[DISCUSS] Xperia Play Hands-on, my mini-review

[DISCUSS] Xperia Play Hands-on, my mini-review - Xperia Play General

today i had the opportunity to attend the Xperia Play launch event here in London and managed to have a play with err well the Play! so i thought i might aswell put across my first impressions of it to you guys and any potential buyers!
* take note any reference to the PSP will be based on the PSP phat, not PSP Slim or PSP Go.
first thing i noticed when i saw the phone and held it, its actually not that big or bulky at all, in-fact i think it could do with a 4.2" or 4.3" screen. but the 4" screen and the phone dimensions are pretty well balanced, its really not that big a brick at all.
now the screen. we were indoors, in a very dark area, so i cant vouch for in-direct-daylight viewing but at least indoors; the screen was crisp, sharp and clear. the brightness i thought was absolutely fine, no more or less than any other phone tbh (bar AMOLED!). that said it is no AMOLED screen, it does'nt compare, but it is definitely better than your average LCD screen, by how much? i guess that'll change from person to person.
The performance? i'm going to talk about gaming performance first. hmm this was hit and miss tbh and i will partly blame the Qualcomm/Adreno setup. i never really liked Qualcomm or Adreno chips tbh as i think they are behind the game and have been for some time, this thing could have done with something similar to a hummingbird processor or at the very least chuck in a PowerVR GPU. Asphalt 6 for me was NOT running at 60fps, there was lagg, was'nt huge tbh but it was there and if you're picky (like me) you'll notice it. same goes for the Spider Man HD game that was on the phone, no way was it running at 60fps. again it was'nt bad bad lagg, but if you're used to smooth as honey gaming, you will notice it.
on the other hand i tested Bruce Lee Dragon warrior, which i can say did run very very well and can believe the 60fps quote. also tested fifa 10 and this also worked very well.
now i have to stress, this being a demo phone every Tom, **** and Harry had their mitts onto it so i did check running services after i closed the games and there were a hell of a lot of **** running in the background, heck there were two instances of the music player open! how much of this affected the 60fps performance? i do not know, but i sure hope it did and that was the root of the lowered fps count.
the controls themselves? hmm again, for me, it was a hit and miss but i defo need more time to give a honest review on this part. the controls felt quite a fair bit different to any playstation console controller or PSP controls that i had ever used. the D-pad and X,O,Triangle,and Square have this clicky sound when pressed. guess some people will like this others wont. i found them a bit stiff to use tbh, i can see pulling off a hadouken on this d-pad will be harder than you think. it just did'nt feel the way i thought it should. the control's size seems a little smaller aswell, probably as expected to fit in such a device though. i do hope these controls do "break-in" over time and will allow you to become more fluid in their operation.
The shoulder buttons were better imo, they pressed in easy enough and were responsive. however i had some fidgety moments trying to use the face buttons and shoulder buttons together, although shifting my hand position seemed to help a bit. i guess you just need to get used to it.
And lastly the analogue touch pad thingies. to be honest i was pleasantly surprised by these! they actually work very very well IMO! in fact while i was playing FIFA and spider man HD i actually moved to the analogue touch pads out of preference (probably helped on by the stiff'ish d-pad!) and they worked like a treat! the indentations really help and you dont need to look down at all to see where your thumbs are placed. i was quite impressed by them.
well theres my mini review guys, hope it helps some of you out there to make a decision. IMO if you want a nice smartphone; look elsewhere, the galaxy S II, Motorola Atrix, LG Optimus 2X, etc would probably be much better choices. But if you want a gaming smartphone? i think you cant get better than the Xperia Play, because, come on, lets face it, you cant beat physical controls!
As for me, my Xperia Play arrives tomorrow in the post and i cant wait to chuck on some Emulator madness!
UPDATE: i've recieved my xperia play, for the record you get a 16gb class 2 card with it and they also provide you with a screen protector (not fitted).

Thanks for your review my xperia play hoping arrives tomorrow. Just depends on Royal Mail. I'll post my findings on XDA too.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

Thanks for the review my xperia play will hopfully come in today if not tommorow by UPS
Will post my findings about it aswell
Although I think it will be positive to play all my childhood games again

yay! i've just received my xperia play! for the record you get a 16gb class 2 card with it and they also provide you with a screen protector (not fitted).

Can someone confirm whether the screen is plasstic?
I really wanted this phone but having a plastic screen and not glass is a deal breaker for me.

its hard to tell, becuase there seems to be a screen protector already fitted on the screen by default (ignore my previous post! had a closer look). so you cant really tell if its plastic or glass :/

so there is already a screen protector installed? no need to buy one more or evne use the one it comes with??

yh as far as i can tell there seems to be one installed, looks very well done. plus you get a spare one in the box. so alls good.

I got the phone today and ran it thought a few tests.
First of all - Beware! If you're getting the phone from the UK but are not currently in the UK, it seems Playstation Pocket is unavailable in many countries still. I am in Ireland and it's not available for me yet. I contacted support and hope it'll be enabled soon.
Let's get to the performance - Quadrant does around 1600, Linpack around 38. All in all, a little disappointing, it's about as high as the Nexus One gets. I'm pretty sure that's because it's still running a rather early build of the software. Let's see how well it'll perform with Android 2.3.3, I'm sure there's still a lot to improve.
The screen feels solid and nice, it's hard to tell if it's plastic or glass, to be honest. Feels a lot like the screen of the Nexus S. It supports a 4-point-multitouch and it works well. The Notification-LED supports all colors from red to white, the Playstation controls work really nice, but I had troubles with the analog sticks - altho I didn't really need them much. The buttons work awesome for emulators and even quite a lot of normal Android-Games, like Radiant and EVAC HD.
The browser is fast and the flash player works great. All in all, it's quite nice and it got quite some potential. Altho I miss the Notification power widget from the Touchwiz/Cyanogenmod roms

Thanks Meister!
I really want to get a Play and sell my DroidX. Problem is, I'm not sure it would be an actual upgrade. I really want dedicated controls, but benchmark scores are lower than my non-overclocked X. *sigh* what to do, what to do.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

Tornlogic said:
Thanks Meister!
I really want to get a Play and sell my DroidX. Problem is, I'm not sure it would be an actual upgrade. I really want dedicated controls, but benchmark scores are lower than my non-overclocked X. *sigh* what to do, what to do.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got it after the Galaxy S and for me, it really was an upgrade. Not on a hardware side, it's still in that Droid 2/X - Galaxy S/G2/DHD Range, but it's still absolutely worth it for the controls. Being able to play Zelda like that with my phone? So freakin' worth it. Aside from that, it looks really sleek and feels great. True, the screen isn't Super Amoled, but it's very good, and true, the Software still feels a little rushed but... Compared to what the Galaxy S shipped with, it's pretty amazing. And when looking back at what we where able to finally make out of the Galaxy S, I think this thing got a great future. Aside from that, the Dual Core phones still seem to be plagued by a lot of issues like battery drain, performance hickups and the like - this one is very consistent and running Zelda in an GBA Emulator for about 30 Minutes drained 3% Battery. Yes, it's not perfect, but it's pretty good, I'd say

holy **** im so on the fence but comments like yours make me want to get it now. stupid rogers not accepting orders yet.

Zub7 said:
its hard to tell, becuase there seems to be a screen protector already fitted on the screen by default (ignore my previous post! had a closer look). so you cant really tell if its plastic or glass :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like the shatter proof skin that se put on the x10, this would suggest that the screen is glass. The x10 screen felt very plasticky to me initially.
The xplay might still be in the running for my monies.

Tornlogic said:
Thanks Meister!
I really want to get a Play and sell my DroidX. Problem is, I'm not sure it would be an actual upgrade. I really want dedicated controls, but benchmark scores are lower than my non-overclocked X. *sigh* what to do, what to do.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BenchMarks don't tell the whole story, this machine is fast when playing action games. using FPSE I get 55- 60 fps sustained on Tekken 2, Tekken 3 & Gran turismo
The quadrant scores are skewed by the IO tests like the stock Galaxy S.

Techdread said:
BenchMarks don't tell the whole story, this machine is fast when playing action games. using FPSE I get 55- 60 fps sustained on Tekken 2, Tekken 3 & Gran turismo
The quadrant scores are skewed by the IO tests like the stock Galaxy S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gran Turismo!?!? Did you say Gran Turismo?!? Dude if that's running smooth and controls are spot on, I'm so getting this phone.
But you're right, benchies, don't tell the whole story. How is web and flash performance? I feel on my X things are a bit sluggish. Scrolling around, its as if I'm seeing 10-15fps.
Also, is the screen readable outside on a sunny day. It is on an X, but you have to strain.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

The screen is perfectly readable in sunlight and flash content as well as websites load, scroll and play very smooth.

Niiice. Thanks so much
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

Okay, after two days with playing around with it, some pro and contras.
Pro:
- Great screen! It's vibrant, bright, perfectly readable. The blacks are not as awesome as on Amoled-Displays, naturally, but it looks a lot better than normal TFTs, I'd say it's closest to the iPhone 4's IPS display.
- Great controls! The controls are awesome. It's amazing what a difference it makes to have actual buttons to press, ESPECIALLY in Emulator games. GBA, NES, SNES, Gameboy, PSOne, they all work perfectly with this thing.
- It feels good in the hand - with the game controls slided out or in, it always feels comfortable to hold. The screen is small enough to be used with one hand, but big enough to enjoy movies and games on it.
Contra:
- The software is still a little wonky. Especially the auto-brightness seems to be working only sometimes. Still, you can set the brightness manually, so it's not so bad until it's fixed. Also, the performance is still a little hit or miss sometimes. For example, while the Galaxy S has pretty consistent FPS in Quadrant, it wildly varies on this device - The DNA only has 15 FPS, while the Planets have 59. On the Galaxy S both had about 30. I'm pretty sure that's a software issue as well, tho.
- The internal Memory is quite tiny, especially with the pre-installed games. You can move most apps and games to the SDCard, which is insanely fast, really. I never noticed a difference in the speed to launch a game from SD or internal memory. However, some games, apparently especially Gameloft games, don't allow you to install them on SD Card. Hopefully, with root access, we can uninstall some of the useless apps and games to free up more space.
- The Notification LED is hard to see. It's nice it has one, but it's hard to see when the phone is on the table.
- No Notification power Widget, no Gingerbread Screenoff-Animation. I'm pretty sure those two will come once the sources and Root are released.

Very odd that a lot of reviews are complaining about the screen brightness. I'm inclined to think it's a sporadic software bug associated with the auto-brightness feature, but that might be wishful thinking!

Barguast said:
Very odd that a lot of reviews are complaining about the screen brightness. I'm inclined to think it's a sporadic software bug associated with the auto-brightness feature, but that might be wishful thinking!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't really agree to those reviews. When you manually set the brightness on max, that thing is bright as all hell and perfectly readable even in direct sunlight. So the screen defiantly is able to be very bright. It's just the auto-brightness software that's wonks.

Related

[DISCUSS] Is this the best phone ever or what? (with mini review)

Seriously, I love this phone. I got it 2 days ago and i can't take my hands off it.
I'm 32 years old (yea yea getting old now), and was brought up on computer games. This phone makes me remember just how good the old megadrive/genesis/snes games were compared to the (mostly) crappy indie games that we see these days. I've fondly been playing Sonic, Mario, Super Star Wars, Streets of Rage and a whole host of others flawlessly on this little beauty. It's an emulation dream come true.
The N64 emulator lags a little bit for me, but mostly it's just occasional sound skipping, it is certainly still more than playable, although the control mapping could be a little bit easier. I'm hoping a MAME emulator will be released that supports all the old mame games and not just the capcom games. (Anyone can tell me if there is one already or one coming out?)
Some fears i had for the phone before i purchased were these -
- Worried it would be too bulky
- Worried about the screen auto dim feature and not being able to turn it off
- Worried about the battery life
- Worried about the hardware being outdated before it even hit the shelves
- Well, the phone is bulkier than alot of other phones, but it is still slim enough to easily slip in and out your pocket. I didn't look at the phone before i ordered it, i just jumped in and ordered it off the net and hope it was what i wanted (or i could send it back within 7 days to get a refund). Overall i am very happy with the size of the phone. I certainly don't feel like an idiot getting it out my pocket, it looks very cool.
- The auto brightness on the screen is not all that bad. I got annoyed at first, not being able to turn the phone on max brightness, but after a few minutes my eyes got used to it and i hardly notice it anymore. It must serve a good purpose because the battery lasts a long time. I think that an official patch is definately needed though, not giving people an option to turn off auto brightness is disastrous. Saying that, more than likely i would leave auto brightness turned on, it does save battery and it is implemented excellently imho.
- Battery life is amazing. I got through 12-14 hours of gaming, browsing, and general usage + a full night withought charge on standby and when i woke up it had 7% battery life left. You can not go through 2 days with this phone though, so still you will have to charge it every night, but you can guarantee a full, proper day usage out of it without too much worries about the battery dieing.
- Hardware is a bit meh. On one hand the phone runs super smooth. And FPSE plays PS1 games super smooth, no slowdown at all. The N64 as i mentioned has a few sound skips. So the hardware does exaclty what it was designed to do. This is where it stops though. There will be no PS2 emulation, no dreamcast emulation, no xbox1 emulation. Not until the next handset gets released. This is the limits of this phones power.
Overall i think this is the best phone made to date. I don't care it hasn't got 1080p recording, i don't care the camera is only 5 megapixel. This phone owns and is easily the best phone i have ever owned to date.
Roll on the Xperia Play 2. I am now a branded fan.
edit - Just thought i would say that my phone came with a 16gb Micro SD card, 2 screen protectors (1 of them already put on flawlessly, no air bubbles or dust underneath at all, 1 spare). I have heard people only getting 8gb cards and no screen protectors, but this did not happen with my order.

i mostly agree with you, this is the best phone i have had and i have owned a G1, motorola dext, motorola milestone and a HTC HD2, i would only recommend the HD2 out of these and even then, only after installing android (unless your into windows)
the thing is, i no some people dont value proper gaming as much as me or others so they think this device is not needed but im glad we dont all feel the same way
what im really hoping for this device is, for it to be popular enough so that other manufacturers (or even sony) make a similar device, hopefully with dual or even quad core in mind, add 1GB ram and dreamcast/PS2 emulation is a possibility
but for right now? the play is excellent considering its the first of its kind

agree with most of what you say. but yes hardware is a bit meh.
could have done with better implementation on shoulder buttons and i still think they coud've stuck in an L2/R2 somewhere
overall, the best android phone i ever had was hands down the galaxy S. ****ing beatiful, screen, performance (with custom rom and lagfix!), etc.
but as a gaming phone, this is THE best, despite it's lackluster hardware, it has hardware controls, which, IMO, makes up for all its shortcomings!

L2 and R2 buttons.....
Yeah, i guess they could be put next to each other so that it doesn't increase the thickness of the phone.
So it would look like this -
_______________________________
(L1....L2..............................R2....R1)
_______________________________
Still, FPSE allows you to put L2 and R2 at the bottom left and right of the screen. They are easy enough to get to with your thumbs, so it's no big deal tbh.

usually not a big deal, but when you have to use simultaneous button presses, i.e. press R2 and X together, can become tricky.

Sony * Rule * Got mine Today
Hi peeps,
Got mine today, excellent phone love the Ginerbread.
a few issues so far but no problem.
Love this phone, looks so stylish and plays excellent.
TapperOUT!

Im in the same camp as you mate, same age and gaming experience and I agree 100%

I'm 29 and one of the biggest retro gaming fans in the retro gaming scene.
if any of you have ever heard about the pandora (600mhz ARM TI OMAP 3530) based device. If not, more information is here www.openpandora.org
but I have both devices and I pitted them up agianst each other and gave a lenghy review/comparison of each. It's a good read if you're into that sorta thing.
http://boards.openpandora.org/index.php?/topic/2746-xperia-play-vs-pandora/
Spoiler
TLDR; this is the best mobile gaming handheld in terms of power and available software you can currently buy that satisfies the console emulators hobbyists needs.
not the absolute best when it comes to hardware and features, but makes up for it in interface and available software and raw power.

johnsongrantr said:
I'm 29 and one of the biggest retro gaming fans in the retro gaming scene.
if any of you have ever heard about the pandora (600mhz ARM TI OMAP 3530) based device. If not, more information is here www.openpandora.org
but I have both devices and I pitted them up agianst each other and gave a lenghy review/comparison of each. It's a good read if you're into that sorta thing.
http://boards.openpandora.org/index.php?/topic/2746-xperia-play-vs-pandora/
Spoiler
TLDR; this is the best mobile gaming handheld in terms of power and available software you can currently buy that satisfies the console emulators hobbyists needs.
not the absolute best when it comes to hardware and features, but makes up for it in interface and available software and raw power.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i just wanted to say i read your review and it was pretty good, i was interested in pandora at first but because of how long it took to release i completely forgot about it, although looking at it now, i totally envy the keyboard except the D pad and triggers, having gaming controls AND a qwerty keyboard is just excellent, sony should consider this with the xperia play 2 or what ever manufacturer decides to make a PS certified phone, if extra bulk was needed i could certainly live with it
that said, the keyboard is the only thing i would take from pandora, in my opinion the play beats it in every other area except screen size but then thats balanced with capacitive vs resistive
EDIT - forgot to check the pandora website to see how much it costs.....wow, 440 euro is alot, i was expecting a little over half that, just for comparisons sake i bought my play , sim free for £400 a few days after release, considering the play has more useful features (in my opinion) 3G, android OS and its market, phone functions etc....im surprised it cost so much

I agree here !
I am 27 and also brought up with retro games it's so nice able to play my games again from my childhood.
The device lays good in your hand indeed the as for the brightness well it's fine although my xperia x10 with lowest brightness on is still readable and not with my xperia play but even cranked up at highest brightness the battery still remains exellent thought it would drain like hell like my x10 does but it doesn't !
Glad I got rid of my omnia with win mobile and now have 2 nice xperia devices !
Android is the OS I am currently hooked on never was to happy with my omnia due winmobile but the phone was hyped in my country and it was the biggest mistake I made.
Hardware wise yea there are already dualcore devices and tegra2 gpu powered
as for the emulators of xbox , ps2 , dreamcast & gamecube
I don't think we will see them in the next year or so
but then again there is a developer working to get a dreamcast emu working and progress is already nice I think it's a matter of time we will see
as for my order I recieved a stock screenprotector already on screen , extra screen protector ( they are very scratch resistant my x10 didn't have such a good screenprotector had to take the factory applied on off and apply a newly bought screen protector ) Wall charger , car charger , leather poach & 8gb SD card which I recently upgraded to 32gb

I think in point of view it is the best phone for me but can be better if they added more memory/better screen/ and a PSP Emulator

baaa3 said:
I think in point of view it is the best phone for me but can be better if they added more memory/better screen/ and a PSP Emulator
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fair point but like someone told me, this is the first generation of this particular device, yes, sony could have gone all out but that would just mean the xperia play 2 would only have minor updated features
think of it like the first iphone, it probably should have had 3G, better ram etc but it just meant that the jump from iphone 2g to 3g was that much greater
although saying all that, im pretty sure HTC, motorola, samsung or LG will bring a play competitor before the years end with atl east dual core onboard

silvacrest said:
fair point but like someone told me, this is the first generation of this particular device, yes, sony could have gone all out but that would just mean the xperia play 2 would only have minor updated features
think of it like the first iphone, it probably should have had 3G, better ram etc but it just meant that the jump from iphone 2g to 3g was that much greater
although saying all that, im pretty sure HTC, motorola, samsung or LG will bring a play competitor before the years end with atl east dual core onboard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does anyone know how the sales are going in Europe of this device?
If sales were crazy, like on the iphone, then probably we will have more joypad versions, if not, then this will be like the Nokia Ngage... how many years have passed from that phone to this one? i dont remember well, but at least 6 o 7...
So basically, we will have to wait until the phone gets released worldwide and see how the numbers go to SE.
Probably on the next version i will expect an exclusive suite and not an android suite that all phones can play with. Because if we have something exclusive, then we will have a game that will be made for this controls. (from what i heard, the PS Suite will be available on android market for all high end devices)

my only annoyance with the device is the power button should have been on the screen section not controller, I occasionally press it when im playing something that uses the L shoulder a lot e.g. street fighter

FrAsErTaG said:
my only annoyance with the device is the power button should have been on the screen section not controller, I occasionally press it when im playing something that uses the L shoulder a lot e.g. street fighter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you manage to do that?
My power button is actually indented. I can't turn it off with my 'L' finger even if i try to do it on purpose.

dsswoosh said:
How do you manage to do that?
My power button is actually indented. I can't turn it off with my 'L' finger even if i try to do it on purpose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
other people testing my phone have done it too, so we are not different you are...

FrAsErTaG said:
other people testing my phone have done it too, so we are not different you are...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, to me it also seems nearly impossible to turn the device off while gaming

must agree, has never happened to me also

Maybe me and my friends just have more manly fingers?
I still strand by original comment power button should be on screen half, would also help to see the notification light
Sent from my R800i using XDA App

FrAsErTaG said:
Maybe me and my friends just have more manly fingers?
I still strand by original comment power button should be on screen half, would also help to see the notification light
Sent from my R800i using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
or maybe you guys just have chubby sausage fingers?

Opinions

I have a friend thinking of getting one of these phones and I wanted to get some opinions whether this is a good phone or a peace of junk
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA Premium App

The games that are made for the xperia play are crap but you can run a lot of emulators on it that work really great with the hardware keys.

yes the emulators are great on the play
with a great gamepad
the games on the xperia play are just as good as on any other android phone
while there are better spec phones out there
the games for them can run just as good as on ours with chainfire3d

Lol ya except they cam play them without staring at fingers ad thumbs and only being able to see a small portion of the screen. Seriously though tell your friend if he likes game he will destroy everyone who doesnt have a play in multiplayer.
Sent from my R800a using XDA Premium App

If you play games at all, get the Play. If you don't play games at all, then get whatever the hell looks cool, i dunno, iPhone cause why not, everyone and their mom has one.

I'd recommend this phone for serious gamers only.
Especially those who love old school emulators.

Red_Kop said:
I'd recommend this phone for serious gamers only.
Especially those who love old school emulators.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree and also disagree . This phone has a nice big screen and playing the touchscreen games off the droid market works as well as on any other phone out at the minute. The game pad is just an added extra for me. I enjoy/play with the emulators & fpse alot but even if you forget the gamepad it is still a good phone.
After rooting mine and freezing the bloat. Nothing i have thrown @ the phone has caused it any trouble apart from some fpse games, but thats the same with most phones even dual cores ones. Nothing is perfect but this phone does an above average job as a normal phone with the added bonus of amazing game play on emulators or any game that supports the game pad.

Mozza2k11 said:
I agree and also disagree . This phone has a nice big screen and playing the touchscreen games off the droid market works as well as on any other phone out at the minute. The game pad is just an added extra for me. I enjoy/play with the emulators & fpse alot but even if you forget the gamepad it is still a good phone.
After rooting mine and freezing the bloat. Nothing i have thrown @ the phone has caused it any trouble apart from some fpse games, but thats the same with most phones even dual cores ones. Nothing is perfect but this phone does an above average job as a normal phone with the added bonus of amazing game play on emulators or any game that supports the game pad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do agree it is a good phone but they should have put a much nicer screen on it. My Iphone 2G had a nicer screen. The Play's screen is impossible to use in sunlight. It's just a bit of a shame. Other things lacking would be HD video recording and a top of the range camera. But don't get me wrong, it's still good and I love it.
ps. what have you froze mate, just rooted myself cos I was sick of the phone stuttering and general choppiness on the likes of Gameloft games. Looking for ways to improve performance.

Red_Kop said:
I do agree it is a good phone but they should have put a much nicer screen on it. My Iphone 2G had a nicer screen. The Play's screen is impossible to use in sunlight. It's just a bit of a shame. Other things lacking would be HD video recording and a top of the range camera. But don't get me wrong, it's still good and I love it.
ps. what have you froze mate, just rooted myself cos I was sick of the phone stuttering and general choppiness on the likes of Gameloft games. Looking for ways to improve performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed in full on sunlight its not the best but indoors i thinks it is really a fully decent screen.
About what i have froze i followed the safe apps to remove thread here. Just froze most on the list i dont use and froze some not sure about to test if the phones ok after freezing (still figuring out what i want to be frozen as well). Mainly tho the following;
Moved all gameloft/preinstalled games to sd via titanium backup (free)
Anonymous useage stats
Iplayer
chinese keyboard
both the digital clocks
everything facebook related
google maps
media server
postcard
retail demo
setup guide
store
street view
support
talk
anything timescape related
twitter extension
+ a few others i have forgot
But i have not filled my phone full of crap i dont use. Just kept the stuff i use regularly and will install others as i see fit. Currently Internal Memory: 161mb used / 219mb free. Ram: 120mb used / 254 mb free.

The Good -
- Hardware Buttons work GREAT with emulators. Honestly this is an emulators fan dreams come true.
- Hardware buttone work GREAT with Gameloft games. You think they are good on the iphone? They are 100 times better on the Play.
- Android Market Games are starting to work pretty good with the Play. Lots of games support the D Pad even if they dont mention it.
The Bad -
- Auto Brightness still cant be disabled as a stock feature.
- Low RAM means sometimes games stutter a little bit. (This is hardly an issue, but if you look close you can see it in some games, so it's worth mentioning)
- More games need to start appearing
Conclusion -
I personally hate using touchscreen for games. My finger prodding on the glass gets completely agitated to the point it drives me insane. The hardware buttons as controllers is an awesome feature.
You get all the Android software working excellently as you would on any Android phone.
It is a solid gaming phone, but does have room for improvement. The screen has an excellent display, but it's not as good as some phones. The auto brightness is a part of this reason.
Battery Life is decent. However it's unlikely you can last 2 days without charging. You will need to charge every night.
Speakers are very decent. The loudest on a phone i have ever heard.
Gameloft games are cheap and plentiful. Forget almost every other developer though, decent games other than Gameloft games are almost non-existent.
Basically if you love gaming and enjoy Gameloft + Emulators, then this phone is most definatley for you. If you dont care about gaming onphone and just want a quick touchscreen game every now and again, then go for something else. Either an iPhone or a powerful Tegra 2 chipset.

Gamer's Phone
The obvious reason to get this phone is the controls.
Basically, if you game on your phone, get the Play. If not, get something else. It really is that simple.

The controls rock. Emulators are perfect. Nothing better than playing old school NES or Sega games. The gameloft games run great, and lots of games in the market have support but dont mention it. I sit at work and play all day long.
The analogs work better than you think they would although it takes some getting used to. I
As a phone I have no issues. Its just like any other android I've had. Dont let the specs fool ya, its pretty quick, camera is good enough for me and I've only used the front facing camera once. It was fine. Mine came with a class 2 sd card so I bought a class 10. Made a little difference. Noticeable at least.
I like it.

Red_Kop said:
My Iphone 2G had a nicer screen. The Play's screen is impossible to use in sunlight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I beg to differ, the iPhone 2g had an inferior screen.
The Play's screen may not be good in the direct sunlight, but it's still far from the worst. I have no troubles reading stuff in direct sun. Sure, colors go to ****, so pictures and videos suck, but as a phone it's still completely usable.

[Q] Is the Xperia Play worth Getting?

I am very hesitant in getting that phone, I've heard alot of good things and alot of bad things
I've seen specs and I've seen reviews, but I want to know people's personal opinion as they have the phone for full everyday use and not just reviewing it.
Is it worth it?

My advice do not go for it,you have better options for the same price.even if you are into gaming do not go for it...you can wait for NGP later and get dual core mobile now like galaxy s2/sensation/optimus 2x

I say go for it 4 sure. If you're like me who loves Zelda OOT, buy it! There is nothing like sitting on the subway while kids are playing their angry birds on their iphone while you sit there with your play and play Zelda or tekken 2 It's totally worth it!
everyday phone? Oh yeah! It works great!
Don't listen to that guy talking about dual core. You don't need it on a phone!! seriously, WHY would you need dual core? Everything i've tried on my play works like a charm!

jassired said:
My advice do not go for it,you have better options for the same price.even if you are into gaming do not go for it...you can wait for NGP later and get dual core mobile now like galaxy s2/sensation/optimus 2x
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, get a dual core mobile now so you can play the exact same games you can play on the Xperia Play, only with worse controls and worse battery life.
Then get an NGP later so you can carry around two devices for ultimate portability!

hairdewx said:
Yeah, get a dual core mobile now so you can play the exact same games you can play on the Xperia Play, only with worse controls and worse battery life.
Then get an NGP later so you can carry around two devices for ultimate portability!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that was exactly what i meant haaha +1

^^^ I'm being sarcastic in my last post, in case the OP didn't catch that.
I'm very happy with my Play as a gaming phone and everyday phone. My wife has a Droid 3, and there isn't much difference at all, if any, in app performance and daily phone use. I have much better battery life as well. She has a better camera Maybe eventually apps will start taking advantage of multiple cores, but it's going to be a while.
You can't play this game on a touch screen very well...

Yourmama said:
I am very hesitant in getting that phone, I've heard alot of good things and alot of bad things
I've seen specs and I've seen reviews, but I want to know people's personal opinion as they have the phone for full everyday use and not just reviewing it.
Is it worth it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is very simple. How much do you value playing both Android-native and emulated games against the rest of features in a phone? If you really want to play games in a phone, this is your device.
If you don't value playing games over dual core CPUs, slick designs, gorgeous screens and feature-rich cameras, you're not the target for this device. It has a very specific niche, which Sony Ericsson has spent millions in digging out. It's a love-it-or-hate-it product, with little middle ground.
Oh, and it has an astonishingly precise GPS.

There are bad points about this phone but show me a perfect phone.
The best 2 things about this phone are obviously the control pad for 1 and the battery life, which has amazed me so far.
The only thing that I find annoying is the lack of decent games taking advantage of what is a great phone.
But I have to say I have started using emulators and they are quality, n64oid and fpse especially.
So to sum up its a great mix up between a gaming device and a smart phone. It is let down on the development side.
It all just depends on what you want if you like gaming I dont think you will be let down in purchasing this phone
Thats my two pennies anyway
Sent from my R800i using XDA App

I have an xperia play and a few of my mates have dual core phones (SGS2, Optimus x2 e.t.c). I would not swap the Xplay for any of them.
As hairdewx has shown if you plan on playing anything with FPSE or emulators it is pointless on anything other than an xplay. The emulators alones let you play thousands of games with proper controls (makes it a 1000x better)
The speakers are the best on any phone. And the battery life is amazing to say this is a gaming device. Just using it as a normal phone it is as good as the rest.
I would recommend you get this phone. I think it will be hard for me to upgrade to a newer phone @ the end of my contract, unless it has proper gaming controls . (Xplay 2 hopefully)

Thanks guys I don't know I just might get it the only setback was the lack of an HD screen and the core issue but seems that the people who have the phone are enjoying it, I will see

Just wanted to give a perspective from someone who just bought the phone yesterday.
Waiting in the Verizon store I got the chance to mess with a few other phones. I actually played a couple games on some as well and just took an overall look. So to start lets forget the coolness of the control pad, and also that IMO playing games with motion/touch controls aside from something designed for it like Angry Birds absolutely sucks. Its why I seriously have not been into mobile gaming until now and I'm a big gamer. Just can't stand those controls.
Most of these new 4G dual core phones are huge. Seriously I was playing with one of the new 4G phones and the damn thing was like a doormat it was so big. Meanwhile the Xperia Play dimensionally is almost identical to my OG Droid, but space wise is designed better so that the 4" screen pushes to almost the edges of the device which uses space very well. Fits in my pocket WAY better than those 4G devices with a screen thats only 0.3" smaller.
Next up is speed. The OS is just as responsive on the Play as any of the 4G devices, I'm honestly not sure how much a dual core processor can help on a cellphone especially for normal every day tasks, with an OS that while multitasking, is not like a PC where you can physically have 2+ windows on screen at once. The way Android prioritizes memory, if you are using multiple apps at once, I just don't see there being a possibility of an everyday advantage. Needless to say, touch them side by side, there is NO difference in speed. Which brings me to games. I played a couple on the newer devices, they looked and played the same as on the Play, no faster, no better graphics, no nothing.
Finally would be features, ok so the camera is ok but not as good, 4G where available, is REALLY fast so thats nice as well and if you're in an area its common, and you have a need for that kind of speed, well then its something you should consider. And HDMI out, not on the Play. I personally have no use for it but if you do then theres another loss. So this comes to opinion - IMO the camera is good enough, it does the job, its a cell phone not a Canon. 4G? I live in the NY metro area basically where 4G service should be mostly available but its spotty, meanwhile WiFi is everywhere, and everywhere I'd sit and use it I have WiFi (my home, my folks house, my firehouse etc), when I travel I book hotels that have free WiFi, also my ISP provides open WiFi in many areas. Also I have no shame I use peoples open WiFi signals if I have to, so honestly I don't miss the speed there. 3G really isn't THAT bad either, however its a compromise, and I'm sure outside of this area it could be a problem for some. Then HDMI out, I bet I'd try it out for a novelty but I'd probably never use it. I have a PS3, I watch movies on my big screen from that or my PC with HDMI out.
And 2 things I've said above become an advantage for the Play, no 4G and no Dual core = better battery life.
So all in all I don't for a second regret the purchase, you get 95% of the performance of a 4G phone, with the advantage of better battery life, and the completely awesome built in control pad. If you want to game, its a no brainer.

When I saw the title of the thread I opened it to give my opinion about this phone. But when I read the previous answers, all that I wanted to say had already been said, so I gave up writing a big text because I don't have anything new to say!
Then I'll only say that it's an awesome phone, buy it without any fear, you won't regret it.

_terror_ said:
If you're like me who loves Zelda OOT, buy it! There is nothing like sitting on the subway while kids are playing their angry birds on their iphone while you sit there with your play and play Zelda or tekken 2 It's totally worth it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WTF! did you get a stable enough N64 emu (not to mention enough ram to run the rom) I have a GBA SNES NES GameGear and Genesis, but i cant find a good (preferably free at least till applanets back up) 64emu anywhere....and how are you running tekken two though all the psx emus crash cause of sony releasing this phone....oh and as long as you plan to plug the thing in everynight for like 8 hours (although 2.3.3 update fixes that a small amount if you dont game or browse or call or well pretty much emulate any sort of energy from it) than dont buy this phone really takes a commitment, i hate that i bought it then found out motorolla is releasing the droid 3(name changes between SP's) with HDMI out 1Ghz process 8mp cam rear and ii believie dont quote 3.2 front (might have been 2.3 or somewhere goin on memory of specs) THAT IS THE PHONE YOU WANT IF YOU ARE STILL LOOKING but release does depend on SP Bell got it first! havent folllowed up on it much just pisses me off that i bought a damn sony product over a 3ds.......oh and sorry if i repeated anyfacts

It is my favorite device. I just put in 2 hours of Beyond the Beyond without any awful on screen controls or bluetooth shenanigans.
Sound quality is spectacular too, as is the battery life.
The only thing that could use some improvement is the camera.
If you enjoy games more than just casually and really enjoy emulation, there is no other real option IMHO.
Sent from my R800at using Tapatalk

KronikonE said:
WTF! did you get a stable enough N64 emu (not to mention enough ram to run the rom) I have a GBA SNES NES GameGear and Genesis, but i cant find a good (preferably free at least till applanets back up) 64emu anywhere....and how are you running tekken two though all the psx emus crash cause of sony releasing this phone....oh and as long as you plan to plug the thing in everynight for like 8 hours (although 2.3.3 update fixes that a small amount if you dont game or browse or call or well pretty much emulate any sort of energy from it) than dont buy this phone really takes a commitment, i hate that i bought it then found out motorolla is releasing the droid 3(name changes between SP's) with HDMI out 1Ghz process 8mp cam rear and ii believie dont quote 3.2 front (might have been 2.3 or somewhere goin on memory of specs) THAT IS THE PHONE YOU WANT IF YOU ARE STILL LOOKING but release does depend on SP Bell got it first! havent folllowed up on it much just pisses me off that i bought a damn sony product over a 3ds.......oh and sorry if i repeated anyfacts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
N64oid v2 runs alot of roms pretty perfect now, and fpse eats tekken alive, infact i havent found one ps1 rom it dosent run pefectly

jdsemler said:
Sound quality is spectacular too, as is the battery life.
The only thing that could use some improvement is the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
K Sound Agreed, Battery however i would like to know what miracle device you are using to keep it powered cause even with the 2.3.3 update which i wont le improved battery life significantly, i dont find its able to keep up with the demand especially noticable when streaming data i.e. skyFM or TuneInRadio(awsome app by the way for a phone with no FM reciever any radio station you could imagine....from all 7 contenent...yes there is a sat radio station based in antarctica for the 12 people that are ever there at one time, sheesh im Canadian and i say no thanks to that lol sorry off topic tired and ranting), and camera is decent quality 5.0mp front is only1.2 so self portraits are a little grainy i find, but none the less i have to agreee it could use more features to the actual cam its self

AndroHero said:
N64oid v2 runs alot of roms pretty perfect now, and fpse eats tekken alive, infact i havent found one ps1 rom it dosent run pefectly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
didnt know N64oid v2 was out thanks!, and as for the ps one emu i think i might just steal whatever games they release seeing as i pretty much bought a psone in a phone seems a little redundant to download a program on top of that....just cant wait to see if they find a way to release FFVII and VIII to the phone

Just get an android phone you like
to the guy who started this thread truely you just want an android phone PERIOD with it dominating over 50% of the smart phone generation other companies are trying to figure a way to eat a piece of googles pie....ie rumors which are now apparently confimed (which i havent seen first hand knowledge) but the iPhone 5(BOOO) is set to release with BBM installed, and we all know android with get it first probably for free with some sort if ad support....its like comparing a PS3 to Xbox360 its just not necessary 360 wins in every department like android.(minus blueray but you can obvi get a cheap one of those now to make up for it)

Anyone interested
found a decent site on app creation for android....vogella.de/articles/Android/article.html
sorry bout not making it a link apparently i havent posted enough for our Naziesq forum rules

KronikonE said:
to the guy who started this thread truely you just want an android phone PERIOD with it dominating over 50% of the smart phone generation other companies are trying to figure a way to eat a piece of googles pie....ie rumors which are now apparently confimed (which i havent seen first hand knowledge) but the iPhone 5(BOOO) is set to release with BBM installed, and we all know android with get it first probably for free with some sort if ad support....its like comparing a PS3 to Xbox360 its just not necessary 360 wins in every department like android.(minus blueray but you can obvi get a cheap one of those now to make up for it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't you pissed on this guy's thread enough? Then you come into a forum with people who are obvious playstation and Sony fans and say the Xbox360 "wins in every department" which is so untrue its not even funny but I'm not getting into that flame war here.
You don't seem to like the phone much, and you don't seem to like PS much, door is to the left, go buy another phone then.

xperia play build quality

hi all,
After reading plenty of reviews and all the youtube videos, i am now so close to buying an xperia play, but just a few questions that i need clarifying..
1. whats the build quality like of the game pad?
2. are the analogue pads that bad? or it just the games?
2. anyone here that has had the xperia play for a while.. how do the buttons feel after excessive usage? still the same as when u bought it or they dont feel as good.. im the sort of person that goes a bit mad with the buttons when playing games like marvel vs capcom and as i will be keeping the phone for a very long time, i wanna make sure the phone gamepad can last as long as a normal ps3 pad!
3. how well do the games play? how they play from factory stock android and are there improvements when removing the bloatware software.. really hate that timescape crap! improvements when upgrading to 2.3.3
4. sd card? which is the best class to buy 32gb?
thanks

vegeta2007 said:
hi all,
After reading plenty of reviews and all the youtube videos, i am now so close to buying an xperia play, but just a few questions that i need clarifying..
1. whats the build quality like of the game pad?
2. are the analogue pads that bad? or it just the games?
2. anyone here that has had the xperia play for a while.. how do the buttons feel after excessive usage? still the same as when u bought it or they dont feel as good.. im the sort of person that goes a bit mad with the buttons when playing games like marvel vs capcom and as i will be keeping the phone for a very long time, i wanna make sure the phone gamepad can last as long as a normal ps3 pad!
3. how well do the games play? how they play from factory stock android and are there improvements when removing the bloatware software.. really hate that timescape crap! improvements when upgrading to 2.3.3
4. sd card? which is the best class to buy 32gb?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Mate,
First of all, I love my xperia play, really good phone and great for gaming. FPSE has made this phone for me now, massive choice of games, really cheap too as you can pick up 2nd hand psx games.
My issue with the reviews is that they compare the device to the top end stuff - SGS2, HTC sensation and Moto atrix. Its not that type of device, its all about gaming. The reviews seem to be down on the phone from the off due to the specs (low internal storage and slower than the best cpu). Anyway thats the rant...
1 (and the second 2.) Build quality - Seems a bit cheap and plastically compared to my old HTC desire and the htc sensation. However after 4 months of gaming and general use (i'm very clumsy with my phones and tend to drop them and scratch them all the time) It is still in very good nick, The plastic seems to take punishment a lot better than my old HTC. There are no visible defections and everything is working great - the game pad is still perfect and still feels new - it does pick up dirt pretty easy but I've never felt it affect the touch controls. I button mash a lot and everything feels great and still very responsive, I never feel like I need to be gentle and have gotten stressed a few times when losing a game on fifa and mashing the keys.
2. The pads are brilliant in my opinion, takes a little bit of getting used to in terms of not having any feedback when you push one way or the other. Main issue is the games - FPS has a massive lack in terms of how its controlled. Swiping is annoying but works, push to turn is good but can be too sensitive and hard to target from my experience - it will be a learning curve I'm sure.
3. The games are excellent. The ones that are optimized work smoothly and I've never had an issue with slow down apart from when the phone overheats (normally after 2+ hours or usage/gaming and whilst charging) Even then it was still usable. Some gameloft games aren't that good, its a bit annoying but most are great, its the best experience I've had on a phone, comparable to a psp/ds. Updates have made the phone better and better, then rooting and removing bloat have made it the perfect phone. Everything is instant, no waiting, much better than my HTC Desire, plus I never fill up my internal storage so I have no worried about installing other stuff
4. From what I've read its better to go for a class 6 or 4, but I've not tried a 32gb card yet. Class 10 is good for data transfer but not playing games etc. But I dont have any experience with it as of yet

1. Phone's quality and design is awesome, I love it. The gamepad is very accurate, similar to a PSP one, something you would expect from Sony.
2. It will take a week or so to get used with, after that, it's a piece of cake to play with them.
The other 2. It feels the same, it's also somehow not that fragile as it looks.
3. I have the SD card full of games => almost all HD, never lagged; I also updated to 2.3.3 and all remained the same. Timescape widget is kinda' cool, you'll see.
4. Class 4. Detailed thread about SD card for XPlay here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1129749
Edit: Ninja'd by wired84

Geeve said:
1. Phone's quality and design is awesome, I love it. The gamepad is very accurate, similar to a PSP one, something you would expect from Sony.
2. It will take a week or so to get used with, after that, it's a piece of cake to play with them.
The other 2. It feels the same, it's also somehow not that fragile as it looks.
3. I have the SD card full of games => almost all HD, never lagged; I also updated to 2.3.3 and all remained the same. Timescape widget is kinda' cool, you'll see.
4. Class 4. Detailed thread about SD card for XPlay here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1129749
Edit: Ninja'd by wired84
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, I win

My opinion of Galaxy Note

I've owned the Note for about one and a half day now, and thought I'd share my opinions which can be useful for those looking to get this phone. Feel free to ask me any questions, and if you want me to try some game(paid or free) I'll give it a shot as long as the game is worth it. I love buying games, bought like 5 new ones today .
I gotta say, I knew this was gonna be big but it turned out to be bigger than I ever imagined. It really cannot be used with a single hand without the risk of dropping it, but it feels great using it with two hands. I love it's big screen and it has a good amount of real estate for all kinds of app needs. It definitely fits comfortably in my pocket. The screen quality is great, the pixel density is enough for me to not notice any pixels and the color reproduction is great.
I was kind of disappointing with the build quality of Galaxy S, but this feels quite better. The metal casing on the edges and the rubbery back case feels really good and solid in hands, the weight is about right as well.
The S-Pen is a nice addition and it's quite accurate. Even the handwriting recognition is actually useful, it's able to recognize my handwriting fairly accurately with enough speed to be a suitable alternative for typing in. The quick memo and gestures make for a nice addition, I suck at drawing but my sister could draw a decent scenery out of it. So it's a fun addition. Other S Choice apps use the pen quite nicely and the ability to draw on screenshots and pictures is a very fun and useful addition.
I gotta say, it's not all lagless. But the lag isn't that annoying, most of the time it's during transitions. Browser is smooth on most of the websites but does redraw quite frequently on big websites, although it redraws quick. I feel that this is due to not taking advantage of the hardware properly and mostly due to software, the case which is with most Samsung's phones until they release fixes for it so I'm not too worried about that.
The hardware is amazing, it sports one of the(if not the) fastest SoC in Android world and it shows when gaming. Not only did any game I threw at it ran fine, even Tegra HD games running through Chainfire 3D looked and ran buttery smooth. Games like Shadowgun, Dungeon Defenders, Galaxy On Fire 2 THD, Samurai 2 THD had no problems.
The camera seems quite great, it is more or less like the SGS2, the video recording is quite good as well. For anyone who's curious, 1080p at superfine records at 18mbps. GPS seems good as well although I haven't tried it while driving, it did fix awfully fast(I had a fix before Maps completed the transition and was opened).
I'll keep updating this thread with new findings/experiences. I still have to try GPS properly, office use, continuous high end gaming, observe battery life, and other stuff I'm missing.
UPDATE :
Game's MSAA with Chainfire 3D comparison
Okay, you can find pictures of Shadowgun and Samurai II : Vengeance(Both THD) in my flickr set here. As the filename suggests, auto is set to automatic MSAA, 4x is 4xMSAA and 16x is 16xMSAA. I can't really see noticible improvement in both the games as the PPI is quite a lot, but I guess on tablets it can make a good difference. While 4xMSAA was not being taxing, 16xMSAA made Shadowgun and Samurai II lag quite a lot. Let me know if you guys want any more game's comparisons.
My take on Note's Audio
I tested audio with 320kbps MP3s and a pair of decent ~80$ earbuds, I'm no audiophile but I love an occasional song or so. I'd say that Note can be a decent daily MP3 player, but it's nothing out of the ordinary, the Galaxy S sounds a bit better in my opinion with same MP3 and earbuds but it's nothing earth shattering. All in all, it's a fairly nice package and unless you're very serious about top notch audio it shouldn't cause any problems.
Some S-Note demos
Thought these can be beneficial for those who are looking to buy Note for it's notemaking capabilities. Sorry for my absolutely crappy handwriting, plus I'm not very used to writing on the note.
You can view it here

I'm big on games to, how does the extra resolution look compared to the older galaxy?

Quite great, it feels much better. Plus Note is able to handle some very high end games that don't work properly on Galaxy S. Presuming the games scale well, I had some that didn't and that kinda sucked.

Could you download Zynga Poker from the market & trill me off all buttons look normal....screen scaling. I used to own a Dell Streak & some apps didn't work will with the big screen.

I'm quite interested in this device, however there are 2 major points for me, which will make me pass on this one.
1. How is that useful as a real note taking. I know I can draw stuff with it but let's say I've got to copy a half of A4 page containing text and some schematics.
Now I know it would be impossible to fit it on one s-memo page, so is there anything to create additional page and link/organize it? I don't want to look for the necessary contents longer than necessary.
2. Is it enough to serve as a MP3 player despite having infamous Yamaha DAC? I'm not audiophile and I don't want to be one, however I like to listen to music from time to time.

ronj1986 said:
Could you download Zynga Poker from the market & trill me off all buttons look normal....screen scaling. I used to own a Dell Streak & some apps didn't work will with the big screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works quite well.

Niuseek said:
I'm quite interested in this device, however there are 2 major points for me, which will make me pass on this one.
1. How is that useful as a real note taking. I know I can draw stuff with it but let's say I've got to copy a half of A4 page containing text and some schematics.
Now I know it would be impossible to fit it on one s-memo page, so is there anything to create additional page and link/organize it? I don't want to look for the necessary contents longer than necessary.
2. Is it enough to serve as a MP3 player despite having infamous Yamaha DAC? I'm not audiophile and I don't want to be one, however I like to listen to music from time to time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. It takes some getting used to, there is a bit of delay when the software actually recognizes your stroke which can be a bit annoying plus it takes a bit of practice to avoid hitting the back button. But it's accurate enough to serve as a real notepad. You can create additional pages from within the memo and it groups them together as a pile. Although they are not organizable from what I could tell. Evernote comes free with this(I think) and it may have more advanced note making capabilities.
2. From what I could tell, it's sound quality is good enough even in the loudspeaker. I'm no audiophile and I can't be one but it sounded decent enough for everyday usage.

The sound quality with the earbuds,how do you think is it?there is a thread here on this forum which doesnt seem to like it.Thats the only thing which is stoping me from getting it.
I should mention that my Galaxy tab 10.1 has a great sound quality so I dont know why shouldnt this as well.

hagba said:
The sound quality with the earbuds,how do you think is it?there is a thread here on this forum which doesnt seem to like it.Thats the only thing which is stoping me from getting it.
I should mention that my Galaxy tab 10.1 has a great sound quality so I dont know why shouldnt this as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly I haven't tried the sound via earbuds yet, I'll try it tomorrow and get back to you guys.

Dragooon123 said:
2. From what I could tell, it's sound quality is good enough even in the loudspeaker. I'm no audiophile and I can't be one but it sounded decent enough for everyday usage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I've forgot to mention that I'm interested in headphones audio quality (If you've got any). I'm looking for anything that you wouldn't expect from an average phone.

Niuseek said:
Sorry, I've forgot to mention that I'm interested in headphones audio quality (If you've got any). I'm looking for anything that you wouldn't expect from an average phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I''ll let you know soon.

Are you rooted? does 4xMSAA or 16xMSAA work on Chainfire 3d?

Yes I'm rooted and it seems to work.

Would u be so kind to post screenshots of gaming with normal, 4xMSAA, and 16xMSAA.. Like so http://www.jayceooi.com/tag/opengl/

Okay, I'll try to do that tomorrow.

I would like to ask u few questions if u dont mind : p and im sorry if some of them been asked before but im just a skeptic guy haha
1// Hows the Sound of the phone? is it Loud? Clear? Crispy/No Noise? and how bout using the headphones? u could say im an audiophile and music is a big part of my life so it matters alot to me
2// Hows The Camera? is it Better than S2 ? or at least like S2? hows the video too? The Voice Recorder? and does that lag happen alot? did it bother u for any moment? Oh and Hows the Wifi signal/ Workin on it?
Thanks!

and what about battery life?, is it true what engadget writes of 9 hours playing video??????? (http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/28/samsung-galaxy-note-review/)

Dragooon123 said:
I've owned the Note for about one and a half day now, and thought I'd share my opinions which can be useful for those looking to get this phone. Feel free to ask me any questions, and if you want me to try some game(paid or free) I'll give it a shot as long as the game is worth it. I love buying games, bought like 5 new ones today .
I gotta say, I knew this was gonna be big but it turned out to be bigger than I ever imagined. It really cannot be used with a single hand without the risk of dropping it, but it feels great using it with two hands. I love it's big screen and it has a good amount of real estate for all kinds of app needs. It definitely fits comfortably in my pocket. The screen quality is great, the pixel density is enough for me to not notice any pixels and the color reproduction is great.
I was kind of disappointing with the build quality of Galaxy S, but this feels quite better. The metal casing on the edges and the rubbery back case feels really good and solid in hands, the weight is about right as well.
The S-Pen is a nice addition and it's quite accurate. Even the handwriting recognition is actually useful, it's able to recognize my handwriting fairly accurately with enough speed to be a suitable alternative for typing in. The quick memo and gestures make for a nice addition, I suck at drawing but my sister could draw a decent scenery out of it. So it's a fun addition. Other S Choice apps use the pen quite nicely and the ability to draw on screenshots and pictures is a very fun and useful addition.
I gotta say, it's not all lagless. But the lag isn't that annoying, most of the time it's during transitions. Browser is smooth on most of the websites but does redraw quite frequently on big websites, although it redraws quick. I feel that this is due to not taking advantage of the hardware properly and mostly due to software, the case which is with most Samsung's phones until they release fixes for it so I'm not too worried about that.
The hardware is amazing, it sports one of the(if not the) fastest SoC in Android world and it shows when gaming. Not only did any game I threw at it ran fine, even Tegra HD games running through Chainfire 3D looked and ran buttery smooth. Games like Shadowgun, Dungeon Defenders, Galaxy On Fire 2 THD, Samurai 2 THD had no problems.
The camera seems quite great, it is more or less like the SGS2, the video recording is quite good as well. For anyone who's curious, 1080p at superfine records at 18mbps. GPS seems good as well although I haven't tried it while driving, it did fix awfully fast(I had a fix before Maps completed the transition and was opened).
I'll keep updating this thread with new findings/experiences. I still have to try GPS properly, office use, continuous high end gaming, observe battery life, and other stuff I'm missing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
could you please tell me how and where you got the games you mentioned in your post. According to android market they are not compatible with galaxy note. I happened to be a proud owner of galaxy note as well. I want this games. Thanks in advance.

anney said:
could you please tell me how and where you got the games you mentioned in your post. According to android market they are not compatible with galaxy note. I happened to be a proud owner of galaxy note as well. I want this games. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to root your phone first, then install chainfire 3d on your phone. If you need more information look it up on google.
Disclaimer! Rooting your phone will void your warranty.

Note got the same sound hardware like a SGSII.
So the sound is perfect....but all Samsungs got bad headphones! !!!! U need to change it for sure...
I got senheiser cx55 and it gives me perfect sound.
Best regards.

Database Users

welcome