Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc Review

Sony introduces the Xperia Arc mobile phone that combines stunning design with advanced Sony technology. The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc runs on Google Android OS platform version 2.3.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc is slim and sleek smart phone packed with number of features. Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc is one of the thinnest phones but still it has a large high quality screen, reasonable camera with shutter button, it uses an 8Mp auto-focus camera with an LED flash that can also record 720p videos at 30fps and a connectivity which is up to the expectation of modern smart phone. The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc is also quite powerful and uses a 1GHz Qualcomm processor with an Adreno 205 processor. It offers 512MB of RAM and 320MB of internal storage, although that can be expanded to 32GB with a microSD card. It also supports Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G (HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps).

Like every handset it has some advantages and disadvantages like the good things are its screen quality, camera, battery life, thin and light weight, noise cancellation and above all good phone functionality. But some drawbacks are also in Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc which are no microHDMI cable is included, some applications can not be installed.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc is definitely the best looking smart phone. The Arc is super-slim, measuring 8.7mm in thickness. The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc has a great-looking LED display. The display offers balanced colors and sharpness. The display maintains visibility under sunlight too.

Advantages

• The display is pretty big, with its 4.2-inch diagonal size and a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels.
• With a sleek design of 125x63x8.7 mm and weighing just about 117g, the phone has a crystal clear LED backlit LCD touch screen measuring 4.2". The phone is really light for this screen size.

Disadvantages

• Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc biggest issue is its viewing angles, its display looks washed out, if viewed from anywhere except its perfect viewing angle.
• Though the display is clear, the screen lacks the powerful Gorilla Glass display which is very crucial because it adds an extra layer of protection to the screen as such.
• Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc's plastic body may not be to everyone's tastes.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc only has 3 hardware buttons that are Back, Home and Menu button. The keys are not backlit. There are two small LEDs between the three buttons, but they are of hardly any help. The top of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc houses a mini-HDMI port, while the top right houses the notification light, microUSB port and a tiny volume button. There is also a camera button at the bottom right of the handset. The left side of the handset has a 3.5mm jack.

Advantages

• The three keys below the display are comfortable enough, are all wide enough, so even if they are a bit thin, you are unlikely to have any problem with their usability.

Disadvantages

• The 3.5mm audio jack has no cover over it.
• The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc right side hosts the microUSB port, which is again unprotected, the LED status light, the rather thin volume rocker and the miniscule camera key.
• Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc camera key is bit too small and it is located too close to the edge and it is likely to get covered by a finger when holding handset. User has to be extremely careful while using camera and he should use only two fingers on his left hand if he wants to get proper shots.

The camera of the device is an excellent 8MP point and shoot which is fitted with a number of welcome add-ons such as auto focus, LED flash, touch-focus, image stabilization, geo-tagging, etc. Additionally the camera is also capable of recording videos at 720p and 30fps. The image and video quality, both are excellent and gives a positive output which make pictures amazingly good.

Advantages

• The camera interface is touch-friendly and intuitive.
• The color representation is extremely accurate, detail is plenty.
• Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc captures phenomenal still photographs along with excellent 720p HD videos.
• The camera's sensor help taking snaps in low light situations, more light is able to be absorbed producing higher quality photos when there is low light. Its camera also has a single LED flash.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc gets all this power from a capacious 1500mAh lithium polymer. Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc battery provides around 7 hours of talk and 400 hours of standby time. Battery life is typical of a modern Android with it practically requiring an overnight charge every other day.

Advantages

• Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc battery life is quite good, it can last a full day of heavy usage.
• There's a 1500mAh battery in the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, which does a good job of keeping the phone going.
• The phone supports wi-fi 802.11n and connects quickly from standby, with 3G and HSPA for mobile connections.
• On average the Arc was able to provide enough power for a couple of days with normal application, talk, email, message, and game use.

Google's Maps app is easily the most impressive mapping and navigation tool. Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc is running the latest version of Android, so user will have facility of all the latest suites like Google mail, YouTube, Maps, Talk and the quaint new and weather widget. One very positive implementation in Sony Ericsson enhancement is its brightness widget. It is customizable, flipping between the lowest brightness setting and user own level set in the phone's Display setting menu. So it is easy to specify user own custom screen level, rather than making do with Android's default low, medium and high options.

Advantages

• Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc's processor and multi-touch screen has new vector base Google Maps which run perfectly with the full range of 3D zooming, panning and rotating options available when viewing maps up close.
• The initial GPS lock was swift, with Google's fantastic Maps Navigation app giving you a superb output.
• Google Maps, it now includes full voice navigation across most of Europe. Simply accessing the Directions tab lets you specify a start and end point, with Google computing a route for you.
• Google Maps includes full voice navigation across most of Europe. Simply accessing the Directions tab lets user specify a start and end point, with Google computing a route for himself.

As with all modern Android phones, Contacts data on the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc supports Google account and Facebook profile, it also imports data from a SIM card if is updating to a smart phone for the first time, or use Exchange data or Sony Ericsson's own standalone sync service.

Advantages

• Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc's contact page is extremely customizable, user is able to add notes, nicknames, instant messaging accounts etc and it's possible to automatically direct individuals to voice mail, if there's someone user is avoiding.
• User is able to sort Contacts in a few useful ways, like choosing to only show those that have phone number data. It is very helpful when users phone has just pulled the details of 300 people from Face book.
• If user has linked a Face book account with a Contact, the person's latest status update is also listed beneath their Contact details. It makes paying attention to other people's lives so much easier.

Call quality is very good indeed. Volume through the phone's speaker is loud and quite clear, plus there is a second microphone in the back of the phone to add an element of noise cancellation.

Advantages

• Call quality is very good.
• Volume through the phone's speaker is loud and quite clear, plus there's a second microphone in the back of the phone to add an element of noise cancellation.
• The noise cancellation technology worked so well that the individual on the other side of the call was oblivious to the highway sounds.
• Audio was clear and concise with the earphone speaker, speakerphone, and wired stereo headset.

It has internal memory storage of up to 300MB and expandable memory of up to 32GB with a microSD memory card.

Advantages

• Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc makes up for this with a microSD card slot that supports cards of up to 32 GBs.

The web browser on the Arc, like any other Android phone, absolutely rocks. The general web browsing performance is smooth, with no troubles. Scrolling around through web pages was smooth as well. Things did get a little jerky when browsing heavy flash based web sites like Espnstar.com.

Advantages

• Android web browser is the very model of simplicity. It is easy to use and browsing is quiet smooth.

Disadvantages

• User has limitations to have eight browser windows open at once, which seems like a silly and arbitrary rule.
• Things did get a little jerky when browsing heavy flash based web sites like Espnstar.com.

The reason user picks the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc because the design is fetching and the screen is larger and impressive. First thing which will appeal to the user are its high resolution display which makes icons and web text appear sharp and readable. Display does quite good under sunlight too. The camera is excellent. Sony Ericsson's Exmor R sensor produces some fine shots in good light, backed up by a decent flash for low light situations and there is autofocus while recording movie clips, too. The hardware is also extremely impressive, both in terms of looks and performance.

However there are few issues too in number of areas like large screen and thin bezel means the three buttons are very close to the bottom edge, making it feel a little top heavy in the hand. Also, the thin case requires thin buttons user will find himself searching for the power and volume buttons every time, instead of instinctively getting them.

The Xperia Arc is a decent all-round phone. The camera, looks, battery life, and the performance of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc are its major plus points. For the general users out there, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc is more than enough. They will be highly satisfied with it. It comes with relatively friendlier price. So both price and performance are decent combinations for users. But it would have been nice if Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc had manufactured the Arc with a bit less plastic.