The first phone announced at today’s Sony Ericsson press conference was the Sony Ericsson Xperia neo. Although it comes with a smaller screen than its older brother, Xperia X10 — 3.7 vs 4 inches — the all-touchscreen device is set to supersede it. As far as we know, the Swedish-Japanese company won’t release future Android updates for the X10, leaving space for a new device in the category aside from Arc. Speaking of the Arc, the neo isn’t cool as Arc and neither will be as expensive, although it comes with the same next-get 1GHz Snapdragon processor (MSM8255), Android 2.3 Gingerbread and other “standard for Android” goodies.
Overall I liked the neo, although I had only a brief moment to spend with it. It feels more pockatable than its competitors like HTC Desire and Samsung Galaxy S, but it’s also kinda plasticy and too shiny for my taste. Then again, I’m sure Sony Ericsson will manage to move quite a few units to folks who don’t mind that.
Specs wise, there’s an 8-megapixel camera on the back that’s coupled with a 2MP camera on the front (for video calls), HSPA and WiFi connectivity, mentioned 3.7-inch 854×480 pixels (FWVGA) Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine technology (which rocks), GPS, 3.5mm headset jack, HDMI and a microSD memory card slot. Size wise, the neo measures 116x57x13 mm and weighs 126 grams.
Release date is set at some point in March, when interested folks will be able to grab it in few color options, including Blue Gradient, Red and Silver. Inside the box, you’ll get standard cables for syncing and charging, manual, handsfree and an 8GB microSD card.
