Sony Xperia T vs. Sony Xperia S: The Better Buy?

By Anu Passary | Sep 01, 2012 10:18 AM EDT

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Sony's Xperia line-up is synonymous with refinement and new designs. Earlier this year, following its split with Ericsson, Sony launched its flagship Xperia S smartphone at the CES. In the post-Ericsson era, Sony has added to its Xperia family by unveiling the high-end Xperia T at the IFA 2012 in Berlin. The Xperia T aims at taking on devices like Samsung's S3 and Apple's impending iPhone 5, staking its claim in the smartphone market and challenging the established players.

Display

The Xperia T will sport a 4.6-inch HD Reality Display. By contrast, the older Xperia S has a 4.3-inch screen. Both smartphones offer a capacitive touchscreen with 1280x720 resolution.

Size and Weight

Both devices are attractive and sport a sleek design. The Xperia T measures 129.4 x 67.3 x 9.3mm, whereas at 128 x 64 x 10.6mm, the Xperia S is smaller than its predecessor. However, despite its bigger size, the new Xperia T (139g) is marginally lighter than the Xperia S (144g). The 5g difference, however, exists mostly on paper, as it is not perceptible physically.

Storage and Memory

The older Xperia S offers 32GB of internal space, compared to the Xperia T's 16GB. However, unlike the Xperia S, the Xperia T is upgradeable and has an expandable memory option of up to 32GB via a microSD card. Additionally, Xperia T users who sign up before Dec. 31 will get access to 50GB of free lifetime storage thanks to cloud storage and management service Box.

Processor and OS

The processors of both the smartphones are neck-to-neck when it comes to speed. A dual-core Qualcomm MSM8260 Scorpion Snapdragon processor, clocked at 1.5GHz, powers the Xperia S. On the other hand, a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8260A Snapdragon S4 processor, with 1GB of RAM, will power the Xperia T smartphone. The Xperia S originally came pre-loaded with Android Gingerbread 2.3, but has currently been upgraded to Android 4.0 ICS. The Xperia T will come with ICS out of the box, but is expected to get the Android 4.1 Jelly bean upgrade.

Camera

Both Sony smartphones have a front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera. However, the Xperia T has a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, which is marginally better than the 12.1-megapixel camera on the Xperia S. Additionally, the Xperia S features LED flash, whereas the Xperia T boasts a pulsed LED flash, which is more precise and will be brighter.

Battery

The Xperia S packs a standard 1,750mAh battery, compared to the Xperia T's more powerful 1850mAh one. However, despite the higher battery capacity, the Xperia T only offers 7 hours of talk time compared to Xperia S's 8.5 hours.

Connectivity

Both phones have Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI output via adapters, support Wi-Fi, and are NFC enabled. However, the Xperia T steals the Xperia S's thunder with its Smart Connect feature. This new app enables users to configure specific settings for the smartphone. For example, the app, if programmed to do so, will automatically start the music player if headphones are plugged in.

Price and Color

Sony's Xperia S is available from £349 and is available in black and white color variants. The Xperia T is expected to hit the shelves in September, but no information on its pricing is available. The smartphone will come in black, white, and grey versions.