Sony Xperia S Review

Sony Xperia S

Sony is going it alone in the smart phone world and the first device to bring in the new era will be the feature-packed Sony Xperia S. We go hands-on

The headline news from Sony's star-studded press event as CES 2012 was the arrival of the first smart phone since the company bought out Ericsson's half of the partnership. 

The Sony Xperia S and Sony Xperia ION are the first devices of the new Sony Mobile Communications era, but the one we're concerned with its the Xperia S which will be coming to the UK in March this year, with Three Mobile the first network to sign up. We were able to get some hands-on time at a packed Sony stand. Some of the pictures in our gallery will still show the Sony Ericsson branding. 

Sony Xperia S: Build

The first really noticeable change is the new Sony branding at the top of the device. There's something about that Sony font which instantly makes a device look a little more premium and this is the case with the Xperia S. 

The Xperia S is a good looking phone, on its own merits. we were able to play with the white edition, which is definitely the more attractive than the black iteration of the device and its matte finish will stay nicely free of fingerprints. We really loved the see-through strip at the bottom of the device, which also houses the home, menu and back soft-keys and the phone's antenna system. It's a really nice design touch and sets it aside from rivals.

When we picked up the device, it wasn't overly comfortable. The curved back on the Xperia line does fit nicely in the palm, but the very defined square edges offset that somewhat when gripping the device. Overall, it felt a little awkward. There's also a physical camera button, volume keys and a HDMI port tucked behind a dedicated flap.

Sony Xperia S: Features

The new Sony handset will not arrive with Android Ice Cream Sandwich on board, but Sony says there'll be an upgrade in the near future. Instead early adopters will be greeted with Android 2.3 Gingerbread. As with other phones in the Xperia range, like the Sony Xperia Arc ,the UI is very Android centric. There's no skin like on HTC and Samsung Android phones and Sony Ericsson has long ditched the Timescape UI, which was a good idea in theory but didn't really work in practice.

Sony Ericsson cameras have always been an area of the phone's that we can be positive about and the Sony Xperia S is no different, bringing a 12-megapixel offering which also offers some neat shot-to-shot technology which almost eliminates the shutter-lag between taking pictures. In terms of video, the device will shoot 1080p, a la the iPhone 4S. There's also an Exmor sensor on-board. Very fancy.

There's also a boon for gamers as the device is PlayStation certified, meaning you'll be able to access the library of old PlayStation titles just like Xperia Play owners. It'll also focus its attentions on the Sony Entertainment Network with apps like Music Unlimited and Movies Unlimited. It'll also be able to throw content to your TV set in the same way AirPlay does on iOS devices.  

Sony Xperia S: Screen

Continuing the trend of whopping Android screens, the Xperia S has a 4.3-inch, 1280x720 resolution screen that brings the Sony Bravia Mobile engine into play. Screen detail is fantastic, colours are engaging and well represented, but the display is by no means as encapsulating as the Samsung Galaxy S2's Super AMOLED offering or the Apple iPhone 4S's Retina Display. 

Sony Xperia S: Performance

With a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8260 processor and the now-standard 1GB of RAM on-board the device is rather nippy and during our brief test performed really well. Whizzing around the Android operating system was a breeze, while video rendered very quickly and web-pages loaded at a better-than-expected-for-a-showroom-floor speed. More testing is needed in this area to give a definitive verdict.

Sony Xperia S: Verdict                            

                                         

Sony believes this new era can resurrect its ailing smart phone brand and the Xperia S appears to be a good start. With Sony going it alone in the smart phone world we'd expect more distinct designs from the company in the near future. However, it's clear that this device was still designed while the Ericsson partnership remained intact. Some of the phones on display here, as you can see from our photos, still boasted the Sony Ericsson branding. 

The Xperia S, on its own merits, is a feature packed phone which continues the company's recent run of excellent Android devices. The camera is one of the best-specced we've ever seen on an Android device, while it's also got plenty in the engine room to keep things ticking over. We enjoyed the lack of an over-bearing UI and for the most part we impressed by the design. The grip isn't particularly natural however.