Overview

Most Rugged Android Smartphone

Overview of Sony Xperia Go

While you might need insurance for everything else in life, you would surely not need one for Sony Xperia Go. As we very well know, no matter how careful we are with smartphones, accidents do happen. They cannot be avoided, but sometimes you do wish there was a work around. For instance, you just got pulled into the swimming pool with your smartphone in the pocket. “Uh-oh” time, right? Well, not anymore. Sony brings a handset which is dust-proof, scratch proof, and let me just say it- water proof. Sony Xperia Go is world’s first anti-dust, anti-water and anti-scratch resistant smartphone. To top that, it comes powered by a 1 GHz cortex A9 Dual Core processor, and runs the Android v2.3 (upgradable to Android 4.0 ICS). So, is this the ultimate smartphone with the much desired X-factor or is this yet another cheap toy in the market? Let’s put this all-new Sony smartphone into spotlight and find out what more this little Xperia baby has to offer.

Sony Xperia Go Design and Build Quality

Sony Xperia Go’s solid built can withstand almost any sort of torture. The design has also been kept extremely trendy. It comes in some cool colour variants like Yellow, White and Black. Sony has given a slightly rugged feel to the phone, to prevent the phone from slipping off your hands. Though it’s all plastic, the phone feels sturdy in hands. It measures just 111 x 60.3 x 9.8 mm in dimension, making it an extremely slim and compact phone. Also, weighing just 110 g, Xperia Go does not feel heavy in pockets or hands. Xperia GO is an IP67 (Ingresss Protection 67) compliant phone. The 6 in the compliance suggests that the phone offers total protection against dust particles, which means you won’t ever find smudges on the screen. The ‘7’ attests the phone’s ability to function properly even when immersed under water (up to 1 metre).

Sony Xperia Go Display

The handset flaunts a 3.5 inch capacitive multi-touch screen (480x320 pixels) which is protected by scratch-resistant-Corning Gorilla Glass. The multi-touch panel is impressive, providing appropriate responsiveness to touches while handling impressive visuals. The touch-screen panel can be used even under water, which can come handy if you want to call someone while scuba-diving or want to click some under-water snaps. Although the display is bright and offers wide viewing angles, the images appear grained due to the low pixel density (~165 ppi pixel density). Besides, looking at the competition, a 3.5” inch screen size looks indefinitely out-of-place.

User Interface - Android 2.3 (upgradable to ICS 4.0)

While you would be running the pre-historic version of Android-Gingerbread 2.3 when you buy the phone, you can upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 the moment you buy it. Ice Cream Sandwich is one of the most stable, intuitive and beautifully designed Android OS. When you upgrade to Android 4.0- Ice Cream Sandwich, you get cool features like Face Unlock, an improved Browser, Better Camera Software, Widget Previews, and much more.

Performance

Sony Xperia Go’s performance is pepped up by the 1 GHz cortex A9 Dual Core processor, coupled by 512 MB RAM. Though 1 GHz is more than enough to ensure the smooth operation of Android OS, inclusion of only 512 MB RAM is disappointing. The multi-tasking experience is not sweet, to be very frank, and you are bound to experience certain jitters while operating the phone.

Music Player and FM Radio

Sony Xperia Go comes with the same stock music player, through which you can listen to your favourite songs, create playlists or look up for song lyrics. The sound quality is also amazing; thanks to Sony's 'xLoud' technology, which boosts up the volume of the external speakers. Though the phone has tiny inbuilt speakers, the output is loud and clear, and there are no undue distortions in the audio quality. However, as the speakers are packed on the rear side, the sound levels get non-existent when you place the phone flat on the surface.

Sony Xperia Go Camera and Image quality

Sony Xperia Go embeds a 5 megapixel auto-focus camera, with an integrated LED flash. It captures decent shots and offers all kinds of different camera modes like 3D sweep panorama, Sweep multi-angle and Sweep Panorama. These modes allow you to capture wide-shots in three-dimensions. There are also other options available like Smile detection, Geo-tagging, and Self-timer mode captures. While the phone captures decent close-up and outdoor shots, most of the time, the image quality is a bit disappointing under low-lighting conditions. What’s even more disappointing is the lack of a front-facing camera. That’s not where you cut your corners, Sony.

Video Camera and Video quality

Sony Xperia Go supports 720p HD video recording. The phone’s nimble camera captures amazing details at over 30 fps. Video playback is also smooth like butter; thanks to Sony Bravia HD engine, which makes the pictures look unnaturally vivid.

Apps and Maps

Although Sony Xperia Go does not come with any pre-installed third-party apps, you can always download some from the Google Play Store. With over 700,000 apps on Play Store, you surely would never run out of options. Sony Xperia Go’s navigation system is backed up by Google Maps. There’s no doubt that Google Maps offers the most detailed, extensive and bird-eye view of the places around you. With Google Maps, it’s easy to search for local businesses, landmarks and places to eat, drink or have fun.

Sony Xperia Go Connectivity and Storage

You name it and Sony Xperia Go has it- Wi-Fi with hotspot functionality, Dual-band 3G (900, 2100 MHz), Bluetooth, and GPS. Everything works like a charm and there’s absolutely nothing more you could possibly ask for. Sony Xperia Go also offers ample amount of storage space. It comes bundled up with 8 GB internal memory (out of which, 4 GB is user-accessible), and an expandable micro-SD card option (up to 32 GB). Sony scores full marks as far as providing storage space is concerned.

Sony Xperia Go Battery life

Sony Xperia Go comes powered up by 1305 mAh Li-ion standard battery. Though the battery promises to provide a sufficiently viable standby-time, do not expect it to last more than a day under normal usage. It drains off more quickly when you’re surfing web, listening to music or using Wi-Fi. Under heavy usage, the battery buckles up in less than four hours. If you’re looking for a phone with good battery back-up, ‘Go’ is certainly not the way to go.

Value for Money

Priced at just around the 18K mark (approx., may vary), this phone competes with the likes of Samsung Galaxy S Advance, Galaxy S Duos, and HTC One V in the market. However, given its build and performance, at 18K, Sony Xperia Go is one heck of a bargain.

Verdict

Sony Xperia Go impresses us with its design, build and features. The phone is solidly built and is indistinctively one of the best rugged Android smartphones out there. That being said, the average battery backup, the smaller screen size, and the lack of front facing camera are some of the flaws of this flagship device from Sony. If you’re looking for a phone which has got some solid build quality and at the same time looks extremely trendy, Sony Xperia is the way to go. The phone packs a decent 1 GHz processor, 5 megapixel camera and offers the amazing ICS experience. While this phone may not appeal to tech-lovers, people who crave for a phone which delivers good performance at a good price should definitely have a ‘Go’ at this.