Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
As with most modern smartphones, the Sony Xperia P's battery life is far from the handset's key selling point, with a vast array of battery-supping hardware and software features combining to form a device that, like many of the handset's competitors, plays fast and loose with the full day charge when undertaking a string of strenuous and continuous tasks.
Although the handset has been claimed to possess a battery life capable of highly impressive figures including up to 470 hours of standby time, up to six hours of continued talk time and 80 hours of music playback, in reality the 1305mAh Lithium-Ion battery proves slightly overzealous, despite impressive results.
While a day's worth of reasonable activity, including calling, media playback and web browsing, is more than possible, pushing the handset past this will see you scrambling to find a free power outlet and the handset's packaged adaptor.
This charger is unnecessarily over-engineered, and due to its elongated design it forces a number of irksome space issues around the plug socket.
On the connectivity front, and complementing the standard Wi-Fi and 3G options, Sony's latest generation handset features a range of high-end, market-defining additions that have been omitted from a number of its similarly priced rivals.
While an integrated HMDI connector lines up alongside the micro USB charging and dock connector, enabling you to transfer your 1080p Full HD videos with minimal fuss, the handset's connectivity party piece comes in the form of its integrated NFC abilities.
On the cusp of becoming a smartphone essential, the Sony Xperia P's NFC abilities see the handset future-proofed for the imminent rise of contactless payments and data transfers.
Although uses for these NFC abilities are currently limited, paired with a selection of the Sony Smart Tags, you can pre-program your handset to perform a set selection of tasks based on location with no effort or fuss.
Slightly glitchy and slow off the mark, these NFC capabilities mean you can make seamless setting changes for certain situations with an office desk-based Smart Tag enabling your devices to automatically perform set tasks upon arrival that will differ to those assigned to a Smart Tag based in the home.
