First Few Hours with Sony Xperia ion

The new flagship smartphone from Sony showcases some changes. First, it has a bigger 4.6-inch stunning HD display that caught our attention. Secondly, the company has done away with its thin, transparent strip at the bottom that added to the looks but wasted a lot of space below the display. Unfortunately, the ion still has a curvy body at the back that makes it feel a bit broad. The front has a big display with a row of touch keys. The back is done in subtle red with only the top and bottom made of plastic, while the middle constitutes metal.

Powering on the Xperia ion isn't any different as it offers a similar user interface found on other Xperia smartphones. Sony has made its device smart enough to turn itself off if the SIM card is missing.

When powered on for the first time, the device instantly downloaded cellular data settings and fetched our email. We also tried browsing the Internet. Watching movies over the ion was an enjoyable experience. Another highlight of the ion is its 12MP camera that snaps images quickly.

As the ion is capable of playing HD videos and also has the Mobile BRAVIA Engine that makes the display crisper, we have started wondering how much it takes to drain the battery out. But this, we will find out in the course of a detailed testing, the results of which you can read in the coming issue of Gadgets & Gizmos.