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Sony Xperia C Review

xperia c reviewSony Xperia C is not one of those 5 inch screen phone which you can buy for around 12,000 Rupees. It’s different, what’s different you ask? Well, first of all its a Sony phone and anything which is Sony does not come cheap, Xperia M is an exception. You are paying 20,000 Rupees for Sony’s name here. The processor inside this phone, you can find it in any Quad-core sub 10,000 rupees phone, and not only that for as much as 8,000 Rupees less you can get HD 720p display, So then why is Sony asking for 20,000 Rupees for this phone? That’s what i am going to tell you about in this review, I am going to break down different aspects of a phone like hardware, software, camera and much more in small chunks of words so that you can digest it easily without scratching your head.

Hardware & Design

Hardware wise the phone is really solid built, its very slim just 8.9mm thick, Sony is continuing its unique design which gives a illusion that the phone is uni-body but its not. Even though its not uni-body, the battery is still not removable. To open the phone read the booklet, that’s what i did. For buttons and ports its got a micro usb port, a power/lock key, volume up/down button, camera button, 3.5 mm headphhone jack on top, 8 MP camera with LED flash at the back, VGA camera in the front and just around it proximity sensor.

Design wise it looks a lot like Xperia Z from the front especially because of the speaker and mic placement, from the back it looks like a big brother of Xperia M. Quite frankly i don’t like how its back look, it looks odd, its not evenly curved like Xperia M, that makes it look more awkward. Sony should have made it flat back or something like Xperia SP, Anyways that’s my personal opinion. Its very wide thanks to it very big bezel which makes it difficult to hold or use with one hand. Its got a nice little notification LED right above the mic in the front, the LED is very subtle in density, which is very good to save battery. For navigation its got on screen buttons and i hate them with a passion. Again, Personal Opinion.

Display

Display of this phone is a very beautiful 5 inch qHD resolution that’s 540×960 at 220 pixels per inch. I have no proof to prove this but i think this display is indeed triluminous display, you know that Sony’s new fancy LCD backlight technology, Sony’s answer to IPS displays. I must say Sony really did a great job because compared to previous standard TFT LCD screen Sony used to put inside its phones like Sony Xperia SP, the screen of Xperia SP looked washed out when you look at it from a angle but Xperia C does not have this problem. It looks beautiful no matter what angle you look at. Xperia SP has Mobile Bravia Engine to make out for its feeble display but you know what Xperia C doesn’t even need that, its beautiful as it is.

Camera

Xperia C got a primary 8 megapixel Camera at the back with LED flash and its capable of capturing 1080p videos, Video Quality is not that good in dark condition just like its still image performance, and noise is the culprit, it captures too much noise in dark conditions. In day light though just like the Sun, Xperia C’s Camera shines like bright light. It captures most of the detail with very minimal noise. Its also got lots of built in Camera functions like HDR, touch to focus, single auto-focus, smile detection, self portrait voice guide(this will help you take your own portrait picture), portrait picture enhancement, and much more standard functions for all the Camera geeks. For video sample check out the review video below. Front camera is so bad that i don’t even want to write about it, its just there for its name sake.

Still samples:

Performance

Xperia C runs on Mediatek MTK 6589 Processor which is by the way a combination of Quadcore Cortex A7 and PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU and it also has 1GB RAM, so the performance of this phone is quite predictable. Android 4.2.2 Jellybean runs without any problems on it, the interface is quite fluent without any lags, app opens without any stuttering. Well the real performance of the phone comes out when you play games on it, check out our benchmark & gaming post on Xperia C for that. You can install big games on it pretty easily because this phone supports Move to SD Card by default and you are going to need it anyways cause’ it has only 1.20 GB total internal storage out of which only 0.98 GB is available for the user.

Connectivity

Sony Xperia C is a well connected device, its got everything like WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth 4.0 and did i say that its a dual-sim device, yes it is a dual-sim phone with one WCDMA/GSM and one GSM Sim support which is very rare in Android phones. Call quality is very clear, mic and speaker volume is good too. Sometimes it loses its WiFi signal without any reason even though when i was in full WiFi coverage it kept fluctuating, so that’s little something i discovered. Web browser is default Google Chrome and browsing is fluent without any lags all thanks to 1GB RAM, pinch to zoom, in browser video playback everything works without a hitch. Messages works as they should, if you don’t want to use SMS, you can use WeChat or Line etc as they all come pre installed on the phone. Dual Sim functions includes forward the calls to second sim and vice-versa.

Multimedia

There’s iPhone which offers little to nothing in music settings for customization except for EQ and then there’s Sony, they give so many features to choose from the music settings of the Walkman that sometimes i get confused what to use. There’s clearphase, clearaudio, and virtual surround sound options although all of these only works in headphones as in you can only tell the difference through headphones, for speaker its got xLOUD but still the speaker feels feeble, comparing to the size of the phone the speaker sounds so small. Video player is called movies it supports 1080p by default with support to most of the formats. Videos look beautiful though because of its screen. It also comes with apps like picsart and sketch with which you can edit photos or simply draw something yourself. I don’t know if it supports stylus because i didn’t have any stylus to test it with. It sure does not support nails and neither pencils like Xperia Z Ultra. Albums is where all your photos are saved.

Battery Life

The most stupid thing that you can measure in this world is battery life, that’s a fact. Well for me at least. Let me tell you why, battery life of a phone depends solely on the use or person, so, if i give you a number like “its battery life is 10 hours” and then you started playing games on it with brightness set to highest level and WiFi on then it is a no-brainer that your battery will deplete faster. Same goes for web browsing, video playback You don’t need any special measurement to measure that, its common sense. Battery capacity is 2390mAh, according to Sony on 2G it will give you up-to 14 hours of talk time and around 12 hours on 3G. Mind you, we are only talking about talk-time here as in using the phone as a phone to talk and nothing else.

Anyways, just for an idea you will get around 6-8 hours on heavy use like continuous gaming and web browsing, around 10 hours on casual use like little gaming and occasional web browsing, and your usual calls, messaging what not, again, it all depends on the use of the person. Although you will get some options from Sony like Stamina mode which will increase your battery marginally by turning off the WiFi, 3G, mobile data, lowering the brightness of the phone automatically, whenever you are not using the phone or when the phone is in ideal state like when you are sleeping. By the way Dual Sim means dual standby so that will effect your battery life negatively, so keep that in mind.

Conclusion

I said this in the video, i will say it again, for around 20,000 Rupees Sony is giving you free Headphones and ADP that’s Accidental Damage Protection, its a type of warranty and its very useful if you break a lot of phones, doesn’t matter if intentionally or not. You can get the phone around 18,000 Rupees online but then you will not get the ADP warranty which i think is more important than free headphones, although, you will still get the standard 1 year warranty. The phone is pretty good performance and hardware wise, especially its screen which believe me is really awesome but still 20,000 Rupees is not the correct price for it.

I wouldn’t recommend it right now only because of its price but if you don’t care about the price and desperate to buy a Sony phone with 5 inch screen, mind you this is the only 5 inch screen phone available from Sony around 20,000 Rupees, Rest are all above 30,000 Rupees except for Xperia ZL so you’ve got no choice anyways. If you want a 5 inch screen phone only from an international brand or company then the only other choice you’ve got is Samsung Galaxy Grand rest are all from Indian or Chinese companies. If you don’t want 5 inch screen phone then buy Xperia SP straight as that, it is also available around the same 20,000 Rupees and it completely destroys not only Xperia C but but every other phone around that price, performance wise. It is the best, not just one of the best, the best phone around 20,000 Rupees right now. The only place Xperia C beats Xperia SP is the screen quality.

If you want 5 inch screen and Xperia C only then I would say maybe wait around Diwali or more, let the price come down a bit around 18,000 Rupees or lower, then it would become a better deal. Especially with ADP warranty.

49 replies on “Sony Xperia C Review”

Sorry couldn’t read your entire review, but certainly saw the video review and it was indeed very informative. I have a little question for you. Does this phone support USB OTG? I know for sure Xperia SP has that feature, but I am unable to find that info anywhere with respect to this mobile. Also, what about its pocketability? Does this phone fit one’s pockets? Thanks in advance for your replies.

I am not sure because i don’t have USB OTG cable to check it, its not even mentioned in Sony’s official white paper, but you can try if you have a USB OTG cable and USB OTG is an Android feature, its just up to companies whether they choose to enable it or not on certain devices. About being pocket friendly well i don’t think any 5 inch screen phone is pocket friendly. Although the phone does fit in, but if you wear skinny jeans/pants it might be a little uncomfortable and awkward looking.

Ahh…too bad, I was really hoping that you would give me an answer. But, many thanks for your reply. Am I right in assuming that this is the largest five inch phone you have used?

Hey, I watched some video on youtube. In that they showed USB OTG capability of this phone. The phone does support this feature. And, what do u think of the phone`s screen. I know u said it was good, but is it comparable to IPS displays found on LG etc. What about its sunlight legibility? Generally, I found Sony phones display dull and washed out. Does this phone break new records in that department? Or, is it just a minor improvement?

You can rest assured about the screen quality of Xperia C, it is far better and crisp than most of the phones around this range from Sony. Although its not ground breaking, but its not dull or washed out either, its better than Xperia SP. I’ve never used an LG smartphone but i’ve used an iPhone and they also has the same IPS LCDs, so in comparison IPS screens are still better. But the display of Xperia C is definitely a step up from the previous LCDs that Sony used to put in their smartphones, ultimately you have to see the screen in person to decide.

Many thanks for ur replies. If ur budget is around 20000, which phone would u pickup? Also, I heard that Xperia C is unable to play the latest FIFA and NFS games. Is this really true? Is there any high-end game this phone is unable to handle?

While u were playing NOVA 3, it appeared that it wasn`t running smoothly. Is this correct or its just my imagination?

Nova 3 ran fine and smooth, it’s just that i am not very good with touch controls that’s why it looked like it is not running smoothly and around 20,000 Rs, i wouldn’t even think twice before buying Xperia SP, it is a total beast in that price range.

Yes, I really like the way Xperia SP looks and performs. But, it’s the display of the phone that bothers me. From the videos I have seen, the contrast and colors of the screen are way off. Which is why I am more inclined towards Xperia C, even though it is a bit of underperformer for its price. Do you think I am doing the right thing by going for Xperia C? Or the display of Xperia SP isn’t that much of a deal breaker to warrant such move?

Since you already have Xperia C, have you come across any game that isn’t compatible with the phone?

Mostly all the games are compatible and run well, but then again there are some games like Gangstar 4 Vegas which doesn’t perform well and that’s why i am suggesting you to buy Xperia SP as you are a little more inclined towards the gaming performance, SP’s screen is not that bad and it has mobile bravia engine 2 which makes up for everything. Believe me while watching videos, photos or playing games its screen really performs well because of MBE 2, with Sony Xperia SP you will be future proof too.

Many thanks for your suggestion, much appreciated. I think I will go with Xperia SP. Is there any workaround for installing apps on SD card? Yes, around 5.5 GB is pretty good. But, games nowadays are tipping 2 GB (which might limit the number of heavy games that can be installed on the device).

Well you’ve got two options and one ultimate option
1. Use micro sd card to store everything and leave 5.5GB for games only.
2. Root the phone and then use move to sd.
Ultimate option: if you don’t want any of that rooting mess and unrestricted memory usage then just buy Xperia C memory management is much easy on Xperia C.

Yes, well said. I cannot believe Sony overlooked such a simple thing while designing Xperia SP. Not only me, anyone trying to choose between these two mobiles are stuck in such a dilemma. And the worst thing is that none of the other branded companies have anything good to offer within this price range.

One final question to you my friend. I have been reading comments and I see a common problem where users are saying that in Xperia C when one receives a call, proximity sensor turns off screen (as expected). But, when they move the phone away from their face, the display still remains locked. Also, some users are unable to unlock phone once they have locked the phone using power button. Have you come across any such issues?

Many many thanks for your help, I really appreciate it. And, keep up the good work you are doing with your website. Stanley signing out…

Sorry, I am back. If you were to choose a phone between Xperia SP, Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S4 Mini, which one would you pick and why?

Regarding Gangstar Vegas, I watched a video of it being played on S4 Mini and it handled it well. But, the game was not running at the highest setting.

What about Xperia SP? Does it run this game at the highest setting without any lag? I also watched a video of Asphalt 7 Heat being played on Xperia SP and it was stuttering a bit here and there.

So, it appears to me that, even though Xperia SP has powerful hardware compared to S4 Mini, it is struggling to maintain frames because it is running games at 1280 by 720 compared to qHD resolution of S4 Mini. What are your thoughts?

I’ve never used Galaxy S3 or S4 mini but I would still pick Xperia SP over them because of its Adreno 320 GPU and I’ve played Asphalt 7 on SP and it didn’t lag at all. Watch my second gaming review video of SP you’ll see.

Sorry for the late reply. But, you have convinced me man. Buying it today itself. Once again, many thanks for your help 🙂

Compared to galaxy grand, is xperia c good?

i want to buy a dual sim phone around 20k. suggest me a few

Compared to galaxy grand, is xperia c good?

i want to buy a dual sim phone around 20k. suggest me a few phones

Compared to Galaxy Grand, Xperia C is much better. It’s available for around 17,000 – 18,000 Rs right now that’s another plus point of Xperia C. Apart from Xperia C the only other dual sim options you’ve got are from Indian manufacturers like Micromax, Xolo and others. I’ve used Canvas 4 and Xperia C both and if you ask me i’d prefer Xperia C any day.

What about the camera and screen resolution???
Also which one should i prefer Xperia C or HTC Desire 500
as my requirement is a dual sim phone around 20k

Desire 500 has very inferior hardware both processor and GPU wise, and it’s still expensive than Xperia C. Both has 8 MP camera but Xperia C has full HD 1080p video recording. Desire 500’s screen is much smaller than Xperia C and its also of lower resolution. So Xperia C wins in every department when compared to Desire 500.

A casual suggestion, buy Xperia C around 17,000 – 18,000 Rs online and buy a 16 or 32 GB class 10 micro sd card with the rest of the money.

I have read at many places that the RAM of xperia C is very less…we nly get to use 1 GB of the ram?
Can the apps be installed on the sd card?

RAM is indeed 1 GB and that is not bad it’s a good thing. I think you are confused between RAM and ROM, it has 4 GB internal memory(ROM) out of which only 1.2 GB is user available, which is less but it supports features like move to SD simply meaning you can install apps on SD card. That’s why i keep suggesting this phone to everyone, ’cause this is one of the very few phones out there that supports this feature by default.

Hi…I would like to buy Xperia M dual version. In that
phone low internal Memory was a Problem for me. But I knew same memory option
available in Xperia c also but, in c have option “preferred install location”.
I want know is this option available in Sony Xperia M dual version?

Thanking you,

Hi just going to ask is this phone has edit quick toggles is the display? And can you please try if it can read 64gb of memory card?And the”preferred install location” dose it really gose to the memory card in the microSD card.or in the other side of memory of phone? please reply thank you.

Yes it has quick wifi, bluetooth and other toggles. 64gb micro sd card is not supported only 32gb micro sd card is supported and yes the app data really goes to micro sd card not to the internal memory. If you remove the micro sd card apps/games that are installed on the memory card will stop working.

Bro.
does it support 4g .
i would like to buy one of the phone mmx magnus or xperia c which one is better
please replay asap

Bro. does it support 4g,video calling.
i would like to buy one of this mmx magnus,xperia c,lumia 720
which one better

How is the call quality and signal reception of sony xperia c? I want to buy this mobile…..my requirements are good battery and best call quality. Can this fulfill my requirements? please reply soon…..Please help me…..

frnd i want to know that the preffered installation location on xperia c is defaut feature or we get that after rooting the phone ….
plz response soon…

If it is in warranty take it to the Sony service center even if it is not, still take it to the nearest Sony service center, they will tell you if it’s a hardware problem or just a software problem. If it’s a hardware problem then it can only be solved by them.

In sony xperia c whether we have to move applications to SD card from device memory or apps get installed directly in SD card???? Phone has only 600mb available space for apps installation. Means we cant install apps with size more than 600mb. To install such bigger apps, they should get directly installed to sd card.

Hello I m paras i just want to know that is the sony xperia c is supports the otg cable or not….?

friends,i bought this phon last week..how should i charge the battery? i charged it for some hours only..is it ok or should i charge for 6hrs in 2hr intrvals?

and the speaker sound is lower than xperia m..is it a problem for my phone only? pls reply

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