The Sony Ericsson Aino has been touted as the perfect phone for using with your Sony PS3, as it can be used as a remote control using Sony’s Remote Play functions. However, is it a good phone in its own right? Find out with our Sony Ericsson Aino review…
The Sony Ericsson Aino has a 3-inch screen but it has only limited functionality. What’s more, the resolution of 240 x 432 pixels limits the amount of clarity you can actually get on this phone.
Weighing in at 134g, this is a fairly bulky phone but we found it well built. The plastic casing feels good in the hand, giving the Sony Ericsson Aino a higher tactile feel.
Aside from it working with your Sony PS3, the other big draw of the Sony Ericsson Aino is the 8.1-Megapixel camera onboard. It comes with auto-focus, LED flash, geo-tagging, face detection, video stabilizer and video calling, making this a pretty impressive device. In fact, we found it a great camera to use and once you’ve downloaded the shots and viewed them on a decent resolution screen, you’ll be impressed too.
When it comes to making the most of Remote Play, you’ll find the Sony Ericsson Aino allows you to sync with your PS3, control video streaming from your console and generally manage your music and movies no matter where you are. What it won’t let you do is control games, so this isn’t exactly going to be the killer device we were hoping it would be.
Getting it to hook up and work with your PS3 can be a little tricky but once you’ve got it in place, the Sony Ericsson Aino is a marvel to use. You’ll also find GPS and Google Maps built-in, along with HSDPA and Wi-Fi for getting the best connectivity around.
Verdict
The Sony Ericsson Aino isn’t the gaming marvel we were hoping it would be and while the screen is a little sluggish, the remaining features make this a decent smartphone for the youth market.
Best features
Great camera
Works with Sony PS3
Well built
Not so good
Low resolution screen
No PS3 gaming
Average battery life
Check out the Sony Ericsson Aino review image gallery:
Closest rivals
Nokia N96
Mobile music fans will dig this Symbian smartphone’s mammoth 16GB onboard memory to stockpile a wealth of tunes and its integrated 3.5mm jack to plug headphones straight in.
HTC Touch Diamond
This Windows Mobile powered touch phone has the multimedia chops to match its stylish design, including a 3.2megapixel camera, built-in GPS and 4GB of internal memory.
Sony Ericsson W980
Sony Ericsson’s flagship music phone is incredibly compact but still manages to feature the latest Walkman music player with dedicated touch controls and 8GB of storage.







