Hands-on with AT&T’s Sony Xperia TL (Gallery)

Élyse Betters | Oct 4 2012 - 5:30 pm PT

Sony’s latest flagship smartphone, the Xperia TL, is landing on AT&T in the United States, but I was able to get a brief hands-on with the LTE Android device at a media event in New York City tonight.

The 4.55-inch smartphone, with a matte plastic back and 720p HD Reality display, certainly looks like a high-end device, but it simply does not stand out from the competition. Its 1.5GHz dual-core S4 keeps the user-experience brisk, and the arch-like curve fits well in the hand, but the materials feel a little cheap.

AT&T did a good job at pre-loading many of its apps, and Sony even added a few of its own too, such as Media, Album, and Walkman, but overall the Ice Cream Sandwich OS felt a bit outdated. Sony, however, promised a Jelly Bean upgrade “soon.” Yeah, not too specific. James Bond’s official smartphone is slated for a holiday release, though, so pricing and additional details are bound to come down the pipeline in the coming weeks.

The Xperia TL originally unveiled at IFA 2012 in August, and it packs, aside from the specs above, a 13-megapixel camera, 1080p HD video recording, and one-touch enabled NFC.