Elijah Ketchum
For AT&T subscribers looking to get the next taste of Sony’s Xperia brand, the Ion will be hitting the carrier on June 24 for only $99. We saw this phone for the first time a few months back and things haven’t changed much now with the official spec release. Sony is still in the business of making very sexy devices, but again, this Xperia will be crippled at launch due to its Android version of 2.3.7. That’s right folks, over 7 months after the release of Android 4.0 ICS, Sony is still releasing a phone with Gingerbread with no word on an ICS update. Sad.
The device’s specs, however, are pretty good as it will easily be able to compete with most high-end devices. It will be Playstation certified, runs on a 1.5 GHz dual-core CPU, and has a beautiful 4.6-inch screen. A more broad list of specs is below:
- 4.6″ (measured diagonally) 720p HD Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine for unbeatable HD viewing
- HD imaging excellence from Sony: 12MP camera with Exmor R™ for Mobile camera sensor, 1080p HD video recording, 1 MP 720p HD front-facing camera
- Easy multi-screen connectivity with HDMI and DLNA®
- 1.5Ghz dual core processor
- 16GB internal memory with microSD™ expansion slot supports up to 32GB
- PlayStation Certified for high quality mobile gaming
Of course, this device will have to compete with the likes of the HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy S III, both which have better specs and ICS. The Xperia Ion does have that low, $99 price tag though, so at least Sony isn’t over-selling it. The Sony Xperia Ion will be available for $99 with a 2-year contract on June 24.
