Brain drain
Music Unlimited is merely a link to the website so you can download the app (which costs £3.99 or £9.99 a month). Video Unlimited requires you to sign up before you can download videos. Still, Track ID, Sony’s own version of Shazam is free and effective, linking you instantly to music that’s playing which you just can’t name – and letting you buy it.
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade in the works
The dual-core processor handles everything thrown at it, with no sign of lagging. Call quality is good and the phone had consistently usable signal strength. Battery life on the Xperia S is not great, however. Of course, with such a big, high-resolution screen that’s not entirely surprising. But it does mean you’ll need nightly recharges.
Out on a charge
When I didn’t charge the phone overnight, it had dropped from full to one third empty while I (and it) slept. When charged overnight, it depleted from full to nearly empty by 10pm with fairly moderate use.
Verdict
Sony’s first phone post-Ericsson is an accomplished, handsome, speedy powerhouse which does most things well. Although it currently lacks Ice Cream Sandwich, it offers genuine innovation, like the NFC Smart Tags, a more-than-decent camera and a splendid display. But this is a huge handset which is sometimes hard to operate and those capacitive dots beneath the screen take practice to use properly. And like many other dual-core handsets, it suffers from a disappointing battery life. If you want this level of features and performance you'll need to learn some power saving tricks to get you through the night. ®
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Sony Xperia S NXT series Android smartphone
COMMENTS
Re: Flagship phone 12 months ago maybe
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.
Re: Flagship phone 12 months ago maybe
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.
Re: IPhone please!
Why have a poxy 3.5in screen when you can have a 720p 4.3in job?
Have you seen an Xperia S next to an iPhone 4S? I have. For video playback the Sony knocks the iP4S into a coked hat, "retina display" not withstanding.
Twit, Troll. Apple Catamite.
How does it sound?
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.
Re: Flagship phone 12 months ago maybe
Me either.
But he has a point on price. Regardless of how silly people think the race for number of cores has got, Sony are selling a phone full of 'last year'
It's not even shipping with the latest OS.
