It appears that Sony Ericsson has done something right. It’s no secret that we were never fans of their last flagship phone, the Sony Ericsson Xperia 10. It was slow, jerky, was retrofitted (poorly) via a software update to support multi-touch and ran on Android 1.6 when all its similarly priced contemporaries ran on at least 2.1. Its problems didn’t end there, but we think you get the point; it was a remarkably average phone.
Well, Sony Ericsson seems to have learned from their mistake and are about to churn out the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc. The Arc sports a 4.2 inch multitouch display running at 854 x 480 pixels. It has an 8MP camera, LED flash and expandable (up to 32GB) memory. It’s also amazingly thin, coming in at around 8.7mm thick at its thinnest point.
From the very first time we laid eyes on the Xperia Arc we were intrigued. Its unique and stylish design are definitely eye-catchers, not to mention the clean crispness of its LED backlit LCD display.
So great, it’s a handsome phone. But can it hold up to the competition? This year is seeing the release of what are sure to be some heavy hitters. The iPhone 5 (although rumor has it that could be delayed till 2012), the Samsung Galaxy S II, the Motorola Atrix and a bunch more super-powerful smartphones. So how does the Xperia Arc compare?
Xperia Arc vs The Competition
We’ll say at the outset that the Arc’s biggest flaw in the face of its competition seems to be its processor. Where most top-end next-gen phones we’re expecting shall sport dual-core 1GHz processors at the least (we are, of course, assuming this about the iPhone 5, although we’ve had no confirmation as yet), the Xperia Arc will be running a disappointingly inferior single-core 1GHz processor.
For anyone who doesn’t know a dual-core 1GHz processor means (very basically, please keep scathing comments to a minimum) two 1GHz processors running in tandem, so it’s essentially twice as powerful as its single-core counterpart.
This being said, the Xperia Arc still seems to be powerful enough to do what it needs to. One of the biggest issues with the Xperia X10 was that the combination of its processor and the outdated Android 1.6 platform simply wasn’t powerful enough to run its graphics-intensive user interface (UI). With the Xperia Arc running Android 2.3 on a 1GHz processor it seems that this will no longer be the crippling problem it once was.
The Timescape widget does still tend to lag a little, which is to be expected from a program that combines your social media platforms and shows photos and pictures in real-time.
We also occasionally experienced a bit of jerkiness when scrolling. This is pretty standard across the entire Android platform and isn't even noticeable after a while. But it still bares a mention, especially considering the processing disadvantage.
The camera seems to take pretty good pics, but nothing we would consider a substantial improvement over anything else we’re seeing these days. Despite Sony Ericsson’s video showing off the video capture quality of the Bravia engine the 720p video recording of the Xperia Arc will do you a pretty good YouTube video, but you’ll definitely start seeing pixilation if you view your films in full-screen on a desktop display.
Basically the Arc appeals very well to its target market. Sony Ericsson has made a solid phone that really does nothing wrong, but also does nothing exceptionally well either. Where the Arc excels is in the area of physical style.
Smartphone users who are after a functionable smartphone, but are looking for that extra element of class will definitely find the Arc a tempting device. Frankly we find no problems with making a device aimed at the fashion-conscious end of the market.
The WhistleOut Opinion
With most smartphones tending to look like carbon-copies of the iPhone 3GS we’re glad to see something as visually pleasing as the Arc. Everybody has their own wants and needs when it comes to their devices and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc definitely fills a void that we feel has been growing for a while now.
For anyone looking for a solid smartphone that will turn a head or two every time you whip it out, we certainly recommend giving the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc a look at next time you’re in the market to compare.
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