Sony Xperia T review: 4.6-inch display, 13MP camera and PlayStation
When Sony pulled the wraps off its new flagship handset in late 2012, it had already earned a reputation for pushing boundaries in mobile imaging and industrial design. The Xperia T arrived in Australian stores in early 2013 at a recommended retail price of around A$599 outright, pitching itself at buyers who wanted premium specifications without immediately jumping to the top tier of the market. It ran Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, with an upgrade path to 4.1 Jelly Bean announced shortly after launch, and it was the phone that appeared alongside Daniel Craig in the James Bond film Skyfall. That cinema moment gave the device a cultural footprint that no amount of advertising copy could buy, particularly among commuters in Sydney and Melbourne who saw the handset featured on countless promotional posters at central station platforms.
For Australian shoppers comparing their options in early 2013, the Xperia T sat alongside strong contenders such as the Galaxy S III, the HTC One X and Apple's iPhone 5. It was a generation of smartphones where display sizes were creeping toward the five-inch mark, dual-core processors remained standard for flagships, and NFC was still a novelty for many buyers. Sony's pitch rested on three pillars: a sharp 720p screen, a thirteen-megapixel Exmor R camera sensor, and PlayStation certification, which promised access to a curated catalogue of classic PlayStation titles. Below we put those claims to the test while paying attention to how the phone actually felt on Telstra, Optus and Vodafone networks across the country.
Where the Xperia T sat in the 2012-2013 market
Looking at the broader flagship class of late 2012, the Xperia T slotted into a competitive bracket that asked buyers to choose between competing visions of mobile computing. The table below outlines how it stacked up against two of its biggest rivals at launch, using the official specifications published by each manufacturer.
| Feature | Sony Xperia T | Samsung Galaxy S III | Apple iPhone 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 4.55-inch TFT, 720 x 1280 | 4.8-inch Super AMOLED, 720 x 1280 | 4.0-inch Retina, 640 x 1136 |
| Rear camera | 13 MP, f/2.4 | 8 MP, f/2.6 | 8 MP, f/2.4 |
| Processor | Snapdragon S4 dual-core 1.5 GHz | Exynos 4 Quad 1.4 GHz | Apple A6 dual-core 1.3 GHz |
| RAM | 1 GB | 1 GB | 1 GB |
| Storage | 16 GB plus microSD | 16/32/64 GB plus microSD | 16/32/64 GB |
| Battery | 1850 mAh removable | 2100 mAh removable | 1440 mAh non-removable |
| Operating system | Android 4.0 (upgradable to 4.1) | Android 4.0 (upgradable to 4.3) | iOS 6 |
Sony's strategy in Australia relied on carrier partnerships with Telstra and Optus, both of which offered the Xperia T on twenty-four-month contracts starting at roughly A$60 per month. That pricing placed it slightly above mid-range handsets but still below the unsubsidised cost of the iPhone 5, giving Australian buyers a third path between Samsung's mass-market appeal and Apple's premium positioning.
Design and build quality
The Xperia T followed the design language Sony introduced across its 2012 line, characterised by a subtle curve along the back panel and what the company called the "Iconic Identity" arc. Holding the handset felt reassuring thanks to a soft-touch plastic rear cover that resisted fingerprints better than the glossy finishes found on the Galaxy S III. At 9.35 mm it was not the slimmest device on the market, but the weight distribution gave it the impression of being solid rather than heavy, sitting comfortably in a jeans pocket during a long walk through Brisbane's South Bank parklands.
The phone arrived in black, silver and white finishes, and each variant included a small, slightly recessed power button positioned halfway down the right edge. That placement was an acquired taste: users with smaller hands found it natural, while people accustomed to top-mounted power keys had to retrain their grip. The volume rocker sat below it, and a dedicated camera shutter button offered a welcome shortcut for capturing quick snapshots at weekend markets in Fremantle or while travelling along the Great Ocean Road.
Build quality felt durable during everyday use, though the lack of a physical home button meant users relied on software navigation through Android's on-screen keys. The rear cover could be prised off to access the micro-SIM slot and the microSD card, allowing storage expansion up to 32 GB. This was a meaningful advantage for travellers capturing high-resolution photos while driving between Adelaide and the Barossa Valley wineries, where hotel Wi-Fi was not always reliable for offloading images.
Display and viewing experience
Sony equipped the Xperia T with a 4.55-inch TFT LCD panel running at 720 x 1280 pixels, which translated to roughly 323 pixels per inch. That figure comfortably outclassed older handsets and produced crisp text when reading long-form articles or e-books during a flight from Perth to Sydney. Sony's own Mobile BRAVIA Engine added a noticeable punch to colours and contrast, particularly when viewing video content recorded on the handset itself.
Viewing angles were acceptable for a phone of this generation, although direct sunlight remained a challenge even at maximum brightness. On the platform at Central Station in Sydney during a bright summer afternoon, the screen needed to be tilted slightly to read incoming messages comfortably. Outdoors at Melbourne's Federation Square during an outdoor cinema screening, the display held up reasonably well once brightness was pushed to its peak setting.
The 16:9 aspect ratio made the Xperia T well suited to widescreen video playback, and YouTube clips at 720p played smoothly thanks to the integrated Adreno 225 graphics. Compared with the compact format of the Galaxy S4 Mini, which arrived later in 2013, the Xperia T offered a larger canvas without crossing into phablet territory, striking a balance that suited many Australian buyers who wanted a pocketable device.
Camera system
Photography was the headline feature of the Xperia T, and Sony had real credibility here thanks to its Exmor R sensor heritage. The thirteen-megapixel rear camera used a back-illuminated sensor paired with an f/2.4 lens, and it included features such as autofocus, LED flash, geotagging and 1080p video recording at 30 frames per second. A front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera handled video calls, although its fixed-focus nature made it more useful for quick Skype chats than detailed selfies.
In daylight conditions across Sydney Harbour, the camera captured crisp images with accurate colours and good dynamic range. Macro shots of flowers at the Royal Botanic Garden showed a pleasing natural bokeh that did not rely on software processing. The dedicated hardware shutter button made it easier to capture stable shots when holding the phone one-handed, a useful feature for parents photographing kids at Nundle's Go for 2&5 festival.
Low-light performance was a mixed bag. The Exmor R sensor helped reduce noise compared with older Sony handsets, but the absence of optical image stabilisation meant indoor shots at restaurants in Melbourne's laneway cafes occasionally came out blurred without a steady hand. The HDR mode helped recover shadow detail in tricky scenes, such as sunset views from atop Mount Wellington in Hobart, although processing times slowed to around two seconds per shot.
Performance, software and PlayStation certification
Under the hood, the Xperia T used Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 Plus chipset with a dual-core Krait CPU clocked at 1.5 GHz and the Adreno 225 GPU. Paired with 1 GB of RAM, this configuration handled Android 4.0 smoothly during everyday tasks such as browsing, emailing and streaming music. Multitasking showed occasional slowdowns when too many apps remained open in the background, a common limitation across the flagship class of 2012.
The standout software feature, however, was PlayStation certification. This program, which also extended to the Xperia S and later to the Xperia Z range, allowed users to purchase and download classic PlayStation titles through the Sony Entertainment Network. The catalogue was small at launch but included cult favourites such as MediEvil and Cool Boarders, offering a nostalgic draw for buyers who grew up with the original PlayStation console.
Game compatibility was solid, and the optional Sony Xperia GameControl accessory paired the phone with a physical controller shell, transforming it into a portable PlayStation-style device. For Australian gamers who had been waiting for a credible alternative to dedicated handhelds, this was a quietly exciting proposition. Synthetic benchmarks placed the Xperia T in the upper tier of dual-core devices, though it was outclassed by the quad-core competition that arrived later that year, including the LG Nexus 5 launched in late 2013.
Battery life and Australian network compatibility
Sony fitted the Xperia T with a removable 1850 mAh battery, which was modest by 2013 standards. In real-world use, the phone comfortably lasted a working day with moderate browsing, social media and occasional photography. Heavy users streaming video or playing games continuously needed to reach for the charger by mid-afternoon, particularly when relying on Telstra's 4G network in regional areas where signal strength fluctuated.
Network compatibility varied by region. The Australian variant supported 3G HSPA+ across the 850 and 2100 MHz bands, along with Category 3 LTE on the 1800 MHz band, which lined up with the early 4G rollouts from Telstra and Optus. Users on Vodafone's 4G network, which launched later, sometimes had to rely on the HSPA+ fallback in dense urban areas such as Sydney's CBD, where congestion occasionally throttled speeds.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission requires smartphones sold locally to meet specific safety and labelling standards, and the Xperia T carried the required RCM mark. Australian buyers also benefited from local warranty support through Sony's authorised service centres in capital cities, a detail that mattered to anyone worried about the inconvenience of shipping a handset overseas for repairs. For users considering alternatives in the same price bracket, the BlackBerry Z30 offered a different proposition entirely, focused on productivity rather than multimedia.
Explore the New Mobile Arrivals archive to revisit more classic smartphone launches from the early 2010s, including the Xperia T and many of its rivals.