The Sony Xperia Go (full review) is a ruggedized mid-priced Android smartphone designed to resist dust and water. Flaps around the plastic casing seal the ports. Read more smartphone reviews.
It's a square-looking phone, much like Sony's other recent Xperia handsets but minus the clear light-up plastic strip downstairs. The rear and sides are made up by a single removable cover and the front is scratch-resistant glass. Around the plastic body are rubber-sealed ports for headphones, Micro-USB, microSD slot and SIM card.
Included is a wrist strap, and an armband case for outdoor activities.
The Xperia Go survived our dunking into a tank of water and continued to work afterwards. This is great if you get the phone dirty and want to clean it or keep it with you while swimming.
The screen can't respond to touch input while under water, but as soon as it's out you can carry on like normal. The screen also responded randomly when we dripped water on it so you’ll still need to shield it from the rain.
The SIM card tray came apart when we took a SIM card out of the handset.
At around £200 SIM-free, the Xperia Go isn't the cheapest smartphone around but is less than half the price of the leaders. The middling price reflects the hardware inside.
The 3.5 inch screen has a disappointing resolution, and the Go runs the old Google Android 2.3..It has a typically mid-ranged 5 Megapixel rear -facing camera with LED flash.
There’s no front-facing camera.
Sony's user interface is very good. It's visually attractive, easy to use and has a good range of useful widgets. We got only one day of use from the battery, so you’ll need to charge every night.
A compact and robust smartphone perfect for those who need a phone capable of taking a battering. We award three and a half stars.
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