Overview

Entry-level Xperia ICS Phone

Overview of Sony Xperia Tipo

Sony Xperia Tipo is Sony’s latest addition to the ornamented Xperia series, which despite its smaller size, comes packed with lots of mouth-watering features. For starters, unlike most budget Android smartphones which run the pre-historic version of Android- Android 2.3, Sony Xperia is served with a much more delicious version of Android OS- Ice Cream Sandwich. Is Sony Xperia Tipo- the most affordable Android smartphone out there, or is this another futile attempt from the Japanese tech giant? Let’s find out.

Sony Xperia Tipo Design and Build Quality

Sony does not impress us with the design and the build quality. Measuring 103mm in height and 57mm in width, Sony Xperia Tipo is a tiny device. Besides, the phone weighs just 99g. The combination of being small in size and light in weight make it an extremely comfortable fit for your pockets. Additionally, the rubbery cover at the backside prevents the phone from tipping off your hands while managing calls. Despite the build being all plastic, the phone feels premium in hands. Sony offers Tipo in various colour variants like- Black, Red, Blue and White. While we were not particularly disappointed by Sony Tipo’s design, there’s lot more Sony could have done to pull this one off.

Display

Sony Tipo’s 3.2 inches scratch-resistant TFT touch screen is definitely not a sight for sore eyes. The phone’s 320 x 480 pixels screen resolution spoils the user-experience and could be a huge turn-off. Owing to the extremely poor resolution, the colours on the screen appear washed out, transitions seem blurry, and the pictures seem lifeless. Additionally, the relatively smaller display and the rigid touch screen makes typing on this device- an impertinent nightmare.

User Interface - Android ICS 4.0

Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich needs no prior introduction. It’s one of the most stable, intuitive and beautifully designed OS. The interface is skinned with a layer of Sony’s native UI, which is tailored to fit into Tipo’s small screen size. However, lesser on-screen space means you won’t be able to keep too many widgets on the home-screens. But that’s a compromise you would have to make if you wish to grab this pocket-friendly gadget.

Sony Xperia Tipo Performance

Sony Xperia Tipo empowers a single core 800 MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, which is backed up by 512 MB of RAM. While the specs are nothing extra-ordinary, they do keep the phone running smoothly most of the time. Yes, there are delays while multi-tasking and switching applications rapidly, but that’s acceptable. The bottom-line is that despite its mediocre processing power, it’s not dreadfully slow. It delivers quite a satisfactory performance- something which should keep you going.

Music Player and FM Radio

Sony Xperia Tipo comes with the same stock music player, which allows you to listen to your favourite songs, create playlist and look up for artist information or song lyrics. The sound quality is pretty awesome; thanks to Sony's 'xLoud' technology, which boosts up the volume by more than 30 percent. Though the phone has tiny inbuilt speakers, the output is loud and clear, and there are no undue distortions in the audio quality.

Sony Xperia Tipo Camera and Image quality

As you would expect, Sony Xperia Tipo comes with a mediocre 3.2 megapixel camera, with autofocus. There’s no flash, which means there’s no shooting in the dark. Another disappointing feature about the camera is the absence of fixed focus. Expect lots of photos to be hazy and blurry. The image quality is poor even under broad daylight. All in all, the camera feature on this smartphone is just for the sake of formality. There’s nothing fancy in here.

Video Camera and Video quality

Video camera is not the strongest point of Sony Xperia Tipo. It comes with a VGA camera, with almost the same scene modes (Night, Sports, and Beach and Snow) that come with other Xperia smartphones. However, the image quality is mediocre as you would expect it to be. Although the device supports 3G network, there’s no front-camera for making video calls.

Sony Xperia Tipo Apps and Maps

Sony provides a bunch of utility apps like Voice Dialler- which works like Siri. There’s another app called TrackID, which searches for songs and tracks them to places where you can buy them. There’s also Power Saver app, which allows you to save chunks of battery-life by reducing the brightness, timeout and more. The app is activated automatically when the battery level drops below a certain minimum level. Although Sony Xperia Tipo 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 Miro’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.

Connectivity and Storage

Well, as far as connectivity is concerned, Sony Xperia Tipo packs almost everything you would eventually need- Wi-Fi b/g/n, 3G (HSDPA at 7.2Mbps, HSUPA at 5.76Mbps), Bluetooth and GPS. You can transfer files conveniently using the inbuilt micro-USB port. Tipo comes with 2.9 GB internal memory, out of which more than 2.2 GB is user-accessible. Though it is more than enough to install dozens of apps, we recommend expanding your storage through the expandable memory option (micro SD cards up to 32 GB are supported).

Sony Xperia Tipo Battery life

There are always concerns about the battery-life when you buy an Android smartphone. Well, against all odds, Sony Xperia Tipo impresses us with its surprisingly long battery life. Tipo’s 1500 mAH promises five hours of talk-time (3G network), 30 hours of music, and a whopping 470 hours on standby. Even with Wi-Fi/3G on the whole day, on moderate usage- the phone can easily go past one day. So, if you’re one of those guys who are always hooked onto the charging socket with your phones, it’s about time you take a leap of faith on this one.

Value for Money

Priced at just around 9K (approx., may vary) in the Indian market, this phone is a sure-shot winner when it comes to feasibility and affordability. Although you can get smartphones with better hardware specifications at this price-range, it’s the ICS factor which makes the phone stand out from the crowd.

Verdict

Sony Xperia Tipo brings the Android Ice Cream Sandwich experience to your fingertips at an unbelievably low price. It’s designed for people with small hands and tiny purses. If your activities on phone encircle an awful lot around calling people, texting them and occasionally- surfing the web, then grab this piece before the stock runs out. If you’re one of the tech-savvy, socially active enthusiasts looking for a smartphone which is light on your pocket, and heavy on features, Tipo is certainly not the way to go. Check out Sony Xperia Miro, HTC One V, or Nokia Lumia 510 instead.