17 / 03 / 2011
In early 2011, a smartphone was introduced at CES in Las Vegas, which quite unexpectedly became one of the main trends of the entire event. The fact is that at that time it was the thinnest smartphone in the world (8.7 mm), the only one that worked on Android 2.3 version, and also had Sony parent technologies: Sony Exmor R camera sensor with backlight technology, BRAVIA mobile engine for post-processing the image on the screen in view mode. We have already released a very detailed material about this smartphone, and with the advent of a commercial sample, all that remains is to check the battery life and the quality of pictures and videos.
At the top there is a power button, a micro-HDMI connector under a plug (this connector is needed to connect to a TV for video playback). On the right side - micro-USB, volume keys and start the camera / shooting. Standard set. It is a pity that the 3.5 mm mini-jack was moved to the side, now it is on the left side. Connecting headphones has become less convenient. You will have to look for headsets with angled connectors, because the complete earbuds are not suitable for everyone.
Here is another nod to the developers, good cameras (and especially good video and sound recording) for Android smartphones are an absolute rarity. More precisely, there are simply no devices with normal video on the market, and we could verify this even on the example of LG Optimus 2X and Samsung Galaxy S II, which record in Full HD (1080x1920 pixels), but do not differ in quality. Sound recording by all modern Android flagships is terrible, loud sounds turn into wheezing and clanging, you should not even think about recording at concerts, parties. The situation was not bad in X10, but 720p recording was added only 8 months after the release, with an update to Android 2.1.
From the beginning of sales will be running the latest version of the OS, Android 2.3.2 Gingerbread. On top of the standard Android, there is a native interface, as well as a proprietary Timescape application, just like in the Xperia X10. Widgets have changed, I liked the gallery widget in the form of a thumbnail wheel, it is convenient to view images and videos right in the standby mode.
| Width Width information refers to the horizontal side of the device in its standard orientation during use. | 63 mm (millimeters) 6.3 cm (centimeters) 0.21 ft 2.48in |
| Height Height information refers to the vertical side of the device in its standard orientation during use. | 125 mm (millimeters) 12.5 cm (centimeters) 0.41ft 4.92in |
| Thickness Information about the thickness of the device in different units of measurement. | 8.7 mm (millimeters) 0.87 cm (centimeters) 0.03 ft 0.34in |
| Weight Information about the weight of the device in different units of measurement. | 117 g (grams) 0.26 lbs 4.13oz |
| Volume Approximate volume of the device, calculated from dimensions provided by the manufacturer. Refers to devices with the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped. | 68.51 cm³ (cubic centimeters) 4.16 in³ (cubic inches) |
| SoC (System on a Chip) A system on a chip (SoC) integrates various hardware components such as a processor, graphics processor, memory, peripherals, interfaces, etc., as well as the software necessary for their operation. | Qualcomm Snapdragon S2 MSM8255 |
| Technological process Information about the technological process by which the chip is made. The value in nanometers measures half the distance between the elements in the processor. | 45 nm (nanometers) |
| Processor (CPU) The main function of the processor (CPU) of a mobile device is the interpretation and execution of instructions contained in software applications. | Scorpion |
| Processor bit depth The bit depth (bits) of a processor is determined by the size (in bits) of registers, address buses, and data buses. 64-bit processors have higher performance than 32-bit processors, which, in turn, are more productive than 16-bit processors. | 32 bit |
| Instruction Set Architecture Instructions are commands by which the software sets/controls the operation of the processor. Information about the instruction set (ISA) that the processor can execute. | ARMv7 |
| First level cache (L1) Cache memory is used by the processor to reduce access time to more frequently accessed data and instructions. L1 (level 1) cache is small and much faster than both system memory and other cache levels. If the processor does not find the requested data in L1, it continues to look for them in the L2 cache. With some processors, this search is performed simultaneously in L1 and L2. | 32 kB + 32 kB (kilobytes) |
| Second level cache (L2) L2 (level 2) cache is slower than L1, but in return it has a larger capacity, allowing more data to be cached. It, like L1, is much faster than system memory (RAM). If the processor does not find the requested data in L2, it continues to look for it in the L3 cache (if available) or RAM. | 384 KB (kilobytes) 0.375 MB (megabytes) |
| Number of processor cores The processor core executes program instructions. There are processors with one, two or more cores. Having more cores increases performance by allowing many instructions to be executed in parallel. | 1 |
| Processor clock speed The clock speed of a processor describes its speed in terms of cycles per second. It is measured in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz). | 1400 MHz (megahertz) |
| Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) The graphics processing unit (GPU) handles calculations for various 2D/3D graphics applications. In mobile devices, it is used most often by games, consumer interface, video applications, etc. | Qualcomm Adreno 205 |
| The amount of random access memory (RAM) Random access memory (RAM) is used by the operating system and all installed applications. Data stored in RAM is lost when the device is turned off or restarted. | 512 MB (megabytes) |
| Type of random access memory (RAM) Information about the type of random access memory (RAM) used by the device. | LPDDR2 |
| Number of RAM channels Information about the number of RAM channels that are integrated into the SoC. More channels means higher data rates. | dual channel |
| RAM frequency The frequency of RAM determines its speed, more specifically, the speed of reading / writing data. | 500 MHz (megahertz) |
| Type/technology One of the main characteristics of the screen is the technology by which it is made and on which the image quality of information directly depends. | LCD |
| Diagonal For mobile devices, the screen size is expressed in terms of its diagonal length, measured in inches. | 4.2in 106.68 mm (millimeters) 10.67 cm (centimeters) |
| Width Approximate Screen Width | 2.06in 52.27 mm (millimeters) 5.23 cm (centimeters) |
| Height Approximate Screen Height | 3.66in 93 mm (millimeters) 9.3 cm (centimeters) |
| Aspect Ratio The ratio of the dimensions of the long side of the screen to its short side | 1.779:1 |
| Permission Screen resolution indicates the number of pixels vertically and horizontally on the screen. Higher resolution means sharper image detail. | 480 x 854 pixels |
| Pixel Density Information about the number of pixels per centimeter or inch of the screen. Higher density allows information to be shown on the screen in clearer detail. | 233 ppi (pixels per inch) 91ppm (pixels per centimeter) |
| Color depth Screen color depth reflects the total number of bits used for the color components in a single pixel. Information about the maximum number of colors that the screen can display. | 24 bit 16777216 flowers |
| Screen area Approximate percentage of screen space on the front of the device. | 61.93% (percentage) |
| Other characteristics Information about other functions and features of the screen. | capacitive Multitouch Scratch resistance |
| LED-backlit Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine |
| Flash type The rear (rear) cameras of mobile devices mainly use LED flashes. They can be configured with one, two or more light sources and vary in shape. | LED |
| Image resolution One of the main characteristics of cameras is resolution. It represents the number of horizontal and vertical pixels in an image. For convenience, smartphone manufacturers often list resolution in megapixels, giving an approximate number of pixels in millions. | 3264 x 2448 pixels 7.99 MP (megapixels) |
| Video resolution Information about the maximum video resolution that the camera can record. | 1280 x 720 pixels 0.92 MP (megapixels) |
| Video recording speed (frame rate) Information about the maximum recording rate (frames per second, fps) supported by the camera at maximum resolution. Some of the most basic video recording speeds are 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps, 60 fps. | 30 fps (frames per second) |
| Capacity The capacity of a battery indicates the maximum charge it can store, measured in milliamp-hours. | 1500 mAh (milliamp-hours) |
| Type The type of battery is determined by its structure and, more specifically, by the chemicals used. There are different types of batteries, with lithium-ion and lithium-ion polymer batteries being the most commonly used in mobile devices. | Li-polymer (Li-polymer) |
| Talk time 2G Talk time in 2G is the period of time during which the battery is completely discharged during a continuous conversation in a 2G network. | 7 hours 25 minutes 7.4 h (hours) 445.2 min (minutes) 0.3 days |
| 2G standby time The 2G standby time is the amount of time it takes for the battery to fully discharge when the device is in stand-by mode and connected to a 2G network. | 460 h (hours) 27600 min (minutes) 19.2 days |
| 3G talk time Talk time in 3G is the period of time during which the battery is completely discharged during a continuous conversation in a 3G network. | 7 hours 35 minutes 7.6 h (hours) 454.8 min (minutes) 0.3 days |
| 3G standby time The 3G standby time is the amount of time it takes for the battery to fully discharge when the device is in stand-by mode and connected to a 3G network. | 460 h (hours) 27600 min (minutes) 19.2 days |
| Characteristics Information about some additional features of the device's battery. | Removable |
As for shooting video, almost the same settings are available here as in photo mode. The maximum resolution for videos is 1280x720 at 30 frames per second. In addition to it, you can set 854x480, 640x480, 320x240 or 320x240.
At the heart of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc is a Qualcomm QSD8255 processor running at 1 GHz, as well as a 512 megabyte RAM array. A nice addition to the powerful hardware was the use of the latest version of Android - 2.3 Gingerbread. All pages in the browser (of course, with flash support) open cheerfully, navigation through them occurs without delay. Compatibility with the entire range of applications from the Android Market is guaranteed.
One of the strengths of the model is enhanced multimedia capabilities - this is especially true for the Android platform, which is often characterized by rather insufficient support for media functionality. Arc has one of the best photomodules, which has already been mentioned, as well as a microHDMI connector responsible for transferring images to external media. In addition, the manufacturer has provided a proprietary software shell that hides the classic Android interface. It is built on a combination of two applications: Timescape and Mediascape. The first collects information about activity in connected social network accounts - Facebook, Twitter. Information about calls and SMS has also been added to the general feed. Thus, the entire history of any “social” changes and actions is collected on the screen, which is very convenient. It's disappointing that Timescape's functionality is noticeably inferior to dedicated social media clients, in fact, you can only read a new message. To view a photo or a web page, this interface is not used, but a standard browser.
Mediascape offers an alternative interface for browsing the gallery and music library. The interface offered by Sony Ericsson is almost in no way inferior to HTC Sense, which has already become the benchmark for Android add-ons. The latter only looks prettier, especially its latest version. However, in terms of customization and shell customization, we observe complete parity. By the way, specialists from Sony Ericsson adapted their interface to low-resolution screens in a very interesting way, namely, to Xperia mini and Xperia mini pro smartphones. However, we will talk about them in a separate article.
In general, despite the fact that the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc is no longer a hot novelty, it is very good and interesting. Someone might argue that it does not have a dual-core processor, unlike the flagship solutions from other manufacturers. It really is. But in essence, what does it change? There are still very few applications that would use the potential of two cores. The available performance is enough for any task. The design is beautiful and unique. Sony Ericsson cares about the appearance of their devices like no other. In principle, there can be no comparison with similar bars from Samsung or LG. The camera is objectively one of the best in the Android environment. Well, the price has come down a bit. For example,
Its processor and the amount of RAM, as it became known later, were similar to other smartphones of the company in 2011. On the one hand, this is good, because even the younger devices offer a 1-GHz processor and 512 MB of RAM. On the other hand, it’s bad, since the entire “flagship” of the Xperia Arc has been reduced to a large display and a thin body.
Passively watching how competitors announce dual-core Android phones, and users make a choice based on the frequency of the processor, the company did not and decided to bring an improved version of the Xperia Arc S to the market. GHz instead of 1 GHz) and additional colors - black, white and pink. Consider the device!
Specifications Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S (LT18i):
The official Russian bundle of Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S includes an EP800 charger, a 16 GB memory card, an EC600R USB cable, an IM820 HDMI cable, a BA750 battery, an MH650 stereo headset, and documentation. In a number of European countries, an 8 GB memory card is inserted into the phone and there is no HDMI cable in the box (our case).
In Russia, Xperia Arc S was released in autumn in three colors other than Xperia Arc: white, black and pink. We got a black version for testing, made of glossy plastic. There are no structural differences between Xperia Arc S and Xperia Arc.
The front side contains light and proximity sensors, a speaker, a 4.2 ”display with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels (protected by mineral glass and an invisible sticker), three hardware keys (back, home, menu) and logos - Sony Ericsson and Xperia. The 3.5mm headphone jack is not very well located on the left side. On the right side, there is a small camera button, a volume rocker, a microUSB port, and an LED. At the top end there was a place for an HDMI port and a miniature off/lock button. On the back, there is an 8.1-megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, logos and a speaker. You can remove the microSD and SIM only after removing the 1500 mAh battery.
Usually thin and large phones do not fit very comfortably in the hand, but the Xperia Arc S is a pleasant exception. If you take it in your hand, then thanks to the rounded back cover in the form of an arch, it will touch the palm of your hand. Both right-handers and left-handers with medium-sized hands can press all the buttons with one hand. In general, I liked the design of the phone, although the lock key could have been made more expressive. The small thickness has imposed a restriction on the location of the connectors, as a result of which the 3.5 mm jack is located on the side - it is unlikely that you will be able to listen to music in headphones and keep the phone in your pants pocket. Due to the thin body, the device does not have a front camera.
As of mid-December, the Xperia Arc S is based on Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread). The build version is 4.0.2.A.0.42. Let me remind you that the phone, like other Sony Ericsson smartphones of 2011, will receive Android Ice Cream Sandwich in the first quarter of 2012.
I don’t see the point in detailing the graphical interface and software suite of the Xperia Arc S, since they are no different from what the Xperia Pro and Xperia Neo offer. But I will dwell on some points.
First, it's impossible not to mention Facebook inside the Xperia. This service integrates the popular social network into your phone, making it easy and simple to share your favorite music or photo, add users to your phone book, link your calendar, find out what your friends are watching, listening to and playing.
Secondly, Xperia Arc S offers a large number of widgets for every taste. Thirdly, the Xperia Arc S is pre-installed with many programs for a wide range of tasks. With their help, you can listen to your favorite songs, watch photos and videos, find out your current location, news and weather, communicate on social networks, read documents, watch news and weather, etc. and so on.
The graphical shell of Xperia has no name and Sony Ericsson is not focusing on it yet. However, it deserves to be labeled and everything is going to the fact that Sony will begin to promote it in the same way as Samsung and HTC do with their TouchWiz and Sense. The interface of Xperia, in my opinion, is in no way inferior to TouchWiz and Sense, it looks stylish, it works quickly.
The Xperia Arc S uses an 8.1MP Exmor R sensor camera with autofocus, flash and HD video recording. The program supports geotagging, several modes of photography, creating 3D panoramas. Xperia Arc S shoots at the level of other 8.1-megapixel Sony Ericsson phones, which is not surprising, because they use the same modules.
A few shots for comparison with competitors:
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S on the left and Apple iPhone 4S on the right:
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S on the left and Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo on the right:
Video for evaluating the quality of the video:
According to the manufacturer, the Xperia Arc S with a 1.4 GHz processor is on average 25% more productive than the 1 GHz Xperia Arc (turning on the camera and processing media files are 25% faster, and pages load about 20% faster). Unfortunately, it was not possible to compare the speed of Arc S with the original Arc, but Xperia Neo turned out to be at hand, which is very close to Arc in terms of hardware. The comparison showed that, yes, Xperia Arc S really opens applications faster, but the difference is so insignificant (not even in seconds) that it makes no sense to change Xperia Arc to Xperia Arc S. Also, if you choose between them, then I would prefer the model that is cheaper. Or made a choice by color (white Xperia Arc S is very good, like pink), but the black case attracts fingerprints like a magnet.
In the Quadrant test, Xperia Arc S scored 1957 points, Xperia Neo - 1520, Xperia Active - 1532. AnTuTu results: 3672, 2994 and 3087 points, respectively. Results in the Vellamo benchmark: Xperia Arc S - 1006 points, Xperia Neo - 816 points.
Both Arc and Arc S attract attention with their design and the impression is not spoiled by the fact that the cases are entirely made of plastic. The old flagship Xperia X10 started to squeak a lot over time, but the Xperia Arc S holds up well considering how many times I've removed its lid and how many times testers have done it before me.
The phone is loud - significantly louder than the Xperia Neo. The touchpad is of high quality - it responds well to touch and has good viewing angles. Thanks to the no air gap technology (the absence of an air gap between the glass and the display), the picture is, as it were, directly under the glass - this immediately catches the eye. But the usefulness of the Mobile BRAVIA Engine function (improves the quality of photos and videos), I have not fully determined. If I do not inspire myself, then it really makes the picture a little juicier.
Xperia Arc S running time when playing HD-video in MP4 format (at maximum screen brightness, with enabled wireless modules and GPS) was 4 hours 52 minutes. The Xperia Neo lasted 5 hours 31 minutes, the Nokia N9 5 hours 20 minutes and the iPhone 4S 6 hours 52 minutes. The phone's operating time when playing video is limited to 6 hours 25 minutes (against 7 hours and 25 minutes for the Xperia Arc). In normal use without active web surfing, the device can last a couple of days on a single charge.
There are a lot of standard applications, as mentioned above. Of course, not all of them are useful, and those that are missing can be downloaded from the Android Market in two seconds. Fortunately, the phone supports Wi-Fi and HSPA (14.4 Mbps).
The end of the year is approaching and some results can be summed up. The line of the Japanese-Swedish vendor in 2010 looked depressing, and few believed that in 2011 he would be able to produce competitive solutions. But after the Xperia Arc, the Xperia Pro, Xperia Ray, Xperia Mini Pro, Xperia Active, Live with Walkman saw the light - all of them are among the best in their classes. The Xperia Arc S model, released in the fourth quarter, cannot compete on an equal footing with the muscles of the Samsung Galaxy S 2, LG Optimus 3D or HTC Sensation XL. But on its side, the design, user-friendly interface and the fact that ordinary Android users are unlikely to notice the difference in speed between a single-core 1.4-GHz smartphone and a phone with a dual-core processor.
Sony Ericsson will soon become just Sony, but I am sure that it will not stop producing excellent smartphones. According to the latest leaks, interesting decisions are planned for 2012, at the head of which are again put not only characteristics, but also design. Phones in the modern world are accessories. And the company understands this like no other.
Battery capacity: 1500 mAh Talk time: 7.4 hours Standby time: 460 hours Music time: 37 hours
