Sony Xperia S: Watching videos is as good as HD TV [Review]

After parting away with the Ericsson brand, Sony Mobile communication has rebranded their smartphone line up and thankfully we were lucky enough to get a review unit up for grabs. The first Sony-branded smartphone “Xperia S” seems to have done just enough to keep up the Sony brand.

Form Factor

Sony Xperia S has come up with an angular edge with a curved back that makes the phone easy to hold in your hands The body is a matt finish allowing your phone to be free of daily scratches and stains. The screen is pitch black in color while it’s in sleep mode and the translucent LED-lit element at the base gives the sharp contrast and is the unique design of this new Xperia S smartphone.

The translucent LED-lit element at the base gives the sharp contrast and is the unique design of this new Xperia S.

Display

This is the best display you will ever see on a smartphone and easily the best competitor to Apple’s retina display. The 16 million colors and 1280 x 720 pixels is really a treat for your eyes and best suited for watching videos. The display would remind you of the flat-screen television I bet. Sony’s Mobile BRAVIA engine just makes the display crystal clear. Watching HD video or viewing photos on the Xperia S, you can really tell what a high-quality display this is, as the picture is sharp and bright


Camera

The 12.1-megapixel camera is very impressive, close-ups and macro photography and dim light photography seem to be the best performers on this phone, and to mention the lag among two subsequent is less allowing you to take snaps very fast. The camera also has the capability to shoot in panorama 3D which can be viewed on a 3D TV There is also a 3D camera app, but we couldn’t test it out properly as we don’t have access to a 3D TV. The only thing I felt lacking is the snaps taken using the 16x digital zoom were a bit grainy. The video recording gives you full HD recording 1080p.

Snap taken from Sony Xperia S

[nggallery id=3]

Check out our Facebook page for more snaps taken from Xperia S HERE.

CPU speed

The phone is fast and the 1.5 GHz Qualcomm MSM8260 Dual Core does justice to its display and camera.
After running many android apps simultaneously and multitasking there wasn’t any lag in the performance.

Sound

Sound Quality on calls, watching videos, and listening to music both on the Sony speakers and the provided headphones were of good clarity doesn’t have any issues with the sound clarity or reception.

Battery life

Since we had a series of test being did on the new Sony Xperia S on a full battery charge, the battery lasted 7 hours under heavy usage of rigorous testing which is very impressive under normal usage it lasted 18 hours.

Storage

The Xperia S comes with 32 Gb of internal storage with no external cards slots (come on 32 Gb is big…but still have to mention it, folks).

Software

The Xperia S is loaded with Android 2.3 (oh no Android 4.0 Ice cream sandwich ) but the phone will be upgradable to Android 4.0 when there is an update and it’s expected during the May-June period. One noteworthy feature of Xperia S is the accessibility of apps is very easy compared to other smartphones in the market accessing any app is only a few steps away and you wouldn’t be confused with the geeky Android environment.

Price

This Xperia S is cheaper than I thought as it comes in 2399AED and bundled with a headset and charger and the USB data cable.

Things I have missed!

• New smart accessories including the SmartWatch which syncs with the phone.
• Smart tags: The smartphone is also near field communication (NFC) enabled allowing users to share content with each other and enjoy an increasing number of NFC applications and services as well as Xperia SmartTags, The smart tags can be tuned to perform many perform various functions.

Check the video below.

[youtube]LfkFgtoQtFQ[/youtube]

• HDMI slot: Connect your high-definition TV sets with an HDMI cable also its DLNA Certified.
• This phone is PlayStation certified phone, gamers can have access to PlayStation games refer to the blog for more details.
• Sony is offering all Xperia S owners 50GB of free cloud-based storage, which you can access through the Box app on the Android Market( needs confirmation in Middle east market.)

Final Verdict:

Go for the unique looks and a brilliant and crystal clear display and a very good camera. Must for Gamers and movie watchers.
Cons: Badly needs an upgrade to Android Ice Cream Sandwich and snaps taken from digital zoom were grainy.

Download the complete specification of the Sony Xperia S here.

Update correction: Xperia S comes with Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread, not 3.2, and there is no optical zoom but digital.