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Sony Ericsson has a reputation of building solid handsets and holds more than a few feathers in its cap — the most recent being the Xperia Arc, which won praise from critics and fans. The latest addition to the Xperia family, the Ray, promises to fit just right in and deliver on the name.
The phone is in a considerably smaller form factor. It is slim and fits very well into the hand. This is primarily because the phone is centred around a 3.3-inch screen, making it smaller than other high-end phones on the market which feature screen sizes of 3.5 inches and more. Its small size and sleek design are reflected in its width — only 9.4mm — and weight, clocking in at 100g.
Despite its small size, the screen features the same high resolution found on other phones and has a pixel count of 854x480. Put that on resolution on the small screen and you have a pixel-per-inch number that comes very close to that of the iPhone 4. This means the image is extremely sharp and clear. The Ray also uses the same Bravia engine technology found on the Arc and, more prominently, on Sony’s TVs.
Another consistent highlight in Sony Ericsson phones is the camera. The Ray features an 8.1MP camera featuring the Exmor sensor which improves lowlight performance. It also shoots video at 720p — which, though not full HD, delivered videos of a good quality. The same goes for images too. The lack of a dedicated shutter button was a minor annoyance though; in the absence of this, the screen becomes a button where tapping any part of it clicks the picture.
Powered by a 1GHz processor and 512MB of RAM, the Ray has a set of specs powerful enough to chug along without any issues.
It has Android 2.3 and is thus on the bleeding edge. However, the real differentiator here is the User Interface (UI) overlay Sony Ericsson places on top of Android. The UI makes no effort to be subtle and makes considerable changes to the vanilla Android experience. It also features Timescape for aggregating social feeds and Mediascape for collating your photos and videos. Those who like widgets will find utility in them.
Overall, the Sony Ericsson Ray (Dh1,799) is a phone for those who’re looking for performance, great optics and bleeding-edge software without the chunk that accompanies such a device. Its sleek form will definitely be winning a few fans.
