QUICK LOOK

• Touch-screen smartphone with slide-out keyboard
• Android OS
• 1GB storage, 512MB RAM
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE

A very new addition to the 2012 smartphone market, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro is an impressive little number that stylishly fits into your lifestyle, whether it’s for business or pleasure! This power-packed gadget and I had a cloud-floating, love-at-first-site moment from day one, and we were practically inseparable by the time we had to part ways.

The Facts

The keyboard on this phone filled me with absolute glee! Not only does this phone have a full keyboard hidden as a slide-out feature, but finding your way around the keys is also incredibly easy.

Constant typos are a thing of the past! On a touch-screen or multi-tap keyboard, I often end up swearing my way through tweets, emails or status updates, purely by accident, when unsuccessfully trying to add punctuation, or change between upper- and lowercase. The keyboard on the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro is an absolute pleasure to work with, and allows for incredibly accurate typing.

The charger cable is a two-in-one, also serving as the USB connector cable. The phone battery charges up faster than you can say “Supercalifragi-whatsit!” (it takes approximately 2 hours to go from less than 10% power back up to 100%). Plus, a single charge can easily last up to 3 days, provided you're not living a 24-hour life in social media land, or a YouTube addict (at some point, it happens to the best of us.. damn those hilarious cats!). However, even with excessive social media interaction, internet browsing & video viewing, I managed to stretch the battery life to around 48 hours – an impressive feat for a smartphone.

The Xperia Pro is a great size for those who aren’t too fond of chunky phones. This smartphone is slim, and very comfortable to hold and navigate.

Let’s get down to Business

At a comfortable 854px by 480px, the screen resolution and quality on the Xperia Pro is most certainly at a high standard. This makes for video and image quality that will leave you drooling. Along with its excellent resolution, the touch screen is also highly responsive.

One thing I absolutely loved on the Xperia Pro was the ease of use of Evernote. The application makes note-taking a breeze, and with the awesome keyboard on this smartphone, taking notes was a very quick and efficient process.

In sleek silver, the Xperia Pro is dressed for business, but is definitely not limited to it. If you prefer, you can opt for black or red instead.

Need to find something in a hurry? We already know that Google is our friend when it comes to this, and the Android setup lends an extra helping hand by placing the Google search bar directly on the home screen.

5 o’clock, Party Time!

One of the most important functions on modern smartphones is the camera, and the Xperia Pro’s camera definitely measures up. Photos are incredibly crisp, even in low-light conditions.

Oh yes! Another awesome fun feature is the “3D” camera function. I took some snaps using this, but unfortunately didn’t have the right screen to preview these on. Also included is an HDMI connector cable, allowing you to view your photos on an HD television. Great for those who have an HD TV! Not so great for those, like myself, who don’t have any form of TV at all. Still, the feature got me excited nonetheless.

When I had time, I tried out “Angry Birds” and “Dragon, Fly”, and both games were great fun! The touch screen makes gaming a great deal easier, especially with games such as these.

Socialise, Organise, Prioritise

The Android OS is fast. It easily integrates with social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, and of course runs smoothly with Google applications, such as Google Maps and YouTube.

As mentioned in my Snapshot Review of this gadget, I was hoping to find a suitable organiser in the Calendar app on this phone. Synching was quick and easy, but after trying this out briefly, I switched back to my trusty PC as a tool of personal preference for organising.

As you would have come to realise by this point, I was over-the-top impressed with this phone. Even the sliding keyboard didn’t cause any trouble as I had initially anticipated, and instead left me happily surprised. I do believe I have found my next phone, and am left fully converted back to the Sony Ericsson brand.

Turn Ons

• The keyboard – tactile response rules over touch-keyboards every time!
• Sleek and easy to hold
• Android OS sync with Google accounts
• High-quality camera produces crisp photos

Turn Offs

• Honestly, the only thing that bothered me with this phone was the standard touch-screen problem: fingerprints all over the screen. This was definitely not enough to turn me off of this smartphone though.

Price: R5 999.00