Unveiling the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro Specs Prices Pros & Cons

Introduction to Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro was introduced as a versatile smartphone aimed at users who favored both touchscreen and physical keystrokes. Officially announced in February 2011 and released in October the same year, it bears the signature design features of Sony's Ericsson lineup. It catered to users who demanded a reliable gadget for productivity and multimedia consumption, offering a blend of noteworthy specs for its time.

Design and Build

The Xperia Pro's dimensions of 120 x 57 x 15.3 mm and a weight of 142 grams provide it with a robust and substantial feel. It features a full QWERTY keyboard, which slides out seamlessly to sit under the phone's screen, making it an appealing choice for users more accustomed to physical keyboards. The build is primarily plastic, but the quality doesn't compromise overall durability.

Display Features

The handset sports a 3.7-inch LED-backlit LCD with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels, yielding a density of approximately 265 pixels per inch. This display offers decent sharpness and vibrancy, allowing users to enjoy media and other visual content comfortably. The screen is protected by scratch-resistant glass, enhancing durability against everyday wear and tear.

Performance

Under the hood, the Xperia Pro is powered by the Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon S2 chipset, equipped with a 1.0 GHz Scorpion CPU and an Adreno 205 GPU. This configuration was typical for mid-range smartphones of its era and provided adequate performance for daily tasks, including browsing, messaging, and light gaming. The inclusion of 512MB RAM was standard at the time, ensuring reasonable multitasking capabilities for casual users.

Operating System and Software

The device originally shipped with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) but was upgradable to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). This upgrade provided users with improved performance and additional features that enhanced the overall user experience, including better UI elements and increased app compatibility.

Storage

The internal storage capacity of the Xperia Pro is 1GB, with approximately 320MB available to the user. However, it features a microSDHC card slot, significantly extending storage capabilities, which is useful for storing multimedia files and apps.

Camera

The Xperia Pro houses an 8 MP main camera, complete with autofocus and an LED flash, capable of capturing decent quality images and 720p videos at 30 frames per second. Although basic by today's standards, at the time, this camera setup was competitive and catered well to casual photography and video needs. The front-facing VGA camera supports basic video calling and selfies.

Battery Life

Equipped with a removable Li-Po 1500 mAh battery, the Xperia Pro provides adequate battery life, accounting for its hardware. Standby time is rated at up to 430 hours on 2G networks and up to 400 hours on 3G. For talk time, users can expect up to 6 hours and 55 minutes on 2G or up to 7 hours on 3G, with music playback extending to 31 hours.

Connectivity Options

The Xperia Pro supports various connectivity features, including Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with DLNA and hotspot capabilities, and Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP for wireless audio connectivity. For global positioning, the phone is equipped with GPS, A-GPS, and GLONASS, ensuring accurate navigation functions. Additionally, it includes a stereo FM radio with RDS and a microUSB 2.0 port for charging and data transfer.

Audio and Sound

The phone includes a loudspeaker and a 3.5mm headphone jack, offering users flexibility for audio playback. The sound quality is decent for voice calls and multimedia playback, keeping users entertained on the go.

Physical and Sensor Features

As expected for smartphones from this era, the Xperia Pro includes an accelerometer and proximity sensor, supporting essential device operations and interactive applications. The device also supports HTML and Adobe Flash, making it relatively adept at browsing the web and supporting multimedia internet content.

Miscellaneous Information

Available in three colors—Black, Silver, and Red—the Xperia Pro allowed users to choose a finish that suits their personality. Originally priced at around 190 EUR, it sat comfortably in the mid-range category. The specific absorption rate (SAR) value for European users was 0.88 W/kg for the head, aligning with safety standards at the time.

Performance Tests

In tests, the Xperia Pro displayed respectable outcomes: a contrast ratio of 928:1 for the display, adequate camera performance for its class, and satisfactory audio quality with minimal noise and crosstalk. The battery endurance rating was adequate, ensuring that the device would last throughout a typical day with moderate use.

Conclusion

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro represented a balance between traditional and modern mobile communication forms with its standout QWERTY keyboard and touchscreen. Its versatile design and feature set made it appealing to a segment of users seeking reliability, productivity, and multimedia capabilities in a single device package. Even though it has since been discontinued, the Xperia Pro remains a memorable piece of mobile technology from Sony Ericsson's lineup.