When I arrived at home a couple of days ago, I was surprised see two units of the Sony Xperia S waiting for me. The folks from Sony Mobile Philippines sent in a unit and then our friends from Widget City also shipped in a review unit. We’re unboxing both and will be using them in the next two weeks and share with you some results along the way.
I already wrote my initial impressions of the Xperia S over at TechWireAsia (where I contribute on a weekly basis for Asian-related stories) last night but will be adding a few more notes and samples today as I get more hands-on time.
One of the first things you will notice on the Xperia S is the brilliant high-definition display. With a display size of 4.3-inch, the screen resolution is 1280×720 or 720p giving it the highest pixel density we’ve ever seen on any handset at 344ppi, even beating the 326ppi Retina Display of the iPhone 4S.
As such, you get really good picture quality, superb clarity and crispness. You’d definitely notice this when playing HD videos. Sony claims it can display 16 million colors.
While this flagship device did not come with the quad-core chips that’s being touted by many other manufacturers during the recent MWC, the Xperia S still boasts of a pretty capable hardware configuration that can take on some of the other flagship handsets like the Galaxy Nexus or the iPhone 4S.
Sony Xperia S LT26i specs:
4.3-inch HD Reality Display @ 1280×720 pixels, 344ppi
Mobile Bravia Engine
Snapdragon S3 1.5GHz dual-core processor
1GB RAM
1.5GB built-in storage
32GB external storage (non-removable)
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA
Bluetooth 2.1
NFC support
GPS w/ aGPS support
12.1MP Exmor R rear camera
1080p video recording
1.3MP front facing camera
720p video recording
micro-HDMI out
Li-Ion 1750mAh battery
Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread
What is a bit missing is option for expandable storage via microSD card (built-in 32GB storage) and an old Bluetooth chip. In return, Sony included NFC support and higher capacity battery.
The design of the Xperia S got its inspiration from the Sony Bravia HDTV, specifically the HX series with it’s solid, monolithic design (it somewhat resembles a mini Sony HDTV). The body of the handset is flat at the front and curved at the back, similar to the design of the Xperia X10 and actually a little thicker than the Arc S at 10.5mm.
There’s a thin sheet of glass at the bottom, sandwiched by the solid, black polymer. The transparent glass glows white which highlights the etched icons for Back, Home and Settings. Slightly on top are 3 illuminated dots that indicated the touch panel for the Menu. It needs a bit more time to get used to that setup (most of the time, I tap the illuminated glass instead of the dotted panel above it).
The 12.1-megapixel camera of the Sony Xperia S is probably its best feature — really fast shutter speed, clear and crisp images. The video is equally impressive as well at full HD 1080p. I’ve uploaded some initial samples here but we’ll add more as we finalize this for the full review.
You can check some more raw photos here and we’ll upload a copy of the 1080p video on YouTube later.
Here are some more product shots of the Sony Xperia S.
[uds-billboard name="xperiasbillboard"]
Sony Mobile Philippines is set to launch the Xperia S after the Holy Week in April.
kelan daw po officially irerelease dito sa pinas?
Twitter: leche1982
says:
Are the touch panel areas part of the 4.3-inch screen, or are they capacitive-button types?
ganda!!!!! can’t w8 maging 20k toh!
26k daw sa kimstore and 28k sa widgetcity… magkano kaya official price?
what’s the difference in the box contents of the one that originally came from Sony and the one that came from widgetcity?
Twitter: rogsonline
says:
iPhone’s Retina display is 326 ppi
Bought one and I LOVE it! :D
is there a white version? :) that’d be sweeeeeet
This can shoot RAW files?
Twitter: SahleehSanDiego
says:
yuga,,how’s the built? it feels plasticky again…
@kendra – unlike the plasticky feel of the X10 and the Arc, the Xperia S feels very solid, has a bit of heft to it and an over-all premium built.
Twitter: crystalavillion
says:
Cool! how much is the official price?
What’s the type of screen Sony used for this model? Gorilla Glass?
Twitter: rogsonline
says:
Yo Abe, seriously, no credit? :)
Query lang sir: is the battery replaceable/removable?
Too bad their service center sucks, parts for my arc are still not available, even though i bought my phone almost a year ago, now waiting for their supposed expected delivery date of parts two weeks from now…shouldnt they have parts already once they offer a phone? They even have a sign in one of their concept shops saying expect a delay of several weeks for warranty because of unavailability of parts.
Wow naman! Ikaw na maging si Abe. 2 Xperia S waiting at your disposal. Sa akin na lang yung isa… hehe…
I think Sony has done it well this time.Their upcoming Sony Sola is even more impressive with its so-called “floating touch”.I’ll save money for it.Congrats Sony!
go to TCI in Brgy Kapitolyo in Pasig, dun mas maganda ang service dahil level 3 sila.
Twitter: khoy25
says:
Got it for 2200SR here is saudi arabia. Around 25,000php.=)
hi… wala po bang micro sd card ang experia s? all built in lang ba no removable memo card?
sinong may carrier sa atin yang xperia s ksi micro sim sya.. kelangan bang gupitin ang normal sim para fit sa kanya.. or meron n mismong carrier nila po