Want to buy Xperia ray - some questions

[chenav]

Hi everyone, I'd be happy if you can help me decide whether the ray is the phone for me.
This will be my first smartphone, and I very much like a small phone yet powerful with a good display, which is why I'm considering the ray.

1. Small RAM - will this be an issue? I'm not a "heavy" user, but I would definitely like to install some apps, use GPS and maps, maybe take a few photos here and there, play games.

2. Upgrade to Android 4 - do you think the ray will run it smoothly? I read in some reviews the CPU is a bit on the weak side (compared to other monsters on the market). What is the general consensus on this issue - will it run ICS4?

3. Display in sunlight - how good is it? I'm out in the open a considerable amount of time, so this is rather important for me. Can the phone be used in direct sunlight without much problems?

4. Battery life - is the hype justified? Can I really expect to get a full day's worth of juice from this phone under "normal" use (few calls, some texting, a bit of surfing and playing for a couple of hours)? Also, can I buy extra batteries and change them easily when needed?

That's it for now, thanks in advance!
Chen

 

[Josh-SonyXperia]

Hi and really nice for us that you're considering to buy this phone as your first ever smartphone Let me try to answer your questions the best way possible. I have the phone for a couple of months now so this would be from my own experience.

1- I use Google Maps, games and I like taking pictures very often, sometimes you may have a delay going from one app to the other but this mostly happen if you have many apps open as once.

2- The expectation so far is that the performance will increase once the phone is updated to android ICS. Even if that version is more demanding it is more optimized than Gingerbread (this is according to online reviews of the ICS version).

3- The display is bright enough that you can see is fine even when is used in direct sunlight. There might be certain things that you might not see (maybe a specific picture or video that is not clear enough) but in general it will be fine.

4-I am a heavy user, I play games several times during the day and I'm connected to a WI-Fi network the whole day. So when I get home I charge it for a few hours or overnight. In your case it might last longer since you mentioned that you are not a heavy user.

Hope this answers your questions

 

[chenav]

Thanks for the quick reply!

In terms of Android apps, can I expect most (all?) of them to work properly on this phone, as they do on (for example) my g/f's Galaxy S II?
I noticed this phone has rather unusual screen aspect ratio, how will this effect the different apps, and specifically games?
And finally, how scratch-resistant is the screen? Should I use a screen protector, and does that hinder the display quality at all?

 

[Josh-SonyXperia]

I can't really compare to a Galaxy S II because I have not used one but I'm sure you can use any apps on the phone and the ones that are not compatible you should receive a notification.
I don't think that the screen aspect ratio will be a problem to play games. I played many different games on the phone when I had it including HD games and I didn't encounter any issue to neither install them or play them.
The phone comes with a screen protector so there is no need to use an additional one.

 

[iamviveksri]

phone comes with a screen protector but it has to be fixed on the phone please. dont leave it in the box!

secondly u will not be able to install many apps becoz sony doesnt like them for example Go Keyboard. but i am sure u will find many apps which Do get accepted by mr Sony

processor is quite fast and since i changed from samsung galaxy ace to this one i would know.

best part is u can change the icons below the line [dialler, contacts etc ] which i could not in samsung...

and the wow factor of 8 mp is always there

do read the forum for more praises of the phone

yes its a bit slim and difficult to operate with large fingers but i am managing

 

[calvinchong]

3. Display in sunlight - how good is it? I'm out in the open a considerable amount of time, so this is rather important for me. Can the phone be used in direct sunlight without much problems?

4. Battery life - is the hype justified? Can I really expect to get a full day's worth of juice from this phone under "normal" use (few calls, some texting, a bit of surfing and playing for a couple of hours)? Also, can I buy extra batteries and change them easily when needed?

Hi,

As for display in sunlight, the current batch of phones all get bright enough screens to be used under direct sunlight and xperia ray is no exception.

As for battery life, 1 hour of continuous browsing while listening to music (using default setting, 30% brightness which is good enough for me in a hazy day) takes away ~10% of battery. These days, unless you are talking about extended-life batteries (e.g. the momax 2700mAh batteries for galaxy S/SII) you are not going to get a lot of hours with gaming. That said, for the size I think the battery life is acceptable.

Regards,
C