Sony Xperia T review: T-rex

The largest Bravia screen in the business

The Sony Xperia T comes with a 4.55" LCD screen with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels which breaks down to a pixel density of 323 ppi. That's a respectable number and the real-life performance doesn't let you down. The Bravia-powered screen is as sharp as it gets and you'll be unable to tell individual pixels apart even if you look from up close.

The Bravia-powered screen is pretty great

Contrast is pretty good for an LCD and colors are very vibrant. The sunlight legibility is quite good as well, as testified by the Xperia T's result in our dedicated test. Find more about the testing routine over here.

Contrast ratio

• Nokia 808 PureView
  4.698
• Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
  3.419
• Samsung Omnia W
  3.301
• Samsung Galaxy S
  3.155
• Nokia N9
  3.069
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  2.970
• HTC One S
  2.901
• Samsung Galaxy S II
  2.832
• Huawei Ascend P1
  2.655
• Nokia Lumia 900
  2.562
• Apple iPhone 4S
  2.269
• HTC One X
  2.158
• Nokia N8
  2.144
• Apple iPhone 4
  2.016
• Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
  1.955
• Sony Xperia T
  1.894
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1.691
• HTC One V
  1.685
• LG Optimus Vu
  1.680
• LG Optimus 3D
  1.542
• Nokia Asha 302
  1.537
• Nokia Lumia 610
  1.432
• Gigabyte GSmart G1355
  1.361
• HTC Desire C
  1.300
• LG Optimus L7
  1.269
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Samsung Galaxy Pocket
  1.180
• Sony Xperia tipo
  1.166
• Samsung Galaxy mini 2
  1.114

Sadly, Sony is yet to address the issue of poor viewing angles. You really need to be looking at the Xperia T head-on to experience arguably the best image quality from an LCD, as once you tilt the phone even a tiny bit, the image quality deteriorates noticeably.

We were also able to put the display under our digital microscope for a closer look at the pixels. Check it out:

The display under a microscope

Handling

The Sony Xperia T handles pretty well, despite its higher-than-average thickness. The curved back helps and so do the two-layered sides. The only issue we see is the power button which is located too low on the right side of the handset.

Handling the Sony Xperia T

That position is actually quite comfortable if you are holding the Xperia T in your left hand, but right-handed use requires you to readjust your grip whenever you want to press the power key. Last time we checked right-handed users were the majority, so it's strange that Sony didn't put that button higher or at least on the other side of the smartphone.