The phone that doesn't exist gets an extensive hands-on, the Xperia Play

While we enjoy saying the 'Sony Android Playstation phone', the official name is the Xperia Play and is a lot shorter to say. Taking that into account, the Xperia Play is probably the worst kept secret in Android history so far with the amount of leaks, videos, hands-on and so on which is impressive considering the phone doesn't exist.

Sony Ericsson still denies the phone exists but amazingly enough, another site has gotten a hold of one and they did an extensive hands-on preview of the Xperia Play. The site is Engadget. Let's get into the specs...

Xperia Play Specs:

• Qualcomm MSM8655 chipset. This is a single-core chip that Engadget clocked at 122.88MHz to 1GHz using Quandrant. However this chip can go up to 1.2GHz. This is paired up with the Adreno 205 GPU.
• HSDPA
• Android OS: Gingerbread
• 4" multitouch LCD screen running at 854x480 resolution
• 512MB RAM
• WiFi (possibly, the WiFi on the prototype Engadget had wouldn't work), Bluetooth 2.1
• 1500 mAh battery
• MicroSD slot
• 2nd mic, possibly for noise cancellation like that on the Nexus One
• 5MP camera with LED Flash
• Slide out gamepad with D-Pad, 4 buttons, two touch pads and two shoulder buttons

According to Engadget, this device which previously had scored low on some preliminary tests last month is now scoring high on the charts with Quadrant, Neocore and other testing apps.

"This combo (the Qualcomm chip with the Adreno 205 GPU), along with Gingerbread and the generous 512MB of RAM, scored a chart-topping 1,689 on Quadrant and an impressive 59fps on Neocore. Other benchmark scores include: about 35 MFLOPS on Linpack, and around 43fps on NenaMark (tying with the Tegra 2-packing LG Star)." - Engadget

That's a hell of a lot better then the video from a month back showing benchmarking scores on NeoCore that were pretty fail. Granted all of this hardware could still change since MWC 2011 hasn't even started and this device isn't even finished and out the door for public consumption. Both Timescape and Mediascape are now widgets and this is also reflected on the Xperia Play just like the Xperia Arc.

The Xperia Play also comes with an app called PlayStation Pocket which, according to Engadget, looks to be just an app for managing your games. Still no word on exactly how one would get games, how much they will be although it is rumored that most games will be in the sub-$10 range. Chances are there will be a separate appstore preloaded onto the phone where we will be able to get games. Don't forget the Playstation App is slated for an update around the time of MWC 2011 this February, so we could see the Xperia Play integrated into that app somehow as well.

Overall the phone is looking a lot better, especially with the new benchmark scores, and there is still a chance this device, which doesn't exist, could come with even better hardware. No word on how much this Android device will cost but you can be sure something will be mentioned about the price at MWC 2011.

Now if only we could get our hands on one.... until then, check out all the pictures and video Engadget was kind enough to take.

Website Referenced: Engadget