With its ICS face-lift, the Sony
Xperia S becomes a major player, but battery issues remain an Achilles heel...
Design touches
The Sony Xperia S is built extremely well
and feels heavy/sturdy in the palm of your hand. The clear plastic strip that
showcases the three Android buttons directly above is also a nice little touch
Feel the pressure
However, the touch-sensitive buttons themselves
are a little harder to press than we would have liked, as more pressure is
required. At least you don’t accidentally catch them like you do with the
buttons on the Huawei
Similar to the HTC, the Sony does not come
with a micro SD card expansion slot, which does let the device down a touch.
However, with the 32GB supplied you do get
enough free storage to add a series of apps or multimedia content!
HD screen
The Sony comes with a HD screen with the
same resolution as the HTC and Samsung offerings. When coupled with the Bravia
engine, it provides a great viewing experience. But, when viewed at different
angles and max brightness -the screen looks over exposed
The Sony Xperia S has pretty rock solid
build quality and this is evident from its weightier feel.
It also adds subtle design touches beneath
the 4.3-inch HD screen in the form of a clear strip of plastic emphasising the
Android buttons above. However, the touch sensitive buttons do require more
pressure and this can be frustrating at times. At least you don't accidentally
catch them while typing as you do with the over-sensitive Huawei buttons.
Sony also opts for a side-mounted micro USB
and micro HDMI ports held under protective covers. While these do provide added
dust protection they can be fiddly to remove when you need to plugin your USB
cable. Sadly, Sony does not provide access to the battery compartment, nor does
it provide a memory card expansion slot, so it’s just as well that the 25GB of
free storage allows you to add plenty of media.
The Xperia S also benefits from the recent
ICS upgrade which has mainly added subtle Improvements to the Ul and apps. For
example, you can now access the settings option from the notification bar. You
also get a Walkman music app, which along with its profile support, provides a
great listening experience. The video player even has the ability to display
and download cover art to enhance the selection process.
However, the Sony’s best feature has to be
the 12-megapixel camera. While shooting at 12MP is only in a 4:3 ratio, the
sheer level of features is impressive, but not nearly as impressive as the
results. Both detail and colours looked sharp and full of life.
the
Sony’s best feature has to be the 12-megapixel camera
Sony’s HD screen though does prove less
effective at certain viewing angles, more in terms of the screen being over
exposed at maximum brightness, but the sharpness of the fonts and the colour
matching in general was great and is certainly enhanced further by the Sony
Bravia engine support.
In the Vellamo benchmark tests we ran, the
Sony was nearly on par with the HTC, which could explain why we had no problems
browsing, streaming content or playing games. It’s a perfect example of how
real world use of a dual-core device may not be far behind a quad-core
alternative. Sony’s well optimised firmware, now bundled with ICS, was also
smooth.
Battery life, unfortunately, is the phone’s
Achilles heel and the HD screen does take a larger hit on its life. On a positive
note the supplied power-saving app can help reduce the battery deficit.
Head to head
Design
Build quality is enhanced by its weighty
feel and brings a premium feel to the table. The port coverings can be a little
fiddly and the touch sensitive buttons require more pressure. However, the
clear strip of glass that emphasises the latter is a nice touch.
General performance
In our Vellamo benchmarks it notched 1620
VS the Huawei’s 1382, but it paled against the S III. In the CF Bench tests, it
also came out slightly lower than the Huawei. In the real world we had no
problems running hires videos or games.
Features
The best feature was certainly the 12-MP
camera which outperformed the more expensive HTC and Samsung. Coupled with its
Bravia engine and HD screen, video playback was great. Only the lack of memory
expansion let the phone down.
Battery life
The worst battery life in the group with
only 56 per-cent remaining from our video test. Heavy usage proved it would
last less than a day. However, if you enable the power saving options, this can
improve matters.
The
worst battery life in the group with only 56 per-cent remaining from our video
test
Verdict
For the price, the Sony offers a fantastic
camera and ample performance. Battery life could be a turn off for some
Information
Price: $480
More information: www.sonymobile.com
Technical specs
Operating system........Android 4.0.4
Processor...........................Qualcomm
MSM8260 Snapdragon: dual-core 1.5 GHz
Memory..............................1GB
RAM, 32GB internal storage; no expansion
Dimensions......................128 x 64
x 10.6 mm
Weight..................................144g
Display..................................4.3-inch
LED-backlit LCD, 720 x 1,280 pixels
Connectivity....................Wi-Fi
802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, HSDPA, 14.4 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.8 Mbps
Camera...............................12-MP
rear (LED flash), 1.3-MP front camera, 1080p @30fps video recording
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