14 DAY TRIAL // Sony promised earlier this year that it would launch an international variant of the Xperia ion, which is currently available for purchase in United States via major carrier AT&T.
Dubbed Sony Xperia ion LT28i, the smartphone has just been introduced in Taiwan, but the Japanese handset maker has yet to announce the phone’s suggested retail price.
Unfortunately, those expecting this new model to come with an updated version of Android operating system will be disappointed as Sony decided to bring it on the international market with the same Android 2.3 Gingerbread onboard.
On the positive side, the Xperia ion LT28i is packed with the same hardware configuration of the US model with one exception.
The international version does not feature LTE support, instead it offers users the advantages of HSDPA connectivity. Aside from that both Xperia models are equipped with a 4.55-inch LED-backlit LCD capacitive touchscreen with HD (720 x 1280 pixels) resolution.
The phone’s display is based on Sony’s BRAVIA Engine technology and features and scratch resistant glass for extra protection against scratches and scrapes.
On the inside, Sony Xperia ion LT28i packs a dual-core Qualcomm MSM8260 Snapdragon processor clocked at 1.5 GHz, complemented by an Adreno 220 graphics processing unit and 1GB of RAM.
The smartphone embeds 16GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up to 32GB via microSD card.
There’s also an impressive 12-megapixel camera, which features autofocus, LED flash and full video HD (1080p) video recording.
Other highlights of the Xperia ion LT28i include: 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video calls, active noise cancellation with dedicated mic, HDMI port, GPS with A-GPS support and GLONASS, as well as stereo FM radio with RDS.
The phone is powered by a high-capacity 1900 mAh Li-Ion battery, which is rated by the manufacturer for up to 400 hours of standby time (350 hours in 3G mode) and 10 hours of talk time (4 hours in 3G mode).
