Sony Ericsson's XPERIA Play, aka PlayStation Phone, has been previewed a number of times in the past, and today it got perhaps its most in-depth early look yet. First up, some hardware information: the XPERIA Play is sporting a 4-inch 854x480 display, 1GHz core, Adreno 205 GPU, 5 megapixel camera, 512MB of RAM, and Gingerbread. SE's gaming-centric phone was put through the usual smattering of benchmarks, including Quadrant and Neocore, and managed to score 1,689 and 59 FPS, respectively. The device itself was described as being a little top-heavy, especially compared to a PSPGo, although the entire package is said to possess solid build quality.

On the software side of things, you can expect Sony Ericsson's usual Timescape-packing skin on top of Android 2.3. The good news, though, is that the experience is described as "very snappy." The Play handled 720p video playback with aplomb, although it's important to note that the device's 5MP camera can't actually shoot HD video. Sony Ericsson's also included a feature that allows the user to pinch on the home screen and be presented will all of the widgets in use. Tapping on a widget will transport you to the home screen where that widget is located. Finally, the Play's gaming chops were put to the test, although there still wasn't any software installed on that PlayStation Pocket app. The handset did run PlayStation and Game Boy Advance games through an emulator without any problem, although the circular touchpads haven't been tested as they're likely reserved for games tailored for use on the Play.

After all of the previews we've seen, it's tough to not be excited about the XPERIA Play, especially if you've been a lifelong gamer like myself. There's still a lot of unknowns, especially surrounding the pricing of games and the handset itself, but it's expected that all will be revealed at Mobile World Congress next month. Here's to hoping that Sony Ericsson will have some U.S.-specific information, like which carrier will offer the device (I'd guess AT&T), will be on tap.

Via Engadget