Sony Xperia S is the first Smartphone released by Sony. It is also the first in the range of Xperia NXT series. Sony has ambitious plans to establish its presence in the Smartphone market much dominated by players like HTC, Samsung and Apple.
Let us check how far Sony Xperia S will be able to fulfill the aspirations of Smartphone users and where it stands with other popular brands in terms of presentation of features and technology.
Sony Xperia S is in no way different from the Sony brand of mobiles in terms of shape and appearance. It gives the square box appearance.
The edges might have been trimmed. Transparent element is the highlight of the design. Transparent element gives better visual appearance and also gives accommodation to the antenna.
Back, Home and Menu buttons are placed one notch above the transparent element. It is likely that user may tap the transparent element to gain more access to the features present in the Smartphone.
Sony Xperia S: Specifications
The Smartphone comes with 1.3MP frontal camera and a 12MP camera on the backside. Even though this is a big leap made by Sony, the quality is comparable to that of HTC One X and iPhone 4S. You can capture good quality videos through Sony Xperia S.
You will get a better grip in your hands as the backside of the phone comes with convex shape. The plastic cover present of the frame gives furthermore comfort to the Smartphone user.
The plastic casing is very thin and it can be compared to that of Samsung S II. Even though Sony claims that the surface is coated with special materials it is no way better than Samsung S II to protect from scratches.
Coming to the dimensions, Sony Xperia S’ length, breadth and thickness are 128, 64 and 10.6 mm respectively. The phone weights 144 grams.
The Smartphone is fitted with a micro USB port on the left hand side. This port can be used for charging as well as data transmission. Further, it is protected with plastic cap to prevent of entry of dust and insects into the slot.
On the phone’s right hand side comes, mini HDMI port, volume adjustments and the camera shutter button. The camera shutter hardware key is a unique feature which is not available in the even Smartphones from other brands.
Other Android based Smartphones are going to implement this feature in the coming models.
Audio jack is fitted on the top end of the phone. The power button is also placed on the top. The speakers are placed at the bottom of the phone.
Sony Xperia S is powered by 1.5 GHz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor. It comes with 1 GB RAM and 32 GB storage capacity. The phone is fitted with 4.3” TFT LCD display at a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels.
BRAVIA engine technology lets you have a better view of pictures and videos on the screen. You have the chances to watch pictures at 343 pixels per inch which is even higher than iPhone 4S.
The Smartphone doesn’t facilitate automatic adjustment of brightness. It has to be adjusted manually. Some users have reported yellow display issues.
Even though Sony boasts of very high image quality there are Smartphones in the market which offer better image features than Sony Xperia S.
Sony Xperia S failed to accommodate the latest available Android OS in its maiden Smarphone introduced to the world. The Smartphone comes with Gingerbread version.
Users will be able to get most of the Sony’ visual features such as themes and widgets through Timescape User Interface. Integration of social feeds is not new with other Smartphone manufacturers as well.
The music player offer a new user interface which is customized by Sony. The sound system is backed by xLOUD audio technology which produces a sound bass.
While you may enjoy the music at low volume, it is difficult to get the same performance as the volume is raised. Sony Xperia S offers 50GB online storage in association with Box which HTC gives its users 25 GB online storage in association with Dropbox.
You are offered with a number of icons which are nothing but links that take you to a variety of paid services.
You can utilize the Tracker ID application which helps you find the title and artist behind the track. Sony Xperia let you perform all the documentation through Office suite. It also works like a file manager.
One of the interesting aspects with Sony Xperia S is the facilitation of NFC (Near Field Communications) chip with it. NFC technology will let users to purchase items from POS (Point Of Sale) terminals.
The chip implements advanced encryption technologies. The chip will be able to read from location based promotional tags as well. Newsreader can help you scan barcodes and QR codes.
You will be able to manage the battery power by being able to customize the features on your Smartphone.
The keys are small on the keyboard and auto correction is not as fast as Samsung Galaxy S II. Of course, you have the option to download a third party keyboard to get better performance.
If you would like to update the software, you are required to connect Sony Xperia S to your Personal Computer or Mac. The phone is not loaded with Play Station software. You can get decent gaming performance with the processor loaded on Sony Xperia S.
Sony Xperia S offers best of the features on Gingerbread OS and the user interface is good enough to perform various day to day activities.
If the phone is loaded with the latest version, it might have offered more relevant and promising features to compete with other brands.
Great features
- Better visual appearance through transparent element
- Comes with camera shutter hardware key
- Sharp text and crystal clear images and video display
- 50 GB online storage in association with Box
- Easily capture good quality snaps of 1080p quality
- Decent browsing experience
- Decent battery performance (1750mAh Li-Ion)
- Decent call quality
- Geo tagging
- Face & smile detection, 3-D sweep panorama, image stabilization
Shortcomings
- Thickness is high
- Comes with sharp edges which will not be convenient to hold in hands for long hours.
- Out of 32 GB of memory only 25 GB is available for the user
- Image color distortion
- Noise level in image
- No automatic adjustment of brightness
- Not loaded with the latest Android version available in the market
- Not so good keyboard
- To get updates, the phone has to be connected to a PC or Mac.
- No external storage capability
Conclusion
Even though Sony Xperia S may not fare best in terms of visual appearance, the Smartphone gives the best visual appearance to watch movies and photos.
In addition to the distortion in color reproduction, the display system is not the best as Sony boasts. There are many Smartphones in the market that offer very decent image quality like HTC One X and iPhone 4S.
As Sony Xperia S is not loaded with the latest Android version, it is difficult to compete with HTC One X which comes with Android 4 ICS and priced better than Sony Xperia S when you look into the overall presentation of features.
Overall, Sony Xperia S is not the best option in terms of price and features that it offers.
Greatly reviewed the device Jane. It’s really a great smartphone, I right now have a Galaxy Note but I’m soon going to buy Xperia S too !
Great article. Looking superb in terms of its features and yes, will look ahead for buying this. Want to try at least once.
Sony Xperia has lauched new Komachi series for Japan..thats the best mobile series because it has 12 mp camera, ICS & 1900 mAh battery…
I always hated xperia for short battery life..finally there is a chnage..
Great Phone By sony.
But I’m confused why they are not shipping this Great Piece with ICS 4.0?
I just Bought this phone and i was disappointed when i show that, there is already 4.0 available in the market and still they have not pre installed it.
Any way, I love to use this.
any other company cant beat this mobile , especially in terms of look my favourite mobile
Thanks a lot off for The Review. It is a good smartphone because have Fast dual-core chip and Good camera.