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To paraphrase Mr Burns, SL-ent. The Sony Xperia SL is official, speeding up the processor and adding Ice Cream Sandwich to the original Xperia S.
The SL looks identical to the Xperia S, as leaked photos revealed earlier this month. Inside, as expected, the processor is a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S3 chip — that’s a small increase on the previous model’s 1.5GHz jobbie.
And the other big change is Ice Cream Sandwich. We were very disappointed that the Xperia S arrived with Gingerbread, a now outdated version of Android. But six months down the line, the SL brings things almost up-to date with Ice Cream Sandwich. I say “almost”, because it’s not the latest version, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, but that update is only on a select elite of Android phones — and, frankly, Ice Cream Sandwich isn’t exactly common either.
We do like the sleek look of the Xperia S and SL, with its 4.3-inch screen and cheerful transparent strip that lights up when it wants your attention. Speaking of cheerful, the SL now comes in pink and silver, as well as the previously available black and white.
The SL boasts a 12.1-megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash, as well as a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chatty-chat. There’s 1GB of RAM under the bonnet, and 26GB of built-in storage for your music, movies, photos and apps.
We’re expecting to get a proper look at the Xperia SL at international technology bunfest IFA in a couple of weeks. CNET will be in Berlin bringing you the hottest news, previews and videos of the brand spanking new kit — which could also include an Xperia tablet.
What do you think of the SL? Are incremental changes like this worth the effort or a waste of time? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
