Review: Sony Xperia Ion for AT&T
Pictures
I was very pleased with the images I captured with the Ion. The 12-megapixel sensor really does a good job. Exposure was spot on, even in difficult environments that had both dark and light regions. Focus was razor sharp. White balance was accurate. In total, images looked really, really good. The images were so good that few (if any) needed to be edited or altered. (This almost excuses Sony for the lack of true editing software, but not quite.)
Video
The Ion captures video at a maximum resolution of 1080p HD. I shot several video samples at both 1080p and 720p HD. All the samples looked very, very good. As with the camera, video was in focus, accurately exposed, and showed proper colors. Fast action looked great, and I didn't notice any of the overly-shaky behavior that's present in 1080p video from some other phones.
The bottom line for both the camera and video camera: You're going to want to share these images and video with everyone you know.
Speaking of sharing, the Ion makes great use of the microHDMI port. You can connect it directly to another HDMI device - such as a TV - and watch your 1080p videos on the big screen with ease. It worked flawlessly. When connected, the Ion goes into a "connected mode" with a pared-down user interface. It's really easy to use for not only sharing images and video on your TV, but for browsing the web and other tasks by mirroring the phone's display on the TV. Cool stuff.
Hands-On: Sony Xperia Ion
Sony Xperia ion
