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Sony Ericsson Xperia Play vs. Apple iPhone 4

Wirefly Learn » Android Phones

February 3rd, 2011

Sometimes great gambles result in great products, a fact that was demonstrated when computer manufacturer Apple released the first version of its now-iconic iPhone. If you had listened to industry pundits prior to that first iPhone, Apple was making a big mistake entering the cell phone business. So who can say what will happen to the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play? The Xperia Play is a high-end Android cell phone that is compatible with Sony’s popular PlayStation game console – a cell phone that is designed to be good at games. The Xperia Play is a “sliding” cell phone… and what slides out is a game controller, not a keyboard. How far will Sony Ericsson go with its gamble on the Xperia Play? Only time will tell in that regard. And how does the Xperia Play compare to the Apple iPhone 4?


	Apple iPhone 4	Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

Wirefly’s Price (as of publish date)	Not sold by Wirefly	Not yet available
Carrier	AT&T/Verizon	Verizon Wireless
Operating System	Apple iOS4.2	Android 2.3
Interface	Apple iOS	Android
Display	3.5″ LCD, 640 x 960 pixels	4.0″ LCD, 480 x 854 pixels
Data Speed	3G HSPA/CDMA	3G CDMA
WiFi	802.11 b/g/n	802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 2.1	Bluetooth 2.1
GPS	aGPS	aGPS
Mobile Hotspot	Yes – Optional	Yes – Optional
Camera	5-megapixel, LED flash and autofocus	5-megapixel, LED flash and autofocus
Front-facing Camera	Yes; 640 x 480 pixels	Yes; 640 x 480 pixels
Video Capture	Yes; 720p HD	Yes; 480p DVD-quality
Apps	Apple App Store	Android Market
Music Player	Yes	Yes
Adobe Flash Support	No	Adobe Flash 10.1
Storage Space	16/32GB onboard; no memory expansion slot	8GB onboard; microSD slot for expansion
Keyboard	Virtual QWERTY	Virtual QWERTY; slide-out game controller
Battery	1,400 mAh lithium-ion, not user-replaceable	1,500 mAh lithium-ion, user-replaceable
Processor	Single 1 GHz processor	Single 1 GHz processor
Memory	RAM: 512MB	RAM: 512MB
Microsoft Outlook Support	Yes	Yes
View Word Docs	Yes	Yes
Weight	4.8 oz	6 oz
Dimensions	4.5″ x 2.3″ x 0.4″	Not yet known

Key Differences

Display: The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play will have a 4-inch, 480 x 854-pixel resolution LCD screen, one of the higher-resolution displays among Android phones. The Apple iPhone 4 is no slouch in the display department however, with a 3.5-inch LCD display that has the highest resolution of any smartphone: 640 x 960 pixels. Although higher resolution, the iPhone 4′s display is considerably smaller than that of the Xperia Play.
Operating system: The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play will ship with Android 2.3, currently the fastest available version of Google’s open operating system. The Apple iPhone 4 uses Apple’s proprietary iOS4.2, which is only used on the iPhone.
Processor and RAM: Both the Apple iPhone 4 and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play use single-core 1GHz processors. Both the iPhone 4 and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play have 512MB of processor RAM.
Keyboard: Both the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play and the Apple iPhone 4 have on-screen virtual QWERTY keyboards. The Xperia Play has a slide out game controller that’s compatible with the Sony PlayStation console.
Storage Space: The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play ships with 8GB of on-board storage and has a microSD slot for memory expansion. The Apple iPhone 4 is available with either 16GB or 32GB of on-board storage, but it has no expansion slot for memory.
Camera: Both the Apple iPhone 4 and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play have 5-megapixel cameras, and the iPhone 4 can record video at 720p HD quality. The Xperia Play records video at 480p, which is considered “DVD quality.” Both the Xperia Play and the iPhone 4 have 640 x 480-pixel front-facing cameras for video chat.
Battery: The capacity of the lithium-ion battery in the Apple iPhone 4 is 1,400 mAh and it is not user-replaceable. The battery in the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is a 1,500 mAh lithium-ion type that can be replaced by the user.