Buying the "PlayStation Phone" in 2024

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Күн бұрын

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@DNKI 5 ай бұрын

Smartphones and emulation have certainly come a long way over the past decade, but even still! The Xperia Play is a fascinating device to look back at in 2024 😊

@mberki 5 ай бұрын

Hey, you forgot to put the resources into the description ;) Great video!

@Napsteraspx 5 ай бұрын

I recall a video about a special version of Minecraft made specifically for the Xperia Play.

@solemems4518 5 ай бұрын

Yo I recommend dropping better help as a sponsor, look into the issues with data privacy and stuff, very well documented on KZbin. Love the content tho!

@LTMusic92 5 ай бұрын

He need that money

@renofumi28 5 ай бұрын

They had about millions of user. With that amount of users they surely didn't even care about one single data.

@solemems4518 5 ай бұрын

@@renofumi28 it's not about betterhelp themselves wanting to misuse the data, it's the people they share that data with (Facebook (meta), etc), it promotes advertising to ppl based on their mental health problems (aka. taking advantage of their vulnerability)

@WolfVsWolf82 5 ай бұрын

@@renofumi28that’s not the point. Dude’s talking about personal information being hacked from the company, not necessarily just Denki’s but potentially everyone who used the service. Hence them possibly being a bad company to go to therapy with

@bubbledoubletrouble 5 ай бұрын

@@renofumi28The issue isn't about them using the data, it's about them selling access to it to others. Some people say "Well, even fast food places sell your data these days", but there's a difference between selling a profile based on how you going to McD's twice a week and selling a profile based on mental health

@roadkilljoshua 5 ай бұрын

Ah, this takes me back! This was my first smartphone and honestly, it was the best for running emulators. I had it for two solid years until the sliding mechanism gave out, and I couldn’t use the controller functions anymore. The touch analogs were top-notch, seriously perfect for emulation, and it definitely holds a special place in my heart among gaming handhelds. I really wish they’d make something similar today. I'd snap it up in a heartbeat, especially with how much mobile gaming has evolved since my high school days. It was a one-of-a-kind phone console that actually delivered on its promises. Thanks for making this video; it really stirred up some good old nostalgia!.

@lagginluther 5 ай бұрын

same! its my first phone too, i went to the ATT store and gave my money to my dad to purchase it for me.

@SKPetel 5 ай бұрын

this was my first ever android smartphone. Today, with my fold 5 and a clip-on controller I'm living the emulation dream that this phone gave me all those years ago.

@txcforever 5 ай бұрын

Loved my Xperia Play but it there were a lot of reasons it failed. For starters the specs were dated even when it was first released. CPU was okish but it only had 512mb of ram and only that amount of storage as well. Might not sound that bad but back then you couldn't even save apps on an SD card and it was such a pain to keep that tiny storage room empty. Remember having to root the phone and mess with a lot of software just to be able to add stuff to it without constantly deleting other stuff to make space. Also the damn thing was way too expensive when it launched. It was iphone levels of pricing without the performance, screen or popularity. It got price dropped almost instantly but it was already too late. It was charging flagship levels of money for a niche dated device only a handful of people would want. Still I really liked it. Gameloft supported it quite a bit and even if their games were cheap imitations of known IPs (from Uncharted and Halo to Starcraft and CoD) they were still fun and Xperia Play was the best way to enjoy them. PS1 games also for the most part played perfectly.

@battman505 5 ай бұрын

They should’ve just put the vita chipset in there and let it dual boot android and vitaOS. Would’ve helped both the vita platform and this phone.

@RyanUniverseZ 4 ай бұрын

@@battman505It probably wasn't possible in that small chassis, vita had a bigger battery and even then it didn't have the best battery life

@humansymphony 3 ай бұрын

@@battman505 The vita had the very first mobile quad core EVER, before any phones, and it was under contract with nvidia that no other device could have that cpu in it until after the vita was released.

@qfv33 5 ай бұрын

definitely gunna watch this when i get home, thanks for being the best ken

@apollolux 5 ай бұрын

I remember back when I first got Minecraft on Android that its controls were better optimized for this PlayStation Phone than for touchscreen. XD

@frogslayer4849 5 ай бұрын

You got the dream job man! You're doing great with your life!

@QWERTYQwertz852 5 ай бұрын

BetterHelp Placement is a big L

@Hinducoder 5 ай бұрын

The problem with touch input panels may be due to the fact that the phone is on charge. Unplug the cable and recheck

@DNKI 5 ай бұрын

Nope, never worked for me period

@Hinducoder 5 ай бұрын

@@DNKI sad :(

@KingKaze0515 5 ай бұрын

For anyone looking for this kind of form factor I would recommend the PSP go instead... Especially for EDC emulation device... It has the same form factor, extremely easy to mod, and fit in ur pocket perfectly.. The charging cable also USB compatible so you can just plug it on your power bank or ur smartphone power brick... and it can run old game up to PS1 beautifully... 👍👍👍

@robozeddBehindAPlayButton 3 ай бұрын

It's impressive how somebody created an actual PlayStation smartphone!

@aiodensghost8645 4 ай бұрын

That microSD slot is actually an M2 slot. A lot harder to come by the 16GB versions of those... but tbh, you might be able to use one of the adapters meant for the PSP Go on that thing.

@jesseseehawer5840 Ай бұрын

Been begging for just one company to do this again with more modern hardware. The idea was ahead of the phone technology at the time and now is the perfect time for this concept to come back. Feel like it would be so much more successful

@fabzfeast 5 ай бұрын

My dad got me this phone for Christmas, it was incredible! I loved playing Crash Bandicoot, Minecraft & GBA games such Pokémon all utilising the gamepad.

@MrGregory777 Ай бұрын

I had one of these 10 years ago. It is still in a desk somewhere. Played the entirety of Symphony of the Night on it during my breaks. It was good for that

@wastelander138 5 ай бұрын

I've been saying for years that Sony needs to revisit this concept. A smartphone handheld gaming console hybrid would be massively popular, if done right, that is.

@The_Laser_Channel 5 ай бұрын

I ALMOST bought one of these years ago. I went to a pawn shop and they had it. I was on iPhone with AT&T at the time but I stopped by Verizon and checked out their prices. It was roughly the same as AT&T so I told them I would come back with the phone to make the switch. Went back to the pawn shop and they had sold it.

@DustyTheDog 5 ай бұрын

At this time I had a Samsung Galaxy Epic 4G. It slid out and had a full keypad with arrow keys. I LOVED that phone so much. I wish I had kept it when I upgraded. This phone reminds me of that phone a lot, but with custom keypad. I want a company to try to bring back a sliding keyboard. I feel with games as popular as they are, and phones as capable as they are, it would have some kind of market.

@DNKI 5 ай бұрын

You just unlocked a memory of mine 😂 Gotta love these devices that tried to bridge the gap between high-end feature phone and smartphone. It's a shame the industry isn't willing to go back to it all that much

@nashurbina 4 ай бұрын

I had one back in 2013. Great phone for emulation and nothing else. By the time I got it mobile gaming was looking even better so this phone wasn't able to even run newer games properly. The best feature of the Xperia Play was no doubt the physical buttons, they were responsive and felt great to press. Mine broke bc of that ribbon cable and never bothered to fix it.

@euns1156 5 ай бұрын

If this phone comes out with latest specs, I would buy it over any other phone out there!

@zaidkidwai7831 5 ай бұрын

I wanted this so badly back in the day, such a unique gadget.

@therunawaykid6523 4 ай бұрын

To me This is definitely one of those looks cool devices but in reality I found it way too bulky and heavy to use as an everyday phone and sold it soon after to get the much thinner and lighter Samsung galaxy s2

@mephustowest1876 3 ай бұрын

I used to have one that was exactly like that one back in the day! I loved it but even then there where a lot of games that did not work. I still miss that style though. I would love to have a new version of it.

@Clippers0507 3 ай бұрын

Got this phone on launch. Returned it within two weeks. The battery life is ABYSMAL and emulators werent a thing at the time and the games for the controller were FEW and FAR BETWEEN.

@carlaustin1093 5 ай бұрын

There was a number of android games from the play store that worked great with the Xplay controls. Shadow Gun comes to mind that ran/played really well and the Asphalt series up to a point in time. I also (I don't remember why) bought a doom emulator and played through all the Dos dooms on it. I just had to import the WAD files for what ever game. I think the touch joy sticks got a bad rap because people didn't use them properly or maybe I just got used to them, IDK, but they did work just fine for some games. The aging OS and newer options really make this phone more of a collectible then anything. I used it as a music player just outside my house while grilling for a while due to the better then average speakers (for the time). I still have mine, but it hasn't aged well. The touchscreen no longer registers, the plastic volume buttons on the side keep popping off, and the coating on the thumb controls has started to scratch off. Interestingly enough the battery seems to hold a charge better then the one in this video.

@eternalrest2859 3 ай бұрын

I had one back in the day, was my go to phone for years. Would constantly go back to it even tho id get much better phones. Why? That controller. The convenience of having an all in 1 device in your pocket thats your phone, webbrowser and a gaming device with built in controller for me can not be beaten. Sadly as its aged, things like the browser ect stopped working. Id love to see another modern version of this. And this time dont screw it up. The messes up on this with the tiny internal memory.

@jasonstatham6170 3 ай бұрын

I had this phone. I remember it had dead space built in

@EggTamago7 4 ай бұрын

I remember the other Xperia phones from this time - they were honestly awesome. Way more personality than the Galaxys of the time, IMO. The Xperia Play, though... kinda felt like some Sony exec lead one meeting about synergy, a small team was tasked with taking one of their regular phones and slapping on a slidy controller, they had one or two meetings with the Playstation team, and this total compromise of a device is the result.

@terriemathews1298 29 күн бұрын

I got this phone not long after it came out and had it for a couple of years. I really enjoyed it myself. I think with todays technology an actual phone brand could make a pretty successful product

@battman505 5 ай бұрын

Mind blowing no one else has attempted this form factor.

@LouisianaBurns 5 ай бұрын

PSP Go: am i a joke to you

@ronaldporter2654 5 ай бұрын

⁠@@LouisianaBurnsna but in like a phone. The psp go was a dedicated handheld

@DammitJeff 4 ай бұрын

Sony owns the patent for "slide up gaming controller on a phone" unfortunately :( They renewed it recently as well.

@helveklikk 5 ай бұрын

This was my first smartphone and it was freaking amazing!!! Legendary phone, still miss it today...

@hectoralicea7719 3 ай бұрын

I bought one for my collection a few years back, turned it on once and it's been displayed ever since.

@Hinducoder 5 ай бұрын

I use this phone to play NES and SNES, as well as a couple of games from PS1, the setup is really very painful, but you know for sure that this device will not call you when you play (after all, the SIM card is in your modern phone) but if If your phone runs out of power or is broken, you can insert a SIM card and make a call or send an SMS.

@someuser4166 Ай бұрын

I had one of these when they came out but I remember the shoulder buttons breaking

@xnamkcor 5 ай бұрын

Crash Bandicoot is not an Analog Stick game. and Setting your controller to Analog Mode with a game that doesn't support it can result in non-responsiveness or erratic results.

@mr_n3w_3ra 5 ай бұрын

Bro the bruce lee game i used to play on mine was sick af. The only thing that was stupid was the notification indicator was on the very top of the phone on the power button.

@genx156 Ай бұрын

I had the Xperia Play way back when it launched & loved it - I was hoping for a long time they would release an updated version that I could use for retro gaming as the original is now underpowered, but it's never happened 😔

@chanchan05 5 ай бұрын

Official Sony PS gaming on Android coming back would be dope.

@marumisu9560 4 ай бұрын

I wonder if we will see a shift back to physical buttons with android phones because of the popularity of handheld devices.

@josephchackon1717 4 ай бұрын

loving the retro tech videos in the modern day. Would love to see more old tech, especially those that people still somehow use today like the ipod video. Also might wanna rethink that sponsor.

@Hopiiya Ай бұрын

Remembered this was my dreamphone back in 2012 😅. Sad that dream didnt go as planned back then because I was still in my highschool years

@Ksescel 5 ай бұрын

They actually put the first form of Minecraft android on this

@foryourhealth4481 3 ай бұрын

Well done great video!

@190vw 2 ай бұрын

You did it great on the Spiderman movie! 🥳

@D3MON_KOR3 5 ай бұрын

I had one, I wish it had more ram, they should make a updated version

@Webbsy 2 ай бұрын

I have a unused handset, boxed with the og film on the back. I had one for my first contract. Every day I wish for an updated one

@Balc0ra 5 ай бұрын

I still have mine. I went from the X10 Mini, to this one. And I loved the keyboard on the X10 for SNES emulators. But way more on this one. I still used that phone as an emulator for a bit after I upgraded. And yes... it took some getting to work. I had to root mine to make it easier. Tho I've not booted mine for a while. So no idea how the battery is doing. But today? Heck even a PSP is a better option for SNES on the go with the firmware that has now.

@georgegontiz8935 4 ай бұрын

I'm annoyed that no one's done this like its easy money, imagine if the galaxy did this now with flagship specs it would demolish

@DigitalSpill 2 ай бұрын

8:24 - GASP! IT DID!? what a crazy surprise after watching 8 minutes of this video! i never would've caught on! 🤣

@asr_001 2 күн бұрын

The pspgo is basically the evolution of this product and cost the same or less

@SpikerDragon95 5 ай бұрын

I wonder why all those handheld companies didnt make something like this? Well I think the slidder mechanism is gonna be expensive to make

@juniorbarranqueiro 4 ай бұрын

Is not exactly expensive, but the extra hardware work to make this functional is not worth it. Also, sliding and hinged devices has the big flaw that flat cables are frail by nature and not easy to repair if needed (small spaces or problematic holes. Yes, I'm looking to you DS 😒)

@mrocob83 4 ай бұрын

I loved my Sony Xperia Play! That phone had a lot of promising features. I wish we got a version 2 with updated specs.

@TORTLESSS 2 ай бұрын

thats the phone with the unique metal gear solid game

@electricboltz9028 5 ай бұрын

hey, just wanted to let everyone know of a pretty serious and annoying problem with the Sony Xperia Play. I bought one years ago and loved but little did I know how fragile the ribbon cable for the screen was. so don't be sliding the screen up and down too much otherwise you might damage the ribbon cable. and to fix it, while possible it is not worth bothering with.

@fikri2822 5 ай бұрын

If only Sony rebuilt this with modern phone hardware

@Peterstarzynskitech 5 ай бұрын

I'd say the Xperia play was ahead of its time. Phones today are great for gaming made better with controllers that are detachable.

@bgjck 5 ай бұрын

If you wanna use a Sony handheld for Emulation, I think the best best is with the PS Vita because it can play PS Vita, PSP, and PS1 game natively and can play stuff from the NES, SNES, Game Boy/game Boy Color, GBA really well

@Corkedwolf43771 2 ай бұрын

I remember i had the Nokia Ngage round about 07-09 had fifa game and little cartridges of games that i inevitably lost haha

@GundamGokuTV 5 ай бұрын

Dude don't refer to something from 2011 as retro. I ain't ready for that conversation 😂

@DNKI 5 ай бұрын

My bones disintegrate saying it tbh. I refuse to believe my college days was over a decade ago 😫

@pedrocerqueira7870 4 ай бұрын

I genuinely do not understand how this form factor has not been explored more by Sony (since they own the patent for it). Specially with the industry investments in game streaming, and the overall public demand for emulation devices and external controllers for phones.

@TurtlePower99 4 ай бұрын

They could easily revive this idea with modern insides.. it would be great

@Xaytonn 5 ай бұрын

Loved this phone. It was pretty underpowered at the time of release but like mentioned, it really was the ultimate emulator phone. SNES, PS1, even Nintendo DS and some PSP games. It's a shame it came out at a time when smartphone hardware was still in its infancy, so the phone quickly became a slog to use. Wish Sony would do a modern refresh, I'd be a day one buyer!

@KYSMO 4 ай бұрын

"DiSLiKe DiSabLeD bY OwNeR" oh come on! You know you did something wrong and can't bear looking at what you did? Just own your mistake and take the video down and turn BH as a sponsor down. Love your content and all, not an attack on you personally, but Better Help should NOT be promoted.

@renofumi28 5 ай бұрын

For God's sake they need to bring this back to modern phones!

@BirtBiggler 5 ай бұрын

I still have mine in a drawer lol

@Shendowx 3 ай бұрын

I believe I still have the charging dock station for it🤔 I had the AT&T blue one and later down the line I end up unlocking it to use with other phone services.

@Shendowx 3 ай бұрын

P. S. I would recommend trying to get the AT&T version, it seems I have less problems in the Verizon version. Plus if I remember at the virtual analogs work pretty good on it for playing Grand Theft Auto III on it.

@FN-170 5 ай бұрын

I'm surprised no one tried to make this form factor / gimmick again even tho we have better hardware and more gaming phones these days

@BlubberBuddha 2 ай бұрын

I still got mine from back then and it was so fun to use

@charlesbronson2926 5 ай бұрын

You were going way too hard on the betterhelp praise. I just kept thinking "he can't be talking about betterhelp!"

@redstonecommander5190 3 ай бұрын

Fun fact, the Xperia play is supposed to be modeled after the PSP go

@JtwasLuck 5 ай бұрын

If your after emulating SNES, DS, etc, the Xperia Play is actually much better than the PSP. Get an extended battery and it will last you for days! For PSP games I just stick to the PSP Go so it pairs really well with this, not to mention the 245 PPI is much better than the PSP and even better than the Vita.

@midsnacker 5 ай бұрын

I owned this phone in my 20s. Thing was pretty dope with emulation.

@JetScreamer_YT 5 ай бұрын

It wasn't that fast. It was almost obsolete when it hit the street. It had that funky non-combined memory and not enough of it. The gaming part of it was solid and I tried to love this phone. I had to hack the colonel use a custom firmware and a bigger battery. I really wish they would try again though

@jullemasa2182 5 ай бұрын

I didn't remember that Ericsson was yet part of Sony phones to smartphone era. Like I just remember seeing the old phones as Sony Ericsson but then they just disappeared at least on my sight. Even as countryside boy during that time can't say much.

@alsostevenrodriguez9234 5 ай бұрын

That’s crazy, I was JUST looking to buy one of these after I saw your PSP vid.

@MegaMat_Show 3 ай бұрын

I got this phone at launch, was my first android (coming from iphone 4), and that io was the clunkiest mess I'd ever dealt with.

@ShockerTopper 3 ай бұрын

I am absolutely shocked it didn't take Sony's proprietary memory cards...the Sony Memory Sticks were cool...until you realized they were patented and cost a fortune. I had Sony Ericson phone's in the mid 2000's and they were fantastic! However, I checked out of Sony phone's once I started using iPhones, starting with the iPhone 4 in 2010. I also never had a PSP because I stopped playing games halfway through High School in 2001...due to having more important things to focus on like work and girls lol. It worked out though because I grew up playing Nintendo and the last consoles I played were Dreamcast, PS2 and Gamecube.

@RemixedYoshi 3 ай бұрын

I had this phone when i was a kid it was wild.

@gerardcrabb4556 2 ай бұрын

Got a PSP Go when they were cheap with 20 games... And had Xperia phone...

@dr.ogremitsu-77 5 ай бұрын

This was my first phone. I remember going to the att store to upgrade my ipod touch to the iphone 4. And then i saw this. A Playstation phone? That runs ps1 games? Sold. That was back in like 2011. Been an android user since. P.s. those touch pads always sucked. Itd be cool if sony tried to make this again.

@T3CHGY007 5 ай бұрын

I remember when this phone came out! I sold it here in Canada under the rogers network! Back then all phones was locked to there networks!

@DJPixcell 5 ай бұрын

"Released around the time of the 4S which was retina!" I absolutely haaaate that. As retina has no REAL definition. Describes no resolution, describes no pixel density, it's just an apple trademarked talking point. That's like saying the Sony phones display is "Bravia". It means absolutely nothing. Lol

@xomoku 5 ай бұрын

It’s like a smaller psp go, lol. This thing would be pretty cool if Sony remade this with current snapdragon chips, good OS, and the psp emulation would be amazing as well! Knowing Sony, they probably wouldn’t lol.

@andreas4010 2 ай бұрын

I don't get why Sony doesn't revive it They could make a gaming focused phone with easy connection to ps remote play, built in ps1/2 emulation with their owm Playstation store to buy old games People will accept extra bulk for a built in controller and seeing all the handhelds fod sale, there is a market At the 500$ price range, there's definitely some demand

@Only-Hitotsu Ай бұрын

I hope next year phone gaming come out like sony xperia play

@xash06 5 ай бұрын

Nostalgia

@JonathanAkiraFreudman 5 ай бұрын

I recently bought my Vita. It has many "free"games on it. Dont regret it.

@Espada_no_4 5 ай бұрын

I think that it was a great concept phone. Shame that progress went in a different way. You can still buy yourself a gaming controller for an iPhone 15 pro for example. But this phone had it already built in. Gaming phones aren't the priority. Most of the flagships are about cameras. Yes, phones like S24 Ultra will handle both games and cameras. Just not in the same way, how this Sony Ericsson was prepared to do. Only disadvantage I see for this type of construction is smaller battery and maybe durability, especially if you are that type who drop the phone all the time. But this is similar for the folding phones and people quite like them despite this. Simply pity, that this type of phone never was a massive hit. Things would be more excited for gamers today with similar construction.

@MrDaBo94 5 ай бұрын

I always wanted one of these phones🗿

@ThePianist51 5 ай бұрын

550$ was hell lotta money to spend for such a phone. I know your feels. 😅

@DNKI 5 ай бұрын

This channel is built on buying the new tech I couldn't buy when I was a student now that they're old and affordable enough 😂

@awaisahmed9418 5 ай бұрын

Sony should bring back this with modern specs and 18:9 display and type C charging.

@jamess.9743 5 ай бұрын

i always wanted it back then but didn’t want to switch to Verizon for it

@3styler1 5 ай бұрын

You can root the phone and update the software with a cyanogen android or some other modded android version for a better experience and can still be used today.