Sony is one of the first companies to launch a smartphone with enough tech wizardry to topple Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus, which to date is arguably the best phone in the market.Yet unlike the Galaxy Nexus, which by design is intended to be as agnostic in style as a blank canvas, the Sony offering reeks of allure. It’ll be offered in silver and black colours.
 Click to enlarge |
| Sony’s Xperia S, formerly known as the Nozomi |
The beating core in the phone is a 1.5 GHz dual core chipset, which is greater than the Nexus’ 1.2GHz affair. Its RAM is on par at 1GB.
The screen has 720 horizontal and 1,280 vertical pixels, replicating the detail found on high definition TVs without breaching the perimeters of your hand. Stretching 4.3 inches, its height appears dwarfed by the Nexus’ 4.65 inch frame, but is a fine compromise between mobility and multimedia theatrics.
If anything the Xperia S benefits from its proportions, as condensing the same amount of pixels into a smaller space will make it more receptive to touch gestures. By Smarthouse’s measurement, it’ll have a pixel density of ~341ppi, the highest of any phone thus far.
 |
On the back is a 12MP camera that comes complete with Sony’s revered Exmor R sensor, which helps filter light in dim environments. Helping it find light in dark areas is a single LED flash. A 1.3MP camera is found on the front.
Sony hasn’t said much on the phone’s video recording abilities, but the standard has been set high by flagship rivals Apple, Motorola and Samsung, who all offer phones that capture 1080p video at 30 frames per second. For the Xperia S to be a thoroughbred market leader, it’ll have to deliver the same striking video performance.
The last time I reviewed a Sony phone, I criticised the company for relying on external memory:
“I’m almost embarrassed to repeat how little internal memory is in the Arc S, with Sony Ericsson continuing its silly running streak of offering a memory card (8GB) as a substitute. The fact remains that not every application can be transferred to the memory card, and although a single gigabyte is sufficient, it’s not a reputable flagship standard.”
Review: Is Sony’s Arc S An Xperience Worth Remembering?
The company has finally broken this bad habit by throwing 16GB/32GB of internal memory. But before you get too happy about this little victory, I should mention the extra memory won’t be joined by a memory card slot.
 Click to enlarge |
Upon release, the Xperia S will come with Android Gingerbread (2.3), but Sony say Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) will be coming to the phone in the 2nd Quarter of 2012. You can be sure it’ll come with Sony’s personal touches, such as Timescape and its social networking paraphernalia.
With a slew of phones being announced at the present-running CES show, distribution and availability is up in the air, although it is safe to say it’ll make it before the second half of 2012.
The Xperia S could very well be the first solely branded Sony phone to hit Australian shores, and if that’s the case Sony could have finally produced a phone good enough to lead the pack of smartphone greats. Hopefully they can get this blissful orgy of tech appeal and striking looks on shop shelves before time renders it another mediocre alternative.
