Sony Xperia S NXT series Android smartphone So farewell, then, Sony Ericsson. The Xperia S is the first phone for a decade to be branded with the Sony logo, and very nice it looks, too. As does the phone itself, a large screen with matt-black rubberised casing and a curious transparent strip across the bottom. It feels good in the hand, thanks to the curved back, though …
I know, it's embarrassing isn't it. We all know the number of cores you have is THE most important thing a phone can have. For instance I don't get out of bed in the morning unless there is a penta-core phone on my bedside table. It's just not worth my valuable time.
Oh and don't get me started on Sony. I mean they did bad stuff with rooting or something and something that offended linux people. I mean, how bad can a company get?
And lastly, that thing looks suspiciously shiny. We all know that's bad too. Something to do with Apple or something.
All in all, just outrageous.
Nobody has managed to ship a device with the ICS yet apart from Google. I think people generally underestimate the work required to get a new OS up, running, fully tested and certified on new (or existing) hardware. And remember google don't do their OEMs any favours - the source code was only released in November - no "partner previews" or "developer previews" like Microsoft tend to provide in advance of the public release of a new OS.
So you get a code drop in November - you have to update or rewrite your HAL and device specific drivers along with any custom software components. It then has to be run through an absolute barrage of basic quality, regulatory, and carrier tests and certifications. And only then you can get it to market - 5 months doesn't really sound like a lot of time to me. And anyway, Sony have already committed to an ICS upgrade in Q2.
I realise I may be in the minority here but calling this phone huge more than once seems a bit harsh considering there are plenty of other 4.3" screen devices with a handful larger still.
I was seriously considering this until MWC came about and reminded me how bad Sony are with OS updates. This phone was announced a while back and ICS has been available for all to tinker with for over three months now yet it still ships with Gingerbread. HTC have just unveiled their One series of phones, likely been in development about the same time if not longer, with an April launch and all will come with ICS. Sony's update is likely still months away at best. The camera in the Xperia S still tempts me because I'm tired of "8MP" cameras on phones that are worse than 3MP cameras on phones years old, HTC are very guilty of poor cameras.
but it is huge. Its main rival will be a galaxy S2 I imagine. The S2 is still a massively capable phone with lots of different ROMS for the tinkerers (speedmod is my fav - almost 2 days of charge now with proper use).
Cant see any reason to bother with it noting the premium it commands over an S2.
bargain, positively, for a phone. After all... you can make calls, take pictures, and... well, shit, it probably even does video!
....
and text messaging, absolutely!
and... and it plays music, it's sony, right?
Bargain. Like I said.
granted, it doesn't have this i-peal the other Known Brand does, but then, if you spend that much on a phone, you fully deserve it!
Phones 4U are currently flogging it SIM free for £399, which is cheaper than what they're charging for obvious competitors like the Samsung Galaxy S2, Galaxy Nexus, and Motorola Razr.
Sure, there are quad cores coming, but we're a month or so away from the HTC One X arriving, and probably longer for the Galaxy S3. If that's important, then I suspect you'll wait. If not, the Xperia is a nicer piece of industrial design than most of its competitors.
Actually Sony have been really good with updates for their recent devices and have donated devices and drivers to XDA. I have an Arc S which is running the ICS beta and it's rock solid so I doubt the ICS upgrade for the S will be far away. And the Home button is still the Home button - press and hold it and bingo, a list of apps appears.
I wish these reviews would talk about music playback quality as surely many people use their phones as music players? I had an S2 for a while and couldn't believe how bad the audio quality was for a flagship phone (thanks to some crappy Yamaha chipset) and so I swapped it for an Arc S - which sounds fab in comparison.
However, no removable battery? No expandable storage? And that little USB flap? Ack. That's a shame Sony.
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