Sony recently launched Xperia Tipo Android phones in India. The phone comes with impressive specs, especially at the price point (INR 8999/) at which the phone is available.
First: key specifications of Sony Xperia Tipo
- Android v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OS
- 2.5 GB internal memory, Expandable Storage Capacity of 32 GB
- 512MB RAM
- 3.2 MP Primary Camera
- 3.2-inch TFT Capacitive Touchscreen
- 800 MHz Qualcomm Scorpion Processor
- FM Radio
- Wi-Fi Enabled (plus tethering).
Review: Sony Xperia Tipo
Xperia Tipo: The positive
The phone nicely fits in your palm (unlike Micromax A110) and Sony has done a great job of customizing Android – i.e. Xperia Tipo has Timescape UI and Sony has provided its own toggle widget (Samsung users will miss those pull-down notifications).
Audio quality is definitely great (hey! it’s a Sony) and the music player stands out among all other Sony embedded features.
Zooming/panning however is a BIG issue, as it takes quite a while and importantly, we noticed flickering screen when the device was left idle for few minutes.
Xperia Tipo: The Negative
The 3MP camera isn’t something to get excited about and importantly, fared below our expectations from a 3MP camera. If you really ask us on the most ultra-negative feature, it’s the stupid marketing message around *free 52GB* memory.
Essentially, Xperia devices are integrated with Box.net and during the first year, you will get 52GB of free storage from Box.net.
But selling it as a core feature (with a disclaimer sign) doesn’t really count, as this is a cloud storage and unless your bandwidth is being paid by your employer, you shouldn’t really count on that.
We believe this marketing strategy to be damn lame and is nothing but a cheap gimmick from Sony India team. Ironically, the device’s storage capacity is 32GB, so you can’t even download all of 52GB files in the phone.
Is Sony Xperia Tipo for a power user?
NO.
The screen size and hardware doesn’t really fit how a power user tends to use a smartphone. You won’t be comfortable with the smaller screen size and app switching lag will add to your woes.
Who is it for?
If you are looking for a good Android device with great audio quality, Xperia Tipo is it. But if your usage goes beyond phone calls and checking email, we won’t recommend you the device.
At this price range, the device does compete with Samsung Galaxy Y, but scores on ICS version of Android. Having said that, Micromax A110 and Karbonn A21 are a much better bet.
Long story short, do we recommend this? Precisely speaking, NO. But if you are looking for ICS for your Android device, Xperia Tipo could be a good bet (sans the 52GB marketing gimmick).
