First launched in 2008 as a range of smartphones by Sony Ericsson, Xperia handsets were likely to provide the company a foothold in what was fast becoming a hugely competitive market. However while handset designs have looked great, poor marketing, strong competition and being late to adopt Android means Sonys dent on the market has been minimal. Which is the reason why the new selection of Xperia phones an even more interesting, and crucial, launch.

Launched during the industrys flagship event, Mobile World Congress (MWC), in February, the Xperia NXT series of phones includes the Xperia S, Xperia P and Xperia U, all targeted at different ends of the market. Newly rebranded Sony Mobile, following Sonys purchase of Ericssons 50% stake, there is a renewed expectation this along with a new range of Xperia handsets will catapult the organization in to the major leagues of smartphone manufacturers.

I cant help but draw similarities between the fortunes of Sony Mobile and HTC. Both companies experienced a difficult 2011, with HTC experiencing a 26% fall in profits during quarter four and Sony Ericsson announcing losses of ?206 million for that year in full. Neither manufacturer produced handsets of any note and fell behind as both Apple and Samsungs fortunes surged. 2012 is clearly a make-or-break year for both companies and both took to MWC with the same strategy: to launch a series of three new phones targeted at different regions of the marketplace. You can read concerning the HTC One Series here.

While HTC has given each member of its One Series a different look, Sony has had the bold step of giving each handset an identical design, differentiated only through the colour of the bottom band; black for that S, silver for the P and pink for that U. Despite sharing a similar design on the exterior, you will find subtle differences between the three handsets, so lets take a look under the hood.

Sony Xperia S

The Xperia range is really a led off through the top of the line Xperia S, that is an HD smartphone sporting a 4.3-inch LED-backlist Liquid crystal display and 1280x720p resolution. This is a full 0.3″ bigger than the Xperia P and 0.8″ larger than the Xperia U. The Sony Mobile Xperia S ships with a generous 32GB of internal storage but instead disappointingly, Androids 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, however, there are plans for this to upgrade to Frozen treats Sandwich and 4.0. Its 1.5 GHz dual-core processor spec only matches HTCs One S, so it has positioned as the mid-range handset in the new series.

Camera-wise, the phone is incorporated in the premier league, having a 12MP, 4000×3000 pixels resolution and LED flash. Like the HTCs One X, its geo-tagging with face and smile detection but additionally features 3D sweep panorama and image stabilisation – its front-facing camera may be the standard 1.3MP.

Despite coming to the top-end of the range, some rather competitive Sony Xperia S deals can be purchased having a free Xperia S handset and 300 minutes, unlimited texts, 750MB of data on T-Mobile for ?17 a month over 2 yrs. Compared to HTCs flagship One X, this is a very competitive price.

Sony Xperia P

The Sony Xperia P is the mid-range handset in the series and comes with a suite of goodies to fit. Expected to be launched in the united kingdom in April, again itll ship with Androids 2.3 Gingerbread aboard powered with a dual-core 1GHz processor, however, there are intends to upgrade this to Ice Cream Sandwich.

Your camera is smaller than the Xperia S at 8MP, but is perfectly adequate for a smartphone, matching both the iPhone 4S and Samsung Samsung galaxy s II. Additionally, it has all the extra camera features that youll find on the S, so these actually push the phone in to the major leagues.

Sony Xperia U

Sony Mobile has positioned the Xperia U since its entry-level handset and is an affordable and well-appointed handset. Obtainable in black and white cases with changeable bottom caps in white, black, pink and yellow, this really is Sony Mobiles fun and funky handset in the new range.

The phone happens to be shipping with Androids 2.3 Gingerbread operating-system, although there are intends to upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich. Having a 1 GHz dual-core processor, this is actually the baby from the bunch from a performance perspective.

The main camera is stripped down 5MP with 2592x1944p resolution, though has the features youll get on the S, by having an LED flash, face and smile detection, geo-tagging, touch focus, 3D panorama sweep and image stabilisation.

With Sony being known for its audio quality, you realized strong audio technology with the Xperia range also it doesnt disappoint with 3D surround as standard.

Arriving at the bottom end from the market, you will get some fantastic Sony Xperia U deals with Mobilesplease, with a free handset and ?295 cashback on the 24 month contract on offer by Into Mobilephones currently.

Its worth noting at this time that while the Sony Xperia S can be obtained to buy in the UK, the Xperia U and Xperia P are slated for release in April 2012.

Learn how to Compare Mobile Phones or find HTC One X Deals by visiting our website: www.mobilesplease.co.uk


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