We’re here at Smart’s official unveil of one of their first LTE phones ever, the Xperia V. While we’ve covered the Xperia V before, it’s nice to see the device finally heading to stores courtesy of Smart’s LTE plan and allows us another chance to fondle the device.
The Sony Xperia V has some pretty specs – Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.5GHz dual core processor, 4.3-inch, 1280 x 720 resolution display and has the highest levels of dust and water resistance in a smartphone (IP55/57+), and sports Android 4.0. The Xperia V holds the distinction as being one of the newest devices to sport Smart’s 4G LTE service, and are offering it at their LTE Plan 1500.
The Xperia V isn’t the fastest Android device around, but since it’s capable of using Smart’s LTE network, it’s capable of wickedly fast speeds. We did a speedtest on the Xperia V during the launch earlier today, and as you can see, it’s pretty much burning rubber as far as download speeds are concerned. Of course, you will have to be within range of Smart’s LTE network to actually experience those speeds, but that’s probably not much of an issue as Smart has expanded the coverage of their LTE network to cover major spots in Metro Manila.
Sony has also said that the Xperia V will be offered in the retail channels as well, but you will not be able to get your hands on it without a Smart plan until February at the latest. As far as retail pricing is concerned, Sony did not want to reveal any numbers, but they did say that it would probably retail around 25-27K if it was sold without a plan. Curiously enough, the Xperia V will sport LTE right out of the box, and a Sony exec did confirm that it would work on both Smart AND Globe’s LTE network. So if either Smart or Globe start selling LTE-enabled prepaid SIMs, you can probably use an unlocked Xperia V with their LTE service.