Database Users

[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- Worried about the hardware being outdated before it even hit the shelves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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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...
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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
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or maybe you guys just have chubby sausage fingers?

reading so many bad reviews

so i been keeping up with reviews with this phone
http://www.businessinsider.com/xperia-play-review-2011-6
i see nothing but bad reviews for this phone =/ people are saying this phone is weak and handhelds that are out now are more powerful..... i dont see how the psp has a 333mhz cpu 64mb of ram and the ds 133mhz cpu with 16mb of ram
i dont see how this phone is not powerful compared to these? i really like this phone alot better then my epic 4g, ya the screen was pretty but now i dont really noticed it anymore as im use to the play screen, and the speed of my epic was only fast because it was rooted with all bloat ware removed and had CIQ and everything else removed for speed

the reviewers dont like it because there are dual core tegra units out already and this phone is a single core snapdragon with an adreno gpu, sure its not as powerful as the new phones coming out but its plenty enough for the games being thrown at it and to handle psone titles.
i honestly dont care what the reviewers say, i love this phone, its very fast and does everything i need in a nice way, its way better than my old iphone 3g, i love the gamepad, the touch surface takes a while to get used to but its decent as opposed to having to smudge my screen with my fingers

I don't know if you're asking a question or anything, but my Play runs faster than my DInc2 review unit and MUCH better/faster than my Fascinate. I think many people are mad that it didn't come with future-proof dual-cores or even 4G. But as a regular phone with basically stock Gingerbread on Verizon, it runs great and outperforms any phones I've reviewed or owned. The only real slowdown you might notice is multi-tasking, but for me it's really only been on low battery plus lots of apps/games running in the background. Sure, they skipped over any extraordinary features besides the controller, but that's why you get this phone really and it is solidly constructed and plays very well.
That being said, I would love root and custom roms/kernels to make this a beast.

That website likes to bash sony, not going to take him seriously. He should be able comparing the gaming experience between phones.. Not the psp... That's what this was made for... Play some first person shooters not Maiden... And then come to all negative conclusions. Never read a more biased review in my life.
It can play all the games coming out right now... Mainstream is not dual core yet... How many computer games require quad i7s, just because it's out and exists, doesnt mean you need it right away.
Sent from my R800a using XDA App

i mean i wish they waited and put at least the 1.2ghz cpu in or the 220 adreno gpu but oh well it has the power to play ps1 games and if sony really wants to make money code psp games to this and throw in some PSN access

Almost all my ifriends who have seen this phone love it.
I love this phone.
Games run fine.
Why play a game on a powerhouse when you still have to comtrol it by touchscreen?
Touchscreen controls are the worst thing to happen to most games. (except angry birds )
If you want a gaming phone, buy this. If you dont want a gaming phone, buy something else.
If sexplay 2 is out when my 2 year contract is up i will easily upgradeg to it. Dont think i could ever go back to a touchscreen only phone now.

Even engadget is suggesting a xperia play 2 indirectly
Sent from my R800i using XDA Premium App

Most reviewers don't focus on what this phone is, I've seen a website compare it to a 3DS it's not trying to revolutionise hand held gaming.
It's a mobile phone with a gaming controller and I love it.
Sent from my R800i using XDA Premium App

If you enjoy game playing, then this is the sickest thing in the world, so they can all shutup

The bad reviews should not be surprising at all. The Xperia Play is a phone for a pretty niche market even for handheld gaming. Android games are nothing to write home about in terms of quality (please don't mention Gameloft games... I think they're horrible for the most part).
The real boon of this phone has been emulators and the battery life. Coming from a Galaxy S where I had to make sure to not use the screen too often or it wouldn't make it through the day, the Play is amazing. Emulators speak for themselves. In my time commuting I've completed Chrono Trigger, Super Metroid, a few Mario games, and Zelda Minish Cap. Every single one of these is head and shoulders above every single Android title on the market right now.

Deoxlar said:
Never read a more biased review in my life.
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You should check out anything Sony on IGN. Talk about biased.

I have to agree with some comments on here, the phone is aimed at a pretty niche market and there are more powerful phones already out.
However, I can say that I played a good amount of Android games before and on the Xperia Play I can say you can actually play those games accurately. I don't know how people can struggle with on screen game pads for emulators or even regular games, I never bothered to download any emulators on my previous phone because I knew it wouldn't be enjoyable. The only game I ever completed was Angry Birds because of the basic controls, anything that needed accuracy was impossible.
Anyone that has seen me playing my phone always asks what phone it is. Even non-gaming coworkers are intrigued by it.

This PLAY is awesome.. but unfortunately, i got a defective one.. Only can enjoy games with emu's, and can not update it to 2.3.3 firmware, also can not enjoy gameloft games or any other HD games as it would crash the android OS till the touch screen, power button, wifi, bluetooth, gamepad touch, sdcard not function if i play those games for too long. Have to remove battery to make PLAY works normal again.
Luckily, firmware 2.3.2 (UK version) still makes a bit friendship with my PLAY.. although the android OS crash after playing gameloft or hd games for too long, the touch screen would still work so that i could reboot my PLAY using quickboot app (thanks to deoxlar for recommending the app to solve my removing battery issue after the OS crash)

To be honest I have not seen even one positive review about the Play, the reviewers seem far too concerned about the latest dual core devices even though the Play runs every current game and app the same and thats not even including the gamepad that defines the Play.
It's like none of the reviewers have ever played a game on a mobile device ever, amazing how bad some of those reviewers are, how they got jobs I will never know.
And yeah, the Play is by far the best gaming phone out there thanks to the game pad, no other phone comes close, as a phone it lacks a few features and the hardware may seem a bit dated compared to the very latest phones on the market but make no mistake, this is a fantastic mobile gaming device.
Just a shame SE totally failed at advertising and securing some "must have" games for the device.

Reviews I've seen by gamers love the phone. Those that aren't gamers don't like it because it doesn't come with some word printed on the spec sheet. I've yet to see any performance problems so I'm personally glad it doesn't waste battery life for performance I can't see. But I gave up having to have the latest buzz word item right away many years ago.
In the same way that the handhelds haven't replaced my consoles and the same way the consoles haven't replace my computer, the Play isn't replacing the handelds. The Play certainly replaced my phone and I will never willingly go back to a phone without a game pad on it.
As for the comparisons to the handhelds, why would somebody think I'd carry my 3DS or PSP with me wherever I go like I do with my phone? Who are these people that do this or think this is reasonable?

Screw that son of a hamburger(his name is else hamburger lol )
I am an LG optimus and HTC hd 7 user and im really happy with this phone
Sent from my R800i using XDA Premium App

Sigh, most people who have reviewed this phone review it with the crappy pre-installed games. I have hardly played the pre-installed games to busy with emulators and now Samurai II: Vengeance (friggin awesome game ).
I could care less if the hardware feels dated or is not "dual-core" since every game ive tried on the xplay has played extremely well (apart from some Fpse games) but once the xplay gets overclocked (or even if it is not overclocked) im guessing most games for the next two years the xplay will still be better than the touch screen alternatives.

I guess the best reviews are the ones made from people who own the phone. And from what I read on this forum in other place, people are, generally, extremely satisfied. I have one, too and I'm happy as well!
These reviewers say "wait for PS Vita or buy a 3DS". That doesn't make much sense, since I won't carry on my pocket any of these devices, and my phone I carry everywhere I go.

I mainly agree with Clyzm, the bad reviews come because it is a niche product. It destroys any other phone for emulating games, but non-gaming reviewers will not attend to that; it has surprisingly good rear camera and GPS performance, but a reviewer won't spend much time with those features, and the most important thing, its price is outrageous through official channels. In Spain it costs €650 out of contract (ca. $1000). Its brother, the Arc, costs €540; a Samsung Galaxy S II costs €580 and a HTC Sensation fetches €600 (and it's selling way less than the SGS II).
I researched quite a bit and found mine cheap (€400) on eBay Germany: your average consumer is less likely to research as much. If I had paid a thousand bucks for this phone, it'd be already back in the store. This phone does deliver a very good performance where it should: but it lacks a lot of oomph to command such high prices.

Logseman said:
I mainly agree with Clyzm, the bad reviews come because it is a niche product. It destroys any other phone for emulating games, but non-gaming reviewers will not attend to that; it has surprisingly good rear camera and GPS performance, but a reviewer won't spend much time with those features, and the most important thing, its price is outrageous through official channels. In Spain it costs €650 out of contract (ca. $1000). Its brother, the Arc, costs €540; a Samsung Galaxy S II costs €580 and a HTC Sensation fetches €600 (and it's selling way less than the SGS II).
I researched quite a bit and found mine cheap (€400) on eBay Germany: your average consumer is less likely to research as much. If I had paid a thousand bucks for this phone, it'd be already back in the store. This phone does deliver a very good performance where it should: but it lacks a lot of oomph to command such high prices.
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near $1k over there is crazy, you guys are getting the shaft in europe, you can get an unlocked one for around $550 on ebay, i got mine for around $100 on contract but it would have been around $600 if i got one without a contract

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.
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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.
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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

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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?
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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....
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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.
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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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
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.

Anybody else feel like they have a dead phone?

Just like the title says guys, does anybody else feel like this thing in my hand died a long time ago? And to have a physical controller built in isn't enough to keep me on board maybe for alot of the simple minded folks out there but this xplay literally died once something better came my way. Opinions? I know there are haters out there so bring it!
Sent from my R800i using xda app-developers app

Re: Anybody weeks feel like they have a dead phone?
thatsupnow said:
Just like the title says guys, does anybody else feel like this thing in my hand died a long time ago? And to have a physical controller built in isn't enough to keep me on board maybe for alot of the simple minded folks out there but this xplay literally died once something better came my way. Opinions? I know there are haters out there so bring it!
Sent from my R800i using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, you're just spoiling for a fight. Perhaps you'd find one if your post made sense?
Sent from my R800x using xda premium

Re: Anybody weeks feel like they have a dead phone?
It make plenty sense buddy I've just grown up and gotten tired of the slow laggy unresponsive way behind the times that is the xperia play. Maybe you should wake up also. And to the people who are hoping, wishing, dying for an xperia play 2, you really need to give your head a shake and snap out of that dream your locked into cause it won't happen
Sent from the scary door....

Exactly the opposite for me... but then again my experience with the Xperia Play hasn't really left a lot to be desired.
First of all, there's a bit of irony here that kinda makes me grin... and it's that you're a huge part of the reason I've been getting nothing but flawless performance out of my Xperia Play. Do you remember being the creator of this topic? All since you posted that, I've been using, re-using and referring people to that particular ROM because it gave me level of consistent smooth function that can be described as nothing less than 'perfect'. Sure it's not Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean or whichever bundle of already-existing abilities that people decide to call new for whichever fad update people go wild over... but since these android updates are generally repackaged abilities that any owner of >2.1 Android can get, there's not much reason for me to sacrifice the polished stability of my GB build for anything else. Don't need to upgrade to ICS/JB for notification toggles, because we can already get something that includes far more customization than anything ICS/JB's stock options offer (LINK). Don't need JB's Project Butter because the performance was already silky smooth... we can the look of ICS/JB (LINK), we can get the data monitoring/data management of ICS/JB (LINK), the camera (LINK) and gallery (LINK) of ICS/JB, and even the power management (LINK)... all without ICS/JB.
The idea that this phone *died* because of slow-ness, lag or unresponsiveness always sounds odd to me because my Xperia Play hasn't really ever been slow or unresponsive. Like you though, I was always open to the idea of something better... which is why I reached out to more powerful phones like the Atrix, Evo 3D and Galaxy S3 - thinking that a paired PS3 controller or MOGA would give me a superior experience. Know what happened? The Atrix pretty much self-destructed, the Evo 3D's gaming worth ended up being a trainwreck with loads of games sacrificed the moment it was upgraded to ICS and the situation for GS3 gaming ended up being a frustrating mess. First off, having to pair the MOGA to it alone turns what should be quick and seamless into a chore - and that holds true regardless of whether we go through the MOGA App itself or the "alleged" universal IME. If the quotation didn't make it clear, there's a lot about the universal IME I dislike.
On paper, that should be the clear-cut killer app that totally makes the Xperia Play obsolete... yet it does everything but. It'll make the MOGA ideal for emulators, but by far and large - the appeal of the Xperia Play has been that it's so good at present-generation gaming that it doesn't need to piggyback yester-decade's antiquated games. Not only is the universal IME a ***** to set up, but there's so much sacrificed when trying to pretend the MOGA+uIME replaces Xperia Play. The lack of a d-pad automatically compromises it's practicality for many games where analog locomotion feels weird, and if we want the MOGA Controller that does have a d-pad, we'd be sacrificing portability even more than the existing MOGA (which is easily the bulk of two Xperia Plays even before a phone is put into it)... but for the sake of getting into just how horribly off it is to say MOGA > Xperia Play, let's pretend it isn't automatically on a lower level because of it's cumbersomeness.
Just as an example, let's cite Eternal Legacy. Eternal Legacy is natively a touch-only game that got a special edition for Xperia Play that makes it completely optimized... and by complete; I mean the physical gamepad can be used to manipulate the entire game from menu navigation, map navigation and combat. While it would seem like an RPG should be okay for a touch-screen, having physical controls is still much more precise and much faster way to perform multi-menu operations... so a gamepad is definitely the superior option. First of all, finding a working version of the damn game for the GS3 is annoying in itself... and since it was only truly prime with Xperia Play's gamepad, we have to resort to the only half-ass usable MOGA+uIME+GameKeyboard (or JC6) combination which requires tons of setup, and outputs an experience that's only half-workable (it really only works for field navigation... nothing else). We can plug any phone of any specs into that equation and get the same result, and plug many different games into that equation to also find games in high masses that are only half-playable.
If you see where this is going, you see that I just stepped up to the most well-known of the "steroid phones" and actually ended up making sacrifices... and for what? Fluidity? My Xperia Play experience has already been smooth... and on a stock ROM. We could revive the note that I'm a heavy supporter of GameKeyboard (which also delivers the same sense of half-playability to native touch games)... but Xperia Play's already got over 450 Android titles stacked under it's belt with the count still growing... so it's not only the most heavily supported physical gaming solution, but it's software support is very much so alive... and as the person who's taken on the tooth-gritting (often overwhelming) task of databasing Xperia Play's software releases, I can say from a very strong stance that it's support hasn't faltered.
From here, we could cite the Xperia Play's low internal memory... and to that I'd note how that's become a non-issue with MiniTool Partition and Link2SD. With that combination, I've amassed over 340 installs and I still have 85.4% of my phone storage free.
From here, we could note that Xperia Play's only rocking half a gig of RAM and a single-core processor with it's only real saving grace being an (outdated) Adreno GPU... yet we can have our minds blown as we see beefier phones like the Atrix struggling to run N.O.V.A. 3 as well as the Xperia Play does.
Of course there's stronger phones out there, but I've already got the prime for gaming. MOGA's doing quite well in it's own right and I love to see it getting out of the "only good for emulating old-ass games" category that so many other BT controllers tend to quickly fall into... but it doesn't compare to or replace the Xperia Play at all.
Another thing worth mentioning is just how far it's evolved. Look at any of the old reviews for Xperia Play, and we find that a lot of the original complaints aren't even valid anymore. It records in HD now, the prior complaints of auto-dimming have been handled, and while everyone loved to complain about the lack of integration into Sony's official gaming ecosystem - look at how quiet they've become now that it's been resolved.
Honestly, what puzzles me is exactly what one would be doing to get their Xperia Play to a point of being sluggish, slow or unresponsive. When people see my videos, I'm consistently bombarded with questions about what magic tweaks/kernels/whatnot I used to get my Xperia Play so smooth... and the answer's always the same... nothing. It's a simple stock ROM that I debloated through Root Explorer, paired with a carefully-chosen launcher that's optimal for fluidity and battery life... and it's been VERY smooth, fast and responsive.
Xperia Play's definitely not in the limelight, nor is it burning up the media... and from that it's easy to perceive that the Xperia Play's dead, but for anyone in the know... it's software support and fanbase are still stronger than any other physical gaming medium in the entire world of smartphones. This is why all my stronger phones have been sold or given away so that I can go back to my Xperia Play. No point in having a dual/quad core with as much memory as a desktop computer when my phone's already eating up any software I throw at it with ease.

Re: Anybody weeks feel like they have a dead phone?
Woww.. Just woww..
Regards,
Sdojoin

It's the best gaming phone and multiple-use device by far.
I've recently upgraded to an HTC One X for my daily use phone because it's faster for everyday tasks, but I keep my Xperia Play close by at all times, switching sims if necessary, because it's just so good for gaming.

Re: Anybody weeks feel like they have a dead phone?
I would Luke to add to TL's comment that I too have had the chance to play with (for about 2 days each) a GS3 and an HTC one x and yes they are sweet devices in their own right. But when push came to shove I bought a unlocked xperia play r800at. And have absolutely no regrets. Especially now that I am on or will be in three weeks a GSM phone, all these choices of roms. I've had a pre opus phone two years ago where I used a gamepad overlay for the phone hardware keyboard and sold it on a heartbeat to buy the Verizon xperia play. There too.... no regrets, except thy it's CDMA. But that's a other story. All in all I feel the play is the best multipurpose phone/gaming device out there. Yes its hardware is dated but that hasn't stopped of from still getting game dev love. And lets not even talk about the thousands of roms for emulators. Especially if you have the emus that have been modded to show up in the game launcher.
On a side note. TL what launcher you use on your phone ? I use an older version of go launcher before it became memory hungry. And my phone is super smooth and fast.
Sent from my R800x using xda premium

How many games don't run fluidly on the XPLAY? From what I have installed, none!! TDKR used to lag a bit, but now my phone runs at 1.8ghz it is smooth as silk!!
I have seen a lot of posts recently with people lambasting the XP saying something like their 10.1" tablet + PS3 dualshock is miles better etc, but these people seem to be missing the point of the XP. Portability!!
For example. If I go shopping with the missus, guaranteed she will go into a clothes shop, where she will spend at least an hour. Before I got my XP, I would be bored within 20 mins, get grumpy, start moaning about my feet, then she would get grumpy and we wouldnt talk for the rest of the day.
Now I have the XP, I merely find a seat, bust out Asphalt, Most Wanted, Mini Motor Racing or one of the other great games I have and wait for her to finish. I'm happy, shes happy, we have a good night!!
My point is that it isnt practical to carry a tablet and PS3 controller everywhere with you, and it would look pretty weird sitting in a shop using that combination anyway!! The phone is always there and always ready.

To each their own...
It all come's down to personal preference. I prefer Android gaming on my Galaxy Nexus or Kyros tablet with a Dualshock 3 and the Sixaxis app, but that doesn't mean i don't like my R800x or that the phone has some sort of "problem" or considered "DEAD". In fact I never had a problem with my R800x and it run's like a champ. There's ton's of great game's that are xp optimized, plenty of custom ROM's, and some awesome theme's. My son love's it and use's it all the time.

Re: Anybody weeks feel like they have a dead phone?
BensJammin said:
How many games don't run fluidly on the XPLAY? From what I have installed, none!! TDKR used to lag a bit, but now my phone runs at 1.8ghz it is smooth as silk!!
I have seen a lot of posts recently with people lambasting the XP saying something like their 10.1" tablet + PS3 dualshock is miles better etc, but these people seem to be missing the point of the XP. Portability!!
For example. If I go shopping with the missus, guaranteed she will go into a clothes shop, where she will spend at least an hour. Before I got my XP, I would be bored within 20 mins, get grumpy, start moaning about my feet, then she would get grumpy and we wouldnt talk for the rest of the day.
Now I have the XP, I merely find a seat, bust out Asphalt, Most Wanted, Mini Motor Racing or one of the other great games I have and wait for her to finish. I'm happy, shes happy, we have a good night!!
My point is that it isnt practical to carry a tablet and PS3 controller everywhere with you, and it would look pretty weird sitting in a shop using that combination anyway!! The phone is always there and always ready.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is so true
My xplay is a saviour in all the clothes shops or waiting outside a dressing room as she takes about a hour in on shop it crazy
Sent from my R800i using xda app-developers app

Whenever someone say this should go to the HD2 forum and say it to get flamed.
Also my brother have an iPhone5, but I got an R800 for him and the first he said was: COOL!

Re: Anybody weeks feel like they have a dead phone?
I feel like I should get rid of it, but then I just can't. I love this phone.
Sent from my R800i using XDA Premium HD app

Re: Anybody weeks feel like they have a dead phone?
TLR owned the OP sooooo bad.
I agree to every word he says.
+1 to you TLR.
/==(CyberScopes)==\

I don't think anyone can just knock the OP's post. Without some level of manual software installation or modding, the Play is not flawless. I can vouch for this and it's actually the reason my brother got rid of it once his contract expired. You shouldn't have to modify or custom install anything for your device to run smooth. Sure, stock GB is good, but it is not perfect or flawless like some are claiming. The PLAY is a fun and enjoyable gaming device, but its performance is not superb, it's tolerable. I do not think TLR's or some of these other guys' opinions are applicable to 100% Pure stock Xperia PLAY. One thing that pissed me off when I was pure stock was the internal memory running out. Come on guys and/or gals, stop practicing fanboyism and call a spade a spade.
In regards to the OP saying they're looking for something better. If you still wanna give Sony a second chance, check out the Xperia Z. It's between that and the yet to be announced Galaxy S4 for me. Both have pretty high price tags though if you're buying them unlocked.

Well said TLR and ozzmanj1
Without repeating the flawless statements they have already made , :good: to you guys, right on point!
Is the Xperia Play dead? Do XPlay owners need to grow up and move on? No and No, Im 26 and just got an R800at , ditching Verizon and went to Tmobile. I never found my Play to be slow , sluggish or un responsive. Im running a rooted stock debloated rom with holo launcher and I couldn't be happier, it does everything I need and then some (still to this day) and if were ever in discussion about "you have to root and debloat the XPLay to use it" I honestly root and debloat every android device I own, my entire family uses Droid branded androids and I rooted/debloated all of those as well. Rooted = Liberated !
The developer community here is strong, their are some great minds working on stuff for this device still. Cheers to all of them !
I just also built my 20yr old sister an XPlay and she loves it, she took it over the SG3 for the pure gaming factor (smart choice, especially since SG4 is in the works you would be a fool to buy a SG3 now, and of course I built it for her for free) and I even built one for my 7yr old nephew one, I of course removed and possibilities to make phone calls or text and its not in service, he is just gaming away on it. Hands down, the Xperia Play is a great device and I for one and damn happily to own / use it.

Re: Anybody weeks feel like they have a dead phone?
Whilst I'm not disagreeing with you (the xperia play is not a great phone in stock form, too much bloatware, Sony's stupid habit of low storage on every phone etc) I have to say that it does come into its own when modded, even just rooted. The thing is that most phones feel redundant after 6 months or so now and it seems to be a trend. Apple know it, which is why they release an iPhone every 6 month's. The difference is that some people with buy the new, others will mod the old and make it new again. When I had my iPhone 3g years back it was made redundant early on but after jailbreaking it did multitasking, background wallpapers, folders, everything apple said it couldn't!
The thing is that this is xda developers and the main use for this forum is modifying their phones so if someone criticises then it is obvious that other people will tell them to mod.
Talking of criticism, I have been on this forum for years modding various phones, but have never seen so many people criticising a single handset as they do the XP. It's such a shame as for me it is what I have wanted for so long, something that my N-Gage years ago never managed!!
Sent from my R800i using xda app-developers app

well, my first dissapointment was Gameloft games. Standard GL games like 9mm and shadow guardian run on low graphic while galaxy s get the normal version.

I still can't find in any way a good use for a phone with multi-cores, honestly. Faster with everyday use? Come on! As if you use your phone for cement mixing! The Xperia PLAY is just enough for my business and work needs. As for gaming, TOUCHSREEN GAMING SUCKS BALLS BIG TIME. Oh, get an external controller? Hell, no! I won't be lugging that around! I'd rather buy a gaming desktop rig with all that money spent on a high-end device and an external controller.

narflynn619 said:
I still can't find in any way a good use for a phone with multi-cores, honestly. Faster with everyday use? Come on! As if you use your phone for cement mixing! The Xperia PLAY is just enough for my business and work needs. As for gaming, TOUCHSREEN GAMING SUCKS BALLS BIG TIME. Oh, get an external controller? Hell, no! I won't be lugging that around! I'd rather buy a gaming desktop rig with all that money spent on a high-end device and an external controller.
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I couldn't agree with this more ! :good:

Justinchi said:
I don't think anyone can just knock the OP's post. Without some level of manual software installation or modding, the Play is not flawless. .... It's between that and the yet to be announced Galaxy S4 for me. Both have pretty high price tags though if you're buying them unlocked.
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You are comparing a 2 years old phone, one with single core old CPU technology against a newer gen quadcore device with highend GPU and 5 times the amount of ram.