:
- Android 2.3 OS
- 4.55-inch touchscreen
- 4G LTE, WiFi and Bluetooth
- USB 2.0, microUSB, HDMI port
- 16 GB internal memory
- microSD, microSDHC card slots
- 12.1 megapixel rear camera, 1.3MP front-camera
- 1080p video recording
Different form factors
Even after choosing between a smartphone or feature phone, you have a lot of choices to make to decide what your phone will actually look like.
A full touch layout like the iPhone has become popular for smartphones, but you’ll usually forgo a hard keyboard as a result. Some smartphones like the Droid 2 or the BlackBerry Torch offer a slide-out keyboard as a compromise, but get thicker as a result, too. Many smartphones also dupe the popular BlackBerry design: small screen on top, small keyboard below.
In feature phones, the flip or “clamshell” form factor has proven especially popular because of its small size and the fact that it protects the screen and keys when closed. Phones with both the screen and keypad on a fixed rectangular slab are typically called “candybar” phones. As with smartphones, you’ll many feature phones with dedicated QWERTY keyboards, which can be handy for frequent text messagers.
Whichever you decide to go with, make sure to physically handle the phone at a kiosk or store prior to buying. Pictures can often drastically misrepresent the size of phones.
Apps
If a building is only as good as its foundation, then a smartphone is only as good as its app store. Even as manufacturers continue to stack their handsets with YouTube support, instant messaging, and other essentials right out of the box, the features just don’t add up to the amount of capability a phone can take on in the hands of the right developers: You name it, a good smartphone can do it.
The app store you buy into will have a longstanding effect on the way you use your phone – perhaps more than any other feature. But it’s tough to get a feel for every smartphone app store when you don’t get to push a cart down the aisles until you have a carrier contract in your filing cabinet and there’s no turning back.
Apple’s App Store has been leading the market in sheer numbers of apps since the original iPhone was release. Android is catching up in total numbers and offers a higher ratio of free apps in the Android Market than Apple does. Nokia’s Ovi Store, RIM’s BlackBerry App World and Microsoft’s Windows Marketplace all offer quality apps but currently lag far behind Apple and Android.
Six Steps to Start Your Unlimited Cell Phone Plan Search
- Determine which service providers are available in your area and make a list of the services you want and how much you can afford.
- Check with your current wireless service provider—if you have one—and see what unlimited plans they provide and if one matches up to your needs. If not, then continue to search.
- Compare special offers and plans of the key players of cellphone providers: Verizon Wireless, AT &T, US Cellular, T-Mobile, Sprint, Cricket, and etc.
- If you’re prone to changing cell phone providers, choose a plan with least amount of commitment to avoid expensive cancellation fees.
- Do you actually need true unlimited minutes? Or would you only need unlimited just on weekends or to your most frequently called and received numbers?
- Determine which cell phone service company excels in the areas you need for the price you want, but also look at the provider’s connectivity and coverage ratings. We’ll give you a hint—Sprint may offer a great price and with great unlimited minutes, but Verizon is still takes the cake for coverage and call clarity.
Notable Features
The list of features to look for in a phone could fill an anthology, so we’ll run down some of the most important ones.
Cameras appear on nearly every phone these days. Although a quality camera can be great for quick snapshots, few phone cameras are ready to replace a trusty point-and-shoot. The few with variable focus far outperform fixed-focus cameras, which you’ll find on the majority.
When considering a display, pay attention to size and brightness, which will both come in handy when trying to read it in difficult conditions like outdoors in the sun. LCD displays are still the most common, but OLED displays have been cropping up lately as well. They use slightly less power and produce extremely vibrant color, but suffer from poor outdoor visibility.
Battery life often gets buried at the end of buyers’ wishlists, only to lead to disappointment when they realize they can barely go a whole day without recharging. Be particularly careful with smartphones, which can get particularly thirsty.
If you plan to use your phone for playing music or watching video, be sure to check for internal and external storage. If the phone has a microSD slot you should be able to add up to 32GB of additional storage.
