**The Xperia Play: A Gaming Phone with a Twist**

It's no secret that Sony's Xperia Play is an Android smartphone designed specifically for gaming, and we're excited to get our hands on it. During its launch event, the company had a few extras, including this keychain, which served as a promotional item. The phone itself has been touted as a powerhouse of gaming capabilities, but does it live up to the hype?

**The Packaging**

When we opened the box, everything was fairly straightforward – we found our paperwork, a quick start guide, a USB cable, a travel power adapter, and a 1500 milliamp battery. The latter is pretty standard for phones in this range. There's also a decent headset and adjustable earpieces, which are nice touches. However, the phone itself is what really caught our attention – it's chubbier than your average Android smartphone, but that's not entirely surprising.

**The Phone Itself**

As we removed the protectors from the screen, it became apparent why the Xperia Play feels so substantial. The mechanism feels tight and high-quality, with shoulder buttons on one side, a volume rocker, and micro USB and headphone jack on the bottom. There's also a camera on the back, along with an LED flash and power button on top – all of which are easily accessible. We can't help but feel that this phone is designed to be more than just a smartphone; it's meant to be a gaming powerhouse.

**Boot-Up and First Impressions**

When we booted up the phone, we were greeted by a slow startup process – not exactly what we'd call "fast." However, once it was on, the UI felt solid and responsive. The OS is Gingerbread, which might seem like an afterthought given the Xperia Play's focus on gaming. Nevertheless, Sony has done its best to optimize the experience. We started with some pre-installed games – FIFA 10 and Madden Star Battalion being two notable examples – and were pleasantly surprised by how well they performed. Air Attack HD, not included in the standard bundle, was also a treat to play.

**The Games**

We spent some time playing FIFA 10, which looked wicked on the phone's screen. The colors were vibrant, and the game felt well-suited for its handheld format with tactile controls. We also gave Air Attack HD a try, and while it wasn't included in the standard bundle, we're glad Sony included so many games to get us started. As we played through Madden Star Battalion, we couldn't help but notice how much this phone's control scheme felt like an extension of traditional gaming controllers.

**The OS**

Underneath the surface, we found that the Xperia Play runs Gingerbread with some unique twists. The notification bar, for example, has a distinct design that sets it apart from other Android devices. We also noticed that the UI could benefit from a bit more polish – Sony's skin feels somewhat dated compared to the clean design of modern Android. Nevertheless, the device itself is rock-solid and should feel at home in anyone's pocket.

**Conclusion**

As we wait for our full review of the Xperia Play, it's clear that this phone has a lot to offer. With its impressive gaming capabilities, solid control scheme, and – yes – chubbier design, there's no doubt that Sony has created something special here. Of course, there are some areas where the device could improve – namely its boot-up speed and UI polish. But for now, we're excited to dive deeper into the Xperia Play's world and see what it can do.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat's up guys it's Lou from unbox therapy.com and today I've got a special Android treat for you literally a treat it's an Android Sucker from the happy Folks at the Sony store for the xeria play launch they had a couple of extras including this keychain as well says Android is ready to play I sure hope so let's find out so you guys have probably heard of this device it's the xeria play or what was once known as the Playstation phone I was super excited for it ever since the announcement now let's find out if it can live up to all the hype some people were not impressed by the spec list that this phone ended up shipping with but hey if it plays the games it's supposed to play I guess it does the trick right so anyway here's the phone itself I'm going to place it to the side so that I can get through all the other things in the Box I'm G to place everything down on the table here so I can get the box out of the way and then we'll move on with all the juicy details fairly straightforward stuff everything you'd expect with a phone we got our paperwork a little quick start guide but let's get those out of the way the USB cable which you've all seen before it's micro USB on the other side our little travel power adapter and a 1500 milliamp battery which is pretty much average for phones in this sort of range we got a decent headset we've also got adjustable earpieces which is nice now the phone here's the important part now I have to say it's a little chubby I mean it's chubbier than what you're used to in Android smartphones or any smartphone for that matter but there's a reason why and I'm sure you know why and we're about to find out in a second why so let's get these protectors off there she is damn she's beautiful look at that that's why she's fat because she does so much more than any other phone the mechanism feels tight this thing feels pretty high quality all around we got our shoulder buttons on the side along with our volume rocker and then on the bottom side we have our micro USB along with our headphone jack there's obviously a camera on the backs side along with an LED flash and our power button along the top so you got to insert the battery here to get it booted up and the nice thing is they give you an 8 gigabyte micro SD damn that mechanism feels tight so here we are booting up and guys I got to be honest this thing took forever to boot so I mean I got to cut this one here because this thing took forever it was also Rogers branded which I wish it wasn't but anyway you slide that screen up like that and you can unlock it in landscape mode oh I got to do a couple setup things here hang on one second so now I don't have a SIM card installed right now but that should be okay because really what I want to look into is some of the games that are on here so there you have it and once you're in the OS as you slide the screen up you go right into the Experia play section I've gone ahead and installed Air Attack HD and let me tell you this thing looks Wicked on here the depth and the colors all look pretty sweet go ahead and try FIFA 10 which is included for free with the device and this game looks pretty good for something that's free anyway I was waiting for some action to happen in the game play here and that turns out me getting scored on is the first action but as you can see the game really helps to bring out the vibrant colors of this screen and it really gives you what you're used to in any FIFA game but in a handheld with proper tactile controls now I'm really happy that Sony included a bunch of games for free so you can start playing right out of the box and get an impression of what this little machine can do you can see you got Madden Star Battalion FIFA Bruce Lee and I already put that Air Attack HD on there that's not included for here's a look at the OS and it's got Sony skin on it which sort of lags it down a little bit that being said Underneath It All you got gingerbread running which I was happy to see they easily could have just thrown 2.2 on there but you can see the different notification bar here it is up against some comparables the Galaxy S and the iPhone 4 as you can see it's chubbier that's for sure but it's understandable why here you got your different buttons they're all tactile and this beautiful control it's all real solid real nice feeling you got those Optical thumb sticks the d-pad and here's that beautiful mechanism anyway guys be sure to subscribe I got the full review coming up later on and I'll really test this thing out along with the pre-installed games check out our Channel and stay tunedwhat's up guys it's Lou from unbox therapy.com and today I've got a special Android treat for you literally a treat it's an Android Sucker from the happy Folks at the Sony store for the xeria play launch they had a couple of extras including this keychain as well says Android is ready to play I sure hope so let's find out so you guys have probably heard of this device it's the xeria play or what was once known as the Playstation phone I was super excited for it ever since the announcement now let's find out if it can live up to all the hype some people were not impressed by the spec list that this phone ended up shipping with but hey if it plays the games it's supposed to play I guess it does the trick right so anyway here's the phone itself I'm going to place it to the side so that I can get through all the other things in the Box I'm G to place everything down on the table here so I can get the box out of the way and then we'll move on with all the juicy details fairly straightforward stuff everything you'd expect with a phone we got our paperwork a little quick start guide but let's get those out of the way the USB cable which you've all seen before it's micro USB on the other side our little travel power adapter and a 1500 milliamp battery which is pretty much average for phones in this sort of range we got a decent headset we've also got adjustable earpieces which is nice now the phone here's the important part now I have to say it's a little chubby I mean it's chubbier than what you're used to in Android smartphones or any smartphone for that matter but there's a reason why and I'm sure you know why and we're about to find out in a second why so let's get these protectors off there she is damn she's beautiful look at that that's why she's fat because she does so much more than any other phone the mechanism feels tight this thing feels pretty high quality all around we got our shoulder buttons on the side along with our volume rocker and then on the bottom side we have our micro USB along with our headphone jack there's obviously a camera on the backs side along with an LED flash and our power button along the top so you got to insert the battery here to get it booted up and the nice thing is they give you an 8 gigabyte micro SD damn that mechanism feels tight so here we are booting up and guys I got to be honest this thing took forever to boot so I mean I got to cut this one here because this thing took forever it was also Rogers branded which I wish it wasn't but anyway you slide that screen up like that and you can unlock it in landscape mode oh I got to do a couple setup things here hang on one second so now I don't have a SIM card installed right now but that should be okay because really what I want to look into is some of the games that are on here so there you have it and once you're in the OS as you slide the screen up you go right into the Experia play section I've gone ahead and installed Air Attack HD and let me tell you this thing looks Wicked on here the depth and the colors all look pretty sweet go ahead and try FIFA 10 which is included for free with the device and this game looks pretty good for something that's free anyway I was waiting for some action to happen in the game play here and that turns out me getting scored on is the first action but as you can see the game really helps to bring out the vibrant colors of this screen and it really gives you what you're used to in any FIFA game but in a handheld with proper tactile controls now I'm really happy that Sony included a bunch of games for free so you can start playing right out of the box and get an impression of what this little machine can do you can see you got Madden Star Battalion FIFA Bruce Lee and I already put that Air Attack HD on there that's not included for here's a look at the OS and it's got Sony skin on it which sort of lags it down a little bit that being said Underneath It All you got gingerbread running which I was happy to see they easily could have just thrown 2.2 on there but you can see the different notification bar here it is up against some comparables the Galaxy S and the iPhone 4 as you can see it's chubbier that's for sure but it's understandable why here you got your different buttons they're all tactile and this beautiful control it's all real solid real nice feeling you got those Optical thumb sticks the d-pad and here's that beautiful mechanism anyway guys be sure to subscribe I got the full review coming up later on and I'll really test this thing out along with the pre-installed games check out our Channel and stay tuned\n"