Sony Ericsson Xperia neo Pro Reviews

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo is a nice little handset that deserves to be a success. It is perhaps a tad overpriced currently, though - so keep an eye out for a price drop.

The Xperia Neo has much of the cool technology sported by Sony Ericsson’s top-notch Xperia Arc but at a fraction of the price. It’s not as slim, but if you can put up with the bulk, it’s really a bit of a bargain.

So, how worthy is the Xperia Neo? That all depends on how you plan to use it. If you look to a smartphone as a relatively basic, all-in-one communication tool, and you do a lot of old-fashioned stuff with it (like phoning people) then you'll find a lot to like about the Neo. The price is attractive, as is the fact that you don't have to worry too much about scratching the plastic case or bulking it out with military-grade sleeves. The hobbled camera won't be too much of an issue for you either, because you'll mostly create and consume all your media on the device itself, rather than use the phone to replace your point-and-shoot camera. On the other hand, you'll have to contend with a ridiculously slow boot-up time, and a keyboard that will often hinder your ability to bash out decently spelled messages on the fly (although there are admittedly ppl out there who wont care.) If you can look past those flaws, then you and the Neo could make a happy couple. You have our blessing.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo is a good-value smartphone that doesn't skimp on build quality or looks.

A good standard Android smartphone with an excellent camera, though you may want to find alternatives to some of the installed apps.

A smartphone and a cameraphone, the XPERIA Neo promises solid all-round experience, which it readily delivers. It won’t cut it as a flagship but fortunately that’s not part of the job description. The Xperia Neo will enjoy the sense of space and safety in the upper midrange. And it will certainly take pride in being an option some users will gladly consider ahead of the Xperia Arc.

The Sony Ericsson Neo doesn't set any new records but with a price of just over £300 SIM free, it's not likely to. Indeed with key features like a high-res screen, a camera button, and front facing camera, it's very well equipped for its calibre. However, while clearly reasonably competitively priced, it’s currently a little more expensive than the HTC Desire S, which is a much classier looking phone, so we might be tempted by that alternative. If and when the price drops below £300, though, it'll be well worth a look.

With a slightly larger/better-lit screen, the media features of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo might have wowed us a little more. As it is, it's a functional little mite, with high usability and simple, one-handed navigation and operation.

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo does most of what you’d expect from a recent Android device; the only problem is, the XPERIA Arc has already got there first, several months ahead. The Neo is fatter than the Arc but has a smaller, less impressive display, and with the recent software update the Facebook integration can also be found on the older device. Meanwhile, the HTC Desire S offers the same display size as the XPERIA Neo but in a sturdier metal chassis, though the camera does fall short of that on the Sony Ericsson.

It’s a powerful enough handset, slotting somewhere into the upper mid range and we’d imagine that it will serve many well, but given the huge number of phones on offer, you have to be drawn to the features it offers: HDMI output, an up-to-date version of Android, a capable camera and reasonable battery life.

The Xperia neo comes with a retail price of just above $500 in Europe. For nearly $150 less than the Xperia arc, it delivers most of the functionality of Sony Ericsson's flagship including an 8-megapixel EXMOR R camera along with outstanding calling and audio quality. Unfortunately, the camera doesn't meet Sony Ericsson's promise of superior low-light quality and is rather average. The Xperia neo shines in two departments: its design stands out in a world of “me-too” devices and while it doesn't deliver the latest dual-core chips and benchmark cracking performance, it's a well-though all-around player with a fluid, polished interface. We wouldn't recommend it for die-hard nerds, who can rightfully argue that the device will deprecate quickly, but for the rest the price and feature balance of the Xperia neo may prove alluring.