Sony recently launched its latest LTE offering in the U.S. consumer market. The talk is about Sony Xperia Ion, the 4G LTE capable smartphone, which the Japanese giant introduced at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2012 and finally released June 25. Sony Xperia Ion, the first U.S.-branded LTE smartphone from the Japanese electronics major for the U.S. consumer (after its split with Ericsson) got available exclusively on AT&T at a price tag of $99.99 with a new two-year agreement. The new budget phone is also available at Sony and Best Buy retail and online stores.
While Xperia Ion marks Sony's 4G LTE foray with AT&T, South Korean giant Samsung is no newcomer to the wireless carrier - as the company's phablet Galaxy Note LTE is also available on At&T for around $249 on 2-year contract.
If you are going for a phone upgrade and are confused, here is a brief comparison to give an idea on which out of the two suits you the best.
Form Factor
Sony Xperia Ion, the glossy black monolithic smartphone, is handsomely styled with a dimension of 133 x 68 x 1.8 mm and weighs around 144 grams. On the other hand, Galaxy Note is a big phablet, measuring 146.8 x 83 x 9.7mm and weighing 178 grams.
Sony Xperia Ion sports a 4.65-inch Mobile BRAVIA engine HD touchscreen display with 1280 X 720 pixels resolution and features like multi touch, timescape and accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate and ambient light sensor. In comparison, Galaxy Note features a massive 5.3-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with the advantage of Corning Gorilla Glass, the TouchWiz User Interface (UI) and a resolution of 800 x 1280 pixels with a pixel density of 285 ppi. The Note also features a stylus - S Pen, which allows users to write on the 5.3-inch screen as if the Note were a pad of paper.
Operating System
The Xperia Ion does not run Android 4.0 Ice. Cream Sandwich out of the box. Buyers will get the smartphone running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. However, Sony has confirmed that the ICS update will reach the device soon
Similar to Xperia Ion, Samsung Galaxy Note LTE also still runs on the Android OS 2.3 (Gingerbread) out of the box, but Samsung has announced an update to Android 4.0 ICS (which can happen any time).
Processor
Sony Xperia Ion is powered by the 1.5GHz Snapdragon S3 dual-core processor, whereas, Galaxy Note is powered by a Qualcomm MSM8660 Snapdragon chip with a dual-core 1.5GHz Scorpion processor. Both the smartphones pack 1GB of RAM.
Camera
In this section, Sony Xperia Ion scores big, as the smartphone is fitted with a beefy 12-megapixel auto-focus camera with an LED flash and Exmor R sensor and geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, 3D sweep panorama and image stabilization features. In comparison, Samsung's offering boasts 8-megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash and geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, and image stabilization features.
However, when it comes to secondary camera, it's a different story. Galaxy LTE Note has a better secondary camera of 2-megapixel, which can record video in 720p, whereas Sony Xperia Ion features 1-megapixel front-facing camera, though it is also capable of shooting 720p videos.
Connectivity
Both the smartphones are 4G LTE capable and feature the latest Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Sony Xperia Ion supports micro USB 2.0, 3.5mm headset jack, FM radio, 802.11 Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0, while Galaxy Note supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot and Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP and EDR.
Storage
In this section, both the smartphones come with an internal storage option of 16GB and both offer microSD card slot for expansion up to 32GB.
Battery
Sony Xperia Ion is loaded with Li-Ion 1900 mAh battery, with which the smartphone will offer up to maximum 10 hours of talk time while Samsung Galaxy Note runs on a more powerful battery, 2500mAh Li-Ion battery which delivers talk time of up to 12 hours. The battery of Galaxy Note is also user replaceable.
Verdict
As far as budget phone is concerned, Sony Experia Ion takes the cake. And, if you fancy a stylus and loves to work on a massive screen, then Samsung Galaxy Note LTE is the best option for you, though the smartphone is really bulky and huge.