The
Sony Xperia J is the little brother to the company's flagship Xperia T - most famous for being carried by James Bond in his latest adventure, Skyfall. And for being a damn fine phone as well,
as our review can attest. And while the J may lack some of its siblings flash, it should earn points for retaining that stellar design at a much lower price point.
The Xperia J has a sleek and eye-catching design with a slightly contoured back, which allows it to sit nicely in the hand. The phone clocks in at 124.3 x 61.2 x 9.2 mm with a 4-inch touchscreen, making it comfortable to use and easy to navigate with one hand. The touchscreen features three capacitive buttons situated below the display. These allow users to navigate home quickly, go back, or give access to a few different options and settings.
The specs on board include a 1 GHz Qualcomm processor, 512 MB RAM, and 4GB of internal storage, with the very welcome inclusion of a microSD slot to increase that figure by up to 32GB - something which few handsets feature these days. You'll also find Android 4.1 on board with an update to Ice Cream Sandwich (and smoother operating) planned for March 2013.
The battery life of the Xperia J is fairly impressive thanks to the inclusion of a 1,750mAh battery. This allows the phone to last for a couple of days on a single charge, though its stamina obviously depends on the various functions and activities that you run. The screen is the biggest consumer of available power, so if you are keeping it active all day through the use of apps or general phone functions, the charge will drop off significantly, but it still leaves rivals wanting.
The user experience is generally smooth, with any hitches expected to be smoothed out with the addition of that new OS. The specs won't compete with the latest high end smartphone from a rival company or Sony itself but it fares well against others at a very affordable price point.
One of the more critical elements in 2013 appears to be the camera function. The likes of the Google Nexus 4 and the upcoming release of the Xperia Z show that there is a demand for high quality cameras packed into smartphones. The Xperia J features a 5 megapixel snapper which performs well enough in optimal conditions though naturally can't quite match the speed or quality of some higher end devices.
Sony’s Xperia J looks sleek and features a crisp and clear display, coming close to the design beauty of the marvellous Xperia T. As a relatively budget friendly phone, the Xperia J does a fine job with most tasks and would make the ideal handset for someone making the move up from an entry level smartphone.
The Sony Xperia J is currently available for approximately €199.99 ($264.99).