Sony Xperia V review: Bond’s wetsuit

Display

The Xperia V displays everything in 720p resolution on the 4.3" Reality display. With Full HD screens already upon us, the Xperia V will find it hard to get anyone impressed, but to be fair, the screen is well above average. At 342ppi, the Bravia-backed Reality display is quite sharp and pleasant to look at.

Sony used the second generation Mobile BRAVIA engine for the Xperia V and it's supposed to improve contrast and enhance colors. In reality, viewing the screen head on will leave you pleased but as soon as you tilt the device to the side even slightly, the colors begin to look washed out and contrast is heading south at a frightful pace.

It's by no means a deal breaker and most people should be happy with the Xperia V's screen most of the time.

The Xperia V

The display uses a standard RGB matrix arrangement, which you can see in the picture below. As for contract itself - it's passable but far from the standard setters.

The Xperia V and Xperia T displays under a microscope

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
• Samsung Galaxy S III mini
  2.422
• Motorola RAZR i
  2.366
• 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
• Samsung Galaxy Camera
  1.938
• Sony Xperia V
  1.792
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1.691
• HTC One V
  1.685
• LG Optimus Vu
  1.680
• HTC Desire V
  1.646
• 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
• LG Optimus L9
  1.227
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Samsung Galaxy Pocket
  1.180
• Sony Xperia tipo
  1.166
• Samsung Galaxy mini 2
  1.114

Handling

The Xperia V isn't the most compact of smartphones with a 4.3" screen but the surprisingly lightweight body is a pleasure to handle, and the finish is great.

Single-handed operation is very comfortable and the dust and water resistance are something many users will appreciate. The flipside is a non-hot-swappable microSD card and the absence of a proper shutter key.

The Xperia V held in hand

Overall though, it's a great-looking smartphone - without overdoing it - and one that's very secure and comfortable to hold.