It’s small, it’s light, it’s a clean design and it packs a decent punch!


While this isn’t the first Sony phone I’ve used, it’s the first I’ve actually enjoyed using. Would I buy one? No!
Would I recommend my “techie” friends buy one? No!
Would I recommend to my friends and relatives who want an Android phone but don’t want the top end phones? No!

While it’s certainly a nice phone, I’m not sure where this phone fit’s in the Android world.

  • Lightweight
  • Responsive
  • Nice looking device

  • Screen quality is sub standard
  • Gingerbread
  • Sound quality in call is poor
  • Camera quality is poor, reacts badly in low light

It’s a nice compact little phone and a really clean design which Sony (in my opinion) have always done quite well. It’s got decent battery life although I did find on a heavy use day I was recharging about 4pm before I left the office to make sure I got home with some battery left in the device. It’s very difficult after having tested an HTC One X and owning a Samsung Galaxy SIII to be truly fair to smaller, lower resolutions screens. The screen on the Xperia Sola holds its own though, it’s reasonably crisp, displays pictures well and doesn’t give shadowing when watching video’s or scrolling quickly between menu’s.


I know it’s functional, I know it’s still “mainstream” but why are manufacturers still releasing phones with Gingerbread on them? Seriously? It’s not vitally important to have the latest and greatest but being honest, anyone that buys one of these right now is buying a phone with an OS that’s 2 generations old before they unbox the device. Add to that, the screen is certainly substandard compared to the One XL, The Galaxy S III and even the iPhone (sorry to mention it).

The camera is dreadful, particularly in low or fading light conditions! I found that the video struggled to focus in these conditions too, I’m thinking the camera is probably best suited to well lit bathroom duck face and the odd happy snap if you don’t have a good camera handy.




As I stated in the introduction, while it’s not a bad phone the Xperia Sola is not a brilliant phone that would compel anyone to rush out and buy it. The performance was ok, the sound was ok and the battery life was ok. There’s nothing special about this phone to list apart from it’s looks. If you’re after a physically small phone, this might not quite be small enough. If you’re after good battery life, there’s better options. It’s not got the best screen out there for video and certainly the camera isn’t going to please too many people.

So while in it’s own right it’s a decent phone that packs a decent punch, I’m just not sure who would buy it.





RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR