Remember that orange Xperia Play that we saw a little while ago? Well we got to have some hands-on time with once recently at Sony Ericsson’s London event; the same one where the Xperia Ray, Active and the two Walkman phones were doing the rounds.
As well as looking nice and colourful, the orange Xperia Play has got a smooth matt finish. So its nicer in the hand than the sticky, sweaty gloss paint job of the black original.
Other than that, it handles exactly as any other Xperia Play does, nicely balanced slide-out controls, perfectly positioned shoulder buttons and all the rest.
We weren’t able to glean any information regarding availability of Sony Ericsson’s tangerine dream but we’re hoping given that it was shown off at a UK event that it will be on sale here.
Recently, we’ve heard of a blue 4G version heading to the US, and of course there’s the white version of the Xperia Play available from O2.
Given certain networks preferences for nabbing exclusives on colour variants (especially if its said network’s main colour), you’d assume that Orange would be bidding for this particular Xperia Play. But we spotted no network branding on the phone and Orange hasn’t said that it will be selling this phone, one way or another.
We’ve caught up with Sony Ericsson since the event and are waiting to hear back on pricing and availability of the tangy-hued Xperia Play. We’ll keep our eyes peeled for updates and will let you know when we hear more.
Until then have a look at our juicy hands-on pics.
Update: Orange got back to us to confirm that it won’t be selling the orange Xperia Play. Sony Ericsson also told us that it’s “currently still in talks with retailers” and couldn’t comment on any details yet. Three, O2, Vodafone? Any takers?
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play has a 5-megapixel camera with an LED flash on the back. You can take snaps using an on-screen control or the ‘X’ button of the game pad.
The micro USB port for charging/data is found on the bottom/left of the Xperia Play, depending on how you hold it.
We tried, but we just couldn’t resist a quick blast on Minecraft Pocket Edition on the orange Xperia Play.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is pretty lightweight and compact. The controls are nicely spaced out, but it’s a bit of a space hog when closed up and in your pocket.
The cover was a little trickier to prise off than it was on the original – it feels like its made from a different type of plastic. Note that you can get at the microSD without removing the battery.
Since launch, there’s been a steady creep of some quality titles hitting the Xperia Play. Though not quite the PSP Phone some were hoping for it’s not game over for the Play yet.
We’re glad that Sony Ericsson has moved away from shiny plastic, both here and on the Xperia Ray. Let’s hope that this continues going forwards.
Leave a Reply