Database Users

[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
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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!
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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!
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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
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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.
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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
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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)
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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.

why this huge price-cut?

this is starting to get absurd.
At first i thought that it was just Expansys who went crazy and lowered the price THAT much, i figured they made a mistake ordering hundreds of the device and couldn't sell them so had to resort to drop to ridiculous prices or whatever the heck can happen when an (non)internet shop make mistakes.
But now it's like 3-4 other internet shops are going for more or less that price, never heard before of a 500 euro smartphone sold by so many shops at less than half price like this.
Nothing just happen without a reason, there's always at last 1 reason why this phone got his price slashed like this, and thinking about it, ok it didn't sold THAT much but it had some kind of a cult following... and being honest, this handset has practically the same hardware as the Arc, beside the exmor-whatever camera, but not only that, just check at whatever other android phone of more or less 200 euros, the Play clearly is way, way better than them...
Again, i wonder what's the meaning behind this insane price cut.
I'm currently an X10 user and i love it, but being a huge retro-gaming geek, i'm selling it for 180 euros (and friends of mine says it's cheap) and bought a 240 euro Xperia play waiting for it to arrive (damned expansys delayed shipping to next week).
Hope i did the right thing and this SEXplay will not crumble and turn into dust in the first 5 days of usage or sad things like that.

i don't know but i bought my phone May this year for 5000HKD (around 650USD) and now that it is released in my country they sell it for around 450USD at Sony Ericsson concept shops. i don't know the reason for the very low price but heck isn't that great?
i still go for the reason that it didn't sell well that's why they're selling it for a very low price.. besides, they need consumers to buy it fast because of the imminent release of the PlayStation Suite which will further increase their sales..

Well, most of the good games are just boring Gameloft ports.
The SexPlay is a great phone, with basically zero exclusive software support for it.
If you buy this phone for anything else other than emulation, you are basically wasting your time imho.

Like you did?
dsswoosh said:
Well, most of the good games are just boring Gameloft ports.
The SexPlay is a great phone, with basically zero exclusive software support for it.
If you buy this phone for anything else other than emulation, you are basically wasting your time imho.
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I used the XDA App to post this, what did you use?

Cat_On_Droid said:
Like you did?
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I didnt buy it for anything else other than emulation whilst being bored at work. (I use it as my main phone too ofc).
The free EA games are boring imo. As are most Gameloft games. The only other game i REALLY enjoy is the online texas poker.
The DPad is really nice to use whilst browsing the internet. The analog joysticks are not for me, i personally dont enjoy using them.
The reason why im mostly disapointed with the SexPlay is because there is no MAME emulator that has working save states. Without save states, mame is useless to me at work.
So yea, i have had a good time with the SexPlay, but im now of the opinion that i wont be buying another game phone. Especially not now that i have just bought a brand new laptop and can play proper mame at work on a nice big 17.5 inch screen with my xbox control pad.
I do wish the SexPlay continued success though, its just that it has outlived my pocket and i am eagerly awaiting my next phone upgrade. Glad that i only got an 18 month contract because it runs out in less than a year now.
Ive also had lots of prpoblems with my SexPlay -
1) Poor signal
2) No data signal
3) Volume button fell out
4) Back button doesnt work properly
5) Right shoulder button gone loose
6) Touchscreen goes dowhaddle whack crazy at times
7) Accelerometer doesnt work properly, steers to the left all the time
8) Compass doesnt work properly
And above all........I found out here in Britain we have a network called GiffGaff that runs off the O2 network, and for £10 / month on a PAYG deal you get TRULY unlimited data at "H" speeds.
I bought this simcard to see how it performs, and lets just say i have used close to 50gig this month leaving torrents downloading on my phone...............(wished id never even bought a contract, GiffGaff prices are probably the best in the World).

For me, poor signal and dead signal were cured in 2.3.4 update.
I agree with you xplay is limited, but it was my first smartphone and my expectations were dead low.
I used the XDA App to post this, what did you use?

Apparently there is going to be a Playstation store available for all ps certified devices. And they decided to drop the price so they could make a killing on apps i'm guessing

dsswoosh said:
Well, most of the good games are just boring Gameloft ports.
The SexPlay is a great phone, with basically zero exclusive software support for it.
If you buy this phone for anything else other than emulation, you are basically wasting your time imho.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean until the Playstation Suite launches. I'm quite excited about how that's going to change things. Main reason I decided to go for the XPlay. That and the promise of more PS1 and possibly PSP titles on the way. But the future is looking good for the Xplay if the PS Suite does what Sony says it will.
There's also plenty of good non-gameloft games on the market that have been optimised for the XPlay already.

Am I the only one who likes Xperia PLAY for Xperia PLAY games?
I love my classics, and like to be a nostalgia drunken at times... but for the most part, playing something that actually takes advantage of the hardware (especially that big, beautiful 854x480 screen) is much more appealing than some game I've already played that will either be dis-proportioned, or letterboxed.

i dont know but i dont enjoy emulation at all..

TLRtheory said:
Am I the only one who likes Xperia PLAY for Xperia PLAY games?
I love my classics, and like to be a nostalgia drunken at times... but for the most part, playing something that actually takes advantage of the hardware (especially that big, beautiful 854x480 screen) is much more appealing than some game I've already played that will either be dis-proportioned, or letterboxed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love a lot of the exclusive games but the analog stick control is such a miserable experience for me....regular market apps like pew pew respond better for me
Sent from my R800x using XDA App

VZW Online FREE
Cat_On_Droid said:
For me, poor signal and dead signal were cured in 2.3.4 update.
I agree with you xplay is limited, but it was my first smartphone and my expectations were dead low.
I used the XDA App to post this, what did you use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am thinking of getting this as an early upgrade for one of my lines.
If it comes with 2.3.4 installed allready, will I be able to root it?
I just got a DInc II and rooted it the Friday before the 2.3.4 update was forcefeeding around.
LUCKY.
This looks like a great emulator unit.
I hope this price sticks....

These price cuts make me a bit sad like.
I mean, I knew it would come...but it is kinda soon.
I paid £280 for my XPlay, now I can get it for between £180-£200 from very reputable dealers.
Sad.
That being said...yeah, the phone isn't perfect but I do love it.
I like the occasional 'new' game but most are really shallow (looking at you GameLoft), so I stick with what I got the phone for...the thousands of game available emulated.
Emulation has always been and always be my favourite thing, that's why this phone is perfect for me despite the obvious flaws.

agree with the bulk of you.
The only reason i'm getting this phone is because of emulation.
Hell i never ever even took a look at the gameloft or any other android game out there... i think i just played angry birds twice in my life.
I currently have an X10 and i absolutely love it, don't give a crap about dual core or stuff like that, my x10 goes fast and does everything i need it for; except for one thing, that is emulation.
I'd be the happiest person alive to have everything i had with my X10 plus a solid pad and the chance to pop it up any time and delight myself with some good-ol' super mario world
Right now there's another thing that concernes me about the play, dsswoosh was talking about buttons blowing in pieces or malfunctioning... that would suck. One thing i loved about my X10 are the marvelous hardware buttons (hate the softouch ones), that after almost a year of abuse they still work like new..

cac2us said:
I am thinking of getting this as an early upgrade for one of my lines.
If it comes with 2.3.4 installed allready, will I be able to root it?
I just got a DInc II and rooted it the Friday before the 2.3.4 update was forcefeeding around.
LUCKY.
This looks like a great emulator unit.
I hope this price sticks....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=17808767#post17808767

That this phone's strength lies in how well it can emulate anything below Dreamcast is undeniable. I bought it for 400 euro five months ago, now I could buy it for 220 or so... But the loads and loads of games that I've been able to revive and enjoy, and the fun of tinkering around with a new piece of kit (I've been lucky to have been helpful for some devs here), are just priceless.

pelly_jelly said:
Right now there's another thing that concernes me about the play, dsswoosh was talking about buttons blowing in pieces or malfunctioning... that would suck. One thing i loved about my X10 are the marvelous hardware buttons (hate the softouch ones), that after almost a year of abuse they still work like new..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) The volume button fell out, but i fixed it with a dab of solvent cement. Other people have reported it falling out aswell.
2) The back button has a fault where when you press it, sometimes it activates, 2 or 3 or even 4 times. This can be highly annoying. If you have 4 tabs opened in a browser and it activates 4 times, they all shut down and the browser exits
The O button can be used as back, so its not a gamebreaker, jut annoying.
3) My right shoulder button has lost springiness and sags a bit. Again, not a gamebreaker, just annoying.
The actual game buttons all work great and are solid after months of use.

TLRtheory said:
Am I the only one who likes Xperia PLAY for Xperia PLAY games?
I love my classics, and like to be a nostalgia drunken at times... but for the most part, playing something that actually takes advantage of the hardware (especially that big, beautiful 854x480 screen) is much more appealing than some game I've already played that will either be dis-proportioned, or letterboxed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup! I hardly play any retro games on my Play, too busy with modern xperia play optimized games!

For me, its all about emulation. Look at the options before the play : wiz gp2x / canoo : the linex devices that had piecemeal developer support and were a touch complicated to configure/set up. OpenPandora, great if you can wait 1.5 years for delivery, but a bit bulky. <-- I actually received mine about 1 week before the play arrived, now it sits collection dust as I have everything running better on the Xplay.

i traded in my xperia neo for a play,2months ago,been happy so far with the device although i must also admit that the signal handover is total crap..if it goes from 3g to edge it does have 2 seconds of "no service",when you are in a call,the call is dropped..other devices have a much smoother handover,but that was the same with xperia neo..my old iPhone 3g never dropped the signal when it changed the frequencies..
and the price cut i think its just because the play is a niche product,there are far too many people that would love to have a xperia play but consider themself "too old" or too "serious" to carry around a phone with handheld controls( or even the girlfriend says:lol what do you want with this toyphone.-) i hope that this playstation suite has something to offer because all this gameloft clone games and the rest,meh,nothing for me personally with two exceptions:hyperlight is great and reckless getaway
as far as it comes to gaming,i`m a retro gamer,i play only the oldschool games,mainly NEO GEO,i do love the CAVE vertical shooters but theres the problem there are too small on the play because when you switch it to TATE mode,you cant control with the gamepad,when you leave it landscape its too small,so thats a pity..but thats the reason i still keep an old CRT monitor.-)
when i was 12 years old,everyone got a SNES.a friend called me,he was some real anime and manga addict and got a NEO GEO out of an import store,he called me:hey come over,i got a new gaming system etc..i was blasted by the detailed sprites,the huge characters but i thought:"hey thats cool but i`ll stick to my SNES" but after that afternoon seeing the neo geo in action by a friend,i came home playing my loved SNES and thought:**** that,that`s just horrible graphics,i need that NEO GEO thing,it was literally no fun anymore to play SNES.so i traded in my snes with 40games for a neo geo with two games -robo army and sengoku2 .-) later i traded in the neo geo with 6 games for a japanese ps1,14days after it was released in japan..
..and everything that comes after ps1 isn`t exciting to me,in my opinion we are now in the worst decade of gaming ever:arcade is dead-touch gaming took it over,tiny dumb games with "accelerated controls" "movements" or even whole consoles like the Wii,xbox kinect,ps move,all this garbage..and it`s all about the "story" nowadays(who cares,these games are like a book,once you played it theres no point in playing them again,that`s why these ridiculous trophies and gamescore was invented..)or graphics(never liked 3d so much as 2d only exception was the ps1 because it was fresh but i felt after getting a ps2 years later that 3d is just not the way i love games).
and for playing these old games which need a console,a tv and a huge ass controller(neo geo arcade stick anyone?) on a phone in my pocket,everywhere,everytime is just priceless for me,the phone aspect is "soso" but when it comes to gaming,the play just rocks for retro lovers
i think with the price cut many people will buy it as a handheld only..basically its a steal and a no brainer for everyone who is into retro gaming,sure i can hookup a controller to my laptop but theres no way i would do that in spare 30minutes of time or in a train .-) with the xperia play its just slide open,press play,much faster and it`s so great to see all this games on a smaller display they look right,they feel right and they play right even 15-20years later..

Huge indecision

Hi everyone! I'm going to buy a new smartphone...and now i'm considering the xperia play.
There are only a few things that make me vacillate...
1)I love installing custom roms and the hacking in general...I see that there are only few rom and there isn't a MIUI rom >_<
2)1.6,it seems to be very fat >_<
3)playing ps1 games must drain a lot of battery >_<
I would really like to buy this phone but expecially the second point make me stop >_<
can someone help me deciding?
I love the hw,the 4" screen is perfect for me and playing games with hw buttons...

At first I thought it was a fatty as well. I came from an O2X.
But it isn't. Its just not 'superthin'. Do I want a super slim light phone that feels like a plastic toy? Nope.
Its all relative to what you think so go down to a shop, pick it up, put it in your pocket (with the store owners consent of course ) and see.
But I doubt after buying you would worry about it.

there is a MIUI port.

Camera quality?720p recording?

BurningKoala said:
Camera quality?720p recording?
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Camera quality is better than my x10 was which had an 8.1 mp camera. Video quality is 720p, again much smoother than my x10 video 720p.

If you like gaming on your phone then get it.

if you don't like gaming then get the xperia ray. When I play games it does use a lot of the battery on my play so if you don't play games a lot don't get this fone. I love the play and love gaming.
Sent from my R800i using xda premium

how much hours of gaming can i get with a full battery?

You will have to charge it every night
Think it only take about an hour though.
Cant comment of how many hours of gaming from full to dead, everyone would have different results due to customizations on thier phones.
The bottom line is though if you dont buy it and game on your phone, you will regret not buying it. Those guys who are destroying everyone in online game are play owners

swebosdev said:
You will have to charge it every night
Think it only take about an hour though.
Cant comment of how many hours of gaming from full to dead, everyone would have different results due to customizations on thier phones.
The bottom line is though if you dont buy it and game on your phone, you will regret not buying it. Those guys who are destroying everyone in online game are play owners
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Click to collapse
But i would buy play only for play n64/ps1 games i don't like all android games xD

get yourself PES2012, EA and Gameloft HD games, you will love itu

N64 alone is a great reason to buy it, you say you dont like android games and i understand that. I didnt either till i got my play. Now i enjoy great gaming, great gps, great camera, great internet, the list go's on and on. Had it since may and im still loving it.
Not to mention mame, snes, etc etc

I've tested my battery several times, you can get about 5.5 hours of just straight gaming (that's with data turned off). That's quite a while if you ask me. If you're not gaming, or very lightly gaming, the phone will last a couple days without needing a charge.

i have a 2600mah battery (15 euro on ebay) and ik can play 9 hours of gaming with data on!

Erikwithafro said:
I've tested my battery several times, you can get about 5.5 hours of just straight gaming (that's with data turned off). That's quite a while if you ask me. If you're not gaming, or very lightly gaming, the phone will last a couple days without needing a charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto. Played F1 97 on fpse for about 3 hours on a train and used about 50% of my battery
brought to you by the XDA app on my badass Android toy

I personally love it. I was sceptical about the size at first, i came from the Optimus S (alot smaller), but the Play feels really comfortable in my hand, it doesnt feel fragile. As far as ROMS go, if you have the GSM model, you should be ok with flashing custom ROMs, if you have the CDMA model your pretty much screwed. I play the games from the xplay, and i use OnLive. I have a few PSX games, but i dont play them on my Play, i cant stand the graphics on old PS1 games on a device capable of so much more... lol

Not all the hype
The Xperia play has alot of hype from fanboys
Sure the specs of the phone are fast but the construction is sub-par
it's not made by SCEA but rather Ericsson and the thing is mostly plastic
after the first oh 500 sildes of the screen it will start getting play/travel from side to side.
I have a brand new one to and I've had a used one from ebay. they both showed signs of the slider wearing out and showing play after 500 or more slides
the whole thing is plasticly and it really shows on the "chrome" fake parts that are just painted to look like metal.
if you scratch them at all they stand out like a sore thumb as being fake.
Now the positives its cool for gaming
the controls definitely are a neat thing to tinker with so if you like to tinker then thats cool.
Onto my recommendation.
We have 2 droid X phones 1 was brand new 1 was used and we bought a badly abused one from ebay so i've seen them in every condition
the facts are the droid X is one of the strongest smart phones I've seen
the case is REAL METAL. even the battery cover. and it's Rubberized
so you know it's going to be durable.
The screen is Gorilla Glass nearly unbreakable especially with a thick screen protector installed.
The processor is speedy and so is the ram. it will be able to play almost every game the Xperia can. Ive tested it on alot of stuff
Customization with ROMS:
quite simply a ton of them exist and people are making more every day.
even tho the phone has a locked bootloader that has helped it in the long run because all the developers started working on new roms that were based on the stock one but HIGHLY modified. and so now tons of flavors exist. it's very good scene and community.
I came from droid X community before this one and they are way more active in terms of development. I blame that on the fact the Xperia has way to many versions
The discrepancy in versions makes development a pain in the ass for the Xperia PLay because so many versions of it exists
you got the
R800x
R800i
R800a
and each one is different
mostly the developer only work on the R800i because that is the international version
so ya its reallly up to you
just use your judgement on this one
oh you could look into the droid X-2, it uses dual core processor and it's much improved

You cant compare this phone to one that doesnt have a gamepad, it doesnt make any sense.
People who do that are the ones who shouldnt even have bought it in the first place. They are not gamers.
Gamers buy this, we didnt buy a phone that had a gamepad on it, we bought a gamepad that has a phone on it.
The gamepad is the reason you buy an xperia play, if you dont see it that way then you will be happier buying something else.

Has XPlay bombed?

How many here think the XPlay has been a flop? I look at the list of XPlay optimized games, and I don't that much high quality console like games for it...at least any that I really REALLY I to play...

No
Maybe the Xperia Play has not done too well in terms of good quality games released on the Games for Playstation or any other Xperia Play optimized games but it still has its pros. It's perfect for a guy like me who loves to play NES and SNES games with emulators or even PSOne games on FPSe.

neverwinter said:
How many here think the XPlay has been a flop? I look at the list of XPlay optimized games, and I don't that much high quality console like games for it...at least any that I really REALLY I to play...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blablabla "Xplay with one year old = Xplay is a fail, is ****, is horrible".
If you get a Samsung Galaxy S3 you will find the same games but with some better graphics. And you will have to play using the touchscreen. xD
I'm tired of all people that thought that the Xplay is some kind of console. The Xplay is a normal Android mobile, with gaming controls to play more confortably the same games for another normal Android mobiles. END. It wasn't going to have exclusive games made only for it and it will never have them. So now you know what it really is, has it really been a fail? It has tons of games compatible with its physical controls (few phones have this preferent treatment). Stop just seeing the dark side of all!
If you want high quality console games and a phone then glue your desired mobile phone to a Playstation Vita or a Nintendo 3DS.
Oh, and learn to enjoy what you buy. People is begining to think it's normal to throw away their smartphones (and other similar devices) after one year (or less!) of use just because they are tired of them. That's an enormous waste of resources.

Miles Wolf said:
Blablabla "Xplay with one year old = Xplay is a fail, is ****, is horrible".
If you get a Samsung Galaxy S3 you will find the same games but with some better graphics. And you will have to play using the touchscreen. xD
I'm tired of all people that thought that the Xplay is some kind of console. The Xplay is a normal Android mobile, with gaming controls to play more confortably the same games for another normal Android mobiles. END. It wasn't going to have exclusive games made only for it and it will never have them. So now you know what it really is, has it really been a fail? It has tons of games compatible with its physical controls (few phones have this preferent treatment). Stop just seeing the dark side of all!
If you want high quality console games and a phone then glue your desired mobile phone to a Playstation Vita or a Nintendo 3DS.
Oh, and learn to enjoy what you buy. People is begining to think it's normal to throw away their smartphones (and other similar devices) after one year (or less!) of use just because they are tired of them. That's an enormous waste of resources.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said
Oh and one more thing I just wanna thank Sony Ericsson for making the Xperia Play cause this is the only smartphone out there that has a physical gamepad unless of course if in the future HTC or Sony come out with something.
But for now I can boast that I have smartphone with a gamepad !

sufy1000 said:
Well said
Oh and one more thing I just wanna thank Sony Ericsson for making the Xperia Play cause this is the only smartphone out there that has a physical gamepad unless of course if in the future HTC or Sony come out with something.
But for now I can boast that I have smartphone with a gamepad !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although HTC said it will no longer be making slider phones, I doubt they will make a new Play
Sony seems to be running out of design ideas, so I hope they see the Play as a new opportunity to get back into the playing field. Xperia Ion looks like its going to bomb 10x harder than the Play ever would.
If Sony/Microsoft can create another good Gaming Phone, I would love to purchase it.

Leraeniesh said:
Although HTC said it will no longer be making slider phones, I doubt they will make a new Play
Sony seems to be running out of design ideas, so I hope they see the Play as a new opportunity to get back into the playing field. Xperia Ion looks like its going to bomb 10x harder than the Play ever would.
If Sony/Microsoft can create another good Gaming Phone, I would love to purchase it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah but a new gaming smartphone looks a million miles away unfortunately.

Miles Wolf said:
Blablabla "Xplay with one year old = Xplay is a fail, is ****, is horrible".
If you get a Samsung Galaxy S3 you will find the same games but with some better graphics. And you will have to play using the touchscreen. xD
I'm tired of all people that thought that the Xplay is some kind of console. The Xplay is a normal Android mobile, with gaming controls to play more confortably the same games for another normal Android mobiles. END. It wasn't going to have exclusive games made only for it and it will never have them. So now you know what it really is, has it really been a fail? It has tons of games compatible with its physical controls (few phones have this preferent treatment). Stop just seeing the dark side of all!
If you want high quality console games and a phone then glue your desired mobile phone to a Playstation Vita or a Nintendo 3DS.
Oh, and learn to enjoy what you buy. People is begining to think it's normal to throw away their smartphones (and other similar devices) after one year (or less!) of use just because they are tired of them. That's an enormous waste of resources.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your post is completely wrong. The device was supposed to be a gaming device. They promised us the PlayStation store and lots of PS titles but we never got them. Also if it wasn't supposed to be a gaming device then why did they even waste their money and time on a gamepad for the device. A device with PlayStation controls is a gaming device. Personally I like my play. Many games are out for it and are play optimized. So people saying there aren't many games for it need to search a little more. There is tons. And I haven't found another device with better sound than the play. Those stereo speaker have such a clear sound to it and have amazing bass. All other devices sound like they are being played underwater or sound like they are being played through a tin can. Yes SE scammed us all by not giving us what they said they would. And also the play had many games threat were play exclusives like minecraft and a few games from THD devices. If Sony were to keep up and give us what they said they were then maybe the device would've done better. If they brought more ps titles out then yes it would've done well even with outdated hardware which to me doesn't bother me in the slightest as there are very very very few games or apps that need a quad core with 1gig of ram. It's a phone not a laptop or pc. The Play is what you make of it. And mine is good as like what I have got. ICS not being given does not bother me in the slightest as ICS isn't all that great anyway. It lags because it's a RAM hog. And it's a juice drinker. GB runs better and uses less power as it isn't constantly trying to sort background processes out etc.....
Anyways that's my two cents or should I say two dollars
Sent from my LT18i using xda premium

God damn to many aspiring writer's on here. It's a first generation phone the one and only with physical pads. I'm thirty and hopefully will live another fifty years and ya its done. Technology is moving fast. Oh my God there will never be another phone with game pads. Look further into the future and not just a year or two ahead. I can't wait. Hopefully I can get a new liver in twenty because I drank my away.
Sent from my R800x using XDA

Commercially, I'd say so. But for those ill-concerned with sales, Xperia Play brings a LOT to the table that'll make the sales-counters stop caring. You can find other physical controller solutions out there for other smartphones, but they don't really do much aside from let you play emulators with buttons. That's good for classic games, but we're in a modern era.
Xperia Play's the absolute best smartphone gaming option for people who want MORE than classic gaming. Yeah, it's good for emulators... but you can beat dead horses with a PSP, GP32, OpenPandora, Dingoo A320, JXD S7100, Yinlips YDPG18 or any smartphone on this planet that has bluetooth... Xperia Play's about the only one that's good for people who don't just want to beat dead horses... but rather want to take advantage of that 854x480 screen and modern day improvements in game mechanics.
And when we insert that factor, no other gaming phone allows us to play MODERN games like Dead Space, Sonic 4, Shadowgun, King of Fighters, N.O.V.A. 3 and the like as well as Xperia Play does... they'll, at best, have under 50 "general d-pad compatibility" titles under their belt, but not a single one of them has hundreds of games relieved from lame-ass touch controls like Xperia Play does.
...and as crazy as it sounds, my fresh, revolutionary, beautiful Vita is getting monumentally less playtime than my Xperia Play. So yeah... might not be doing hot in sales, but as far as software support goes... I don't see this locomotive stopping any time soon.

TLRtheory said:
Commercially, I'd say so. But for those ill-concerned with sales, Xperia Play brings a LOT to the table that'll make the sales-counters stop caring. You can find other physical controller solutions out there for other smartphones, but they don't really do much aside from let you play emulators with buttons. That's good for classic games, but we're in a modern era.
Xperia Play's the absolute best smartphone gaming option for people who want MORE than classic gaming. Yeah, it's good for emulators... but you can beat dead horses with a PSP, GP32, OpenPandora, Dingoo A320, JXD S7100, Yinlips YDPG18 or any smartphone on this planet that has bluetooth... Xperia Play's about the only one that's good for people who don't just want to beat dead horses... but rather want to take advantage of that 854x480 screen and modern day improvements in game mechanics.
And when we insert that factor, no other gaming phone allows us to play MODERN games like Dead Space, Sonic 4, Shadowgun, King of Fighters, N.O.V.A. 3 and the like as well as Xperia Play does... they'll, at best, have under 50 "general d-pad compatibility" titles under their belt, but not a single one of them has hundreds of games relieved from lame-ass touch controls like Xperia Play does.
...and as crazy as it sounds, my fresh, revolutionary, beautiful Vita is getting monumentally less playtime than my Xperia Play. So yeah... might not be doing hot in sales, but as far as software support goes... I don't see this locomotive stopping any time soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amen, well said. I absolutely love my Xperia PLAY. Yeah it doesnt have the top of the line specs but who cares. This things rocks. I hate touchscreen controls. Absolutely hate them. However on my phone......awesome. Love it. Nuff said. Appreciate what you have and enjoy it.

Only God knows where the next PLAY, or PLAY-like device will come from. It could be Nintendo of all people, I mean they really don't have anything to lose. Either way, the PLAY, in my mind is falling short due to the fact that you can now use wireless gamepads on their tablets or phones, the PLAYs lack of HDMI compatibility, and other unnecessary features like HD sound, although HDMI should have been added to non-dev phones. So in other words the plays capabilities can be achieved by buying some additional accessories. So, unfortunately, I doubt that Sony alone will attempt to develop a PLAY 2, unless it turns into a last resort, as it is obviously not their biggest concern. I would try to keep som hope though.
I do agree that the play is the most supported phone when it comes to games like N.O.V.A., but as time passes, the hw gets a little more outdated, and after so long android 5.0 will come along, and gb will more or less be phased out by developers. Aside from that, it definitely rocks, especially when people look and ask "Woah, what is that?". Makes my day.
Sent from my PD_Novel using xda premium

Leraeniesh said:
Although HTC said it will no longer be making slider phones, I doubt they will make a new Play
Sony seems to be running out of design ideas, so I hope they see the Play as a new opportunity to get back into the playing field. Xperia Ion looks like its going to bomb 10x harder than the Play ever would.
If Sony/Microsoft can create another good Gaming Phone, I would love to purchase it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was hoping HTC and Sony might possibly collaborate, but I hadn't heard about their slider discontinuation. Hopefully, they'll make an exception. Samsung wouldn't be bad either, but I doubt they have any interest in such things.
Sent from my PD_Novel using xda premium

IanPPK said:
I was hoping HTC and Sony might possibly collaborate, but I hadn't heard about their slider discontinuation. Hopefully, they'll make an exception. Samsung wouldn't be bad either, but I doubt they have any interest in such things.
Sent from my PD_Novel using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.smartkeitai.com/microsoft-windows-phone-patent-with-interchangeable-keyboard-gamepad/
Microsoft could be our best hope

i'm still hoping to have new xperia play (( mybe by other name : xperia PSP , psp phone ... ))
i'm wondering , there is so many eager people that count the days and crossing finger for next (high-end) gameing phone , but sony still haven't plan on that .
i'm really in love with my beautiful xperia play , but i will it could be possible to change the CPU and RAM , like desktop , couse today , it's really out of date( H/W )

Portable emu.
On live.
Best in class GPS
Awesome android smartphone
720p camera and video
Game pad.
Low price in 2012
Who can ask for anything more?
Psp games? Who gives a crap because I sure don't.
Haters who own one there are few and mostly just forum trolls. How's your HDMI mehdi?
Hater who don't have one. Just jelly I got one and you don't. Oh look another head shot, ya man that's a play owner.

Xperia Play is now an outdated phone. New games doesnot seem to support play because it has an old gpu and only a single core cpu.
I think sony should come up with a new "XPERIA PLAY 2" which should have a 4.8" 720p HD screen, 1.5GB RAM, 1.6GHz Quad-Core CPU and TEGRA 3 GPU. It will be a beast, even better than PS vita...!!!!
P.s: I dont know why you people hate touch screen gaming. I love it. I reached "Rank 70 with more than 6000 kills" at modern combat 3 multiplayer" within only a month on my S2...!
Sent from my GT-i9100 equipped with Grenade Launcher and Remote Explosives

DD-Ripper said:
Xperia Play is now an outdated phone. New games doesnot seem to support play because it has an old gpu and only a single core cpu.
I think sony should come up with a new "XPERIA PLAY 2" which should have a 4.8" 720p HD screen, 1.5GB RAM, 1.6GHz Quad-Core CPU and TEGRA 3 GPU. It will be a beast, even better than PS vita...!!!!
P.s: I dont know why you people hate touch screen gaming. I love it. I reached "Rank 70 with more than 6000 kills" at modern combat 3 multiplayer" within only a month on my S2...!
Sent from my GT-i9100 equipped with Grenade Launcher and Remote Explosives
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We hate touch screen gaming cause we are all gamers and need physical buttons !

i love the play.
it would have been perfect for me if it had launched with 1giga Rams and at least 2gb storage.
I'm kinda over the low RAM and will most likely upgrade to the hayabusa when it becomes available.

If Microsoft made a gaming phone..... It would dominate and blow away all competitors, even phones like the S3. But they don't even have a foot in the handheld battlefield YET. So it's probably not gonna happen for a long time. Xplay is cool and yeah people get bored of it quite easily. But I look at it as the stepping stone for much greater things ahead. Just hope I'll be alive and not have crazy arthritis or something to be able to enjoy it. Our kids are gonna have some crazy high tech stuff when we're all old and they'll take our places in these forums lol.

sufy1000 said:
We hate touch screen gaming cause we are all gamers and need physical buttons !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then why you people buy touchscreen phones??
Whats wrong with qwerty keypad phones..? They have physical buttons.!
Sent from my GT-i9100 equipped with Grenade Launcher and Remote Explosives

Xperia Play Alternative? Not Even Close!

So i was just browsing around and apparently XOLO is releasing a new gaming phone. At first i was excited cause the name was "XOLO Play" and i don't know about you guys but that very sounded familiar. So yeah with my heart full of hope and my head full of dreams i clicked on the link, and thats when i got angry. NO PHYSICAL CONTROLS!!!!!!! Come on now, just cause you call it a gaming phone doesn't make it a gaming phone, and if you are going to call it a gaming (no physical controls) phone at least give is some out of this world sick specs. These don't even compare to the latest phones let alone make it a genuine gaming phone. Compare this to the HTC ONE, Sony Xperia Z, or the Samsung GS4 and it pretty much nothing.
Are you guys feeling the same way about these so called "Gaming Phones"?
http://www.techtree.com/content/news/4114/xolo-play-nvidia-tegra-3-smartphone-launching.html
XPERIA PLAY 2 WHERE ARE YOU?

yeah it's a pity
i would use my old nokia and buy a gcw zero handheld instead of buying a high-tech phone when my play dies. just bought the play for emulation on the go.
it's my new n-gage (had both of them ) as it should be - just a lot more fragile

i'll buy that on first day , if that has physical gamepad.
but how ! how a phone can serve to gamers without pgysical game pad ????!!1
suerly , without gamepad , xperia ZU is much better that it ....
where is xoeria play 2

I think there will be no Xperia play. Sony decided to join that race for fast and thinner handset, there no room for chunky gaming phone for nerds
But seriously, if not Sony there will be other manufacturer. When you look how games develop on Google Play market. I know majority of people play Angry birds, Candy crush saga etc. so they don't need pad to play. But from other side you got games like MC, NOVA or even DH, that games played smearing your fingers on screen seems wrong and these games need proper gamepad.
Btw. found this on YT, interesting concept:

at the moment i don't think there is a profitable market for aaa console class games. since android seriously has to deal with piracy and every dev seem to push the price even lower. it came so far that newer games have to use in app purchases to get the development costs back in.
a market could be created however. when some bin manufactures decide to do real gaming devices like a psp vita.
or we need something like steam on android where the consumer base is already there (linux gaming is coming because of this - so will the 3d drivers for linux be improved over time because the market is there).
there are actually a few android gaming devices (especially in china). also the new handheld from nvidia is based on android. i wouldn't say there won't be any real gaming phone in the future.

I believe there will never be another phone with gaming controls built in. As far as buying a regular phone to game on, you can't beat an inexpensive Nexus 4. There's lots of them used up for sale. With a Snapdragon S4 Pro quadcore and 2Gb of ram, it really is a gaming powerhouse. You can't get anything close to that price.

bartmw said:
I think there will be no Xperia play. Sony decided to join that race for fast and thinner handset, there no room for chunky gaming phone for nerds
But seriously, if not Sony there will be other manufacturer. When you look how games develop on Google Play market. I know majority of people play Angry birds, Candy crush saga etc. so they don't need pad to play. But from other side you got games like MC, NOVA or even DH, that games played smearing your fingers on screen seems wrong and these games need proper gamepad.
Btw. found this on YT, interesting concept:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
konstruktor said:
at the moment i don't think there is a profitable market for aaa console class games. since android seriously has to deal with piracy and every dev seem to push the price even lower. it came so far that newer games have to use in app purchases to get the development costs back in.
a market could be created however. when some bin manufactures decide to do real gaming devices like a psp vita.
or we need something like steam on android where the consumer base is already there (linux gaming is coming because of this - so will the 3d drivers for linux be improved over time because the market is there).
there are actually a few android gaming devices (especially in china). also the new handheld from nvidia is based on android. i wouldn't say there won't be any real gaming phone in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting video but a few thinks wrong no L/R triggers and no joystick/touchpads also its windows but still interesting.
Yeah there are ALOT of android gaming devices but we want a android gaming phone.
Also the xperia play 2 could be thin if if they wanted too. That would also make the phone slightly uncomfortable though, but thats the good thing about android customization and variety it fat phones just down right sicken you then go get a different phone, but i want gaming controls so a fat phone sounds fine to me.

.......................

I'm so confused...
How can they label that a 'Gaming' smartphone? Specifications of other smartphones far surpass that of the XOLO Play and considering it lacks any form of hardware controller it is no different to every other phone that is released at the moment.
Not to mention the 12 core ULV GPU is seriously crap in the Tegra 3. It's not much better than the Adreno 205 in my opinion. CPU is great though...

They got peoples attention lol

I think i'll keep my money for something else

konstruktor said:
yeah it's a pity
i would use my old nokia and buy a gcw zero handheld instead of buying a high-tech phone when my play dies. just bought the play for emulation on the go.
it's my new n-gage (had both of them ) as it should be - just a lot more fragile
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, had both N-gages as well.
Sent from my R800i using xda app-developers app