Introduction
The China-bound Sony Xperia C could be the right opportunity to smuggle some big-screened, quad-core goodness into markets where those things usually fetch a high price. It's certainly the right size too. Five-inchers don't necessarily have to come with high-end price tags. There's demand for affordable options too, which the Xperia C isn't the first to address. Sony has obviously been watching the Samsung Galaxy Grand, while HTC and LG aren't indifferent either.
So, the Sony Xperia C has dual-SIM support, which is almost a must-have in the markets Sony's interested in, a massive 5-inch display and a quad-core processor. So far, so good.
It is the company's first smartphone powered by a MediaTek chipset. Sony has so far always opted for either Snapdragons or (when the company still existed) ST Ericsson but, with China being the primary target market, it had little choice really. The latest MediaTek chips support both dual-SIM and quad-core processors, and they are light on the wallet too.
Affordability is, of course, an important reason, considering Asian markets are teeming with sub-$200 quad-core droids and competition is fierce. The likes of Lenovo, Micromax, Xolo, and many more, are ready to offer a big enough screen and decent feature set on a bargain.
What this means is the Sony Xperia C should be preparing for a full-scale war. Let's check the ammo:
Key features
- Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and dual-band HSPA support
- Dual SIM, dual stand-by support
- 42.2 Mbps HSDPA and 11.5 Mbps HSUPA
- 5.0" 16M-color TFT capacitive touchscreen of qHD resolution (540 x 960 pixels) at 220ppi
- Android OS v4.2.2 Jelly Bean
- Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 CPU, PowerVR SGX544 GPU, MTK MT6589 chipset
- 1 GB of RAM
- 4 GB of built-in storage (2 GB user available)
- microSD slot (cards up to 32GB supported)
- 8 MP autofocus camera, single LED flashlight, geo-tagging, touch focus, HDR, hardware shutter key; VGA front-facing camera
- 1080p @ 30fps video capture
- Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
- Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP
- GPS with A-GPS
- Accelerometer, ambient light and proximity sensor
- Standard 3.5 mm audio jack; Walkman music player with many audio enhancements
- Stereo FM radio with RDS
- microUSB port (charging)
- Built-in LED strip provides a breathing light and notification light
- 2,390mAh Li-Ion battery, non-replaceable
Main disadvantages
- Low pixel-per-inch ratio
- No Mobile BRAVIA engine
- No scratch protection for the screen, Gorilla Glass or otherwise
- Limited internal storage for installing apps
The Xperia C obviously didn't remain confined within Asian boundaries as various European retailers are already shipping it at very attractive prices. It sure isn't the fastest or the most feature-rich of phones, but it sounds like a great bang for your hard-earned buck. Will that be enough to probably forgive the lower resolution screen and the other potential deal breakers?
We will find out soon enough. Jump over to the next page to see what's in the Xperia C's retail box and what the smartphone is really made of.
Unboxing the Sony Xperia C
The Sony Xperia C comes in an slim box, all the accessories placed in their separate and removable compartments. The contents are nothing out of the usual: an A/C adapter, microUSB cable, a white headset and some leaflets.
Sony Xperia C 360-degree spin
The Xperia C has pretty much the same footprint as Sony's Z1 flagship. At 141.5 x 74.2 x 8.9mm, the handset weighs 153g, which is 17g less than the Xperia Z1, due to the all-plastic build of the Xperia C.
Design and handling
What we're looking at is yet another issue of the OmniBalance design that premiered on the Xperia Z early this year. It has been the signature styling of the entire Xperia lineup since, covering the entire price, size and performance range.
Even though the rear cover is removable, the Xperia C still looks like a unibody phone and one that closely resembles the Xperia ZR. The few metallic elements along the sides make pleasant accents - a prominent element of the Xperia line's styling.
Keeping the design consistent across the entire range isn't a Sony invention but we like it how even their low-to-midrange devices don't look cheap. Perhaps a thing or two for Samsung to learn there.
The Xperia C's entire front is occupied by the massive 5" TFT screen with no hardware controls whatsoever, and bezels that could've been slimmer. Even with those, the Xperia C is still the same size as the top-of-the-line Xperia Z1.
The breathing LED is discretely hidden beneath the glass just below the screen. It illuminates a tiny slit that grows thinner at the edges and looks quite pleasant.
The Xperia C is a well-built phone. The removable rear panel doesn't bend or squeak, and the handset has an almost unibody look and feel.
The phone is big though and those bezels don't help either. The same size as the Xperia Z1, and a few grams lighter, it's slim enough to easily slip into pockets but its presence will always be felt. The phone is reasonably comfortable to handle.
Display
The Sony Xperia C has a 5" LCD display of qHD resolution (540 x 960) for a decent, if hardly spectacular, 220ppi sharpness. The Samsung Galaxy Grand stretches its WVGA resolution far thinner and while there are some 720p options in the class, qHD is not a disadvantage here. There is no special anti-scratch surface over the screen and no special coating either, so the screen is very prone to fingerprints and not easy to clean.
Color rendering looks okay, but the white balance is on the cold side meaning there is a subtle bluish tint. Typical for Sony smartphones, viewing angles are not impressive at all, with visible loss of contrast and color shift when you are not looking at the screen head on.
The overall image quality is certainly good for the class, although we noticed strange behavior with its brightness settings. We measured the display's brightness levels and as it turned out that actual 50% brightness is achieved when the slider is set at about 75% and when you set it in its half-way position the brightness is under a quarter of the maximum available. That's why the screen looks dim most of the time, unless you keep it close to the maximum.
As usually we did our battery test on 50% of the dedicated brightness slider and you should have that in mind when you are looking at its scores.
| Display test | 50% brightness | 100% brightness | ||||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | |||
| Sony Xperia C | 0.18 | 151 | 842 | 0.66 | 639 | 962 |
| Sony Xperia Z1 | - | - | - | 0.38 | 580 | 1513 |
| Oppo R819 | 0.56 | 607 | 1078 | 0.62 | 754 | 1210 |
| Samsung I9082 Galaxy Grand | 0.37 | 382 | 1040 | 0.62 | 586 | 948 |
| Huawei Ascend P6 | 0.14 | 136 | 986 | 0.62 | 670 | 1080 |
| Sony Xperia Z Ultra | - | - | - | 0.47 | 467 | 1001 |
| Huawei Ascend Mate | 0.23 | 222 | 982 | 0.67 | 711 | 1053 |
| Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 | 0.12 | 160 | 1364 | 0.32 | 440 | 1379 |
| Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4 | 0 | 201 | ∞ | 0 | 404 | ∞ |
| HTC One | 0.13 | 205 | 1580 | 0.42 | 647 | 1541 |
| Apple iPhone 5 | 0.13 | 200 | 1490 | 0.48 | 640 | 1320 |
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