Sony Xperia S is a high-end android smartphone from Sony and it is the first phone after the company bought Ericsson’s stake in Sony Ericsson. So now its Sony and not Sony Ericsson. The phone has a 4.3” display, 12MP camera and by the time we finished our review its Android ICS upgrade was ready for the consumers to download.
Look and Feel
The phone looks great and gives you a feel of a high end mobile phone. The front has a single sheet of glass from top till the touch sensitive buttons and the back is made up of plain black plastic. The back cover is removable but only for inserting the SIM card as the battery is not replaceable and there is no micro SD card slot. Below the three touch sensitive buttons there is a transparent strip which glows with white light when you are using the phone and the strip also acts as an antenna. The strip looks really gorgeous especially when you are operating the phone in a dark area. The phone is a bit heavier but we liked it. The back of the phone is curved which the makes the phone easy to hold.
The right side of the phone has a HDMI out port, the volume rocker keys and a dedicated camera button whereas the left side only hosts the mini-USB slot which has a weird cap. On the top we have a 3.5mm audio jack and power/lock key. The back houses the 12MP camera with LED flash and a speaker. Xperia S has a front facing 1.3 MP camera also.
The three touch sensitive buttons below the screen appears to be on the transparent strip but they are actually just above it marked by three white dots. Getting used to the touch sensitive is something which takes time therefore can be irritating at times.
Performance
The phone has a 4.3 inch 1280x720p display with Sony’s very own Bravia engine which makes the images sharp and crisp. The interface of the phone is easy to get used too. It has five customizable home screens. The toggling buttons for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS were available separately as a widget and not in the notification bar.
Xperia S is powered by 1.5Ghz dual-core processor with 1 GB RAM which made the experience smooth as silk. No matter how many apps you leave open the smartphone will not freeze. The timescape UI is something we liked with the transparent widgets which makes the experience a whole lot better.
The 12 megapixels camera of the phone produces amazing shots be it indoors or outdoors. The camera interface is neat and it also has manual setting options such as the ISO, white balance,various focus modes, panorama mode. The camera is capable of recording 1080p HD videos.
The phone has a 1750mAh battery that lasts about a day with decent usage which includes 3G and calls.
The bundled plug-in type wired headset with Xperia S produces a good sound output and the speakers too are decent enough.
Xperia S has no micro SD slot for memory expansion but it houses 32GB of memory which is good enough for a smartphone.
For connectivity the phone has all the necessary features like HSDPA, bluetooth, Wi-Fi, A-GPS, NFC, 3.5mm Audio jack which work seamlessly without any issue.
We found two things annoying that were the touch sensitive buttons which are not that sensitive or take a lot of time to get used too and the camera placement because of which you sometimes end up blocking the shutter with your finger.
Sony Xperia S Price in India
Xperia S is available in India at a price of Rs.30,000 or $600(approx)
Final Verdict
Sony Xperia S is good high end Android based mobile phone with all the necessary bells and whistles which one expects in a smartphone. So if you are looking forward to buy a premium Android based smartphone then Sony Xperia S is something you must consider.
