Sony Xperia Ion launched in India at Rs. 35,999

Sony's spanking new Android smartphone Xperia Ion has now reached Indian shores. The launch comes after the phone was showcased in the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this year. The Android v2.3 (Gingerbread) handset is priced at Rs. 35,999 on Snapdeal.com.

The Xperia Ion ships preinstalled with the outdated version of Android OS, but an upgrade to Android v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is in the pipeline. This NFC-ready phone is available in red and black variants. The price is quite a premium for a phone that ships with a really old implementation of Android. However, the handset makes up for it in the specs department. At any rate, you are still left at Sony’s mercy for the ICS update, especially since there’s no word on whether the Ion will receive Jelly Bean at all.

Sony launches Android 2.3-powered Xperia Ion in India

The Xperia Ion toes to the current trend of smartphones bearing large displays, with its 4.6-inch LCD screen and sporting a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. The phone is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and an Adreno 220 GPU. It features a 16GB expandable memory expandable up to 32GB with its microSD card slot. The primary camera is rated at 12MP and is capable of 1080p video recording. The device is also equipped with a 1.3MP front-facing camera for video conferencing at 720p resolution. Its 1900mAh battery is well endowed and should offer decent battery backup time considering its hardware specs. The manufacturer claims a standby time of up to 400 hours with 2G and up to 350 hours with 3G, radio-enabled. Being a Sony product, the Ion is PlayStation certified and carries the Walkman branding as well.

Other specifications include:

• 4.6-inch TFT LCD supporting 1280 x 720 pixel resolution
• 3G HSDPA 2100, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP and EDR, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Hotspot, DLNA, USB 2.0
• GPS, A-GPS with GLONASS
• 12MP camera and 1.3MP front camera
• FM radio with 3.5 mm audio jack
• 1GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, External memory support up to 32 GB