Xperia Play R800i With Carriers Today, 2017?? - Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

So I just went a bought a brand new Xperia Play. Lots of reasons why I decided to wait so long. $80+ contracts from Verizon per month were the first offer for Xperia Play, which would've added up to thousands of dollars more spent by today than what I chose instead. Also, it didn't even drop to below $100 areas until recently as far as I can tell.
Anyway, I went and bought the R800i model. The ebay seller listed it as T-Mobile and AT&T compatible in the US. But then I went to a T-Mobile and an AT&T and even a Verizon just for the hell of it to see if it would work. It didn't. They all say they're frequencies are too old and the Xperia Play won't use newer frequencies from carriers like them. So, I'm guessing this is well known by now even though it's hard to just find the answer. Does anyone know how to get a R800i to work in the US as a phone? The carriers, each and every one, are telling me that no one supports the outdated frequencies of the Xperia Play anymore. Is that just the R800i though? Would buying an R800x or R800a work at all with having better GSM frequencies? I mean, it's just ridiculous that I'm screwed over on this phone, it's the only smartphone I've even considered since 2011 since they're all just expensive but useless for what I would want it for: A phone, and a video gaming device.
Of course, it's still worth it even at $80 for a Wi-Fi-only model. It plays all the emulators I love: SNES, NES, MS, MD, NeoGeo, PS1, even newer stuff like GTA3 for android. Way better than a PSP for some of the emulation, although you sacrifice the PSP games because ppsspp is just not at all playable... And I'm still pissed about having been dropped stuff like Dead Space, Battlefield 2, and Cod Black Ops Zombies support. You just can't find them anymore on the playstore. Even then, COD Black Ops Zombies won't even recognize the gamepad so it's useless by now or maybe it's just R800i incompatible...
EDIT: Actually, I just figured out why black ops zombies doesn't work properly. The guy on ebay who sold the device to me as "new" slipped me a defective one. The board controlling the touchpad is completely missing, and there's a big "X" marked over where it should be. Clearly something's up. I guess that explains the Black Ops Zombies issue but I'm guessing that that's not related at all to the network problem...

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[Q] Would you buy the Play today?

best Buy has the $50 gift card for upgrading now, and the phone is free with contract or extension- so basically I can walk out now with a free Xperia Play. Would you? Knowing you would be under contract with this phone for two more years.
Yes i would.
Also due to the fact that it ain't impossible to have 2 phones
Also, if you stop paying your bills they will stop offering services, and would demand the phone, so that's a problem solved !
I actually just bought my rogers xperia play on sunday for $0 on a 1 year contract. I bought it from wireless wave. I think it was a one day promotion. I probably would buy it today again if it was the same price lol.
Upgrade
I actually did an early upgrade to a Play a week ago at Verizon.
I love the phone! Well everything but the fact that you cant unlock the bootloader for free... But it is still possible to root and load roms through back up files if they're compatible! Not many though! So it really depends what you want the phone for!
No. Even though I got mine for free, I wouldn't.
No unless you can afford to by a 500 to 800 hundred dollar second phone.
Sent from my R800x using XDA App
Yep.
I've seen stronger phones out there with bigger screens, multi-core processors, 3D and all kinds of riffraff... but even without all that, Xperia PLAY manages to have incredibly smooth operation... and it breaks that one limitation that's been keeping smartphone gaming capped at mediocrity.
I sold my PSP for funds toward a Vita, and I kinda don't miss it... kinda wondering if I really need a Vita when I already have the Xperia PLAY.
TLRtheory said:
Yep.
I've seen stronger phones out there with bigger screens, multi-core processors, 3D and all kinds of riffraff... but even without all that, Xperia PLAY manages to have incredibly smooth operation... and it breaks that one limitation that's been keeping smartphone gaming capped at mediocrity.
I sold my PSP for funds toward a Vita, and I kinda don't miss it... kinda wondering if I really need a Vita when I already have the Xperia PLAY.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Xperia Play is a mobile phone as well so what more can you ask for ! It's up there with the mid range smartphones. So I suggest don't get the Vita. Stick with the Xperia Play. It's a beast of a phone !
Personally, the way phones change nowadays, I shudder at the thought of a 2 year contract.
I love my play but no offence in 2 years I'd be chomping at the bit to get a new phone.
If just buying the handset, defo. Contract, no don't think I would.
I was a lucky one that got the xplay on o2 for £150 PAYG. Love it!
Yes, I would buy this phone now.
It may not be the top of the line but it works just fine and I am a retro gamer
YES
i love my PLAY... there is better phones about, but the PLAY does all i need
Of course. I recently bought two xperia play one for me and the other for my wife.
kenchi27 said:
Of course. I recently bought two xperia play one for me and the other for my wife.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your Wife is a gamer?
I would never get a contract phone, the thought of paying for it for 2 years is scary. I always go pay as you go as I can't always top up every month so I wouldn't be able to pay the contract. If you can afford to pay it every month and your a serious gamer the get it, I got a 2nd hand play for £120 pound UK so the contract would cost more in the end. The xperia play is a good phone.
Sent from my R800i using xda premium
TLRtheory said:
Yep.
I've seen stronger phones out there with bigger screens, multi-core processors, 3D and all kinds of riffraff... but even without all that, Xperia PLAY manages to have incredibly smooth operation... and it breaks that one limitation that's been keeping smartphone gaming capped at mediocrity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would and for these reasons!
It really does depend on you - if you're the kind of person who plays games/emulators on a console/pc then it could be worthwhile - I don't, but thought I would with this phone... I haven't opened the gamepad slider in weeks! In my spare time I use the phone for watching TV shows, so if I could have done it again I probably would have went with the Nexus S, not as thick and a bit quicker.
I paid ~$320aud for my unlocked play, plus $100aud for a 32gb Sandisk.
I love the Play. The fact of having a slide out gamepad just does it for me. Just before going to bed i'll maybe play some GTA 3 or some Super Mario Bros 3 on the snes emulator or some Super Mario 64
And the other thing is that it can record in 720p ! All of that in a smartphone? can't be possible can it ?
Yes it can !
I bought xperia play 2 days ago..
No regret coming from my mind...
a 100% satisfed...
Would definetely buy this one again. There is no better phone to PLAY than the PLAY .
Waiting for the PLAY 2 if they will be making one.
had my phone since around November but rarely use the ganepad. on giffgaff so unlimited Internet aSwell
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[Poll] How many use Xperia Play for Gaming (With the gamepad)

Just a question that came up in rom threads. To get more insight into things. How many of use really use the xperia play for its gaming ability. Meaning, you REALLY want the gamepad used correctly. Some people use just the touch screen more and dont care about the gamepad as much. So just thought I would make a poll for devs to use later to get insight on how people use their xperia.
The gamepad is the only reason I chose this phone over the other Android phones offered by Verizon. And so far, it hasn't let me down. Of course, I'm a retro gamer, I couldn't really care less about the touchpads.
I use it often. At the mo playing Zelda on the Gameboy Advance emulator and loving it
brought to you by the XDA app on my badass Android toy
I use it for every emulator , every game. The gamepad is the sole purpose of buying this phone.
Yea I am all about the emulators myself. However I think the issue comes up on non stock roms with android based games that "optimize for xperia play" and how some roms may not work right on a gamepad. I just know I love the gamepad. Too bad GTA3 isnt working right.
YES... i had been hunting down this phone since i heard rumors of it, 2 years before its release, so i started to save up cash, i waited a while for it to drop price, when i finally had enough money , i got the white one, because everyone here would have the black one, anyways as soon as i got the phone the works, Boot loader on locking, Rooting, Custom Rom, Emulators/ROMS, im an old school gamer, so all the Pokemons, all the Marios, etc etc.
What i loved about the phone is that my younger brother got a Iphone 3gs and he did not wanted to buy the Xperia Play because " it looks so cheap" and to be honest it does, it took him 30 seconds of playing my Play to Regret getting the Iphone 3gs, as like me he is also a hardcore gamer.
So Gaming pad.. hell Freaking yeah... its the only thing i can bark at work,"hey my phone has this much processor","mine has this much screen", etc then i go "well how many of you have gaming buttons?" and i just laugh.
My last two phones I had purchased the GameGripper for both. Bit when I saw the xplay I jumped for it and haven't looked back. Now version where the hell is the info on the ics update?
http://www.game-gripper.com/mobile/default.aspx#Home
Sent from my R800x using xda premium
The gamepad is great for playing fighting games
The gamepad is one mayor thing that brought me to buy the phone.
As I consider myself a hardcore and casually retro gamer.
Many other reasons:
Decent screen size
Incredibly loud stereo speakers
Supports epileptic led mode (32hz/2000bpm)
Autofocus camera
Awesome processor and GPU (overclockeable to 2GHz!!!1!11one)
512 MBs of RAM
Easy rooting and bootloader unlocking
Comes with the best OS in the world
Built-in integration with Facebook
Some drawbacks:
SEMC skin kinda sucks compared to cooler ones
Comes with lots of bloatware
Brightness is NULL in the outsides of a sunny day
Battery does not last more than three days under default settings
SEMC launcher only has 5 homescreen slots
Built-in theme chooser doesn't do much
Front camera only works in outsides and is a 1.3 MP one
But overall, much better phone than any of those I have found people using on the streets (at least in my country).
I mainly use the phone with Onlive. Ever since it got support I've been wasting my money on games my computer can handle, but it's on my phone <3.
Emulators work rather well, it's just say I'm playing Majora's Mask I have to keep the virtual keys on screen for the c-buttons due to lack of mapping.
I just don't use the touchpads
Sent from my Xperia Play using XDA App
Thats the whole bloody reason why I got the Xperia Play because of the gamepad !
It stands out from the crowd.
Just cannot wait for ICS on the Xperia Play !
Anybody else excited ?
sufy1000 said:
Thats the whole bloody reason why I got the Xperia Play because of the gamepad !
It stands out from the crowd.
Just cannot wait for ICS on the Xperia Play !
Anybody else excited ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ICS is good but miui is better in my opinion.. I still use the gamepad just don't play any games that use touch pads
Sent from my Xperia Play using XDA App
I use my Xperia Play only as a gaming device. I don't use it as a phone (no sim card). I got it used super cheap. Onlive, FPse, etc.
Sent from my R800at using XDA App
of course...bought it because of the game pad..i have a lot of time to play games...even at work...
i don't use the touchpad because i haven't game where i need it (only in mupen64 i need them, but i'm not an hardcore player)
Do some of you still use a BT Gamepad on your XP? Was thinking of getting the onlive universal gamepad. Still having a full set of trigger buttons would be nice.
I thougt the game pad was cool but i actully don't use it so much and actully have another android phone.
That's the main reason I got it and it's great for my retro gaming needs. I use emulators mainly and only use the pads when I need to, like with Mupen64.
I can say I'm a little disappointed in the r800x model (stupid Verizon). My parents still pay my phone bill so I can't complain too much.
I'm moving to Canada this summer and I plan on getting one from whatever carrier I end up with (not CDMA though, I'm done with that mess). They are free with most contracts which makes it even tastier.
BTW any recommendations for cell carriers in Canada? PM me
I'm mobile.. and I'm a gamer.. so, I bought Xplay because it's a Gaming Mobile Phone which had "gamepad" on it..
If I don't use the gamepad, I would prefer Arc S or Ray than this..

[Q] Is it worth getting...

I know there are lots of threads asking other people what kind of phone they should get, but those threads are a little bit outdated.
With all the newer phones getting dual core processors, and bigger RAM sizes, and more internal storage, does it mean that the Xperia Play is getting outdated?
With almost all of these newer phones wouldn't it make Google just want to make Jellybean (which comes out in just a while), a "only dual-core" OS?
If I were to look into a phone - I am stuck between a few of them, but if I knew that the Xperia Play could at least survive another OS, then I would heavily consider it.
What's more worth it though: Xperia Play vs. Motorola Atrix 4G?
Or even more harder: Xperia Play vs. Samsung Galaxy S II.
I have a pretty flexible budget, but I want a phone that is unique and one that can play games. I need one that can be modded, and I see that the Xperia is in the headlines a lot about small things...... What are your guys' opinion?
How much support life does the Xperia Play have left?
I want to have hope in the xperia, but I don't want to be left high and dry.
If you want to play classic games on emulators it is the best phone because of the controls, but if what you want to play is moden games, you should get another phone, even GTA3 goes slow even on low detail on this phone, but i dont care, because what i use the most and it goes perfect is the emulators, world of goo and fifa 12.
Samsung Galaxy S2 can play GTA 3 Perfect, but you can only use the games and emulators with touch controls or a external gamepad, wich sucks.
Storage is not a problem, i got it with a 64gb microsd card.
I say get the Xperia Play unless if you want your hands covering half of the screen when playing games.
Is it on it's last end of life? I don't want to buy it - and then find out that the entire line of Xperia Play is dead?
It's getting more support- ICS and playstation suite are expected soon but it isn't getting too much support- you may be a bit underwhelmed cause of this after about a month. But leave it for someone who knows what they're on about to give you a better answer
Sent from my R800i using XDA

Will there be Xperia play 2?

I haven't gotten any information about the second vision of this incredible phone.. Just like this design.. Maybe the next phone for me is Pureview 808
The answer is a resounding "maybe"
I'd probably lean towards no though. Unfortunately, our phones are too niche, I'd wager.
if they plan to release an xplay 2 they better announce it before they launch the hayabusa.
Yes
but not soon.
Yes, in my opinion, Xperia Play was just an experiment to observe how a mobile gaming phone would react to the smartphone industry. And it did pretty good after a few months full of nice updates and optimizations of games for this phone.
Unfortunately, XPlay is quite underpowered right now compared to the newest phones which have 2x better specifications. But it still rocks knowing the fact that it can run ICS.
I think the next generation of XPlay could have 2 directions:
1. It could be a better, upgraded version of Xperia Play.
2. It could be a real PSP phone, on which you can play PSP games.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I never saw much about the Xperia Play (here in the States, at least) unless I just happened to see it on my carrier's website, or in a store on display, without the gamepad slid out. I think this phone would have really benefited from being pushed as a "gamer's phone," especially with them having announced the PSN store connectivity. Unless their sole target market was Japan, I think the reason this phone was held back was the lack of hype from Sony Ericsson, itself.
If the Xperia Play had really taken off, it wouldn't be hard to imagine Microsoft trying their hand at having an X-Box portable-type phone, with all the X-box Live connectivity they already have with Windows Phone 7. Even Nintendo, the veritable king of handheld gaming,would most likely have tried their hand at doing the phone thing.
If they make it run the vita os and keep it as phone only without the android ecosystem, It would make it rather lame. In fact I would probably look into a highend slider as a replacement, I could bind the xplay buttons to certain buttons on the keyboard and still use them, and have all the other benefits of Android phones as well.
Not saying one using vita os would be terrible if your just after phone basics and good games, i just like what we have going in android and think alot of it wouldnt be available under vita os.
The new so called "PS" phone aka Xperia Play 2 will only rise once Sony's new PSP Vita saturates in the market.
Sent from my R800i using Tapatalk
bornotty said:
The new so called "PS" phone aka Xperia Play 2 will only rise once Sony's new PSP Vita saturates in the market.
Sent from my R800i using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pfff. From what I can tell this time has already come. Before I had gotten my vita sales in japan had been bad. Which for Sony is NOT good. I played my vita for about a week or two. Its been sitting on my desk ever since. There are no good games for it and there's nothing else to do with it.
I want an Xperia Play 2 so badly.....

Should I get the Play?

I have always wanted an Android gaming handheld. At first I was looking at the generic chinese handhelds to play on, but I decided against it (too many problems,poor quality).Then I remembered about the Xperia Play.
I want to play N64, GBA, SNES (for sure). And the occasional 3D android game eg. Frisbee Forever, Cut the Rope, Fruit Ninja, GTA III. The device I currently have is the Epic 4G Touch rooted and overclocked. But touchscreen emulators are terrible.
Is going from the Galaxy SII to the Xperia Play terrible? I will just be using the phone for the gaming functions, and as a internet device (wifi only). I am hoping although the Play is single core, it will be as smooth as my Galaxy. Thank you!!
It won't be as smooth as a dual core device, but you can run emulators up to ps1 (almost) flawlessly. For me, GTA III was a tiny bit laggy, but still playable.
As far as the u.i goes, you won't get GalaxySII smoothness or responsiveness, however you wont find a better emulation machine than the xperia play
Especially for very old systems like nes,snes, gameboy colour, sega, neogeo. There is an emulator for everything and they all run flawlessly on the play with the button (ps1 can be a bit flaky).
Thanks for your reply guys. PS1 emulation is something I'm not that interested in so that is not a worry. I have one more question though.
How do the analog sticks feel? I will be going to the store later today or in the week to try them out myself, but I just was wondering how you guys liked them?
If you want to play games, and have a cellphone in the same device, for sure, buy the Xperia Play. I came from a Optimus 2X, that isnt a Galaxy SII at all, but its a powerfull dual core too, and i dont regret. Xperia Play is a single core, but its the most powerfull one that I've have already seen, and runs smoothly the most of HD games. How its already saiyd in a above post, GTA III really get a bit of lag, but not much. Can be sure, the physical gamepad make a big diference. About the analogical touchpad, isnt so good to handle as a true analogical stick, but its better than nothing.
If you get an Xperia Play, I hardly recomend you to root and install DroidSail Super App2SD or a similar, because the 200mb of internal memory are ridiculous for a gaming device, and this app allows you to pass all the apps to sd card.
I wanted to play emulators too and i bought a chinese android console, and then i just read that the xperia play was better in emus and better quality and i sold the chinese console and bought an CDMA Xperia play to use as a console.
Then i loved it so much i sold my blackberry and my CDMA xperia play and bought a GSM xperia play and i now have all i want in my pocket. (phone, camera, divxplayer, console, mp3 player, tablet).
i think you wont regret it, if you only want it as a portable device, without cell phone recomend a r800a since its cheaper than the r800i
i use firmware 2.3.4 58, great batery life, last all day even if i msg a lot and play like 2 hours in the day. (on 2g, no wifi, no bluetooth or gps)
My answer may be biased since I don't like having to rub touch devices too long, but the analog touchpad is pretty frustrating at times. You basically tilt your thumbs in the direction you want them to go. Maybe you can adapt to it if you're used to using touchscreen analog in Android games, but for me they're frustrating.
No, you should not get the Play. The phone is obsolete already, there are no future updates expected from Sony, some of the best devs are leaving for other phones, official ICS was denied to us and the community is quickly dwindling.
If you want a great gaming device, get a handheld designed for that purpose. If you want an awesome phone, better take a look at what is being released in the near future, and stay away from Sony. By all means, don't waste your money on a phone that is already a year and a half old.
netizenmt said:
No, you should not get the Play. The phone is obsolete already, there are no future updates expected from Sony, some of the best devs are leaving for other phones, official ICS was denied to us and the community is quickly dwindling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have a point there, even though Sony promised some more GB updates.
I heard the PSP 3000 has the ability to run emulators too, so you might want to look into that.
Well, I went to the Verizon store. I installed N64oid on the Play. And quite frankly, I hated it. The analogs sticks are just not for me.
I have decided to just buy the Yinlips YDPG18. looks like a PS Vita, but runs Android. Thanks for all your help!
Compared to my old phone, a Motorola Atrix 4G (nvidia tegra dual core), the sony xperia play feels faster, smoother, and higher quality phone. I can't explain it, and the fact that you have a real joystick to play real games is an added icing.
Having said that, you should not pay more than $100 US for a nice used one. I am looking at you Amazon sellers, trying to sell an R 800i for $300, what ripoffs!
Sent from my R800i using xda premium

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