8:44 PM
my phone
However, the X10 was hindered by delays, held back by glitchy software and arrived running the already ageing Android 1.6 – and only received an update to 2.1 recently. It was, to put it mildly, a bit of a mess.
You can check out our Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc video review:
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc obliterates all of those awkward memories in a flash. It's running the very latest Android 2.3.2 version of the OS. It's arrived on time. It's fast, and it's very, very stylish indeed.
Sony ericsson xperia arc review
And it's not that expensive for a single-core Android phone in 2011 at £430 SIM free or £30 per month on contract – can Sony Ericsson's Reality Display, Bravia Engine and Exmor R buzzwords win pocket space in today's extremely crowded Android marketplace?
First impressions are that the Xperia Arc is unbelievably, impossibly thin. It's also flared slightly around the back, giving the rear of the phone a slightly fatter top and bottom. And it's light, too – a mere 117g. The rival Google Nexus S weighs in at 129g. How it has all been squeezed in is a mystery.
The solid-feeling 4.2-inch screen fills much of the front of the phone, with only a few millimetres of bezel to the left and right. The handset itself is only marginally longer than the old HTC Desire – and is significantly slimmer. In fact, you get an HTC Desire HD-sized screen in the body of a much smaller, slimmer phone.
But you only get Sony Ericsson's standard selection of three physical buttons – Back, Home and Menu – in reverse order to how they featured in the X10. That will mess with the minds of upgraders. The buttons are solid silvery plastic, plus there's a piercing white LED light shining through the gaps between them to help guide your thumbs in the dark.
The top of the phone features an HDMI output hidden behind a little dust stopper, plus a tiny power button. The power button is recessed to stop accidental presses – but so tiny it can be a little hard to find. It's a fingernail job and a bit of a pain. There's also a proximity sensor, which shuts off the screen when it's pressed to your ear.
Sony ericsson xperia arc review
The left edge features the 3.5mm headphone jack, while the right-hand edge houses the micro-USB, a small volume up/down rocker and a physical camera button near the bottom.
Sony ericsson xperia arc review
The back of the Xperia Arc is simple, with its curved case lending it quite an air of style. We've been using this one for over a week, and still keep picking it up to marvel at how thin it is.
Turn the screen on and it's bright and sharp. Icons are clear and well defined thanks to Sony Ericsson's Reality Display technology, whatever that may be, with nothing in the way of pixilation on show.
It's not quite as sharp as the superb display of the iPhone 4, but is easily on a par with the sharp output of the Samsung Galaxy S' gorgeous Super AMOLED screen.
The screen is very usable outdoors in direct light – you don't even have to max the brightness to read text while outside. It's a lovely piece of hardware to have. Sony Ericsson officially announced the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S today. The new smartphone is the tweaked version of the well-known Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc and will be already in sale in Q4 2011.
The new smartphone has a number of improvements if compared with its earlier version. I’m speaking about the 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 processor (instead the old 1GHz CPU) and the possibility of capturing 3D images.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S runs Android 2.3.4 OS and has a 4.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with 854 x 480 pixels resolutions. It is equipped with Reality Display backed by Mobile Bravia Engine.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S comes with an 8.1 rear-facing MP camera with LED flash. It has a support for 720 video recording and 3D sweep panorama mode.
The other features of the device include WiFi, aGPS, Bluetooth, a HDMI output and a micro USB port.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S has 320MB of onboard storage and microSD card slot. This gives you a chance to enlarge the memory of your device up to 8GB.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S will be available in 5 nice colors such as Pure White, Misty Silver, Midnight Blue, Gloss Black and Sakura Pink. As for the dimensions, they are as follows: 125 x 63 x 8.7 mm, and the weight is 117 grams.
Sony Ericsson Arc Specification:
- Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
- 1 GHz Scorpion processor
- 8 GB of memory
- 4.2-inch large screen
- Sony's "Exmoor-R" sensor
- LED flash and touch focus
- Multi-touch input method
Description
It comes with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and has a 1 GHz Scorpion processor, 512 MB RAM, 8.1 megapixel camera. The phone has an HDMI output, so it is possible to set it to your TV (such as. In connection with images or videos you've recorded), microUSB, WiFi, GPS, all 8 GB of memory and other standard features you would expect of a mobile as the Arc from SE.
Xperia ARC Display: The 4.2 "large screen uses Sony's new" Reality Display "technology, which is probably most of all be said to be their take on Apple's" Retina ". It works really well, and combined with Mobile Bravia (also from Sony, which you might recognize the name from their TVs) you get excellent black level (black) and good colors.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc camera: The mobile phone equipped with an excellent 8.1 megapixel camera. The camera uses Sony's "Exmoor-R" sensor technologies to enhance the sensitivity which gives much better pictures in low light (ie. In the evening). This combined with a 2.4 lens gives a better picture in indoor environments than many competitors' models.
You also get autofocus, LED flash and touch focus, which means that you simply touch the screen where you want the phone to focus. Additionally, the image stabilizer, geo-tagging (using the GPSen) and smile & face.
It comes with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and has a 1 GHz Scorpion processor, 512 MB RAM, 8.1 megapixel camera. The phone has an HDMI output, so it is possible to set it to your TV (such as. In connection with images or videos you've recorded), microUSB, WiFi, GPS, all 8 GB of memory and other standard features you would expect of a mobile as the Arc from SE.
Xperia ARC Display: The 4.2 "large screen uses Sony's new" Reality Display "technology, which is probably most of all be said to be their take on Apple's" Retina ". It works really well, and combined with Mobile Bravia (also from Sony, which you might recognize the name from their TVs) you get excellent black level (black) and good colors.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc camera: The mobile phone equipped with an excellent 8.1 megapixel camera. The camera uses Sony's "Exmoor-R" sensor technologies to enhance the sensitivity which gives much better pictures in low light (ie. In the evening). This combined with a 2.4 lens gives a better picture in indoor environments than many competitors' models.
You also get autofocus, LED flash and touch focus, which means that you simply touch the screen where you want the phone to focus. Additionally, the image stabilizer, geo-tagging (using the GPSen) and smile & face.
