Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo

The basics

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo is the latest Android smartphone to hit the market, following closely in the footsteps of the Xperia Play and Xperia Arc. It lacks either the PlayStation gaming abilities of the Play, or the amazingly thin design of the Arc, but it still offers a huge amount for the money. With an 8-megapixel camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G/HSDPA and the latest version of Android, it has the potential to be an impressive handset.

The good

We really like the shape of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo. Lots of consumers will sneer at the fact it's thicker and fatter than the likes of the Arc, Galaxy S II or iPhone 4, but it's also a lot more comfortable in the hand, aided by the sculpted shape.

The 3.7-inch glass screen is an impressive panel for a mid-range smartphone – it's not as vibrant as the AMOLED panels found on the latest Samsung handsets, but with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels it's a lot sharper than most, and is perfect for browsing the web.

The Android 2.3.3 operating system is the same OS as found on the Neo's big brother – the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc – and it's just as impressive here. Powered by a 1GHz processor, the Sony Ericsson Neo is fast, quick to respond and we found it ran without issues for the majority of the time we had it.

Out of all the interfaces we've seen overlaid on top of Android, Sony Ericsson's is among the least intrusive, and for us this is a good thing. The OS looks great – we're not that impressed with SE's Timescape widget – but keep things simple and it's definitely one of the nicer phones to use.

The camera is also a major plus point. As with the Neo's rivals, it lags behind the Nokia N8 for ultimate image quality, but it's not far off. At 8-megapixels, images are pin-sharp, and the Neo is also capable of shooting great macro snaps. The only time it struggles is in darker lighting conditions, where more digital noise is apparent.

The bad

The plastic finish on the Xperia Neo won't appeal to all of you guys. It looks quite nice, but it lacks the substance of the high-end handsets – some of which are made from aluminium or glass. The use of plastic may help to keep the price down, but it also scratches and scuffs easily, so isn't suited to the more clumsy among you.

Battery life can be an issue, but it depends on what you use the Neo for, and it's no worse than any other Android smartphone. With all the radios turned on, used constantly for gaming and with the screen brightness on full, we could comfortably use up the battery in under a day. Be careful with data connections and switch to GSM occasionally, however, and it's possible to eke out up to two days of use.

The bottom line

We can't help but be impressed by the Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo. This mid-range smartphone may lack the huge screen found on range-topping handsets, but for lots of people that's definitely a good thing. The Neo is comfortable, relatively compact yet still packs in all the features you're likely to need.

It's the ease of use where it really excels, however, with the back-to-basics interface reminding us why we liked Android so much in the first place. Sure, it's not quite as fluid as iOS, but it's a lot more flexible, and along with features like the impressive camera, it helps to turn the Neo into an excellent mid-range handset.