The Sony Xperia Ion is one of two Ericsson-free handsets announced also uses a mobile version of Sony’s Bravia Engine which as the name suggests is the same system Sony uses on its Bravia line of HD televisions, – the other being the Sony Xperia S – which share a lot of similarities in specs but have differing chassis. This is Sony's first ever handset to connect to an LTE 4G network, with AT&T already announced as a carrier in the US. On top of that, it has a large 4.6-inch, 720p screen, with 1,280x720 pixels delivering an impressive visual experience.
Engine Room
The device is powered with 1.5Ghz dual core processor. The phone was zippy – swiping through tweets and going from one app to another showed no apparent lag and the jump to the Xperia Ion's camera was fast. Sony is quoting 1.5 seconds from nay to yay and we can't argue with that number.
The Display
Sony Xperia Ion was just how light it was, we expected more weight behind the smartphone given that it has agorgeous 4.6-inch screen and a wide-ish chassis to compensate for this. With a 1280 x 720p screen res, it's certainly not to be sniffed at.
Design
The device is housed in a solid (and chunky) aluminium shell.
Camera
The Ion also boasts a 12-megapixel rear camera and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera and 1080p video recording capabilities are also on the cards. That 12-megapixels isn't just a meaningless number as the snaps we took on the show floor were vibrant and very detailed. Those looking to make more use of the camera will appreciate the dedicated hardware button and a fairly quick shutter speed, too.
This speed of picture taking is backed by a 12MP sensor, which is fantastic given the phone has no real added bulk to compensate for such a large sensor size. And we like that Sony has added a dedicated camera button to the phone, which helps it stand out from the cameraphone crowd.
Software
The phone comes with Android 2.3 Gingerbread out of the box but Sony assures us that Android 4.0 will come in the Q2 of 2012. And we would rather Sony worked on making ICS compatible with all the phone's functionality rather than have a buggy smartphone from the off.
Connectivity
The phone's ports are situated on the side of the device, with a microHDMI port nestled neatly next to a microUSB port, plus a compatible dock that enables viewing on larger displays. This means users can play music, view photos and even send SMS messages using the TV, while the phone itself can also apparently be controlled using any TV remote (although we weren't able to test that claim).
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