Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo – one of the best designed phones available in the market. But no wonder. All Xperia series phones are wonderful. Neo goes little far and gets extremely attractive look. The phone comes with 1 GHZ processor, 5 MP camera and HDMI output. This combines with a reasonable price of 300 pounds unlocked and Neo deals start from 14 GBP only.

When I first touched the phone it gave an immensely soothing feel. The curvy design, even though bulky than Xperia Ray, is wonderful. It comes in Black and White cover. Believe me; you will fall in love with the white one first time you see. All competing phones fall short, including the iPhone.

Neo comes with print screen facility that makes sending a quick screenshot possible. Exciting feature for business users.

Design

Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo smartphone is a super good looking device. It is smaller than Arc and Play but have significantly good body. It weighs 125gms and for the think device with curvy look, its justified.

As it is small, it comes good for one hand carry. The casing could have been bettered to give it a royal look, but with the current case too its fine for a mid-range Android Device.

The device lacks the usual search button found in Android devices, and this might be a signal Sony Ericsson is moving away from the common theories of Android. The company seems to take its own design theory in its devices.

Display

The 3.7-inch screen with multi-touch Reality display is nice and sharp. The device benefits color-wise from Sony Ericsson’s Mobile Bravia Engine picture-processing technology, which brings an extra sharp display soothing to the eye. However it fares poorly in direct sunlight.

Smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S2 carrying AMOLED and the Apple iPhone 4 with its Retina display technology do not have the sun light issue, which makes Xperia Neo fall short in comparison to its competition. Not a huge problem though.

Connectivity and Apps

The connectivity of the Neo is extensive. WiFi, 3G HSPA (7.2 Mbps download / 5.76 Mbps upload), Bluetooth, USB and even a HDMI port for connecting to a HD-Ready TV.

DLNA and ANT+ are supported, which lets you connect wirelessly to a variety of health and fitness products.

Data arrives quickly, whether over Wi-Fi or a HSPA network. There is Sony Ericssion sync available to make the Cell personalized by using device registration. I didn’t do it but used individual sync for applications. It runs smooth.

And there’s support for Youtube and flash video unlike the iPhone. There are dedicated apps for Facebook, Gmail and several others. Couldn’t find the Twitter app pre-installed but you can anytime download it from the Android Market for free.

The device comes with Office viewing and editing tool, which makes it perfect for office goers. It has good security features built by the power of Android and Sony Ericson, and comes with Mcfee anti-virus system. It scans all installations and downloads and provides an additional layer of security.

The device also provides direct Microsoft Exchange Server sync capability that makes push email accessible for business users using Microsoft’s mail server. This supplements the power of Blackberry’s push mail capability to this Android device.

Camera

The phone is dual camera device and the main camera is 8 MP. The device has an extra button for camera use and when used horizontally, the device gives every feel of using a good Digital Camera.

The picture quality is great and has night vision capability too.  The Neo’s excellent 8-megapixel camera uses an Exmor R CMOS sensor. It captures images of impeccable quality, with bright colours, bold contrast and stunning detail — even in low-light conditions. It outclasses many dedicated point-and-shoot digital camera.

You can also record video at HD 720p resolution, with a video light and video stabilisation. And one feature that the Neo has and the Arc doesn’t is a front-facing camera for video chat.

Battery and Usability

Battery seems to be a problem for this device like in Arc. I kept the camera on for half an hour and without a single click, the device went low battery. The cell also got heated while talking for around 10 minutes, which is not expected.

This device needs daily charging and I would suggest getting an extra battery if you are travelling remote areas with no charging facility. It has the problem of typical Android phones.

HDMI port

The device comes with a built-in HDMI port that you hook up the phone content to the high definition TV. This can enable to fully appreciate the quality of the images and video captured by the Neo’s. The HDMI port is located at the top of the device.

I used the cell to watch the Youtube videos on TV and it worked great. The clarity depends on the type of TV but connectivity wise, HDMI port has no issues.

The port can also be used to play games. This is seriously impressive feature for game freak like me. I am particularly excited to use the device to play Angry Birds on TV. Haven’t tried it yet but should work well. This phone is for gamers.

Android Gingerbread

The phone comes with new Google Andorid 2.3 Gingerbread. This is not the latest Android version but the device is upgradable to 2.4 and above. We’ll stay optimistic here.

Price and Contracts

The Neo is available on monthly contracts starting from around £14. You can also pick it up SIM-free for around £370. The device is available for 12, 18 and 24 months contract in O2, Orange, T-Moible, Vodafone and Talkmobile.

The range of monthly contract fee is between 13 pounds to 51 pounds.

Ending Thoughts

Neo is certainly one of the best phones available at this price range. It has lesser processing power than Samsung Galaxy S 2 and HTC Sensation but 1 GHZ is not a lower processing power. It is the power of most netbooks powered by Atom processors.

Neo’s good looks are incomparable and the phone has almost all the necessary features suited for a personal or business phones.