Sony Xperia tipo dual

 

Budget Android handsets have always been popular in India. Not one to be left behind in this lucrative segment, Sony recently launched two phones in this category: the Xperia tipo and tipo dual. As the name suggests, the only difference between the phones is the number of SIMs they support. At the launch event, I got to play around with the tipo dual for a few minutes, and jotted down my impressions of that brief encounter. But first, here are the specifications of the device:

• Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OS.
• 800 MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, 512 MB of RAM.
• Quad-band GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), Dual-band 3G (900, 2100 MHz); Dual-SIM (GSM + GSM).
• 3.2 mp camera with 4x digital zoom and VGA (480p) video recording.
• 3.2" scratch-resistant, shatter-proof, 2-point multi-touch screen with 320x480 pixels and 262k colours.
• Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi with hotspot, Assisted GPS, Micro-USB 2.0.
• FM radio with RDS, 3.5 mm jack.
• 3 GB of internal storage (2.2 GB user-accessible), 32 GB microSD card slot.
• Accelerometer, Proximity sensor.
• 5 hours of talk time, 15 days standby, 36 hours of music playback, 3 hours of video playback.
• 3.4" (l) x 2.2" (w) x 0.4" (13 mm) (d), 100 grammes.
• Audio Formats: MP3, MP4, SMF, WAV, 3GP, OGG, OTA.
• Video Formats: 3GP, MP4.
• Package Contents: Charger, Battery, Headphones, Screen guard, Micro-USB cable, Micro-SIM adapter, User manual.

The first thing I noticed about the Xperia tipo dual is that it's extremely lightweight. It has a plastic body that does look slightly tacky; nevertheless, it's definitely well-built. The handset features a decently lit 3.2" capacitive LCD display with pixel dimensions of 320x480. Below the screen are three fairly standard capacitive touch buttons for navigating through the interface. Overall, the phone's design is certainly fresh, and in line with other handsets in Sony's portfolio.