Difference Between Apple iPhone 5 and Sony Xperia T

Apple iPhone 5 vs Sony Xperia T
 

When a company rebrands itself to a different name, they have to undergo a lengthy marketing process in order to get their new brand name out there to the streets. Most of the time, the prudent decision is to hang on to the brand name and if it’s really needed, change the brand logo. However, this was a different scenario for Sony Ericsson. When Sony fully purchased the Ericsson subsidiary and decided to remove the Ericsson suffix from their name, they didn’t have much hassle. This is because Sony was keeping a part of the brand name and above that, Sony was a better known brand in digital electronics compared to Ericsson which was well known in the Analog mobile phones era. The debut of the Sony brand was the Xperia product line which attracted a significant consumer base. It wasn’t only the design that inspired people to go for the Xperia line, it was a combination of designing charisma and the unchallenged performance matrices that made people to fall for Sony Xperia line. It was this impression that emphasized on Sony to continue with their Xperia line and we have witnessed the new Xperia trio at the IFA 2012 which showed some promising benchmarks. Hence we decided to take the Sony Xperia T and new Apple iPhone 5 on a spin to understand whether Sony has anticipated Apple’s comeback with the iPhone 5. We’ll describe our first impression on these two handsets because they are still hot out of the oven and then compare them on the same arena.

Apple iPhone 5 Review

Apple iPhone 5 that was announced on 12th September comes as the successor for prestigious Apple iPhone 4S. The phone was launched on the 21st of September to the stores, and already getting some pretty good impressions by those who have put their hands on the device.. Apple claims iPhone 5 to be the thinnest smartphone in the market scoring a thickness of 7.6mm which is really cool. It scores dimensions of 123.8 x 58.5mm and 112g of weight which makes it lighter than most of the smartphones out there in the world. Apple has kept the width at the same pace while making it taller in order to let the customers hang on to the familiar width when they hold the handset in their palms. It is made entirely from glass and Aluminum which is a great news for artistic consumers. No one would doubt the premium nature of this handset for Apple has tirelessly engineered even the smallest parts. The two tone back plate feels genuinely metallic and is pleasing to hold on to the handset. We particularly loved the Black model although Apple offers a White model, as well.

iPhone 5 uses an Apple A6 chipset along with Apple iOS 6 as the operating system. It will be powered by a 1GHz Dual Core processor that Apple has come up with for iPhone 5. This processor is said to have Apple’s own SoC using ARM v7 based instruction set. The cores are based on Cortex A7 architecture which was previously rumored to be of A15 architecture. It is to be noted that this is not the Vanilla Cortex A7, but rather an in-house modified version of Apple’s Cortex A7 probably fabricated by Samsung. Apple iPhone 5 being a LTE smartphone, we are bound to expect some deviation from the normal battery life. However, Apple has addressed that problem with the custom made Cortex A7 cores. As you can see, they haven’t increased the clock frequency at all, but instead, they have been successful in increasing the number of instructions executed per clock. Also, it was noticeable in the GeekBench benchmarks that the memory bandwidth has been significantly improved, as well. So all in all, now we have reason to believe that Tim Cook wasn’t exaggerating when he claimed that iPhone 5 is twice as faster as iPhone 4S. The internal storage would come in three variations of 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB with no option to expand storage using microSD card.

Apple iPhone 5 has 4 inch LED backlit IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen featuring a resolution of 1136 x 640 pixels at a pixel density of 326ppi. It is said to have 44% better color saturation with full sRGB rendering enabled. The usual Corning gorilla glass coating is available making the display scratch resistant. Apple CEO Tim Cook claims that this is the most advanced display panel in the world. Apple also claimed that the GPU performance is as twice better compared to iPhone 4S. There may be several other possibilities for them to achieve this, but we have reason to believe that the GPU is PowerVR SGX 543MP3 with a slightly overclocked frequency compared to that of iPhone 4S. Apple has apparently moved the headphone port all the down to the bottom of the smartphone. If you have invested in iReady accessories, you may well have to buy a conversion unit because Apple has introduced a new port for this iPhone.

The handset comes with 4G LTE connectivity as well as CDMA connectivity in different versions. The implications of this are subtle. Once you commit to a network provider and a specific version of Apple iPhone 5, there’s no going back. You can’t buy an AT&T model and then transfer the iPhone 5 to Verizon or Sprint’s network without buying another iPhone 5. So you will have to think rather carefully on what you want before committing to a handset. Apple boasts of an ultrafast Wi-Fi connectivity as well offering Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n dual band Wi-Fi Plus cellular adapter. Unfortunately, Apple iPhone 5 doesn’t feature NFC connectivity nor does it support wireless charging. The camera is the regular culprit of 8MP with autofocus and LED flash that can capture 1080p HD videos @ 30 frames per second. It also has a front camera to make video calls. It is worthwhile to note that Apple iPhone 5 only supports nano SIM card. The new operating system seems to provide better capabilities than the old one as usual.

Sony Xperia T Review

Sony Xperia T is the new flagship product of Sony after been dissociated with former Sony Ericsson. It isn’t the first smartphone Sony has produced, but after the Sony Xperia flagship was introduced, Sony Xperia T is by far the best smartphone introduced by Sony. It is powered by 1.5GHz Krait Dual Core processor on top of Qualcomm 8260A Snapdragon chipset with Adreno 225 GPU and 1GB of RAM. It runs on Android OS v4.0.4 ICS, and Sony will probably provide the upgrade to Jelly Bean soon.

Xperia T comes in Black, White, and Silver in color and has a slightly different form factor compared to Xperia Ion. It is slightly wedged and has a curvy shape at the bottom while Sony has replaced the shiny metal cover with a plastic cover that looks almost the same and provides a better grip. It slips right in to your palm with the dimensions of 129.4 x 67.3mm and a thickness of 9.4mm. The TFT capacitive touchscreen measures 4.55 inches featuring a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels at a pixel density of 323ppi. This type of pixel density would qualify the display panel of Xperia T for unofficial retina display title. Since Sony has been generous enough to include the Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine in Xperia T, enjoying 720p HD videos would be an absolute pleasure. The dual core processor would ensure the seamless multitasking ability as usual.

Sony has not included the 4G LTE connectivity to their new flagship which may be a turnoff for some of the people out there. Fortunately, it has HSDPA connectivity that can score up to 42.2Mbps and optimistically speaking, Sony might even think of releasing a LTE version of the same handset. Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n ensures the continuous connectivity for this device and Xperia T can also host Wi-Fi hotspots to share your internet connection with your friends. Xperia T comes with 16GB of internal storage with the option to expand using microSD card. If you analyze the smartphone market, the trend is to stuff it with a 8MP camera, but Sony has contradicted the trend and made the camera in Xperia T 13MP. It can capture 1080p HD videos at 30 frames per seconds and has continuous autofocus, video light and video stabilizer. The 1.3MP camera on the front would be instrumental in making video calls. Xperia isn’t known for its battery life, but Sony promises 7 hours talk time with 1850mAh battery, which is decent for a battery of that capacity.

A Brief Comparison Between Apple iPhoen 5 and Sony Xperia T

• Apple iPhone 5 is powered by 1GHz Dual Core processor that is based on Cortex A7 architecture on top of Apple A6 chipset while Sony Xperia T is powered by 1.5GHz Krait Dual Core processor on top of Qualcomm MSM8260A chipset with Adreno 225 GPU and 1GB of RAM.

• Apple iPhone 5 runs on iOS 6 while Sony Xperia T runs on Android OS v4.0.4 ICS.

• Apple iPhone 5 has 4 inch LED backlit IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen featuring a resolution of 1136 x 640 pixels at a pixel density of 326ppi while Sony Xperia T has 4.55 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen featuring a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels at a high pixel density of 323ppi.

• Apple iPhone 5 is smaller, thinner and significantly lighter (123.8 x 58.6mm / 7.6mm / 112g) compared to Sony Xperia T (129.4 x 67.3mm / 9.4mm / 139g).

• Apple iPhone 5 has 8MP camera that can capture 1080p HD videos @ 30 fps and images simultaneously while Sony Xperia T has 13MP camera that can capture 1080p HD videos @ 30 fps.

• Apple iPhone 5 features 4G LTE connectivity while Sony Xperia T features 3G HSDPA connectivity only.

Conclusion

We have seen a lot of activity from Sony after they bought the Ericsson subsidiary and changed their names. Their Android smartphone line was Xperia and we are reviewing yet another Xperia smartphone against the new Apple iPhone 5. At the surface, we are lead to believe that Xperia T would be faster although in reality; our guess is that these two handsets would fall in to the same benchmark given that the Apple iPhone 5’s processor is a custom tailored Cortex A7 as opposed to the Vanilla A9 Krait in Xperia T. Let us wait for the benchmarks to confirm this. However, Apple handset looks prestigious as ever which is rather appealing. We love the Aluminum Glass body where the designers have paid acute attention down to the last detail. That certainly is quite a workmanship suitable for a premium product. As opposed, Xperia T looks more masculine and rugged which is used by the famous James Bond in the incoming movie sequel. If that fits your taste, Xperia T might be better off with you than in the sales booth. Otherwise, be ready to pay a premium for the Apple iPhone 5 for both devices are bound to serve you in the same capacity and it’s only with the look they will differentiate from each other.