What has Bond seen in Xperia T?

Our recent visit to Barcelona MWC was an opportunity to take a closer look at the smartphone Xperia T. We received the phone from the organizers of the Congress in order to use it as an electronic pass for the event.

Trade shows have come to an end, so it’s time to get interested in other phone features.
Sony Xperia T became famous as James Bond’s phone. Agent 007 used it in the last film - which is Skyfall. Although I’m far in appearance to Daniel Craig, in my hands, this smartphone also proved to be excellent. The phone came to me in a flat, square carton, containing an additional AC adapter with a detachable USB cable (to exchange data with the computer) and a very decent, though inconspicuous headphones with intrathecal design. The package also includes a Quick Start Guide. I advise future purchasers of new copies caution when removing the factory protective film from the display. Below there is another - designed for prolonged use longer than the one which protects the screen during transport. The package, unfortunately doesn’t include SmartTags, facilitating the use of the phone with NFC technology. Xperia T of course can work with them, but they must be purchased separately. We must also separately take care of the adapter from microUSB with MHL to HDMI, if we want to connect Xperia to a TV.


Sony Xperia T photo: GSMchoice.com

Table of contents

It’s no wonder that Bond chose this model. The phone looks pretty and superbly fits into a large, male hands. It is because of covered with matte lacquer and arched profiled rear. Unfortunately, Sony in this model reproduces the error, which I will steadfastly denounce. I’m talking about the camera lens which peeks out. Again I have to repeat the old ditty - although it looks nice, it is not practical, because the camera glass is exposed to scratches. Well, it’s good that in Xperia T the lens itself is hidden in the outline and rather safe - but the part of the casing that surrounds it will wipe us. And it is undecomposable: we do not exchange ourselves the back cover, the same with the battery. I do not consider this as a drawback – I’ve never had to exchange the item, and undecomposable design is usually more robust, more compact and not cracking. And additionally - usually it looks good!


Sony Xperia T photo: GSMchoice.com

The front of our Xperia is dominated by a 4.5-inch HD display, surrounded by a narrow frame in glossy black. Joining this colour with imitating aluminum matte-gray lacquer makes an excellent impression. Equally elegant is going to be a completely black version of this model - although the paint on the rear panel gives the impression of "rubber".


Sony Xperia T photo: GSMchoice.com

The phone is very slim, but it did not prevent to blend in the headphone jack and microUSB minijack with the side surfaces. The "richest" is the right side, where we have the volume, lock and camera buttons, as well as a hinged lid, under which hides microSIM and microSD card slots. I incredibly liked one more little thing - the serial number and certification are not printed on the cover here (like on the iPhone), but hidden next to the cards, on the part that pops out from under the slots, if you feel the need. It's a shame that Xperia T is not waterproof - after all, James Bond wouldn’t certainly disdain this feature...


Sony Xperia T photo: GSMchoice.com

I’m excited about the phone, but after all - as a reviewer - I should also criticize something. Here you go: the keys! The hardware (on the side) were placed in a totally unwieldy place. In contrast to the hundreds of competitors, Xperia T has them closer to the bottom, so it's easy to accidentally press them when we just hold the phone in hand. I would have endured the camera button, but each time I block the screen unintentionally, I literally go to hell. I do not like the soft keys as well. Maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I preferred the additional sensors under the screen. They are simply uncomfortable, and apart from that they unnecessarily reduce the working surface of the screen... They also extort from us an additional "tap" on the screen to "wake them up".


Sony Xperia T photo: GSMchoice.com

This is the end of the complaints, however, because I haven’t found in this model other items that I could criticize. You will say that I should complain yet about typical for a powerful smartphone short battery life. Perversely - I will not do it, because even heavily used phone did not give up sooner than after a few hours. And since it withstands all day of intense work... it’s difficult to require more, but of course it would be nicer if it could run like this even three days.


Interface of Sony Xperia T photo: GSMchoice.com

The test copy works under the supervision of Android 4.0.4. Because of the unusual destination (pass on MWC), the memory includes several specific applications, not present in the standard model. But let's focus on what is given to each buyer. We will find in the phone NFC module, as well as GPS and GLONASS with company navigation Wisepilot. There are, of course, maps with navigation from Google. In addition to the typical components of a system, buying Xperia T, we can also count on the McAfee Security an app for backing up data from the phone, as well as the "downloads" of journals and e-books. We will also get a sample of games from Electronic Arts, QR code scanner, a separate app store with Sony recommendations and office software Office Suite. Among the additions there is also the application that facilitates the use of tethering and LiveWare manager, which allows us to assign to connected peripherals a default application, starting when it detects this enhancement in the phone. What is missing? Maybe a fountain?


Interface of Sony Xperia T photo: GSMchoice.com

I am convinced that each of you will choose yourself a set of applications, according to your own needs and tastes, so I will add only that the five desktops provide the possibility to combine the icons in folders and in the main menu the standard launcher allows you to rank icons in the chosen order, alphabetically, by frequency of use and installation time. Now let's have a look at musical advantages of Xperia T. In the smartphone there is FM radio - an element not quite obvious to the competitors. Radio can automatically search for available stations, play in the background, allowing us to create a list of your favorite stations. It has an RDS decoder, you also have the option to TrackID, which searches the data of the track which is playing. The radio has a high sensitivity and a good sound, but unfortunately it does not give us the access to a sound equalizer. Good sound quality does not surprise me - years before, the Walkman branded phones stand out above-average sound quality and Xperia T proudly continues the tradition of its predecessors.


Interface of Sony Xperia T photo: GSMchoice.com

The Xperia Walkman gives us a full range of functions related to playing music, it can also retrieve data from Gracenote songs - including covers of most albums. In this case, unfortunately, it had a problem with a few "cult" items... searching for a more unusual albums, such as Ivan Mladka cabaret. As a consolation, however, you can always turn on the visualization - graphics, which will replace the original. When you switch on the music - believe me, the graphics will cease to count. Together with good headphones, Xperia T plays very well. The sound has adequate dynamics, momentum, stereo scene is in order, and the details sounded clean. Additionally we get juicy, well-controlled bass and decent power. The only minus is the inability to play WMA files. The single speaker built-in the phone also plays well - as for its dimensions. The Walkman also has the correct sound system, it can also create playlists based on mood: this option is called SensMe. A curiosity is the icon infinity that appears on the screen. It leads us to additional information about the track on Google, Wikipedia, YouTube, and sometimes it will even find karaoke version. Complementing, I will add that, of course, there was provided the opportunity to work with wireless headphones and speakers. NFC will help therewith with connection...


Interface of Sony Xperia T photo: GSMchoice.com

Sony Xperia T is also a good photographer. The phone has a 13-megapixel camera, equipped with autofocus and LED flash. Colour and detail reproduction is good, even in low light conditions. It is a pity that there is no true Xenon flash. In the dark area in the pictures there is already a clear grain, but it doesn’t have annoying intensity. Autofocus (which measurement point you can select by touch) runs fast, but sometimes it gets lost in low light. Then sometimes it catches focus only in the next attempt. I have never recommended to use digital zoom, this time it won’t be different. In Xperia T it acts badly. Lots of artifacts and a complete lack of detail, and apart from that – lots of noise. I posted in the gallery the images taken with zoom, so you can see its wretched capabilities.


The same frame with and without zoom photo: GSMchoice.com

In addition, the camera has geotagging function, stabilization and smile detection, and a spontaneous photographer certainly get to like a quick start mode. There we have eight thematic programmes (document, sport, party, beach and snow, night scenery and portrait, landscape and plain portrait). We can adjust the exposure, sensitivity and white balance, and metering mode. Another camera's advantage is the ability to easily (and effectively!) creating panoramic photos and recording videos in FullHD. In case of video we can experience image geometry loss when the camera or recorded objects move faster. Here I invite you to look at the samples on YouTube and on the phone card in the catalogue.

Photo gallery of Xperia T
Sample video from Xperia T


Sample photos from Sony Xperia T photo: GSMchoice.com


Examples of special effects photo: GSMchoice.com

Additionally we have a modernized media browser with an extremely impressive displaying of geotagged photos on the animated globe. All is complemented by the ability to edit photos in the main field - with seven special effects, cropping, adjustment of additional lighting and red-eye reduction, frame straightening and smoothing skin tones.


Sony Xperia T photo: GSMchoice.com

Xperia T also doesn’t disappoint in its primary role. I found no problems with making calls, the Wi-Fi also hasn’t given the field to criticise. The sound quality of the handset is good, the phone also has two microphones and noise-reduction system. The display has a good, intense colour rendering and well-functioning touch screen. Although it recognizes only four points of touch, but tell me honestly - if the smartphone has to do more? The downside of the display may be a relatively narrow angle of its readability.

For the interested ones - benchmarks results:


Xperia T in benchmarks photo: GSMchoice.com

The performance doesn’t leave much to be desired. I haven’t noticed any signs of a slowdown of work, the phone easily opens and reads the video in high definition, and can cope with complex games. A convenient addition, significantly streamlining the work is the so-called bar of small applications displayed in the bottom of the display after checking the list of recently used programmes. The bar can, of course, be adjusted to our needs. The SmartDial function can also be liked - when instead of the number we can tap out on the keypad the contact name. Creating messages is enjoyable because of the ability to write with a la Swype strokes.


Sony Xperia T photo: GSMchoice.com

In conclusion - Sony Xperia T has virtually no weaknesses. It has a great display, a good camera and plays music perfectly. The smartphone is efficient, doesn’t heat up too much during the work, and additionally looks great and is very handy. Only awkward buttons located on the right side disturb, and the battery - to be honest - could withstand a little longer than a day. Unfortunately, all good things must cost. In this case, buying on the open market costs us around 430 euro. At this price level the competition is already high, but even so - Sony Xperia T remains one of the leaders in the field.

Finally, as always, a short video: