Sony Xperia ION unboxed, in the flesh

The Xperia ION is one of the most anticipated handsets in the Sony line-up and while it has not been officially released in the Philippines, we’ve managed to borrow a review unit. Check out our unboxing photos and first impressions after the jump.

The Xperia Ion’s claim to fame is that it’s LTE capable with speeds of up to 100Mbps download and 50Mbps upload. Unfortunately, we can’t still test it here in the Philippines. Smart was supposed to commercially launch their LTE service this June but they seem to be very quiet about it recently.

Of all the Sony handsets we’ve tried this year, the Xperia ION is the biggest yet in terms of display size. The 4.55-inch LCD screen has a 720p resolution or 1280×720 pixels giving it a nice Retina Display-like density of 323ppi.

We were actually hoping for more than just LTE but it turns out the Xperia ION still has a SnapDragon S3 processor, the same one they used in the Xperia S.

Sony Xperia ION LT28i specs:
4.55″ HD display @ 720×1280 pixels, 323ppi
Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine
Qualcomm MSM8260 Snapdragon S3 1.5GHz dual-core
Adreno 220 graphics
1GB RAM
16GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD card
HSDPA 21.1Mbps, HSUPA 5.8Mbps, LTE Cat3 50Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1
NFC
FM Radio tuner
12MP autofocus, rear camera w/ LED flash
1080p video recording @ 30fps
1.3MP front-facing camera w/ 720 video recording 30fps
Android 2.3 Gingerbread
1900mAh Li-Ion battery
144 grams (weight)
133 x 68 x 10.8mm (dimensions)
Php24,900 (gray market price)

The design and form factor of the Xperia ION still follows the Sony NXT line (Xperia S, Xperia P, and Xperia U). The almost-unibody design is pretty solid, has a noticeable heft to it due to the metallic construction.

The handset also boasts of a massive 12-megapixel camera, just like the Xperia S. My initial tests from yesterday showed impressive shots on both stills and video. We’ll share samples shots on the full review.

The Sony Xperia Ion is being sold by Widget City for Php24,900 (see listing here). Watch out for our full review in a week or two.

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