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today i had the opportunity to attend the Xperia Play launch event here in London and managed to have a play with err well the Play! so i thought i might aswell put across my first impressions of it to you guys and any potential buyers!
* take note any reference to the PSP will be based on the PSP phat, not PSP Slim or PSP Go.
first thing i noticed when i saw the phone and held it, its actually not that big or bulky at all, in-fact i think it could do with a 4.2" or 4.3" screen. but the 4" screen and the phone dimensions are pretty well balanced, its really not that big a brick at all.
now the screen. we were indoors, in a very dark area, so i cant vouch for in-direct-daylight viewing but at least indoors; the screen was crisp, sharp and clear. the brightness i thought was absolutely fine, no more or less than any other phone tbh (bar AMOLED!). that said it is no AMOLED screen, it does'nt compare, but it is definitely better than your average LCD screen, by how much? i guess that'll change from person to person.
The performance? i'm going to talk about gaming performance first. hmm this was hit and miss tbh and i will partly blame the Qualcomm/Adreno setup. i never really liked Qualcomm or Adreno chips tbh as i think they are behind the game and have been for some time, this thing could have done with something similar to a hummingbird processor or at the very least chuck in a PowerVR GPU. Asphalt 6 for me was NOT running at 60fps, there was lagg, was'nt huge tbh but it was there and if you're picky (like me) you'll notice it. same goes for the Spider Man HD game that was on the phone, no way was it running at 60fps. again it was'nt bad bad lagg, but if you're used to smooth as honey gaming, you will notice it.
on the other hand i tested Bruce Lee Dragon warrior, which i can say did run very very well and can believe the 60fps quote. also tested fifa 10 and this also worked very well.
now i have to stress, this being a demo phone every Tom, **** and Harry had their mitts onto it so i did check running services after i closed the games and there were a hell of a lot of **** running in the background, heck there were two instances of the music player open! how much of this affected the 60fps performance? i do not know, but i sure hope it did and that was the root of the lowered fps count.
the controls themselves? hmm again, for me, it was a hit and miss but i defo need more time to give a honest review on this part. the controls felt quite a fair bit different to any playstation console controller or PSP controls that i had ever used. the D-pad and X,O,Triangle,and Square have this clicky sound when pressed. guess some people will like this others wont. i found them a bit stiff to use tbh, i can see pulling off a hadouken on this d-pad will be harder than you think. it just did'nt feel the way i thought it should. the control's size seems a little smaller aswell, probably as expected to fit in such a device though. i do hope these controls do "break-in" over time and will allow you to become more fluid in their operation.
The shoulder buttons were better imo, they pressed in easy enough and were responsive. however i had some fidgety moments trying to use the face buttons and shoulder buttons together, although shifting my hand position seemed to help a bit. i guess you just need to get used to it.
And lastly the analogue touch pad thingies. to be honest i was pleasantly surprised by these! they actually work very very well IMO! in fact while i was playing FIFA and spider man HD i actually moved to the analogue touch pads out of preference (probably helped on by the stiff'ish d-pad!) and they worked like a treat! the indentations really help and you dont need to look down at all to see where your thumbs are placed. i was quite impressed by them.
well theres my mini review guys, hope it helps some of you out there to make a decision. IMO if you want a nice smartphone; look elsewhere, the galaxy S II, Motorola Atrix, LG Optimus 2X, etc would probably be much better choices. But if you want a gaming smartphone? i think you cant get better than the Xperia Play, because, come on, lets face it, you cant beat physical controls!
As for me, my Xperia Play arrives tomorrow in the post and i cant wait to chuck on some Emulator madness!
UPDATE: i've recieved my xperia play, for the record you get a 16gb class 2 card with it and they also provide you with a screen protector (not fitted).
Thanks for your review my xperia play hoping arrives tomorrow. Just depends on Royal Mail. I'll post my findings on XDA too.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Thanks for the review my xperia play will hopfully come in today if not tommorow by UPS
Will post my findings about it aswell
Although I think it will be positive to play all my childhood games again
yay! i've just received my xperia play! for the record you get a 16gb class 2 card with it and they also provide you with a screen protector (not fitted).
Can someone confirm whether the screen is plasstic?
I really wanted this phone but having a plastic screen and not glass is a deal breaker for me.
its hard to tell, becuase there seems to be a screen protector already fitted on the screen by default (ignore my previous post! had a closer look). so you cant really tell if its plastic or glass :/
so there is already a screen protector installed? no need to buy one more or evne use the one it comes with??
yh as far as i can tell there seems to be one installed, looks very well done. plus you get a spare one in the box. so alls good.
I got the phone today and ran it thought a few tests.
First of all - Beware! If you're getting the phone from the UK but are not currently in the UK, it seems Playstation Pocket is unavailable in many countries still. I am in Ireland and it's not available for me yet. I contacted support and hope it'll be enabled soon.
Let's get to the performance - Quadrant does around 1600, Linpack around 38. All in all, a little disappointing, it's about as high as the Nexus One gets. I'm pretty sure that's because it's still running a rather early build of the software. Let's see how well it'll perform with Android 2.3.3, I'm sure there's still a lot to improve.
The screen feels solid and nice, it's hard to tell if it's plastic or glass, to be honest. Feels a lot like the screen of the Nexus S. It supports a 4-point-multitouch and it works well. The Notification-LED supports all colors from red to white, the Playstation controls work really nice, but I had troubles with the analog sticks - altho I didn't really need them much. The buttons work awesome for emulators and even quite a lot of normal Android-Games, like Radiant and EVAC HD.
The browser is fast and the flash player works great. All in all, it's quite nice and it got quite some potential. Altho I miss the Notification power widget from the Touchwiz/Cyanogenmod roms
Thanks Meister!
I really want to get a Play and sell my DroidX. Problem is, I'm not sure it would be an actual upgrade. I really want dedicated controls, but benchmark scores are lower than my non-overclocked X. *sigh* what to do, what to do.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Tornlogic said:
Thanks Meister!
I really want to get a Play and sell my DroidX. Problem is, I'm not sure it would be an actual upgrade. I really want dedicated controls, but benchmark scores are lower than my non-overclocked X. *sigh* what to do, what to do.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
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I got it after the Galaxy S and for me, it really was an upgrade. Not on a hardware side, it's still in that Droid 2/X - Galaxy S/G2/DHD Range, but it's still absolutely worth it for the controls. Being able to play Zelda like that with my phone? So freakin' worth it. Aside from that, it looks really sleek and feels great. True, the screen isn't Super Amoled, but it's very good, and true, the Software still feels a little rushed but... Compared to what the Galaxy S shipped with, it's pretty amazing. And when looking back at what we where able to finally make out of the Galaxy S, I think this thing got a great future. Aside from that, the Dual Core phones still seem to be plagued by a lot of issues like battery drain, performance hickups and the like - this one is very consistent and running Zelda in an GBA Emulator for about 30 Minutes drained 3% Battery. Yes, it's not perfect, but it's pretty good, I'd say
holy **** im so on the fence but comments like yours make me want to get it now. stupid rogers not accepting orders yet.
Zub7 said:
its hard to tell, becuase there seems to be a screen protector already fitted on the screen by default (ignore my previous post! had a closer look). so you cant really tell if its plastic or glass :/
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Sounds like the shatter proof skin that se put on the x10, this would suggest that the screen is glass. The x10 screen felt very plasticky to me initially.
The xplay might still be in the running for my monies.
Tornlogic said:
Thanks Meister!
I really want to get a Play and sell my DroidX. Problem is, I'm not sure it would be an actual upgrade. I really want dedicated controls, but benchmark scores are lower than my non-overclocked X. *sigh* what to do, what to do.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
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BenchMarks don't tell the whole story, this machine is fast when playing action games. using FPSE I get 55- 60 fps sustained on Tekken 2, Tekken 3 & Gran turismo
The quadrant scores are skewed by the IO tests like the stock Galaxy S.
Techdread said:
BenchMarks don't tell the whole story, this machine is fast when playing action games. using FPSE I get 55- 60 fps sustained on Tekken 2, Tekken 3 & Gran turismo
The quadrant scores are skewed by the IO tests like the stock Galaxy S.
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Gran Turismo!?!? Did you say Gran Turismo?!? Dude if that's running smooth and controls are spot on, I'm so getting this phone.
But you're right, benchies, don't tell the whole story. How is web and flash performance? I feel on my X things are a bit sluggish. Scrolling around, its as if I'm seeing 10-15fps.
Also, is the screen readable outside on a sunny day. It is on an X, but you have to strain.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
The screen is perfectly readable in sunlight and flash content as well as websites load, scroll and play very smooth.
Niiice. Thanks so much
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Okay, after two days with playing around with it, some pro and contras.
Pro:
- Great screen! It's vibrant, bright, perfectly readable. The blacks are not as awesome as on Amoled-Displays, naturally, but it looks a lot better than normal TFTs, I'd say it's closest to the iPhone 4's IPS display.
- Great controls! The controls are awesome. It's amazing what a difference it makes to have actual buttons to press, ESPECIALLY in Emulator games. GBA, NES, SNES, Gameboy, PSOne, they all work perfectly with this thing.
- It feels good in the hand - with the game controls slided out or in, it always feels comfortable to hold. The screen is small enough to be used with one hand, but big enough to enjoy movies and games on it.
Contra:
- The software is still a little wonky. Especially the auto-brightness seems to be working only sometimes. Still, you can set the brightness manually, so it's not so bad until it's fixed. Also, the performance is still a little hit or miss sometimes. For example, while the Galaxy S has pretty consistent FPS in Quadrant, it wildly varies on this device - The DNA only has 15 FPS, while the Planets have 59. On the Galaxy S both had about 30. I'm pretty sure that's a software issue as well, tho.
- The internal Memory is quite tiny, especially with the pre-installed games. You can move most apps and games to the SDCard, which is insanely fast, really. I never noticed a difference in the speed to launch a game from SD or internal memory. However, some games, apparently especially Gameloft games, don't allow you to install them on SD Card. Hopefully, with root access, we can uninstall some of the useless apps and games to free up more space.
- The Notification LED is hard to see. It's nice it has one, but it's hard to see when the phone is on the table.
- No Notification power Widget, no Gingerbread Screenoff-Animation. I'm pretty sure those two will come once the sources and Root are released.
Very odd that a lot of reviews are complaining about the screen brightness. I'm inclined to think it's a sporadic software bug associated with the auto-brightness feature, but that might be wishful thinking!
Barguast said:
Very odd that a lot of reviews are complaining about the screen brightness. I'm inclined to think it's a sporadic software bug associated with the auto-brightness feature, but that might be wishful thinking!
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I can't really agree to those reviews. When you manually set the brightness on max, that thing is bright as all hell and perfectly readable even in direct sunlight. So the screen defiantly is able to be very bright. It's just the auto-brightness software that's wonks.
If you are considering purchasing an AT&T Atrix 4G I have to warn you that it is a very bad product for heavy touchscreen users (AKA: gamers). Why? Because the touch input is turned off if you keep your fingers pressed on the screen, on the same spot, for a long time. This is supposed to make the phone ignore permanent input from, say, a waterdrop. Which although it makes sense is so poorly implemented that makes the screen confuse your finger with a waterdrop (lol).
Unfortunately motorola's devs don't have a single clue about what gaming is about and community devs:
a) don't game;
b) don't care; or
c) don't have a clue how to fix it.
To confirm the issue try a free app called Phone Tester and run the multitouch test keeping your finger pressed, on the same spot, until the app recognizes number of touches. Takes about 15s to disable the touch input (at least on a AT&T phone).
PS: if ORANGE and BELL users can keep the fingers pressed longer than 15s without the phone disabling touch input we know it's AT&T's fault.
I didn't buy this phone just for gaming, that's why I have an xbox.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
I don't game on my Atrix anymore, though I used to before I had a Transformer to play those games on. Never once did I have a problem with the touchscreen on the Atrix playing games, holding down on the screen was never an issue, even playing nes and snes roms. The only difficulty playing games on it was the small screen and thin size which made it hard to hold and play.
Thanks for making a big deal out of nothing.
The OP's complaint is a non-issue to 99.5% of the atrix community. SPAM!
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
Non issue? Youve got to be kidding me.
I play every type of game and I'm very satisfied.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
I play a lot and havent had this issue...
Enviado desde mi Motorola™ Atrix® usando Tapatalk
You know, they came out with a phone for gamers. It's called the Sony Xperia Play.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
U guys play Guerrilla Bob? Galaxy on Fire? Anything that you have to keep your thumb up in the screen? You guys are insane if you think this isnt a problem.
I am much more interested in finding a way to be able to transmit my music via fm to my car stereo.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
I agree this is a huge problem for me as well. I'd like to see Ninja include the hack to turn this off. Maybe when CM7 finally gets ported it won't be in there. If ninja goes AOSP with the stupid raindrop detector off, I'll put it on.
There's no such problem with atrix like the one that op stated. Maybe it was there with older roms but now no such issue. People like to talk from what they see on the videos without ever touching or owning.
Atrix doesn't have a gyro for better gaming and that's it.
OP is a goofball
heh your calling us insane? I have every tegra game, its a non issue, take a finger off the screen for split second every once and a while. Mole hill, meet your mountain!!
GOF2THD is great, Bangbang racing, f**king goldeneye 64 and starfox 64 with onscreen controls works great, although my wiimote works better. N64 games are epic with or without controller, OP doesn't know what he's talking about.
Viamonte said:
U guys play Guerrilla Bob? Galaxy on Fire? Anything that you have to keep your thumb up in the screen? You guys are insane if you think this isnt a problem.
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The problem really exists and it is a fact. But it only happens when you press an area without move for ˜15 seconds. Once you get used to it, you can avoid it easily.
You can not say Atrix is a bad product just because of it. It's true that there are better products than Atrix, but it doesn't mean that Atrix sucks.
Viamonte said:
Non issue? Youve got to be kidding me.
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Games are for babies, you should of bought a DS if you wanted a toy so bad.
Well, of course for pure gaming there are much better alternatives out there (xbox, ps3, nds, etc). But it sucks that such potential enjoyment for such a powerfull device is pretty much ruined thanks to this issue.
And I'm not saying Atrix is a terrible device. It is a great device, just not for gamers. That's all. What bugs me is no one from motorola or the dev community seem to be giving much attention to this issue. Which is A VERY BIG ISSUE for gamers.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
Oh Im quite sure you're a decidedly grown man who edits Excel spreadsheets and write philosophy books on your cellphone. For the rest of us, the need to "take a finger out of the screen for a split second" every frigging 15 seconds may be very, very annoying. Or not. The fact is, the phone has this issue, and it makes 0 sense.
this only happens if you touch the screen an dont move. if youre playing a game and not moving youre kinda lame
It's a known issue, and Motorola acknowledged it a good while ago. They claimed that they would try to find a balance between the raindrop detection and gaming, though only time will tell if an official patch manages to fix it up.
As previous users have said though, if you can just get used to a release for a split second every so often it really isn't a problem.
I can't found a single game where you have to keep your fingers still more than 2 seconds!
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
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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.
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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.
Hello everyone,
I came here to ask people some advices...
I want to change my Samsung Galaxy S III for an Xperia Play as the only games i play are basically PS1 and GBA games.
I got some questions about it.
Is the Xperia Play laggy on FPSe or ePSXe ?
How is the feel of the physical gamepad, and what about the joysticks ?
Are there some batteries fitting the Xperia Play having more charge power (mAh) than the original ?
Is it easy to root and install a custom rom on it ?
Thanks in advance for the advices.
Fpse is running at full speed at 95% games ( that i play), ff7-ff9, tomb raidet,spyro... Only game that is slower is CollinMcrea rally 2
Flashing and rooting is easy with flashtool, just remember that kernel and recovery are on same partition and they are always flashed together ( as 1 file).
And important: you can't flash custom kernel if your bootloader is locked. It can be unlock, easy way on SE site, but not on all models. If you can choose, look for R800i model.
As for gamepad/touchpad, it is little smaller than psx controller, and if you don't have big ( or long) fingers, you'll be fine
Sent from my R800i using xda app-developers app
xAyla said:
1) Is the Xperia Play laggy on FPSe or ePSXe ?
2) How is the feel of the physical gamepad, and what about the joysticks ?
3) Are there some batteries fitting the Xperia Play having more charge power (mAh) than the original ?
4) Is it easy to root and install a custom rom on it ?
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1) I've always thought Xperia Play had WAY too many of it's own great titles to mess around with antiquated things from the past, but it seems to do better with PSXperia than any offbrand emulators.
2) The sign of a great gamepad is something that's functional for platformers and fighting games, and the Xperia Play's is easily better than the Nyko Playpad's, Red Samurai's and Gametel's Controller. As for the touchpads, that will vary by how well the developer of question implements it. Most games do an okay job, a lot of games utilize it in an absolutely great fashion (Shadowgun, Dead Space, Modern Combat 4, NOVA 2, Sacred Odyssey, Age of Zombies, Air Attack HD, Dead Trigger) but every once in a blue moon you find a game where the developer just didn't know what they were doing.
3) Yep, check out THIS THREAD made by my guy ozzmanj1
4) It's actually one of the easiest phones in the world to root and customize. zergRush rooting is stupidly easy, and a lot of ROMs can be drag-and-drop flashed with FlashTool.
I have this posted on thevlink that TL added just as a word of caution when looking for batteries
" Prior to buying the 2600mha battery I purchased a 1950 battery from ebay, it had the same form factor as the stock battery and I had serious issues with my phone. Phone was glitchy. Found out the battery (1950mha) was not outputting a sustained output level, it was all over the place. It was also from Hong Kong. The reason why a then purchased the 2600 was because of the positive reviews for it. Needless to say that 2600 was the best purchase I have made all year."
If you want a bigger Mha battery don't look for them in the same size as stock. Those over mha batteries tend to be inconsistent and will get very hot as that cram for juice into the tighter space. It could possible ly damage your phone if not at least give you a shortend battery life all around. Just my two cents from my experiences. Ad actually this battery is about twice as thick as stock battery but it lasts for 2 1/2 to 3 days and I think its easier to hold the gamepad, but not like it was uncomfortable to begin with. Anyways I am shutting up now. Back to your normally scheduled thread topic.
Thanks TL.
Sent from my R800at using xda premium
ozzmanj1 said:
I have this posted on thevlink that TL added just as a word of caution when looking for batteries
" Prior to buying the 2600mha battery I purchased a 1950 battery from ebay, it had the same form factor as the stock battery and I had serious issues with my phone. Phone was glitchy. Found out the battery (1950mha) was not outputting a sustained output level, it was all over the place. It was also from Hong Kong. The reason why a then purchased the 2600 was because of the positive reviews for it. Needless to say that 2600 was the best purchase I have made all year."
If you want a bigger Mha battery don't look for them in the same size as stock. Those over mha batteries tend to be inconsistent and will get very hot as that cram for juice into the tighter space. It could possible ly damage your phone if not at least give you a shortend battery life all around. Just my two cents from my experiences. Ad actually this battery is about twice as thick as stock battery but it lasts for 2 1/2 to 3 days and I think its easier to hold the gamepad, but not like it was uncomfortable to begin with. Anyways I am shutting up now. Back to your normally scheduled thread topic.
Thanks TL.
Sent from my R800at using xda premium
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Using 2430ma GOLD battery ordered from ebay using it approximately 1 year and its fine.no problems here.I can use the phone medium usage 2 days.
Sent from my R800i using xda app-developers app
I had the 3600mah battery for about 6 months on my phone (the PALY one) and would last 4 days on standard speeds and 2 days at 1.8ghz.
Bakisha said:
Fpse is running at full speed at 95% games ( that i play), ff7-ff9, tomb raidet,spyro... Only game that is slower is CollinMcrea rally 2
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Colin Mcrae 2 works at full speed on PSXperia.
Yes this phone is amazing on gaming but I'm afraid that its going to die soon as dev's are having a hard time getting android 4.2.2 running on the play which I would kill to have....so anyways if you plan on running a bunch of ROMs and longer dev support I would stick with the s3....I would love to have a s3 and would die for a s4 as I don't game much and the lack of storage really upsets me....anyways yea that's my thoughts
Sent from my Sony Ericsson xperia play™ (R800x) running slimbean 3.0 using Tapatalk 2™
The SIII is an awesome phone, but how frustrating is playing Super Mario World or Zelda DX with a touchsceen ? ...
I made a 'DIY GameKlip' and got a PS3 controller, it's the best setup to Play emulator (Maybe with Note II for the screen), but i really don't see me bringing this around.
How hard would it be to create a All-In-One High capacity battery + Sliding Gamepad door for SIII ? Would it be possible to communicate via NFC and use the extended battery to power it up ?
That would be way to hard to make. Anyway, if there was an s3 with a gamepad, i would by it when it first comes out.
[] CyberScopes []
I don't believed the s3 has NFC does it??? Anyways I believed this question would best be asked in the s3 section...I would believed that it would be hard without making a really bulky and battery consuming device
Sent from my Sony Ericsson xperia play™ (R800x) running slimbean 3.0 using Tapatalk 2™
xda got an awesome community, i'm pretty sure this is something that can be true one day.
Maybe i'm going to think this through and make a kickstarter project to make this become true.
Maybe i'll buy a S4 and make this for the S4, i was already planning to make a case/door with a microSD hub, plugging on adaptator on the phone and having 2 or 4 microSD slot on the door, all this would be bulky and not that cheap, but worthy.
Paper, pencil, Google, and let's start thinking.
You can get the Play for really cheap now, so I'd say keep the S3. The experience is completely different. The Xperia Play is old, and if you've used the S3, you WILL feel lag on the Xperia Play, unless you're completely impervious to lag/stuttering.
crazymonkey05 said:
I don't believed the s3 has NFC does it??? Anyways I believed this question would best be asked in the s3 section...I would believed that it would be hard without making a really bulky and battery consuming device
Sent from my Sony Ericsson xperia play™ (R800x) running slimbean 3.0 using Tapatalk 2™
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Yes the phone I posted this very here message from has NFC.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Same problem i have.
I don't know i replace my nexus 7 woth xperia play or not ?!
I want just that lovely joysticks and play ps1 and nds games.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
#sadegh# said:
Same problem i have.
I don't know i replace my nexus 7 woth xperia play or not ?!
I want just that lovely joysticks and play ps1 and nds games.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
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Xperia Play has an internal ps1 emulator made by sony (who clearly have ps1 sources- way past full speed) So if you were to uncap speed maybe it would get 200+ fps.
NDS Games are far, far away, even my s3 only gets them at half speed in peak speeds, don't expect the play to do better because 1 core that is just slightly above the strength of 1 s3 core but the s3 has 4 cores so only half power is used for nds emulation.
sewer56lol said:
Xperia Play has an internal ps1 emulator made by sony (who clearly have ps1 sources- way past full speed) So if you were to uncap speed maybe it would get 200+ fps.
NDS Games are far, far away, even my s3 only gets them at half speed in peak speeds, don't expect the play to do better because 1 core that is just slightly above the strength of 1 s3 core but the s3 has 4 cores so only half power is used for nds emulation.
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My nexus 10 plays some nds games pretty smoothly though it blurs because of the enlarged screen and lags on cut scenes
Sent from my Xperia Play (r800x)
abdel12345 said:
My nexus 10 plays some nds games pretty smoothly though it blurs because of the enlarged screen and lags on cut scenes
Sent from my Xperia Play (r800x)
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Well if it's dual core and has very food cpu benchmark then it is a perfect phone for nds games.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
I haven't been posting on these forums for a few months now as I got my Xperia Z and JXD S7300 so they were meeting my android needs. My XP had its original battery installed and was resigned to the drawer under my bed since then.
I have however, become bored with my Z and the battery life on it is shocking. Also, if the battery dies it takes ages to get it to come back on for some reason, some sort of hardware fault by Sony.
Anyway, long story short, I gave the Z to my missus (as she had a crappy Nokia Lumia WinMo phone) and have dug out my XP again. I installed my 3600mAh battery again and it is currently charging. It's on Atomic rom at the mo but tomorrow I will be installing the latest NXT rom, repartitioning my spare 32gb sd for link2sd and getting back to gaming heaven on the Play.
Basically I missed the ease of use with the Play. I'll still be using my JXD as 1080p gaming on my plasma tv is great but the Mali gpu is a funny one. On paper it should be faster than Adreno but games like Most wanted and RR3 are significantly laggier than they are on the Play. Jet Set Radio runs at full speed though!
Also, with devs like Catfishblues still highlighting "Xperia Play Optimized" (I just bought Hyperwave ) the Play isn't dead yet!!
Long live the Xperia Play :victory:
BensJammin said:
I haven't been posting on these forums for a few months now as I got my Xperia Z and JXD S7300 so they were meeting my android needs. My XP had its original battery installed and was resigned to the drawer under my bed since then.
I have however, become bored with my Z and the battery life on it is shocking. Also, if the battery dies it takes ages to get it to come back on for some reason, some sort of hardware fault by Sony.
Anyway, long story short, I gave the Z to my missus (as she had a crappy Nokia Lumia WinMo phone) and have dug out my XP again. I installed my 3600mAh battery again and it is currently charging. It's on Atomic rom at the mo but tomorrow I will be installing the latest NXT rom, repartitioning my spare 32gb sd for link2sd and getting back to gaming heaven on the Play.
Basically I missed the ease of use with the Play. I'll still be using my JXD as 1080p gaming on my plasma tv is great but the Mali gpu is a funny one. On paper it should be faster than Adreno but games like Most wanted and RR3 are significantly laggier than they are on the Play. Jet Set Radio runs at full speed though!
Also, with devs like Catfishblues still highlighting "Xperia Play Optimized" (I just bought Hyperwave ) the Play isn't dead yet!!
Long live the Xperia Play :victory:
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I've also just gone back to my Play after wrestling between my GS3 and iPhone 5. Just can't beat the integrated physical controls and customization of Android.
Sent from my R800i using xda app-developers app
I did exactly the same thing, but people called me crazy then.
Was using the Z along with a moga controller but the battery life was to much of a drain.
Also I had a couple of moments I did have battery life to play, but my moga ran out of battery...
Not to forget that the quad core CPU @ 1.5 Ghz did not let me emulate anything new or better.
So Iam back with the play.
Kind regards, Stefan.
I've finally ditched my Play as my daily phone, as the internal storage and general slowness when multitasking was just too much for an everyday phone. I went from the Play, to the One X, to now the One. I still pop in my sim card when I go on road trips or vacation though.. nothing beats it for emulator gaming.
dassub said:
I've finally ditched my Play as my daily phone, as the internal storage and general slowness when multitasking was just too much for an everyday phone. I went from the Play, to the One X, to now the One. I still pop in my sim card when I go on road trips or vacation though.. nothing beats it for emulator gaming.
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Internal storage on mine is not an issue with Link2Sd. I have a large collection of games installed like Asphalt 6+7, After Burner (a known memory eater), MC3, Nova 3, Most Wanted etc and I still have 220mb internal storage. Speed wise my phone is overclocked to 1.8ghz and using the interactivex governer so it hits 1.8 immediately if I try to do something. Flicking between screens, opening apps etc are pretty much exactly the same as the Xperia Z. Im not convinced by this whole "quad core is faster" business at the mo. Its like in the PC world. More cores are great for benchmarking, but if an app is only coded to use one core then the rest are redundant, meaning clock speed becomes priority. Snapdragon is pretty damn fast on its own so whereby it may be old, it still can compete.
And this isn't me going by speculation. I have an Xperia Z sitting in front of me right now and I can say that with everyday usage there is hardly a discernable difference in speed between the 2 phones. On Atomic Rom I had the homescreens etc looking exactly the same and the thing I noticed the most was how washed out the Z screen actually is, whether it has something to do with the waterproofing I dont know, but the contrast is far better on the Play.
Just my 2 pence
BensJammin said:
Internal storage on mine is not an issue with Link2Sd. I have a large collection of games installed like Asphalt 6+7, After Burner (a known memory eater), MC3, Nova 3, Most Wanted etc and I still have 220mb internal storage. Speed wise my phone is overclocked to 1.8ghz and using the interactivex governer so it hits 1.8 immediately if I try to do something. Flicking between screens, opening apps etc are pretty much exactly the same as the Xperia Z. Im not convinced by this whole "quad core is faster" business at the mo. Its like in the PC world. More cores are great for benchmarking, but if an app is only coded to use one core then the rest are redundant, meaning clock speed becomes priority. Snapdragon is pretty damn fast on its own so whereby it may be old, it still can compete.
And this isn't me going by speculation. I have an Xperia Z sitting in front of me right now and I can say that with everyday usage there is hardly a discernable difference in speed between the 2 phones. On Atomic Rom I had the homescreens etc looking exactly the same and the thing I noticed the most was how washed out the Z screen actually is, whether it has something to do with the waterproofing I dont know, but the contrast is far better on the Play.
Just my 2 pence
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Link2Sd sounds intriguing for my issues, I have a 32GB micro sd card (class 10). But don't kid yourself, the phone is super slow in daily use compared to my HTC One (and even my One X). Just taking a picture there's a half second lag, or opening the web browser. Everything on the One is instant, but Play not so much (and my Play is rooted with all bloatware removed).
dassub said:
Link2Sd sounds intriguing for my issues, I have a 32GB micro sd card (class 10). But don't kid yourself, the phone is super slow in daily use compared to my HTC One (and even my One X). Just taking a picture there's a half second lag, or opening the web browser. Everything on the One is instant, but Play not so much (and my Play is rooted with all bloatware removed).
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Honestly, overclock the crap out of the play. Makes such a difference. Had mine at 1.8ghz for ages and no issues whatsoever. If I click on the camera icon it opens in less than half a second and the only slowness taking the photo is the autofocus. My Xperia z was meant to be up there with the fastest phones and it definitely is not £300 worth faster (or whatever it costs now).
However I can fully appreciate why people are moving on from it. Im just saying that my experiences with 'better' phones have ended fruitless!
Sent from my R800i using Tapatalk 2
I've got a Galaxy S3 as my main phone, but I still keep my XP around for mobile gaming. I just installed Cola 6, which not only speeds things up, but it does things like booting into airplane mode. The XP is still one of the best emulator devices out there, by far.
hehe
Yes, xperia play is not dead