Sony Xperia ion

Overview
Specs
Reviews
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$0 - $380 Compare Prices

MTS, Rogers, Wind Mobile

7/10

720 x 1280 display
Android
World Phone
Touchscreen
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
Speakerphone
GPS
Memory slot
FM Radio
View full specs

The Sony Xperia ion is one of the most powerful Android smartphones available in its price range. The only problem with it is that it is driving an older version of the Android software, one that is more than one clean step behind the latest flavor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. As it is seemingly stuck with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, is the Sony Xperia ion still worth a look?

There are many so-called high-end smartphones available in the market today with Google’s open-source Android operating system. However, most of these are really fairly disappointing upon closer inspection. But not the Sony Xperia ion. Even though it comes with rather dated software pre-installed, the included hardware features will definitely not let you down.

First of all, the handset comes with a 4.5-inch HD color touchscreen display. It also boasts a 12-megapixel main camera with LED flash and 16x digital zoom, which with Sony optics makes it one of the absolute best cameraphones in its class. It even has several special camera features like face detection and panorama mode, to boot.

The ion comes wrapped in a case that has a 10mm thin profile. In such a sleek body, it manages to pack in Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, Wi-Fi, GPS with A-GPS, support for HDMI, microUSB, and microSD cards, and a powerful 1900 mAh battery. All of these hardware features are handled smoothly by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm MSM8260 processor and 1GB of RAM. Storage-wise, there’s 16GB of user available space.

This really is one impressive piece of plastic, glass and metal from a hardware standpoint. However, it’s the use of dated software that kills it. Unless you’re a loyal Sony fan or someone who wants the quality usually associated with the Sony brand, it would be best to wait out for the software updates that would give the Xperia ion the latest version of the Android software.

Need To Know: Sony Xperia ion

1. Powerful hardware features all around, including a high-speed mobile processor, ample RAM, and a sizable amount of internal storage space. (The Good)

2. Built-in camera and flash combination makes the Sony Xperia ion one of the better cameraphones available on the market today. (The Good)

3. Uses an older version of the Android software in Android 2.3 Gingerbread. (The Bad)

4. Does not come with built-in NFC. (The Bad)

Prices (Where To Buy)

Sony XPERIA ION HSPA - 16GB - Black (Unlocked) Smartphone from eBay

•Condition: New
•Availability: In Stock
•Contract: No
•Located In: Canada

$385.24

Sony XPERIA ion LT28AT - 16GB - Black (Unlocked) Smartphone from eBay

•Condition: Used
•Availability: In Stock
•Contract: No
•Located In: Canada

$205.46

Sony Xperia Ion - LT28H - Red - Unlocked from eBay

•Condition: Used
•Availability: In Stock
•Contract: No
•Located In: Canada

$513.65

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Latest Reviews

A fully loaded Smartphone with rich features, great camera and solid battery life

Telecom Tiger Team from TelecomTiger (4 months ago)

8/10

Sony’s first Ericsson free smartphone Xperia ion is an amazing phone with brilliant features and good design. It’s loaded with latest features and applications, power packed with 1GB RAM and 1.5 GHz Dual Core processor. But, in this price range it should have been Quad core instead of Dual... More

sharp design with gorgeous screen and runs smoothly

Chong Jinn Xiung from Mobile88 (7 months ago)

SONY's flagship phone is nice in many ways. It has a pretty design with a great screen and build to match. It can also be hooked up to a HDTV which is great for sharing pictures and videos taken using the phone. The processor isn't the best by today's standards but it is still good enough to run Android... More

Packs a solid hardware and gorgeous design with a quite impressive battery life

Dhruv Bhutani from Fone Arena (8 months ago)

It is difficult to fault the Xperia Ion in terms of its build quality or looks and there are no glaring omissions in the phone. What is missing is an extra layer of polish in the software which would have helped evade the fairly common lockups and forced closes. Add to it the astonishing price and it... More

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