Over the years, Android phones have gradually, and drastically, increased in size. From the 3.2-inch G1 to the 5.5-inch Galaxy Note II, phones just keep getting bigger and bigger. For the most part, though, the aspect ratios of Android devices have all been 16:9, making them relatively easy to navigate. Apps are also able to scale up to fit the larger displays. LG, however, has decided to break that trend and released a 5-inch phone with a 4:3 aspect ratio. The LG Intuition is is much wider and shorter than your average Android phone and is available now on Verizon Wireless.

Specs

• OS: Android Ice Cream Sandwich
• Processor: 1.5 GHz Dual–Core Processor & 1GB RAM
• Memory: 32GB internal memory
• Display: 5.0″ XGA IPS Display, 16.7M Color TFT, 1024 x 768 Pixels
• Wi–Fi Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth v3.0 + HS
• 8 Megapixel Rear–Facing Camera, 1.3 Megapixel Front–Facing Camera
• Battery: 2080 mAh
• Dimensions:5.50″ (H) x 3.56″ (W) x 0.33″ (D)

Review

LG has not had much luck in the Android phone space before. In the past, their devices have launched with quality control problems and buggy software. The G2x was expected to be one of the best Android phones ever, but fell short of those expectations due to serious hardware issues with the device. LG is now following Samsung’s suit and entering the phablet game. Though, LG has put its own twist on their phablet. The 5-inch display may not seem all that large, but the 4:3 aspect is the real kicker. The Intuition is a odd-looking device unlike any other Android device out there.

Display

The LG Intuition features a 5-inch 1024 x 768 display. That equates to 256 pixels per inch and a 4:3 aspect ratio. The screen’s quality is superb. Text is crisp and colors really stand out. However, the aspect ratio is utterly pointless. I understand that LG needed to stand out from the Galaxy Note, but using a 4:3 aspect ratio was not the way to do it. In some cases, it doesn’t seem quite as crazy, such as web browsing, but in all other cases, it’s more of a hassle than a feature. When you attempt to watch a movie on the device, you’ll be greeted with huge black bars on either side of the video. The video size is essentially the same as it would be on a 4-inch device.

LG offers the ability to correct aspect ratio issues you may have with certain apps by placing the same black bars on either side of the app. By default, the apps will be stretched to fill the whole display. Which, for text heavy apps, looks just fine, but when you get into apps like Instagram that are image heavy, it looks horrible. Again, the 4:3 aspect ratio seems more like a hassle than a feature.

Design

Much like the Galaxy Note, if you use the LG Intuition out in public, you’ll get some pretty strange looks because of its size. It is a whopping 3.56 inches wide, slightly wider than a credit card. It’s nearly impossible to reach from one side of the device to the other while holding it one handed, which is a really big downside of the size.

However, aside from the size, the device is actually very well designed. It’s just .33 inches thick and 168 grams heavy. The back will not scratch or attract fingerprints easily, which is always great.

On the right side of the device is the volume rocker, while the left of the device is bare. On the top is the micro-USB port hidden under a sliding door, the power button, the headphone jack, and a screen capture button. The bottom is also bare.

Performance

The LG Intuition features pretty much the same specs as most other high-end Android phones…..released last year. It’s powered by a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S3 processor with 1GB of RAM. However, even though it’s powered by a last generation processor, the Intuition can still handle the average task pretty well. Gaming was decent, though going into more advanced games such as Dead Trigger, I did experience some lag. Scrolling through menus and home screens was, however, pretty smooth.

Software

The Intuition ships with Android 4.0 and LG’s custom skin.

The software on the LG Intuition looks suspiciously like Samsung’s TouchWiz, but sadly, once you start to use it, you’ll notice it’s nowhere near as polished as TouchWiz.

First off, the browser is absolutely dreadful. Load times are long, pinch to zoom is laggy, and the interface just looks bad. To bring up the tool bar, you to pull up a very tiny menu at the bottom, and with my large fingers, I found myself accidentally hitting the capacitive buttons.

The device also comes with loads of bloatware, which is not removable. Some of those apps include Color, Verizon Apps, Real Racing 2, Shark Dash, and more.

LG’s software has come a long way since their first Android device, but it still has a long way to go. There are still many inconsistencies and bugs throughout the OS, but like I said, it’s greatly improved.

Camera

The device is packing your standard 8MP camera. There’s not really anything that stands out with the camera. If anything, it’s worse than the competition. Pictures, especially indoors, can be washed out and dull, though outdoor shots turned out ok.

The camera app does feature some features (some may call gimmicky) that are cool, such as the ability to say “Say Cheese” and automatically capture a picture. There is also face tracking where it will automatically find and focus on a face.

Data and Phone Performance

The LG Intuition is compatible with Verizon’s blazing fast 4G LTE network. Currently, this network is available in more than 330 markets, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and covers more than 400 million Americans.

Using the speedtest.net app, I was able to consistently get 20-25mbps up and 5-9 up. ESPN’s mobile site loaded in a speedy 6 seconds.

The speaker was decent as well, though I did notice quite a bit of crackling when I would turn the volume up all of the way.

Microphone quality was great and people often couldn’t tell I was on a cell phone while using the Galaxy S III.

I was very impressed with the device′s GPS performance as well. In a pair of commutes, it stuck onto satellites and updated my position more quickly and accurately than other phones I’ve used.

Battery Life

One thing that has been disappointing on nearly every Android phone is the battery life. Sometimes, I can make it through a day, but others I can’t. With the LG Intuition, however, I could usually make it through a day with the 2080mAh battery in the device. Battery life was pretty good. A day for me consists of web browsing, music, Twitter, Google+, and some texting. I usually kept the display at 75%, though I didn’t notice that much change when cranking it up higher.

Usually with a device that has LTE, you experience a pretty significant battery drop of over other HSPA+ devices and that appears to be the case with the Intuition. On a day with heavier LTE usage, my battery was far worse than days spent mainly on WiFi.

Stylus

Much like the Galaxy Note, the Intuition comes with a stylus, dubbed the Rubberdium Stylus. Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed with it. The tip is made out of rubber, which affects the accuracy greatly in my testing. In all honesty, it feels like the stylus was an afterthought. There’s no built in holder for it on the device like with the Note, so it’s a lot easier to lose than the Note.

Overall

Pros

• Good performance
• Good display
• LTE

Cons

• Awkward form factor
• Apps don’t always scale correctly
• Poor, inconsistent software
• Stylus feels like an afterthought
• So-So camera

Don’t buy the LG Intuition. There’s no reason to. With the Galaxy Note II coming to Verizon this quarter, you’ll do so much better with it than with the Intuition. The Intuition is just awkward. It’s nearly impossible to hold with one hand. Apps also don’t scale correctly in some cases and even though LG offers tools to correct that, it doesn’t always look right. Also, what’s with the stylus? LG offered no integration between the device and stylus, so I really have no reason to use it.

Just don’t buy the LG Intuition. Go with the Galaxy Note II if you need a phablet, if not, the Galaxy S III is a great device.

Just yesterday rumors were going around about how Deutsche Telekom/T-Mobile USA was in talks to purchase MetroPCS. Today we awaken to the news that an agreement has been reached between both carriers.

MetroPCS and Deutsche Telekom board members agreement states that they will combine the two companies, T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS, with Metro keeping a 26% share of the company as well as receiving a $1.5 billion payout. Of course this will still have to be approved by the government and so forth but I think this deal has a better chance of getting approved compared to the big AT&T/T-Mobile fiasco of 2011.

What do you guys think? See this benefiting T-Mobile in anyway? Is it better for MetroPCS customers? Let us know below!

Source: Phandroid

Following Amazon’s announcement of a couple of new Kindle Fire tablets, Barnes and Noble took the wraps off of two new Nooks this morning. The big selling point of both devices, according to the company, is their displays. The Nook HD has a 1440×900 resolution display, while the Nook HD+ has a full HD display at 1920×1280. The prices fall in-line with Amazon’s, coming in at $199 for the 7-inch Nook HD and $269 for the 9-inch Nook HD+.

Specs of the Nook HD include:

• 1440×900 243 ppi laminated display
• 11.1 ounces in weight
• 1.3GHz dual-core processor
• 1GB RAM
• Comes in “Snow” or “Smoke”
• $199 for the 8GB version, $249 for the 16GB version

The Nook HD+ is packing:

• 1920×1280 256 ppi laminated display
• 18.2 ounces in weight
• 1.5GHz dual-core processor
• 1GB RAM
• $269 for the 16GB version, $299 for the 32GB version

Both devices ship with Android as a base and Barnes and Noble’s custom skin on top. They are available for pre-order in the United States now.

Following a summer full of leaks and rumors, the RAZR HD is now official. The device will be coming to Verizon with Android 4.0.4 and LTE capabilities. Other specs include a 4.7-inch Super AMOLED HD display, 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, 8MP rear camera, 32GB of storage, and NFC. Motorola was quick to note that Jelly Bean will be rolling out to the device very soon, as well.

The RAZR HD will come in two variations. First, you have the standard variant that will have a normal 2500mAh battery, then you’ll have the RAZR HD MAXX, which will come with a much larger battery. It will be able to let you talk on the phone for 21 straight hours on a singe charge.

As far as availability goes, Motorola and Verizon simply say “before the holidays.”

So, what do you think? Interested in the RAZR HD duo?

Verizon Wireless and Motorola Add Three New and Exclusive 4G LTE DROID RAZR™ Smartphones

All the Power, Battery Life and Cool Design of DROID RAZR™ with the Speed of 4G LTE Three Times Over

All three devices offer the power and reliability that customers have come to expect from Motorola and Verizon Wireless.  DROID devices give customers speed, power and revolutionary technology, while the RAZR design delivers a thin, compact device built with strong, top-of-the-line materials and long-lasting battery life.  The new smartphones are powered by the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network, giving customers the capability to simultaneously talk and browse the Web and also access the blazingly fast speeds that cover more than 75 percent of the U.S. population.  With three brand new options, this lineup has something for everyone.

DROID RAZR M: The Full-Screen Phone

DROID RAZR M is an unbelievably compact smartphone that puts the world in the palm of your hand with an edge-to-edge 4.3-inch Super AMOLED^™ Advanced display.  Customers will be amazed with the DROID RAZR M’s design, which is significantly shorter and narrower than the original DROID RAZR, yet includes the same size display, making it the most compact 4.3-inch 4G LTE smartphone.

DROID RAZR M also features powerful Web browsing capabilities by combining Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network with the speeds of Chrome^™ for Android^™ mobile browser for an unrivaled mobile Web experience.

The DROID RAZR M’s SMARTACTIONS^™ feature maximizes battery efficiency with every charge, allowing customers to browse the Web and watch videos without worrying about draining their device’s battery.

DROID RAZR HD: Performance and Power

Building on the DROID RAZR legacy, the new DROID RAZR HD expands the innovation with a new 4.7-inch Super AMOLED HD display that allows movies, photos, magazines and even websites to appear with vivid clarity.  DROID RAZR HD provides customers with 78 percent more pixels for a more vibrant display and features 40 percent greater battery capacity than the original DROID RAZR.

The viewdini app is at its best with the HD display and 4G LTE speeds to watch movies, television shows and other video content.  Viewdini brings the power of Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network to the screen by streamlining access to videos from a wide range of content providers, including cable operators, websites and other popular video sources.  The viewdini app can be downloaded from  Google Play.

DROID RAZR MAXX HD: Long Live the Battery

Packed with the same leading features as DROID RAZR HD, the DROID RAZR MAXX HD raises the industry standard for battery life with 32 hours of normal use.  The DROID RAZR MAXX HD is remarkably thin, yet packs sufficient battery power for 13 hours of straight video playback, enough to watch a movie trilogy without needing a charge.  Customers also have enough battery life to talk the day away with up to 21 hours of continuous talk time or browse the Web on 4G LTE for up to a full eight hours.

A Trilogy of Premium Design, Speed and Features:

• 4G LTE – customers can expect fast download speeds of 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps in 4G LTE coverage areas.
• Interactive Circles Widget allows quick access to notifications, weather, time and more
• Quick Settings can be accessed directly from the home screen so customers can easily manage their volume profile, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth^®, GPS and more
• Enhanced Help Guides provide interactive tutorials, help topics and tips to become a DROID RAZR expert
• Global Ready so customers can have voice and data service in more than 205 countries
• Business ready with enterprise grade security and data encryption, remote wipe, complex password support, IPsec multi-headed VPN client and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync^®support
• 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and 1 GB RAM
• Mobile Hotspot – Share a 4G LTE connection with up to eight Wi-Fi-enabled devices
• 8-megapixel camera with LED flash and 1080p HD recording
• Front-facing camera for video chatting
• NFC-enabled so customers can send contacts, links, maps and more directly to compatible phones with Android Beam^™
• Corning^® Gorilla^® Glass display, DuPont^™ KEVLAR^® fiber and water-repellent nanocoating
• microSD^™ card slot with support for up to 32 GB

The new DROID RAZRs run Android^™ 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (upgradeable to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean by end of 2012) and come with the best of Google Mobile Services, including:

• Chrome^™  for Android^™, giving a personalized Web experience
• Google Play^™, apps and games, millions of books and songs, thousands of movies and TV shows
• Google Maps^™ for Android (Beta) for voice-guided, turn-by-turn directions
• Voice Actions for Android^™, letting customers control their phones with their voice
• Google+^™, which can automatically upload photos to a private album online
• YouTube^™, watch videos in stunning HD, Preload subscribed channels or individual videos and the YouTube app will automatically download videos over Wi-Fi while the phone is charging – making them ready to watch in an instant

Pricing and Availability:

• DROID RAZR M will be available for pre-order starting today, September 5^th, at 5 p.m. ET athttp://www.verizonwireless.com/droidrazrm and will be available on September 13^th in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at http://www.verizonwireless.com for the introductory price of  $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.  Customers receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted. The DROID RAZR M will be available in either Black or White.
• DROID RAZR HD and DROID RAZR MAXX HD will be available before the holidays. The DROID RAZR HD will be available in either Black or White and the DROID RAZR MAXX HD will be available in Black.
• Customers who purchase a DROID RAZR M, DROID RAZR HD or DROID RAZR MAXX HD will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless data plan. Share Everything Plans allow customers to add smartphones to their account for $40 monthly access. For additional information, customers should go to www.verizonwireless.com/shareeverything.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s largest 4G LTE network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves 94.2 million retail customers, including 88.8 million retail postpaid customers.  Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 78,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD).  For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

About Motorola Mobility

Motorola Mobility, owned by Google, fuses innovative technology with human insights to create experiences that simplify, connect and enrich people’s lives. Our portfolio includes converged mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets; wireless accessories; end-to-end video and data delivery; and management solutions, including set-tops and data-access devices. For more information, visit motorola.com/mobility.

MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC. Android, Chrome, Google+, Google Maps, Google Play and YouTube are trademarks of Google Inc. LTE is a trademark of ETSI. KEVLAR® is a registered trademark of DuPont used under license by Motorola Mobility LLC. Corning and Gorilla are registered trademarks of Corning, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.  © 2012 Motorola Mobility LLC.  All rights reserved.

After months and months of speculation, at an event in Berlin today, Samsung officially took the wraps off of its Galaxy Note successor. The Galaxy Note II features a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display with a 720p resolution. It’s powered by a 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos processor and two gigabytes of RAM. It will come with a microSD card slot, 8MP rear-facing camera, 1.9MP front facing shooter, and will be available in 16, 32, and 64GB capacities. Finally, the Galaxy Note II is just 9.4-millimeters thin.

Software-wise, the Galaxy Note II will ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and TouchWiz. It also comes with the signature S Pen stylus, which offers several new capabilities with a new Air View app. The app allows you to hold the pen above an email, S Planner, image gallery, or video to preview content without actually opening it.

The Galaxy Note II will be available in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East this October with Marble White and Titanium Gray colors. As far as U.S. availability goes, Samsung says we’re looking at sometime “later in 2012″.

In a shockingly short amount of time, jurors have reached a decision in the multi-billion dollar, landmark Apple vs Samsung trial.  The trail has been going on for almost three weeks now, with the jurors being in the courtroom since Wednesday morning. The jury consists of 9 people, 2 females and 7 males.

Buckle up, this should be fun….

• Jury rules that all Samsung devices infringed on Apple’s patent 301 for bounce back scroll and patent 381. Most infringe on 915, 305, 087, 677 and 163. No Samsung devices infringed on 889.
• Samsung was not found to infringe on Apple’s iPad design patent on any devices
• All Apple patents in this case are valid.
• All Apple patents held valid. Apple has proven registered iPhone and and unregistered iPhone 3G trade dress were diluted by Samsung phones.
• Jury rules Samsung owes Apple $1,051,855,000 in damages.
• iPhone 3G, 3GS, iPhone 4 do not infringe any Samsung patents.
• iPad and iPod touch do not infringe any Samsung patents.

Sony’s past smartphone attempts in the United States have never truly caught on. The Xperia Play was a great device, but a lack of updates caused it to have a much shorter life span than many expected. Sony tried several other times, but nothing really took off. Then this summer, the company announced the Xperia ion. When you first look through the spec list, there’s a lot to like. A 12-megapixel camera, LTE, 720p display, and dual-core processor. Then you see it ships with Gingerbread. Yep. Gingerbread. As in the operating system that launched in 2010. Sony tried to partially remedy this by overlaying its TimeScape interface. It also doesn’t help that the Xperia ion is in direct competition with devices like the Galaxy S III, iPhone, and HTC One X. How does the ion stack up? Read Android Invasion’s full review to find out!

Design

Sony has always made sure its designs aren’t cheap and plasticy like a lot of its competitors and the ion is no different. The device is quite heavy and thick at .46 inches 4.8 ounces. Don’t think that this is a bad thing, though. The device feels great in the hand. It’s design is very industrial and premium. The ion is black and has a brushed aluminum look and feel.

The camera is directly centered on the back of the device and has an aluminum rim around it. The speaker and flash are directly under it. Further down the rear is a green Xperia logo. The back does attract fingerprints very easily and I found myself having to wipe it down a lot, much like I did with the Galaxy S III.

On the left of the device is a port cover housing the microUSB and HDMI ports. On the right is the power button, volume rocker, and camera shutter button. It’s great having a camera shutter and it’s shocking that the ion is one of the few phones to have one. The top and bottom of the phone are made of a glossy plastic. You can slide off the top and find the SIM card slot and microSD card slot. The top also houses a 3.5mm headphone jack, while the bottom is clean.

Under the fabulous 4.6-inch display (more on it later) you will find four capacitive buttons for menu, home, back and search. The buttons are extremely hard to press, as the sensor are located in a very small area beneath the display. I often found myself having to tap a button multiple times to get it to register.

Overall, the design of the ion is nice. It feels sturdy and solid in the hands. However, several little quirks will quickly get on your nerves. First, as I said before, the capacitive buttons are really hard to hit. The fact that the charging port is covered by a flap is also annoying.

Display

Marketing-wise, one of highest touted feature of the ion is its display. The device has a 4.6-inch, 720p (1280×720) LCD display. Sony calls it an “HD Reality Display” and says it is powered by the “Mobile BRAVIA Engine.” Those terms really mean all that much. The former is simply bragging about the 342 pixels per inch of the display, while the latter touts the color management tweaks Sony has made to images and video.

The display overall is great. The viewing angles are superb, text is sharp, and colors look really great. The display does appear to be a little washed out at times, but it’s really not that noticeable. Shockingly, the Bravia Engine does actually help some. You can enable and disable it in the settings, though it’s enabled by default. It raises the display’s contrast and sharpness some, though it could also be that Sony lowers them purposely when you disable the Bravia Engine. Either way, it does help enough that the average user will notice it.

How does the display stack up against devices like the iPhone, One X, and Galaxy S III? It’s not quite as good, to be honest. All three of those devices are a little sharper, with the Galaxy S III leading the pack. On its own, however, the ion’s screen is nothing to slouch at.

Performance

Here’s where I start to become a bit frustrated with the Xperia ion. It’s powered by a 1.5GHz MSM8260 Qualcomm S3 processor instead of the new, faster, S4. While I can understand why Sony did this, it still doesn’t make up for the ion’s poor performs. Scrolling between home screens, the device suffered from a considerable amount of lag and stutter. Gaming was also not as smooth as it could be with them taking a long time to load and stuttering all the time. Want to set a live wallpaper on the ion? Good luck with that.

As I do in all of my reviews, I put the One S through several Quadrant Standard tests. Quadrant is an app, available on the market, that puts your phone through a series of tests, such as 3D and 2D graphics. Quadrant was just updated for multi-core and Ice Cream Sandwich support.

The One S averaged a score of 3,100, which is a decent score. The Galaxy S III, on the other hand, averaged about 5,000.

Software

Now, the poor performance of the ion can not be solely blamed on the processor, as the device ships with a nearly two-year old version of the Android operating system. Gingerbread. Quite honestly, I thought I was done complaining about Android 2.3 but I guess not.

The ion ships with Android 2.3 Gingerbread which is truly unacceptable. Sony says that it needs time to perfect Ice Cream Sandwich before releasing it, but I’m not buying it.

Now, let’s just think for a minute. Gingerbread bread was released in December of 2010. 619 days ago. 1 year, 9 months and 10 days ago. This is utterly unacceptable. Gingerbread lags, it’s ugly, it’s boring.

Sony also through its custom overlay on top, which does help just a little. The overlay is not very heavy at all, unlike Sense. It looks a lot TouchWiz, as it has a grid app drawer and 5 icons along the bottom of the homescreens. It’s definitely not as good-looking as TouchWiz, and quite frankly is rather dull and boring.

Just like a lot of AT&T phones, the ion comes with a lot of bloatware.

• Amazon Kindle
• Astro
• AT&T Code Scanner
• AT&T Family Map
• AT&T Navigator
• AT&T Ready2Go
• Connected Devices
• FM Radio
• Live TV
• LiveWare Manager
• myAT&T
• Office Suite
• Power Saver
• Timescape
• Update Center
• YPMobile

Sony’s overlay does offer “Themes,” much like Sense 4 does. They aren’t all that flashy and different, but they are there if themes are your thing.

Overall, the software alone is a reason not to buy the Xperia ion. It lags and is dull and boring. It’s running Gingerbread, which is now two years old. Sony, I ask you, why? Just why?

Camera

Taken with the Xperia ion

Sony put a 12MP camera in the Xperia ion, but don’t let the high number of megapixels fool you. It really means nothing. The camera is also capable of 1080p video. Pictures taken with the ion were decent, but nothing to write home about. It is easily out performed by the Galaxy S III and One X. Video was ok, but the stabilization is not all that good and I found myself recording rather shaky video most of the time.

Data and Phone Quality

The Xperia ion is one of a growing number of devices compatible with AT&T’s LTE network. Where LTE is available, it is the best. While I do not have AT&T LTE in my hometown, I was recently up in Indianapolis, IN where LTE is up and rocking. Being the Android geek I am, I ran some speedtests and got some amazing speeds of about 30mbps down and 7mbps up.

Don’t have LTE? Don’t worry. The ion is also compatible with AT&T’s HSPA+ network. In my tests, I would get about 1mbps up and 6-10mbps down.

It’s a phone, so it has to make calls. It does and it does it well. Call quality was very good and I only had one dropped call in my two-week period with the device.

Battery Life

The ion comes with a non-removable 1,900mAh battery which all-in-all was decent. I was able to make it through a day with moderate usage. Moderate usage for me consists of some email, Twitter, Facebook, texting, and web browsing.

Sony includes a “Power Saver” app that lets you automatically disable select apps and settings when your battery reaches a certain level, which is really nice and does help.

Storage

Not much to say here except for the fact that the device comes with 16GB of internal storage and has a microSD card slot.

Wrap up

The Good:

• LTE Capable
• Physical Camera Button
• Sturdy, well built design
• Great 720p display
• $99 price tag

The Bad:

• Ships with Android 2.3
• Horrible performance
• Camera is not as good as Sony says it is
• Design attracts fingerprints

Overall

In the end, the Xperia ion is not the device Sony needs to help it gain traction in the united. It has its bright spots, such as the 720p display and solid design. Sadly its pitfalls are just too big and prevent me from recommending it. As I’ve said throughout the review, Gingerbread is just horrible. Why Sony would release a phone with it, I don’t know. The camera is also disappointing.

With the far superior HTC One X also costing just $99, there really is no reason why anyone should buy a Sony Xperia ion.