The Xperia C features Sony's new Xperia UI, seen on other recently launched Xperia devices. The Sony Xperia C ships with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. It might not be the most up-to-date OS as being seen on Nexus devices, but it is the most popular OS found on mid-range smartphones. We are yet to hear any details about Sony's plans to update the Xperia C.
Design
Sony seems to be following a consistent design strategy across the new Xperia range the Xperia C boasts Sony's OmniBalance design, first seen in its flagship phone, Xperia Z, but misses out the rear glass panel and aluminium frames. The front and back of the Xperia C have a smooth finish, though the display is fingerprint magnet.
Display
The front of the Xperia C is dominated by the 5-inch display with the standard Android buttons for back, home and recent apps appearing onscreen instead of below it. The Sony Xperia C features a 5-inch TFT display with a resolution of 540x960 pixels, and pixel density stands at the mediocre 220ppi. Sony has given a miss to BRAVIA Engine for the display, which is expected since it's a mid-range phone. The Xperia C's 5-inch display is the same in size as that of the Xperia Z's display. There is a Sony logo printed on top of the front panel, below the earpiece grill, where it the secondary VGA camera is placed. On the top edge lies the 3.5mm audio jack, while on the left panel is a micro-USB port for charging and transferring data. The Sony Xperia C is a well balanced smartphone and although it may look chunky at the sides, it comes with dimensions measuring 141.5x74.1x8.8mm.
Colors
The Sony Xperia C also comes in three colour variants Black, Purple and White. We received the Black variant for review.
Build structure
It borrows design cues from its high-end Xperia siblings, especially the distinctive metal power or lock button which is located half way down the right panel of the Xperia C. The power button protrudes out and was first seen in the Sony Xperia Z, although it is much smaller this time. Further, much like other Xperia handsets, this one also features a volume rocker and dedicated camera button on the right panel, all of which are easy to hit one-handed.
Plastic rear panel
The straight soft touch plastic rear panel does mean that the Sony Xperia C sits comfortably in the hand and offers a good level of grip. The smartphone's rear, unlike the Xperia Z, is removable, hiding the dual-SIM and microSD card slots. Even though the phone has a removable back cover, the battery is notably non-removable. Opening the back cover of the Xperia C is again not an easy task, and for the first time we opened it, we had to take some help from YouTube user-guide videos, just to ensure we avoided breaking the soft touch plastic rear panel.
Camera
The rear panel of the Xperia C houses an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash; also on the back is Sony's logo printed on the centre while an Xperia logo can be found at the bottom, just above the speaker grill. The handset can be used with one hand, and does give a sturdy feel in the hands, better than some Samsung Galaxy phones. All in all, the Sony Xperia C looks decent enough, but is slightly bland in design. In terms of photographic ability, Sony has equipped the Xperia C with an 8-megapixel rear camera, accompanied by an LED flash with Exmor R for mobile image sensor. The rear camera sports features such as 4x digital zoom, HD (1080p) video recording, touch to focus and sweep Panorama. The Xperia C also includes HDR mode for video recording, which has been seen on some high-end Xperia siblings.
Other Features
Other features seen on Xperia C's camera app include portrait retouch, self-timer, self-portrait voice guide, smile shutter, focus mode, ISO, exposure value and one can even adjust camera resolution. The dedicated camera button on the right panel of the Xperia C makes it easier to launch the camera app and click images, without depending on the onscreen app.
Homescreen buttons
The Sony Xperia C features three onscreen buttons at the bottom for back, home and recent apps. There are few apps on the bottom of the screen that are tied up to all the homescreen panels like Sony Music, Sony Liv, menu, messaging app and dialler. However, these options can be changed.
Pricing
It is available at Price Rs. 20,490.
Drawbacks
The shutter speed on the Xperia C is comparatively slow than the other Android smartphones which means this will take pictures in a pinch. The Xperia C's camera disappoints while clicking low-light shots, which had a lot of noise. Display is not much impressive and often lags while multitasking