Xperia PLAY

Overview

Sony Ericsson’s 2011 Xperia PLAY combines a sliding game controller, PlayStation symbol buttons, two analogue touchpads, stereo speakers and a 4-inch FWVGA TFT. GSM/CDMA models, usable storage and RAM, and original versus later video capabilities are distinguished.

Period and variants

Xperia PLAY appears at Sony Ericsson’s pre-MWC event on 13 February 2011; the Swedish maker release is published the following day. Sony Ericsson describes it as the first PlayStation Certified smartphone and plans selected-market availability in March. On 1 April, PlayStation Blog describes a regional rollout over the next two weeks. Event, publication and regional plans do not establish one global first-sale day.

Its sliding controller provides a D-pad, PlayStation symbol buttons, L/R shoulders, Menu/Start/Select and two analogue touchpads rather than moving joysticks. Four physical Android buttons, a 4-inch FWVGA TFT and two rear stereo speakers accompany a plastic 119 × 62 × 16 mm, 175 g body. PLAY does not inherit arc’s Mobile BRAVIA Engine or Exmor R camera specifications.

The GSM design is the main hardware reference: a 1 GHz Scorpion, Qualcomm MSM8255, Adreno 205, nominal 512 MB RAM and initial Android 2.3. The white paper’s up to 400 MB phone memory and the review’s roughly 380 MB usable storage describe user space; roughly 400 MB available RAM is a different figure. MicroSD supports up to 32 GB. R800i and R800a/R800at have separate HSPA bands, while R800x uses CDMA/EVDO. A carrier’s 4G wording does not establish LTE, and the GSM chipset is not automatically assigned to CDMA.

The original GSM video test records WVGA at 30 fps, and the August white paper still lists 480p. GSMArena’s camera page dates a stereo-audio update on 3 August and a later 720p/continuous-autofocus update on 25 October. These are review update dates rather than simultaneous firmware delivery to every market. Rear autofocus, LED, VGA front camera and controller-X shutter operation are recorded separately. Historical PSone content and optimized Android games do not imply compatibility with all PSP software; the official blog also identifies a different French preload. Both real photographs show Verizon-branded PLAY hardware. The captions retain this identification while radio and chipset specifications remain scoped to documented variants.

Sources

• GSMArena — original eyewitness Sony Ericsson pre-MWC event, 13 February 2011
• Sony Ericsson — original Xperia PLAY announcement, published 14 February 2011
• Sony Ericsson — Xperia PLAY white paper, August 2011 version 8
• PlayStation Blog — Adam Grant introduces Xperia PLAY, 1 April 2011
• GSMArena — original Xperia PLAY review introduction, 20 April 2011
• GSMArena — original Xperia PLAY hardware and controller inspection
• GSMArena — original Xperia PLAY controls and rear-cover inspection
• GSMArena — original Xperia PLAY camera tests and dated video updates
• PhoneArena — Daniel Petrov’s own Xperia PLAY review

Image credits

Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY Verizon-branded handset with its game controller open — Evan-Amos, Public domain; source file unchanged by this archive.

Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY Verizon-branded handset front with its controller closed — Evan-Amos, Public domain; source file unchanged by this archive.

Optimized display images on this page have been proportionally resized (maximum dimension 1600 px) and compressed to WebP, without cropping or retouching. Statements above about unchanged files refer to the preserved collected originals; attribution, sources and original licenses still apply. Originals: 1, 2.

Images collected from the Internet.