My first review is obviously going to be of the phone that I have been personally using, The Xperia Arc. When I look around the MTR these days, in terms of Sony erricson, I think the Arc series has been the most popular. The majority, oh Sony handsets are either the Arc or Arc S with a few people rocking the Xperia Ray. In my immediate and extended family, there are 6 arcs alone. It's a family favourite lol!
Specs:
The arc is a very powerful phone in terms of specs. It has got a single core 1 ghz processor in that very very thin frame. How they manage to fit it in is beyond my knowledge. I have been using it for 3 months and it still seems like a marvel at how thin this phone is. The arc has 512mb of ram. What this translates to in terms of actual use is that you will enjoy a very smooth and crisp experience. This phone is in my opinion, is the best single core phone out there right now
The screen:
The beautiful display of the arc is a 4.2 inch screen. For comparison, the IPhone has a 3.5 inch screen. For those more spec literate people, the screen has 480 x 854 pixels. If you have any experience with Sony TVs, you would know how crisp the screens are. They have brought the same tech to this screen Sony bravia mobile engine. All in all, this is one beautiful screen and will only damage ur eyes as much as any other phone.
Hardware:
The body is mostly made of plastic, which is what lets this phone keep its light weight. The phone weighs only 117g. While the phone is very light, it sometimes feels very fragile. It may just be my ape hands but I often get the feeling that I am about to break it. The phone has a curved back as picture above. The top part of the handset is the thickest to accommodate the camera and flash and 3.5mm headphone jack and the micro HDMI output. It has 3 physical dedicated buttons at the bottom which are the Menu, Home and Back Keys. If you long press on the Back Key also takes you to straight to google search.
Software and Interface:
The Arc comes in running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Sony Erricson has put their own skin on Android to give it a much better look and a more consumer-friendly interface. Most people don't know how unattractive stock android usually is. All companies put their own skin on their phones. Sony Erricson has added its own Widgets. As you can see from the screen shot above, there are some glassy transparent widgets like the clock and the music player.
Timescape Widget
Sony Ericsson has widely publicized its Timescape Widget. This is a type of Media Hub for all things social. You can add twitter feeds, Facebook status updates, Email, calls, Messages, and whatever else there is. This is a really nice widget if you are someone who needs constant updates from FB, twitter or email. The arc comes with heavy Facebook and Youtube integration.
You can "Like" music while you listen to it so it's shared straight onto your facebook. The music player will also let you search for Youtube videos for whatever song you are listening to. This was a pretty cool feature which I personally liked.
There are a lot of additional features that I will not go into too much but if you have any questions about functionality, leave me a question in the comments section and I'll be most delighted to assist you.
Camera:
Many people nowadays are ditching cameras and moving towards their phone camera. The iPhone started the revolution with providing a decent camera which was good enough for everyday use. Now these android handsets take it one step further. The arc has a 8.1 megapixel camera with flash. The picture quality is very very good from a layman's point of view. I don't know anything about photography but I think these pictures look top notch. Find some samples below over from TechRadar:
I can't really analyze these for you so just decide for yourself. (All credit goes to Tech Radar for the pictures)
The video capture from this camera is 720p. Basically you can shoot HD videos with this camera. The camera manages almost 30 fps. In darker areas, you can leave the flash on for a clearer outlook which is another very useful feature of the phone.
Battery Life:
This is my favourite thing about this phone. The battery on this phone is VERY good. I have tried a number of phones and the Arc even beats the Iphone. As I do not normally use data on my phone so my battery most definitely lasts longer than most people but even with internet turned on, you can have a full day's worth of phone usage. Just to put into context, I watched a TV show for 20 mins. I started with 10% battery remaining and ended with 6%. Pretty impressive for a smartphone these days, don't you think?
Benchmarks
This is the comparison of the Arc to other phones
Whew! Pretty decent! The only phones above the Arc are dual core so it makes sense why they are ranked higher.
Verdict:
The Good:
-Phone is ridiculously thin and light
-Sony Erricson's skin is a very nice addition to Android
-Camera quality and video quality is one of the best on the market
-Timescape Widget
-Battery Life
-Reasonable Price (Fortress currently retails the Arc for $3,998) You can get one in the $3000 - $3500 range.
The Bad:
-Feels fragile
-Single Core (most high-end phones are now dual core)
That's it. If you are someone looking to switch to Android but don't want to spend too much money, this would be a good phone. If you are not a power user, this would be a good phone for you. I personally have been using it for a long time so I would recommend it most people.
What do you think about the phone? Will you be getting it? If you are already using it, what do you think, what do you like and not like, and if you didn't like the phone, why not. Tell me in the comments section below. Thank you! :)
Next Review coming up soon. Probably of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 3G Version.
Specs:
The arc is a very powerful phone in terms of specs. It has got a single core 1 ghz processor in that very very thin frame. How they manage to fit it in is beyond my knowledge. I have been using it for 3 months and it still seems like a marvel at how thin this phone is. The arc has 512mb of ram. What this translates to in terms of actual use is that you will enjoy a very smooth and crisp experience. This phone is in my opinion, is the best single core phone out there right now
The screen:
The beautiful display of the arc is a 4.2 inch screen. For comparison, the IPhone has a 3.5 inch screen. For those more spec literate people, the screen has 480 x 854 pixels. If you have any experience with Sony TVs, you would know how crisp the screens are. They have brought the same tech to this screen Sony bravia mobile engine. All in all, this is one beautiful screen and will only damage ur eyes as much as any other phone.
Hardware:
The body is mostly made of plastic, which is what lets this phone keep its light weight. The phone weighs only 117g. While the phone is very light, it sometimes feels very fragile. It may just be my ape hands but I often get the feeling that I am about to break it. The phone has a curved back as picture above. The top part of the handset is the thickest to accommodate the camera and flash and 3.5mm headphone jack and the micro HDMI output. It has 3 physical dedicated buttons at the bottom which are the Menu, Home and Back Keys. If you long press on the Back Key also takes you to straight to google search.
Software and Interface:
Timescape Widget
You can "Like" music while you listen to it so it's shared straight onto your facebook. The music player will also let you search for Youtube videos for whatever song you are listening to. This was a pretty cool feature which I personally liked.
There are a lot of additional features that I will not go into too much but if you have any questions about functionality, leave me a question in the comments section and I'll be most delighted to assist you.
Camera:
Many people nowadays are ditching cameras and moving towards their phone camera. The iPhone started the revolution with providing a decent camera which was good enough for everyday use. Now these android handsets take it one step further. The arc has a 8.1 megapixel camera with flash. The picture quality is very very good from a layman's point of view. I don't know anything about photography but I think these pictures look top notch. Find some samples below over from TechRadar:
Outdoor shots
Indoor -with flash
Indoor -without flash
Night-mode
The video capture from this camera is 720p. Basically you can shoot HD videos with this camera. The camera manages almost 30 fps. In darker areas, you can leave the flash on for a clearer outlook which is another very useful feature of the phone.
Battery Life:
This is my favourite thing about this phone. The battery on this phone is VERY good. I have tried a number of phones and the Arc even beats the Iphone. As I do not normally use data on my phone so my battery most definitely lasts longer than most people but even with internet turned on, you can have a full day's worth of phone usage. Just to put into context, I watched a TV show for 20 mins. I started with 10% battery remaining and ended with 6%. Pretty impressive for a smartphone these days, don't you think?
Benchmarks
This is the comparison of the Arc to other phones
Verdict:
The Good:
-Phone is ridiculously thin and light
-Sony Erricson's skin is a very nice addition to Android
-Camera quality and video quality is one of the best on the market
-Timescape Widget
-Battery Life
-Reasonable Price (Fortress currently retails the Arc for $3,998) You can get one in the $3000 - $3500 range.
The Bad:
-Feels fragile
-Single Core (most high-end phones are now dual core)
That's it. If you are someone looking to switch to Android but don't want to spend too much money, this would be a good phone. If you are not a power user, this would be a good phone for you. I personally have been using it for a long time so I would recommend it most people.
What do you think about the phone? Will you be getting it? If you are already using it, what do you think, what do you like and not like, and if you didn't like the phone, why not. Tell me in the comments section below. Thank you! :)
Next Review coming up soon. Probably of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 3G Version.
