Best 2012 smartphone that is small

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368 posts

Ultimate Geek

#629482 23-May-2012 15:20

Did a bit of looky looky on the web regarding the Sony XPERIA SX.

It has been suggested that the processor would be a Snapdragon S4 MSM8960.
That means at least a dual core 1.5GHz processor.
And now the truly stunning bit... an Adreno 225 GPU.
If as Qualcomm indicates, each GPU revision/version is twice as powerful as the previous, that would mean the GPU in a "rumoured" Sony XPERIA SX would have a GPU twice as powerful as the Sony XPERIA S.

And given ICS 4.0 rewrite of the GPU/CPU interaction...well, I'll leave that to your imagination.

And if it comes with HDMI, the small screen is not the end of the world, as one could attach it to a Full-HD monitor.

This put's it in the same boat as the Samsung Galaxy S III (US version with Snapdragon SoC)
I think at least one of the versions of Samsung GS III have 2.4/5.0GHz WiFi too. This is listed in the MSM8960 specs too.

Tech Specs for Snapdragon S4 MSM8960

Processor

Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 with Asynchronous dual Krait CPU cores at 1.5GHz each

Graphics

Adreno 225™ graphics processing unit (GPU)

Display

4.03" WSVGA 1024x600 multi-touch display

Video

1080 High-definition video recording and playback up to 30 frames per second
Stereoscopic 3D playback via HDMI output

Camera/Camcorder

13MP main camera w/ flash
2MP front facing camera

Audio

Surround sound stereo speakers
5 Microphones for FluencePRO & Ultrasound

Memory

1GB LPDDR2
16 GB eMMC
External microSD slot

Connectivity

802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth®, GPS, FM

Keys

Dual stage camera shutter
+/- Switches (vol and zoom, context dependant)
Power on/off switch
HW reset (recessed)

Connectors

HDMI type D
Micro USB v2.0 HS OTG – USB charging
3.5mm sudio + ANC jack
MicroSD card slot

Sensors

Ambient light / proximity sensor
3-axis 3D accelerometer
3-axis gyro
3-axis compass
Temperature & pressure sensor
Ultrasound pen
Ultrasound gestures
Haptics
Dual, independently controlled linear vibrator motors

As someone once said, "I've got goose bumps people."

Sadly, Sony being Sony, welll probably find a way to dumb down the specs to keep costs in check. BUT you never know.
I would so laugh, if it still comes with Bluetooth 2.1 when Bluetooth 4.0 is operationally available from other manufacturers.
And lets hope for a MicroSD card.

gjm

808 posts

Ultimate Geek

#629484 23-May-2012 15:22

killerteddy:
gjm: how do you find the ray in daily use? I've been trying to talk myself out of my iPhone and into a ray for a few months now just because of the size. I see Vodafone no longer sell them now so would have to get a parallel imported one most probably :/

Which iPhone? 4S? If so, then I don't think its worth the change. The Ray isn't much smaller.

I'm running android 4.0 on it, rooted to remove rubbish apps and made small tweaks.
I don't text or call much, mostly just checking social sites and getting the latest news etc.
Games like angry birds space runs perfectly fine. It can run sluggish when transitioning from one app to another, but nothing that bothers me much.

Overall, its fine for moderate use.

Last time I checked, mobicity stock it at less than $380.

Cool, thanks for the feedback. I have an iPhone 4 so guess I will just stick with that for now.

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killerteddy

50 posts

Geek

#629505 23-May-2012 15:41

The specs of the SX is pretty much confirmed.
I doubt it would change before its release in 2 months (Japan only at this stage).

3.7-inch 960 x 540 display
1.5GHz dual-core processor
8 megapixel camera, 0.31 front cam.
1GB RAM
8GB memory
MicroSD
LTE

jbmoocs

91 posts

Master Geek

#629506 23-May-2012 15:41

DrStrangelove: Did a bit of looky looky on the web regarding the Sony XPERIA SX.

It has been suggested that the processor would be a Snapdragon S4 MSM8960.
That means at least a dual core 1.5GHz processor.
And now the truly stunning bit... an Adreno 225 GPU.
If as Qualcomm indicates, each GPU revision/version is twice as powerful as the previous, that would mean the GPU in a "rumoured" Sony XPERIA SX would have a GPU twice as powerful as the Sony XPERIA S.

And given ICS 4.0 rewrite of the GPU/CPU interaction...well, I'll leave that to your imagination.

And if it comes with HDMI, the small screen is not the end of the world, as one could attach it to a Full-HD monitor.

This put's it in the same boat as the Samsung Galaxy S III (US version with Snapdragon SoC)
I think at least one of the versions of Samsung GS III have 2.4/5.0GHz WiFi too. This is listed in the MSM8960 specs too.

Tech Specs for Snapdragon S4 MSM8960

Processor
Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 with Asynchronous dual Krait CPU cores at 1.5GHz each
Graphics
Adreno 225™ graphics processing unit (GPU)
Display
4.03" WSVGA 1024x600 multi-touch display
Video
1080 High-definition video recording and playback up to 30 frames per second
Stereoscopic 3D playback via HDMI output
Camera/Camcorder
13MP main camera w/ flash
2MP front facing camera
Audio
Surround sound stereo speakers
5 Microphones for FluencePRO & Ultrasound
Memory
1GB LPDDR2
16 GB eMMC
External microSD slot
Connectivity
802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth®, GPS, FM
Keys
Dual stage camera shutter
+/- Switches (vol and zoom, context dependant)
Power on/off switch
HW reset (recessed)
Connectors
HDMI type D
Micro USB v2.0 HS OTG – USB charging
3.5mm sudio + ANC jack
MicroSD card slot
Sensors
Ambient light / proximity sensor
3-axis 3D accelerometer
3-axis gyro
3-axis compass
Temperature & pressure sensor
Ultrasound pen
Ultrasound gestures
Haptics
Dual, independently controlled linear vibrator motors

As someone once said, "I've got goose bumps people."

Sadly, Sony being Sony, welll probably find a way to dumb down the specs to keep costs in check. BUT you never know.
I would so laugh, if it still comes with Bluetooth 2.1 when Bluetooth 4.0 is operationally available from other manufacturers.
And lets hope for a MicroSD card.

Great line up there Dr, really lip smackingly good line up of hardware on this phone. Apparently there are two flavours to choose from The Xperia GX which is much bigger with the 12mp cam and SX smaller with 8.1mp.
I also did some research on the Xperia SX and sources indicate we are more likely to see the GX and not the SX due to the fact it has some form of inbuilt Japanese TV-tuner and other features like infrared. Either way it may never get here or be wrapped up under a different look and name with a totally new spec sheet like you have mentioned to keep costs down.

insane

3239 posts

Uber Geek

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Trusted

#629517 23-May-2012 15:53

Finally a phone which won't make me look like a complete nerd when I pull it out. The Boss at work got given a HTC One X to try from 2degrees, it's a nice device, but you can't really call anything that big a 'mobile' phone.

Was considering having to get the rather large 4.3" Sony Xperia S for the amazing screen, or the HTC One S, but if this SX comes out here then I may have to pounce as I'm a long time Sony Ericsson user/fan, and my HTC Desire needs to be upgraded.

Now why won't they put decent batteries in these devices, I'll happily take on an extra 10g for another day of usage.

jbmoocs

91 posts

Master Geek

#629533 23-May-2012 16:17

insane: Finally a phone which won't make me look like a complete nerd when I pull it out. The Boss at work got given a HTC One X to try from 2degrees, it's a nice device, but you can't really call anything that big a 'mobile' phone.

Was considering having to get the rather large 4.3" Sony Xperia S for the amazing screen, or the HTC One S, but if this SX comes out here then I may have to pounce as I'm a long time Sony Ericsson user/fan, and my HTC Desire needs to be upgraded.

Now why won't they put decent batteries in these devices, I'll happily take on an extra 10g for another day of usage.

Yeah Androids Iphone killer in terms of design size & screen. But I still believe we will see some other designs pop up before this phone ever materializes.

jbmoocs

91 posts

Master Geek

#629543 23-May-2012 16:43

One matter that is a bit off topic sorry, If you buy an LTE phone is the LTE backward compatible with GSM or will it not work outright?

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old3eyes

9119 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#629582 23-May-2012 18:58

jbmoocs: One matter that is a bit off topic sorry, If you buy an LTE phone is the LTE backward compatible with GSM or will it not work outright?

It should work unless it comes via the way of Verizon..

Regards,

Old3eyes

lapimate

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#629626 23-May-2012 20:46

DrStrangelove: ... The mid range Sony generally have 512MB of RAM ...

What's your source for this info? See for example http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Sony-Ericsson-Xperia-ray_id5523/discussions/Xperia-Rays-Problems_id1594 ... "5. SonyEricsson does not list total internal memory, they list available memory. All current SE devices actually do come with 1GB, of which 300mb [lapimate: eg Ray] is available to the user - the rest is taken by the UI, the pre-installed apps and so on ...."

jbmoocs

91 posts

Master Geek

#629649 23-May-2012 21:25

old3eyes:
jbmoocs: One matter that is a bit off topic sorry, If you buy an LTE phone is the LTE backward compatible with GSM or will it not work outright??

It? should work unless it comes via the way of Verizon..

So. You know where i'm going with that question ;-) in an ideal situation the Xperia SX could work over here do you reckon?

DrStrangelove

368 posts

Ultimate Geek

#629707 24-May-2012 06:46

lapimate:
DrStrangelove: ... The mid range Sony generally have 512MB of RAM ...

What's your source for this info? See for example http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Sony-Ericsson-Xperia-ray_id5523/discussions/Xperia-Rays-Problems_id1594 ... "5. SonyEricsson does not list total internal memory, they list available memory. All current SE devices actually do come with 1GB, of which 300mb [lapimate: eg Ray] is available to the user - the rest is taken by the UI, the pre-installed apps and so on ...."

I was generalising about the Sony devices, but it sort of covers the late model Sony Ericsson phones too.

In considering the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Ray it has 1GB of internal storage which as you correctly note has approx 300MB available to the user to store apps etc. The memory in the XPERIA Ray is 512MB of Random Access Memory (RAM)

This just means on an XPERIA Ray, you'd have to almost religiously port all installed apps to the MircoSD card.
And when this is the case, you'd really be looking for at least a Class 6 MicroSD card to keep external response time down to the minimum.

One can generally get around the storage issues, but if you run out of memory (RAM)... that's not good.

Android will retain idle (non-active) apps in memory if memory is available, but if like me, you have calendars, mail, virus checkers and 3G data counters running as services, plus running a web browser and maybe youtube, that available memory shrinks pretty quick. And there's nothing worse than returning to a web browser to find it has to reload into memory and you've lost all your previously open pages.

On Android v2.3.3 the Android system process only takes up ~26MB of memory so its always interesting to try and work out what's taking up all the rest.

To view application stats and memory use on my Android devices, I use SystemPanel App /Task Manager

512MB of RAM it quite good, as I have an olde worlde SE XPERIA X10i and even with it rooted, I'm having a lot of fun attempting to keep approx. 100MB free out of the 386MB of RAM available. Think I removed over 20 pre-installed apk to recover the grand sum of approx 30MB of memory.

On my XPERIA X10i, I too only have 1GB of internal storage, but with a class 10 microSD card, it's never been a restrictive factor, but hay, I wouldn't say no to 32GB of internal storage like what you get on the XPERIA S.

I find the Sony (Ericsson) white papers very informative and gives an excellent in depth breakdown of each available device and its specifications.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Ray White Paper

Nokia also list some good details on their phones.

Pity Samsung and LG don't take a leaf out of Sony (Ericssons) book.

old3eyes

9119 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#629730 24-May-2012 08:46

jbmoocs:
old3eyes:
jbmoocs: One matter that is a bit off topic sorry, If you buy an LTE phone is the LTE backward compatible with GSM or will it not work outright??

It? should work unless it comes via the way of Verizon..

So. You know where i'm going with that question ;-) in an ideal situation the Xperia SX could work over here do you reckon?

Yes..

Regards,

Old3eyes

dafman

3925 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#629772 24-May-2012 09:55

I think the upcoming Sony phones are stunning - except for one thing - they are a couple of mm's thicker than the current HTC and Samsung flagships. I currently have a Samsung S2 and I really am loving the thinness of the phone - despite it's rather large size, I hardly notice it in my jean's pocket because of the thinness. I couldn't go for a fatter phone now. 8mm is the current benchmark - sorry Sony, but 10-12mm just doesn't cut it in today's market.

jbmoocs

91 posts

Master Geek

#629784 24-May-2012 10:20

The Xperia P is an absolutely beautiful phone to behold with that casted aluminium rear and 4in screen that has a qHD resolution of 960×540 and a pixel density of 275 ppi. This phone may well be the wiinner for me at this present time. The design is premium, so any shortcomings in storage and slimness will be irrelevant to me due to its magnificent build quality compared to Samsung or HTC's offering in this category at present. I may hold out for another month or jump in very soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtfv2cZ6s14&feature=related

crackrdbycracku

1168 posts

Uber Geek

#629876 24-May-2012 13:55

jbmoocs: The Xperia P is an absolutely beautiful phone to behold with that casted aluminium rear and 4in screen that has a qHD resolution of 960×540 and a pixel density of 275 ppi. This phone may well be the wiinner for me at this present time. The design is premium, so any shortcomings in storage and slimness will be irrelevant to me due to its magnificent build quality compared to Samsung or HTC's offering in this category at present. I may hold out for another month or jump in very soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtfv2cZ6s14&feature=related

How much?

Didn't anybody tell you I was a hacker?

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