Sony Xperia S Pro Reviews

I have to say I had high hopes for the Sony Xperia S. Its aggressive futuristic style will certainly turn heads, something few smartphones are capable of. There are risks to pushing the design envelope, however, and the Xperia S stumbles in places. Its capacitive buttons are tricky to operate and the phone's illuminated band may be slickly distinctive but is more style than substance. At $459.99, the Xperia S is pricey, too, regardless of its unlocked and carrier-unsubsidized status. A better option for an unlocked Android device is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Not only does it offer a recent upgrade to Android 4.0 Jelly Bean, it has a better screen and smoother performance, and can be found for about $420. Still, the Xperia S isn't without its merits, particularly the phone's strong ties to Sony's music and video library. That said, unless there's a particular title you're dying to watch, the beauty of the Sony Xperia S is skin-deep.

Currently, it's obvious that the Galaxy S III has an upper hand in this fight, because of the fact that it's running Ice Cream Sandwich. This allows it to have a more fluid, faster and overall more polished performance compared to the Xperia S. This is not only true for the UI, but for many of the core apps, like the browser, as well. Meanwhile, the Xperia S has a better camera (as far as photos go), as well as a competitive specs sheet, but it will take a good ICS update for it to be able to compete on the same level as the Galaxy S III.

Could the Xperia S be your first Sony-branded phone? It you're all about media consumption, and if you're prepared to wait while Sony makes its cloud-based platforms more coherent, then the Xperia S is a great device. The display and the speaker are absorbing and addictive. The battery life is excellent, the processor is a good fit and the absence of expandable storage shouldn't weigh too heavily if you get the 32GB option. On the other hand, if you make more varied demands of your smartphone -- like excellent build quality, pocket-friendly slimness or photos you can enlarge -- then things get more complicated. US pricing has yet to be announced, but the 32GB version of the Xperia S is going for upwards of £430 ($680) SIM-free in the UK, or £370 pay-as-you-go on the Three network. Similar money could fetch you a legendary all-rounder like the Galaxy S II, or stretch to a 16GB Galaxy Nexus with an HD screen and better build quality, or -- very soon -- an HTC One S, which promises a cutting-edge Qualcomm S4 processor and a better camera. When sized up against a long rubric of criteria, rather than just its entertainment credentials, there's little to make the Xperia S a compelling purchase.

Ultimately, as forgiving as you may choose to be about the lack of Ice Cream Sandwich, there's no getting around the fact that the Xperia S is the sort of phone Sony (Ericsson) could have released three months ago. It has the same dual-core processor, the same display characteristics, and the same operating system as the HTC Rezound, which went on sale in the US in November. While HTC has already announced an upgrade to the Rezound in the form of the new HTC One X — with a faster processor and Android 4.0 preloaded — Sony seems content to sprinkle confetti atop hardware rapidly slipping from the top of the pile. The Xperia S offers the best user experience we've yet seen on a Sony Android phone, but that in itself is not enough. Upcoming devices like the One X, LG Optimus 4X, and Samsung Galaxy S III threaten to obviate the Xperia S' existence before it's truly gotten started, while the currently available Galaxy Nexus shows it up in the usability stakes. The Xperia S isn't a bad phone, it's just not particularly good at any one thing. I find this disappointing because Sony's brand ethos has always been about conquering the heights of technology, not settling for a moderately good device in the middle of the pack. Judged by the company's own lofty standards, then, a flagship phone that fails to at least momentarily claim the title of best-in-class has to be considered a failure.

History seems to repeat itself. Sony has once again proven that they can come up with great hardware, but that the software department is late to get the memo. Even if Sony was able to skin many of the limitations in Gingerbread, it's still no Ice Cream Sandwich. Notice that all my Cons are software-oriented though. Sony is still a month away from pushing their Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update, and let's hope that they act on them before the release. I've got to hand it to Sony for trying though. They don't do everything that other competitors do, but what they do, they do well. The device is fast, performs well and is stunning in the things that matter like its screen and camera performance. There are also little things like LiveWare Manager that make this device act like a true "Smart" phone. Having music start while plugging-in your headphones may be nonsense to many, but it's something basic that everybody else should be doing.

The Sony Xperia S can successfully take on the best current-gen droids and come out the winner in several key areas. Its biggest problem, however, is that the flagship trend has moved on to quad-core packing, Android 4.0 ICS running phones and Sony isn't there yet. The OS update is coming soon, which will neutralize one of the two major complaints. The second complaint - the number of CPU cores - is not necessarily a deal-breaker as not all tasks require that many cores and games are often more limited by the GPU than the processor (even the new iPad sticks with just 2 CPU cores, but packs upgraded graphics). The 12MP camera is definitely a key selling point for the Sony Xperia S and luckily for it, it's practically alone in its field (except some Japan-only or obscure phones). It did very well in video capture too.

Sony without Ericsson. Xperia S a couple of cores short and a year late to the flagship party. Doubters may still have a point there but the Xperia S has more things going for it than against. With a top-notch camera and excellent screen, standard microHDMI port, very good audio quality and plenty of storage, the Xperia S will readily meet your multimedia needs. We didn't run into a situation where the available processing power wasn't enough, so for the time being the dual-core vs. quad-core argument seems like a matter of pride rather than performance.

If we were to judge the Sony Xperia S based on first impressions, we would have been bowled over by its angular design along with the unique transparent band. Spending more time with it did bring up some unseen pros and cons of this Android smartphone. The dual-core 1.5GHz processor did well to eliminate speed slowdowns and lags on the user interface. Furthermore, you get unique features such as a customized user interface, the freedom to customize your phone’s profile through its LiveWare manager, as well as NFC and SmartTags. We also like the vivid colors exhibited by the 4.3-inch, 1280 x 720 display. Other than how it slipped out of our palms once too often, the Xperia S won’t get many points from us with its stiff buttons. Though it does come with 32GB of internal storage, the lack of an external storage option doesn’t bode well for those who want to carry their entire media library with them on their smartphone. Also, with its below average battery life, the Xperia S lost our attention once it was exhausted. We weren’t too impressed with its imaging capabilities either, so if you prioritize imaging performance above all others, this will be a deal breaker. Now that we've shared with you our findings, it's up to you to weigh the pros and cons, and decide if the Xperia S is for you. If the answer is a yes, you will be looking at a price tag of S$898 without a two-year contract, a price that is the norm amongst the range of dual-core smartphones out in the market today.

There is no arguing that the HTC One X feels more modern than the Sony Xperia S with its slim, light and curved profile, plus the uniform HTC Sense interface over the latest version of Android. The Xperia S, on the other hand, is quite boxy and heavy in comparison, while the Timescape UI over Android 2.3 is no match for the streamlined Sense 4.0. Its design, however, offers a few perks that set it apart, like the transparent illuminated strip at the bottom, and a dedicated camera key that makes it the fastest sleep-to-snap smartphone out there, not to mention the size makes it more suitable for one-handed operation. As for the power under the hood – granted, the One X with its Tegra 3 quad or dual-core Snapdragon S4 is superior to the S3 on the Xperia S, but that would be insignificant to the normal user as long as the interface and apps run well, and they do on both phones. What would concern every user is battery life, though, and that is pretty comparable on both devices, with a slight advantage going to the One X. Design is a matter of personal preference, but if HTC's focus groups are to be believed, Android users now prefer slim and light smartphones with big screens, which, of course, would give the design round to the One X. The boxier chassis of the Xperia S has the plus to offer a regular SIM card slot, but other than that both phones have sealed batteries and no microSD slots. So, to sum it up – the Xperia S makes more appealing pictures and video than the One X most of the time, and has a tad better call quality plus more potent loudspeaker, while the One X excels in chassis design, processor power and screen quality, as well as in the interface and software integration. Thus it comes up to what's more important for you from the above mentioned features, and whether it justifies the $50-$100 price premium the unlocked HTC One X commands before the Sony Xperia S for the latest and greatest.

The new Xperia S is Sony's first smartphone since its alliance with Ericsson ended last year. It runs Android and it's rather stylish. The matte black case is only plastic, but it still feels extremely solid and our only grumble is that the convex back makes the Xperia S wobble when used on a tabletop.

A decent all-rounder with a fantastic screen and a very reasonable price tag undermined by unacceptable battery life

In some ways, the Xperia S has had more expectations thrust upon it than it really deserved. Development of the phone no doubt started well before Sony said it was buying out Ericsson's stake in the Sony Ericsson joint venture, so to call it a "pure" Sony phone is a misnomer. What you mostly get with the finished product is a Sony Ericsson foundation with more conspicuous Sony elements layered on top. The real fruits of any change in strategy will be shown in 2013, if not later. Taken by itself, the phone is generally accomplished. As much as we're not fans of Timescape, the phone performs fairly well, has a sharp display, a usually good camera, and great call quality. If you've ever wished for distinctive looks in a smartphone that doesn't come from Apple or Nokia, you'll find them here. Depending on where you go, pricing can be reasonable. It won't be hard to get the phone for free on a reasonably priced tariff if you're European. In North America, it costs a reasonable $100 on contract at Rogers and $500 off, so if you're enamored with the form factor or Sony ecosystem elements like the Sony Entertainment Network and PlayStation Suite, you won't have to reach deeply to experience it.

The Sony Xperia S is a device I expected more from. I liked the look of it from the very start, but found that the fit and finish, and the display, just come up lacking. There was potential, as Sony showed with its fine software, but in the end the execution just wasn't there to give the Xperia S an edge over its competitors. There are many that will like, or even love, the Xperia S, but there are much better phones on the market today.

There's a world of telephony beyond Apple, and this could well be the best example

The Sony Xperia S isn't perfect, but it is a very capable and feature rich handset. Some may be annoyed by the lack of microSD card slot, but with 32GB of on-board storage, most users should be well catered for. If you wand a well designed, capable smartphone, but don't want to go down the Apple route, the Xperia S is worth considering.

Sony’s first phone post-Ericsson is an accomplished, handsome, speedy powerhouse which does most things well. Although it currently lacks Ice Cream Sandwich, it offers genuine innovation, like the NFC Smart Tags, a more-than-decent camera and a splendid display. But this is a huge handset which is sometimes hard to operate and those capacitive dots beneath the screen take practice to use properly. And like many other dual-core handsets, it suffers from a disappointing battery life. If you want this level of features and performance you'll need to learn some power saving tricks to get you through the night.

The Xperia S has a great 12.1-megapixel camera, but is let down by its screen and lack of Android 4.0

There are still some niggles but we think it says a lot that when writing the pros and cons above, we really struggled with the cons section. This handset may not be cheap – and it may feel like a Sony Ericsson without the Ericsson bit printed on the front – but we are really impressed with what Sony has done for its first solo foray. Is it worth buying? At £450 sim-free, it's not cheap but it is one of the better handsets out there and one that we found encouraged a few "What is that?" questions from iPhone owning friends.

The Xperia S finds itself launching at a tricky time for Sony. The company is partway between developing its own phones, entirely separate from Sony Ericsson of old, and between the last gasps of the ill-fated partnership. That tumultuous cradle shows itself in the absence of Ice Cream Sandwich, increasingly an inexcusable omission from what’s billed as a flagship. Sony certainly isn’t the only culprit, but there’s no shortage of vitriol to go round. With Android 4.0, the Xperia S would’ve felt a far more rounded device. The hardware is distinctive and, for the most part, a success – the screen in particular is bright and pleasingly pixel-dense – and the Snapdragon processor, though short a few cores on other recent rivals, still keeps things churning at a satisfactory pace. It’s software that leaves the Sony feeling old beyond its time. Sony’s commitment to pushing out ICS in Q2 is admirable, but they’ll only get real credit when we see it arrive on handsets. For the moment, the Xperia S is a solid phone but not a stand-out one, and that doesn’t bode well when HTC’s One Series is imminent and Samsung’s much-anticipated Galaxy S III is in the pipeline. In short, the first “true” Sony smartphone of 2012 is yet to arrive.

It's perhaps too simplistic to slam Sony Mobile's flagship handset because it isn't running on the latest processor hardware. Device performance isn't governed simply by hardware, there's a huge dollop of software in there too, even if top-notch hardware will side step some software foibles. The real judge of a phone should be suitability to task. The Sony Xperia S performs well on a number of levels. General performance is good, it has been stable for us to daily use, and we didn't encounter any critical flaws in performance. Overall, with every pro there is a con with the Xperia S. The design may be distinctive, but it lacks grip. The screen is wonderfully high resolution, but the lack of microSD is annoying. Sony's interface isn't too oppressive, but launching with a promised Android update is annoying. The Sony Xperia S is possibly the most compelling Xperia handset yet, but it could do more. It's a good phone, a pleasure to use and live with, but there is some space for improvement.

What can we say in the end, but to acknowledge that Sony has hit the nail on the head with the Xperia S. From the characteristic design decisions, like a transparent illuminated strip, through an amazing HD display, to the ultra-fast camera, the first Sony-only handset is a delight. Given the above advantages, beefs that we’d consider a nuisance in other handsets, like the fussy capacitive buttons or the sealed battery, here seem minor. You can tap the capacitive key one more time if you can’t dot the i the first time, and the battery holds well, so no need to swap often, but you can’t get such a fast and capable camera or a display as detailed in most other phones.

The Sony Xperia S is the first smartphone to carry the new Sony brand. It combines a slick design with a large screen and has a 12-megapixel camera that certainly looks impressive on paper.