When you buy through our links, we may get a commission. When Sony unveiled the Xperia S at CES , many Android fans in the know dreamed that this ultrastylish handset could herald a new beginning for the company's mobile electronics. That's why it was even more exciting when Sony announced that the phone would arrive for sale in America.
The phone also connects to Sony's large vault of movies, music, and TV shows so you can enjoy them on the device or in the living room. But if you're expecting a halo product to help bring back the golden days of the Walkman, you're in for a disappointment.
Design I can't deny that the Sony Xperia S looks striking. It comes in hues of fashion-forward white like the model I tested, and a more conservative black.
Its design is also very futuristic with the phone flaunting a rectangular chassis chiseled in sharp right angles. The Xperia S' attempt at high style, however, falls short.
While a real head-turner, the boxiness of the Xperia S isn't as comfortable to grip as more traditional oval handsets sculpted with rounded curves. Another distinctive touch yet one not executed well is an illuminated clear bar running along the phone's base.
The bar contains three symbols floating within its transparent surface that indicate the main Android functions for Back, Home, and Menu.
You must tap corresponding dots above each Android icon, which I found find difficult to hit, especially in the dark. Measuring 5 inches tall by 2. Still, for Android devices these days that boast massive displays, these measurements are par for the course. For example the Samsung Galaxy S3 5. The Xperia S has a large 4. Above the display are a 1. The left side holds a Micro-USB port covered by a flap.
On top are a 3. Sitting on the right side is an HDMI port, also under a flap, along with a trim volume rocker. Here too is a dedicated camera button which shutterbugs will appreciate.
Placed head-to-head with its smartphone competitors, the Xperia's 4. In my view, the Galaxy Nexus, with its 4. Thanks to a recent update, though, the handset now features the more modern Android 4. Aperture size - The aperture of a camera is the opening through which light travels before it reaches the camera sensor. The smaller the number is, the bigger this opening is, allowing for more light to pass.
Location - This field shows the positioning systems supported by the device. Every wireless phone device that is sold in the U. Date approved - Shows the date when the particular phone is approved by the Federal Communications Commission.
These limits are given in terms of a unit referred to as the Specific Absorption Rate SAR , which is a measure of the amount of radio frequency energy absorbed by the body when using a mobile phone. PhoneArena Score Review. User Score User reviews. OS Android 4. Display 4. Camera Storage 32GB,. The key itself is easy to find just by touch and the distinction between the two stages of travel is clearly felt under the finger.
Its only downside is that it requires a firm press to capture an image, which may force you to use your second hand to steady the phone before shooting.
The LED flash, positioned immediately below the camera, works intelligently and doesn't wash out nearby subjects. Around the front, the 1. Among Sony's few software inclusions is a fun panorama mode, which is extremely easy to use and does a fine job of stitching multiple images together into a coherent panorama. On the video front, Sony keeps up with the competition by offering full p HD recording at 30fps with stereo sound. The bitrate for the sample video below is the default 14Mbps.
As with still images, the video captured with the Xperia S is rich on detail. It handles motion very well, allows for the use of the flash as a fill-in light, and includes its own image stabilization software. Admittedly, turning on the IS option can result in some jerky motion in your video where the algorithm doesn't quite work correctly, but the benefits of stabilizing your video will probably be worth it in the end.
The autofocus can also hunt around a little bit, especially at the start of a recording, so bear that in mind. You should also be mindful of how you grip the Xperia S during video recording, as I found it very easy to cover up the microphone mounted on the bottom of the phone, muffling the captured sound in the process. Google announced Android 4. Today we're approaching springtime in and yet Sony is only offering Android 2.
Of course, Sony isn't alone in badly lagging the official OS launch date with actual ICS hardware, but that doesn't alter the fact that the company is shipping out a product with software that's markedly inferior to something that's already on the market. Without Android 4. Even if you don't hate Sony's Android skin — which I don't, I actually find it clean, uncluttered and easily navigable — you have to detest the fact it persists atop Android Gingerbread.
With the Galaxy Nexus now available, what possible reason could anyone have to opt for Sony's smartphone instead? Beyond its failure to keep up to date on the OS front, Sony has also maintained the bad habit of loading bloatware onto its phones with a number of additions to your app tray, some of which are of dubious value and others don't even qualify to be called apps. The Music Unlimited "app," for example, is just a link to Sony's website, where you're encouraged to download the proper app and start paying for the privilege.
Gee, thanks! On the plus side, the app drawer is lightning-fast in operation and gives you numerous sorting options plus a nice overview of the apps you can uninstall. The mission-critical Music Unlimited is not among the removable ones. More software woes await Mac users who want to sync data back and forth with the Xperia S. Try as I might, I couldn't get the phone to communicate with my OS X computers, whether on Snow Leopard or on Lion, and had to dust off an old desktop PC to get pictures and video off it.
There's some mythical Bridge for Mac software available online, but after 20 minutes of failing to find a download link for it, I gave up and plugged the Xperia S into the Windows machine. A positive new change Sony has made with the Xperia S is the updated lockscreen notification area, where unread texts and missed calls can be opened up directly with a swipe to the right. The iconography used for these is visually appealing and immediately recognizable. Also good is the onscreen keyboard, which has well spaced keys and Swype-like word tracing functionality.
It's not perfect, however, and one of its biggest problems is the choice to frame the space bar with an emoticon menu launcher and a link to keyboard settings instead of the more conventional, logical, and often used comma and period. You can bring up this keyboard to search the phone and the web by holding down the Menu capacitive key. A menu on the phone provides options for toggling common settings like Bluetooth, GPS, alert volume, or data roaming, as well as the ability to preset apps to launch when a given tag is recognized.
Thus, you can have customized profiles for when you're in the office, at home, or in the car, all of which can be activated with a simple tap of the relevant tag. Unfortunately, the tags don't work in a binary fashion — they don't disable all the setting changes they've made upon a second tap, leaving you having to manually reset things when you're finished driving, working, or lounging on the couch.
That's only one of their limitations, however — the broader issue is that compelling applications of NFC technology need to be provided by third parties, not by Sony or by the smartphone user. You can perhaps arrange a smattering of NFC tags for every room in your house, but what happens when you stray to new locales, do you have to bring more tags with you? A much handier bit of automation comes from another menu item on the Xperia S, which allows you to preset apps to launch when a certain accessory is plugged in.
Much like Motorola's Smart Actions , the best application of this functionality is to set the music app to start up when plugging in a set of headphones.
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