Have Sony triumphed with the Arc? There’s been a lot of hype about upcoming Sony Ericsson Xperia models lately, so we had to see for ourselves.
By James Cruickshank
Sony Ericsson released their first Android Phone last year; the Xperia X10. While it was a credible first attempt using Android software, there was still room to improve, which brings us to the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc. Is it what we’ve been waiting for? The answer is simple – a definite yes.
The previous model (the aforementioned X10) garnered a lot of bad reviews surrounding the version of Android and Sony Ericsson’s timing to keep it up to date. We have no such problems here with the Arc. It’s running Android 2.3 – which is the latest version of the software – but, the question is, will Sony keep this model up to date? Only time will tell.
The Arc has one of the nicest designs I’ve seen on a phone and is simply stunning to look at. The back of the phone arcs inwards slightly (hence the name) and makes it, at its thinnest point, one of the slimmest smart phones available at only 8.7mm.
As you can see above, the Arc’s, ahem, ‘arc’ is a thing of beauty
The phone is also very light and is very comfortable in your hand. It has come at a small price though – build quality. It is still made to very high standards but does not feel as solid as the X10 did. I would take the compromise with the Arc design though.
Arc de Triomphe
A gorgeous 4.2 inch screen running the Bravia Engine makes this phone a real thing of beauty. The colours are rich and very easy on the eye. But what about the rest of the feature set?
BATTERY: Standard Li-Po 1500 mAh. This will give you up to 430 hours on standby.
CONNECTIVITY: Bluetooth, Wifi, USB connectivity. You can also use the phone as a Wifi Hotspot, making it easy if you’re out and about and don’t have an Internet dongle. The Arc also supports Dlna, meaning that if you have a Dlna Certified TV connected to a wireless network you can stream your photos and music direct to the TV.
MEDIA: 8 mega pixel camera with Exmor sensor and Led flash. Geo tagging; touch focus and smile with face detection helps this already impressive camera really stand out. This camera is really fun to play with and really takes away the need for a digital camera. It will also shoot 720p video at 30fps.
STORAGE: 320 Mb Storage, 512mb RAM. It comes with a 8 GB SD Card and can be upgraded to 32 GB; something you would probably only need if you’re taking a lot of HD videos.
PROCESSOR: 1GHz Scorpion Processor with an Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon, making video playback and games extremely smooth.
OPERATING SYSTEM: The Arc is running the latest version of Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and it really makes the phone run perfectly, with an excellent user interface to boot.
The voice quality is also exceptional on calls both on your end and the receiver’s. There is a second microphone on the back of the phone which drowns out background noise superbly.
This is Sony Ericsson’s flagship model and my personal opinion is that they have done a fantastic job. The Arc is also somewhat of a fashion statement as a lot of people who have seen our review handset have followed the trend and invested in one themselves.
With a great design, media and office capabilities, this smart phone is a really good all-rounder for anyone in the market for a new smart phone.
James Cruickshank is a contributor for Smartphone Republic
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