Sony Xperia SP review: SPlendid

30 April 2013
It took some time but Sony had the big comeback many have been waiting for. The Xperia Z is selling well and we suspect it’s been the driver for turning the company's fortunes around in the first quarter of the year. It's now time to carry that momentum...

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  • D
  • AnonD-141538
  • v$B
  • 01 May 2013

After using for 4 days i found this feels amazingly faster than my previous Arc S. 319ppi is enough for me and so is 4.6 inch screen. The Ambient light is soo cool.. INR 24000 from Pune,India.

    • D
    • AnonD-141526
    • BwY
    • 01 May 2013

    Why does it feel like a bunch of these comments are written by employees of Sony and Samsung?

    Regardless, I woke up today to buy my SP for £350 ONLY TO FIND that during the night Orange/T-mobile had dropped its price significantly to £250. Immediately sold out everywhere. But I'm skeptical, a new phone hot from Sony's line-up released with a simultaneous price drop. Fishy, no?
    Either way, I placed my order for the sleek white one. Only time will tell...

      • D
      • AnonD-87222
      • 3ZH
      • 01 May 2013

      Yeah, they certainly should fix their screens and cameras.

        • D
        • AnonD-128787
        • KID
        • 01 May 2013

        And it competes with most of 2013 flagships not last year's quad cores sir.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • PGq
          • 01 May 2013

          Synonymous, 01 May 2013I dont know why GSMA didnt touch the "white balance&qu... moreViewing angles are affected by hardware, not software, so the whitebalancer will not fix anything about it if there was a problem in the first place =)

            • I
            • Intz
            • YTF
            • 01 May 2013

            Got the black beauty today, its simply superb. the only disappointment was the low speaker volume, but the earphone sound is unbeatable. I can live with a slight low speaker volume, will figure out few ringtones that will be heard better ;)

            Please note, it has a micro-SIM slot; those who have an older (Big) sim will need to get it cut or ask the service provide to provide a new micro-SIM.

            Someone earlier mentioned in the comments that video recording does not have a backlight, which is not true.

              • p
              • pixelpeeper
              • 5GC
              • 01 May 2013

              Old Xperia P does far better job in camera processing than the "new" SP :

              compare this from Xperia P:

              http://cdn.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/sony-xperia-sp/camera/gsmarena_010.jpg

              with this (Xperia SP):
              http://cdn.gsmarena.com/vv/reviewsimg/sony-xperia-p/camera/gsmarena_005.jpg

              --> much more Detail and no colour noise from the "old" P model

                • l
                • luvmyarcs
                • TkM
                • 01 May 2013

                A very boring,very heavy phone with a rubbish camera ... so rubbish my old k800i takes a better picture.
                Orange in the UI have the SP for £249 on payg. I reckon it's real value is £149 at most. Pay over £200 for an SP and may as well burn your money. I wonder how the Xperia L will turn out in a review comparison ? same crap camera or a little better?

                  • S
                  • Synonymous
                  • v0q
                  • 01 May 2013

                  I dont know why GSMA didnt touch the "white balance" of this device in the settings. Please GSMA, after adding the battery test of SP, discuss also what will be the effect of white balance. Will it improve/worsen the screens viewing angle, contrast, etc.?

                    • D
                    • AnonD-80440
                    • dQK
                    • 01 May 2013

                    no tnx..
                    another mistake in screen and camera with repeatation spc.
                    sony must do better job in cellphone if it want to compate with htc and samsung.

                      • D
                      • AnonD-130464
                      • pTh
                      • 01 May 2013

                      Come on! Even lg 4x's disappointing camera is doing better job than this new cellphone.

                        • A
                        • Adria
                        • pHZ
                        • 01 May 2013

                        It's interesting to see how smartphones evolve. Last year, Sony Xperia S was released in the market like a high-end smartphone. Last year!

                        This year we have a completely improved smartphone, Xperia SP (with HDR video, LTE, 4.6" Bravia Engine 2 display, Adreno 320, 2370 mAh...) but competing with the mid-range smartphones.

                        I'm wondering what would expect future. Will Xperia Z be a mid-range the next year?

                          • G
                          • GG
                          • Xw$
                          • 01 May 2013

                          It will end up in $550 in my country....as usual. Even Nexus 4 costs $470.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • H5D
                            • 01 May 2013

                            AnonD-87222, 01 May 2013The S2 used to be a high end, which means better build qual... moreThe SP is faster than the S3 let alone the S2..

                              amaziiing...i love it
                              good job sony

                                • k
                                • kbhatia7
                                • uua
                                • 01 May 2013

                                AnonD-34158, 01 May 2013Its market price is Rs.25000, from where you got it at 2199... moreI got it from indiatimes shopping website. It was a one day offer. Do check the its homepage once a day because the offers are repeated frequently. The offer says 12% off on mrp

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • uAj
                                  • 01 May 2013


                                  Sony Xperia SP is one of the best looking phone.

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-45833
                                    • 2@y
                                    • 01 May 2013

                                    Wow! The phone has found that sweet spot in the market! It's a beauty with brains! Tired of the problems with my S3 and the cartoony touchwiz. The SP looks stunning and the Sony jellybean UI looks classier!

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-19631
                                      • tE{
                                      • 01 May 2013

                                      fu** sony for sub par cameras this year

                                        • D
                                        • AnonD-99709
                                        • ibg
                                        • 01 May 2013

                                        AnonD-87222, 01 May 2013The S2 used to be a high end, which means better build qual... moreIn my country SP is more cheaper than S2. what more could i expect.. XD Bigger battery in SP. No doubt the best midranger..