Sony Xperia Go unboxed, in the flesh

Announced back in May, the Xperia Go is the successor to the highly popular Xperia Active which is targeted towards the sporty crowd and rugged environment.

Sony basically took most of the hardware configuration of the Xperia U and slap it into a tough chassi that’s both dust-resistant and water-resistant. It does not mean though that you can take this phone for scuba diving.

The water resistance is only applicable up to 1 meter deep an within 30 minutes. Beyond that, the Xperia Go might already get damaged.

While the Xperia Go has the same 3.5-inch display as the Xperia U, the screen resolution is not as good. It’s just 480×320 pixels (165ppi) compared to the Xperia U’s 480×854 pixels (280ppi).

The low-res screen is very evident with the Xperia Go. You can clearly see the pixelation. Most likely water penetration would be thru the speaker grills.

Sony Xperia Go ST27i specs:
• 3.5″ Reality Display @ 480×320 pixels, 165ppi
• 1.0GHz NovaThor U8500 dual-core processor
• Mobile BRAVIA Engine
• 512MB RAM
• 8GB internal storage
• up to 32GB via microSD
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1 w/ EDR
• 5MP rear camera, LED flash
• GPS w/ aGPS support
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread, upgradeable to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
• Li-IOn 1305mAh battery
• 111 x 60.3 x 9.8mm (dimension)
• 110 grams (weight)

From the specs list above, we didn’t like the pixel density, the low battery rating and Gingerbread.

The rest looks pretty decent.

The handset feels compact and solid, has that matte finish that we liked (somewhat close to the ceramic finish of the HTC One X).

The ports like the microUSB and the 3.5mm audio port are closed by a rubber stopper (to prevent contact with dust and water). It has an IP67 Rating which is one of the highest in a smartphone.

The Xperia Go is not yet officially released in the Philippines but we heard it will be out by August.

For the meantime, you can check out the online listing over at Widget City with a retail price of Php13,700 (click here).

Disclosure: Widget City provided for the review unit. They are also a display banner advertiser on this site.