Well, I have a habit of sharing my experience on the Net whenever I buy something of value.Here is one more occasion to share. I brought home my First Android - Sony Xperia Mini Pro - A Small Wonder!
I got the phone on last weekend (19th Feb 12), so here is my first impression about the Phone.
Background:
I was more than happy living with my favorite Nokia. I got the model 5230 about 1 n half year back, though there was lure for androids, I have stayed away from it. But off late, the phone started giving some problems like "connection error" during the call.When it became too much for last 2 months, thought its time to get a new phone (I do have Client Conf calls very often, its embarrassing to drop out during conf. call).
Research:
With the advent of internet/google, no new purchase is made w/o extensive online research now a days.I did checked out all models and price barriers, right from Nokia C2-02 (as a back up phone to attend Conf. call to address my Nokia 5230 issues), then checked out Samsung Galaxy Y , the sub 10 K phones...then moved up the price barrier from 10k to between 10 to 15 K.
The reason behind moving up was, my Nokia 5230 used to have arnd 120 MB internal memory, as the hunger for new Apps increased, the phone started looking ill-equipped to handle the ’demand’.
Zero-in:
As I entered the zone of 10 - 15K, I came across LG Optimus, HTC Wildfire, Samsung Galaxy (Pro/Fit/Ace), Motorola Defy+, Nokia Lumia 710 and Sony Xperias.
Here are my few personal reasons for discarding other phones:
LG: I did find this phone is value for money (below 10K), I kept it on hold while I looked for other models which may have better features.
HTC:I always liked the HTCs, which were always beyond my reach. This time they have climbed down (or myself loosened my purse). I didn’t see much favorable reviews either from critics nor from phone users. It was more like -ve views were more than +ves.
Motorola Defy+: Though I found many +ve experiences abt Defy+.But right now as it’s own future is in a state of limbo (its gr8 to be part of Google though), I didn’t short list it.But the piece looks cute.
Nokia Lumia: Though I am a big fan of Nokia and loved thier effort to put in MS Windows, I find the design 710 is not that good looking than its big brother 800.Also I see it’s battery is not upto the mark.
Samsung: Now the battle is between Samsung and Sony. I know there is lots of buzz around Samsung and they got all +ve reviews from many critics across the world.Whereas for Sony Xperia mini Pro there are +ves and -ves, mainly coz of small size & battery.
Out on the field:
Finally, thought of taking field trip to decide on quickly between samsung and sony.
As I compared the size of Xperia mini pro with my Nokia 5230, I didn’t see much difference. Also Samsung ace is not that big either.
Tried swiping the homescreens, checked the Qwerty keyboard, it didnt look too hard to "adjust" with the size.
Then checked the Specs of Galaxy Ace and Xperia. Ace got internal memory as 158 MB while Xperia got some 420 with RAM 512 MB.Both got 5 MP cameras.Both are on Ginger Bread (2.3.4).The processor speed is 1 GHz and this is the fastest mobile at this range.Also Sony is planning to provide upgrade to Icecream Sandwich for its Xperia portfolio shortly.
Somehow I felt Xperia is eye catching than Galaxy Ace.It has got no novelty in design right from Galaxy Y to Galaxy S2. Though didn’t find many reasons to say No to Galaxy. I would say it was more like hunch to pick Xperia mini pro.
Just as a passing note, I have checked Galaxy S, which has superior Specs with 4 GB internal RAM, priced about 18.5 K. As I wanted to buy one more phone for my brother, I did’t push my pockets deeper.(Bought him Galaxy Y).
Experience:
Having defied the Galaxy Euphoria, I got home this black, little wizkid Sony Xperia.
Design: It looks too cute and hard to resist the looks of this phone. The display looked so beautiful and the touch is silk.
Sony used Bravia Engine technology to enhance the viewing experience.As its my first android, I felt the OS Designer needs a big pat on the back.
Sony got their own UI tweaked in, which makes the touch screen experience a great treat.The 4 corner shortcuts looks unique with 5 home screens.
Browsing: The inbuilt browser is good enough, though I downloaded Dolphin and Opera Mini.There are no complaints.
If you are waiting for my feedback on "small size", yes, in portrait mode, its difficult to type in, but in landspace mode, with Sony’s own Gesture keyboard ON, it becomes so easy to type.Of course you have Physical Qwerty, which needs little effort to use thumbs to key in.But over all, you can live with it (I got laptop to do any heavy duty stuff).
Messaging: The message box looks different in android (threaded view).Add to that Sony’s own Timescape offers a different perspective about viewing experience of messages.
Music Player: The in-build player is good enough, we can try with some players from android market.The Earphones are of gr8 quality, though the loudspeaker is not loud enough, no point in listening to music on loud speakers to cherish the Music.
Camera :I felt the pictures taken were quite good, when viewed on the phone screen but when transferred to bigger screen (laptop), they don’t look good at all. The size of the pictures were barely 30+ KB and some got close to 100 KB. To have good quality pics, atleast 1 MB is pre-requisite.
I did get some Apps like Camera360.I could manage some bearable pictures with some Camera profiles changed.To make pictures worthful the compression should be less.
Note: With some upgrade, I could see my latest pictures size going up by 500KB, which is reasonable jump.
Battery:As far the battery, yes it drains off in a day.As its a new phone, my hands somehow reaches the phone, though in office, browse and play few games, take pictures, listen to music, show short clippings through Youtube to my 10 months kid.By the end of the day, I see the battery showing 20%.
There is no complaint if you are at office or home, you have access to recharge.Problem comes when you are on road, or in journey or in your native where daily 4-5 hour power cuts is a norm.
Weight :Yes this phone looks a bit heavy when compared with other phones(Galaxies, Nokias).So there is a need to take additional precautions from falling it flat on the floor.Otherwise happy to carry little black beauty where ever we go.Samsung ones are very light but not eye catchy.
Sad Part: So far didn’t manage a good pouch/case for it.The quest is on..
Conclusion:With my about 10 days experience, I find android phones are quite advanced than the "stone age" phones and when it comes to picking right android phones, I felt there are no 100% right phones available to fit all our requirements.There is always a need to sacrifice one or the other feature.
So just go by your hunch and pick a beautiful android and enjoy the magic of android, till it lasts.
Please feel free to drop in your questions, if you have any.