Category Archives: ANDROID

Available from Clove for £412.80.

There is little doubt that the Arc made a very positive impression on me in the first 24 hours. The design hit me between the eyes like a smartly designed bullet with an Xperia logo on the side and 3 days later I am still in awe of the way it looks and feels.

Anyway, I need to move on from my smartphone glee and look at what is inside.

Camera

The camera is very impressive for stills. Even thought it is rated at 8 Megapixels this is rarely a guarantee on a smartphone that good pictures will come out of it, but here the story is in the quality of the output. Examples are below-

Video capture quality is also impressive and I would put it at a similar level to the iPhone 4. It is different, but largely similar in output. Shapes in dark conditions tend to be smoothed out more, thus losing minor detail, but you do get to see clearly what you are capturing which is not always the case with the iPhone 4.

All in all though this is one of the best smartphone cameras I have seen on an Android phone and very likely the best yet.

Battery

It seems that Timescape is a bit of a battery hog at times and it is worthwhile playing around with the sync frequency, but even on high I managed two days use before a charge was needed. This is good for me and better than I can managed with the iPhone 4 under the same conditions. Very heavy usage will require a daily charge, but at least you can feel secure knowing that a day of extreme usage is possible.

Screen

Very, very good. Indoors it is wonderful for media and the 4.2” size makes for an immersive movie watching experience. The Bravia engine is supposed to bring better definition and colours to images and I guess it works. It is, however, hard to tell because everything looks great on this screen.

I tested it outdoors on a very bright day and could still use it for everything I needed to. It isn’t the best in bright conditions, but it matches up to the Super AMOLED experience on the Galaxy S.

General performance

On the whole the experience is smooth and hassle free. I noticed the occasional slow down in Timescape (I wouldn’t use it personally no matter how well it is presented) and when many apps were open, but standard to power use should present no problems at all. The performance is particularly strong though when rendering complex web pages with Flash or high encoded videos.

Voice and signal quality

The call quality to the ear is vibrant and works well even in windy conditions. The speaker phone is also good, but a little tinny when the volume is pumped up to the maximum. It says something that a good quality sound can still be produced from the external speaker in a phone so slim when others struggle to match up on much thicker phones.

Signal is good with the magic ‘H’ appearing almost constantly at home, work and on my journey to work. It still isn’t BlackBerry level, but is adequate for what most people will need.

Media / web browsing

As I said earlier video playbook looks great on the huge screen and the viewing angles are terrific. Music quality is decent even with the supplied headphones, but a better set brings out the pedigree that Sony obviously has in this area. Throw in a lovely gallery app and a high visual music interface and the whole experience feels much better than you see on most Android phones.

Web browsing is even better. We all know that the default Android browser is good, but I spent a lot of time testing this on the Arc and little things like watching Flash videos on the BBC website add a lot to the experience. I have to say that I didn’t experience any glitches at all and the performance was excellent throughout. I am sure that some sites will present a problem, but I would expect them to also present a problem on my Mac Mini as well.

The debate about Flash and its performance on smartphones is of course valid, but all I can judge is from what I experience and Flash makes for a big positive on the Arc.

Software

Sony Ericsson has sparingly added a couple of widgets and left the operating system alone. There are some clever themes included which make the interface feel more organised and it all works well together. I could write three more parts to this review if I wanted to go into each app because there are some brilliant tweaks that have been made to contacts and many of the other standards. I think SE has got the balance right here between offering standard Android with just enough additions to add genuine usability.

Mediascape and Timescape are wonderfully presented, but heavy Timescape use could slow down the device a little so your mileage may vary. When I say slow down I am talking relative here because on the whole it is extremely quick and any tiny stop is more noticeable than it would normally be so you can rest assured that the software will work near perfectly with the hardware on the Arc.

I didn’t get enough time to fully explore all of the differences in this version of Android, but tested Navigation, PIM, the Android Market and every other app I could find. One word- flawless. Android is coming of age and as each release passes more pieces of the puzzle fall into place. This is by far the best Android experience I have had so far and could quite happily use it every day.

Data Input

This is my favourite part of any touch screen phone to complain about, but even here I am struggling a bit to shake off the positivity. The large screen aids data input greatly and there are various options built in to auto-correct words etc. I have to say that the auto-correction could be better though because some times it does fly off at a tangent. Remember though that you can substitute the standard keyboard with others from the Android Market.

Conclusion

The Arc is without doubt an all round superb smartphone. It does almost everything right and I am left wondering how so much was crammed into such a small space. The improvements in Android are gradually starting to work together to create a more rounded experience and when it is sensitively squeezed into a piece of hardware like this something special happens. This is my new favourite smartphone.

Available from Clove for £412.80.

When I was told that I would be received the Xperia PLAY and the Xperia Arc for review I was tempted to just ask for the PLAY due to lack of time. The Arc looked like just another in a long line of Android smartphones designed to offer a large screen and all of the specifications countless other Android phones include. The design also looked like a poor attempt to make it different by including a needless curved back for no other reason than aesthetics. But…

The iPhone 5 will need to be more like the Xperia Arc than the iPhone 4. HTC, Samsung, Motorola and the rest should take a long hard look at the Arc because it feels like a svelte slab of science fiction and it makes my iPhone 4 feel positively chunky in comparison.

This isn’t hyperbole. This phone is so undeniably different to anything I have used before that it really does feel like the first of a new generation of smartphone. It is a slab that is all screen and the weight is distributed so evenly that the size is barely noticeable when you are holding it. The arc at the back is a touch of design genius because you feel like you are touching the back of the screen when in the hand thanks to the thinnest part being so slim. Many phones look good in the marketing photos, but lose their balance when in the hand and are either top or bottom heavy. This phone feels perfectly weighted in every area.

In the box you get a healthy selection of goodies; 8GB MicroSD card, stereo in-ear headset, microUSB cable, Micro HDMI to HDMI cable, AC charger and 2 screen protectors (one pre-attached). Sony Ericsson has been making some real efforts with box contents, as was also seen with the Xperia PLAY, and hopefully this will spur others to bundle a little bit more with their smartphone. After all we are talking about spending more than £400 on the products.

So it looks great and it feels great, but what is it about the design that makes it feel so special? I can’t quite put my finger on it which I suppose is a sign of good design, but I believe it to be the minimal weight married with the large surface and super thin form. Words are hard to rummage up when describing the feeling so I would advise you to pop along to a local mobile phone shop and hold one for yourself. You will see what I mean.

All of the above is nice, but we are still looking at a high-end Android phone here that should perform roughly the same as the other large screened Android handsets from the likes of HTC and Samsung. The thing is that it doesn’t perform like them and for one very important reason; this is the first non-iPhone that feels as good as an iPhone to use.

I cannot overstate how important that last sentence is. Every single phone I have reviewed over the past year has felt like a phone and I could sense what was happening beneath the screens every time I touched them. I thought this was down to the operating systems or the clever screen / OS marriage of the iPhone, but it seems as though Android is perfectly capable of recreating the ‘magic’ that Apple is so fond of talking about. When I pick this phone up I just start using it without thinking. That is exactly what I, and almost everyone else, expects from a smartphone in 2011.

Looking closer at the physicals, there are only 3 buttons below the screen with the search button missing and the back button is on the left. SE also did this on the PLAY and it is a different setup from other Android smartphones. It isn’t a big deal, but some consistency would be nice (forced by Google perhaps?) to make the switching experience easier. Arguably the back button makes sense being on the left, but I am used to it being elsewhere and so some acclimatisation was required.

The 3.5mm headphone jack is on the top left-hand side and this is a logical position, but the positioning of the other buttons left me slightly bemused. The on/off button is on the top side, but over to the left which I found quite tricky to use. This is a big phone and I am right-handed (as everyone who isn’t a witch is) and even with my large hands my thumb could not reach the top to turn it on. The natural position for the on/off button is top right so that a finger can be used, as shown below-

I have gotten used to using my finger over to the left, but the more natural position is still over to the other side in my opinion. The HDMI slot is over to the right at the top, which could of course have gone to the left, but that’s what we have so some adjustment is needed. I do like the fact that it is a proper on/off button and not one of those flush efforts that makes finding it difficult so there is an upside. The MicroUSB slot is top right which is not ideal for the future development of cradles and below that is a rather small volume key- this could do with being bigger. Finally there is a camera shutter button logically placed bottom right and this again is a proper button and not a hard to find flush effort.

Even though the button placements only take a matter of hours to get used to I do feel that SE could have used more logic when positioning them. It may be that the design could be the reason for this and if so I am prepared to forgive a lot because I seriously love the design of this phone.

That’s it for the first part of this review. I will jump into the meaty stuff in part two, but safe to say my first day with the Arc has been one of wonderment. It’s lovely.

Available from Clove for £472.80.

OK, part one of my Xperia PLAY review was mostly filled with positives. Positivity surrounding the build quality, general performance and sheer novelty of a smartphone that is also attempting to be a proper games console.

I am going to breeze by the Android experience because it is all pretty good. The PLAY is fast, even when coping with multiple apps open at one time, and the screen lends itself well to the touch experience. Sony Ericsson has bundled some extras such as the excellent Timescape which brings all of your social networks together and some skins which de-clutter the Android interface which is something other manufacturers tend to get wrong.

As I moved around the software I gradually realised that the build in the PLAY is more vanilla than you will find in the offerings from Samsung, HTC and Motorola. There is no complicated overlay to confuse the interface, no novelty apps that add little except a boost to the app number count and a setup which appears to be very carefully considered.

The stills camera is very good and far exceeded my expectations. Here are a couple of test shots taken at night with the flash-

As an Android smartphone the PLAY is up there with the best. The screen could be clearer and it is a surprise that the absolute best technology was not used in what is supposed to be a revolutionary gaming phone, but it is usable in most conditions and I personally feel that the criticism levelled at this screen in other reviews is slightly over the top.

The form factor is all about the Playstation gaming though and as such compromises have had to be made concerning weight and depth. Is the compromise worth it though?

I have to say that it is despite some niggles that suggest speed to market was one of the prime considerations when releasing this phone. The phone comes bundled with some classic Playstation titles; Bruce Lee, FIFA 10, Star Battalion HD, and The Sims 3. There are some omissions within these titles, such as instructions pointing to the ‘A’ button in Fifa, but something happened when I first started playing these games. I can’t quite work out if it is the hardware or the games themselves, but I felt like I was playing a small games console.

That doesn’t sound like much of a statement, but I have always felt like I was playing games on a phone when using the iPhone or Android handsets. The fact is that the buttons make a huge difference to the experience and the way the games are handled. My fingers are no longer taking up screen space and most parts just click to create a more immersive experience. The games themselves don’t look brilliant and pixels are evident, but it is obvious that there is a difference between games designed for a console than for a phone.

As it stands there is still work to be done to make the Android / Playstation games selection a viable setup to compete with the thousands of games available in the mobile market. There are currently very few Playstation titles available and a handful of Android games that take advantage of the PLAY hardware, but one problem is knowing how to find them. Some titles are labelled with ‘Xperia PLAY’ so that you know, but otherwise it is a bit of a guessing game when perusing the Android Market.

And then I found the following video on YouTube which demonstrates what can be done with Android and the PLAY-

From what I can deduce the hardware buttons do make the biggest difference when playing games from the Android Market or ports of classic Playstation titles, but there is a definite gap between the Playstation and pure Android titles which makes for a more rounded experience.

This is all about potential at this time because Sony Ericsson has not managed to make enough titles available and Android developers have not jumped on the bandwagon yet, but the fact is that all of a sudden then is a gaming option within the Android ecosystem that is better than what is available in iOS. If the potential is fulfilled, this will be the very best smartphone available at this time for serious gamers.

Conclusion

The Xperia PLAY is an expensive smartphone. There is little here that is not available in most other +£400 smartphones and despite the specifications being at the high-end there are better specified phones on the market at slightly cheaper prices.

However, this isn’t just a smartphone. It also isn’t fully a games console yet either so we are left with conflicting thoughts; is this a smartphone and a portable games console or a smartphone that adds a feature that isn’t fully realised yet? I am tempted to believe that this is a smartphone with console abilities, but that more development is needed to port a decent selection of games to the phone. When a good selection of games is available it will become a powerful mobile gaming system and will retain all of the smartphone abilities you expect from other smartphones near to this price point.

Because of all of the above I can’t help, but like the Xperia PLAY. It is well built, performs well in most areas and has a lot of personality. It is different enough to lift it from the mass of Android clones and this helps it to show off what Android can do. This is a very good smartphone which has the potential to be a competent workhorse and one of the most entertaining portable devices you can buy. To expect a perfect smartphone and a perfect games console in one unit is unrealistic, but Sony Ericsson has struck the balance well here. It just needs to ensure that the games can match up to the hardware and then we are looking at a whole new experience.

I would have added some screenshots of the gallery and gaming sections, which look amazing, but they all came out with a strange pink hue. Likely my fault so apologies for that.

Available from Clove for £472.80.

In 1994 Sony launched the PlayStation and the gaming world changed forever; Nintendo quickly fell to its knees, Sega disappeared from the mainstream market and the symbols below became one of the most recognised selection of shapes in the world.

Gaming was suddenly a cool indoor activity and the rest of the world jumped on board. The competition struggled to catch up, but eventually Nintendo struck gold with the Wii and DS and even Microsoft took a large chunk of the action with the Xbox.

Today the PlayStation 3 is not doing so well and despite being the most powerful of the big games consoles, the Wii and Xbox are winning in terms of sales. The Sony PSP has had an even harder time having been attacked from all sides by the Nintendo DS, iPhone and all of the other smartphones now capable of advanced gaming that make the PSP, and indeed home consoles, look expensive in comparison.

Sony has in fact presided over disaster after disaster in the mobile market and failed to create any kind of traction in the MP3 sector at all and the wider mobile market has somehow completely alluded it for the past decade. Sony Ericsson started brightly, but has been treading water during the iPhone / Android era and released a selection of smartphones that merely sit in the middle rather than lead the way.

However…

Sony Ericsson has now taken things full circle and pitched the Xperia PLAY as a weapon to attack a potential gap in the mobile gaming market. When you can buy sophisticated games for under a dollar on iOS and Android it is hard to see where the competition can go, but Sony Ericsson is aiming to lift that minimal price barrier just a little and offer a superior mobile gaming experience in terms of software and hardware.

Here are the main features of the Xperia PLAY-

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
Timescape UI
1GHz Scorpion Qualcomm
IntegratedAdreno 205 GPU
Certified Playstation phone
Up to 32GB micro SDHC
16GB micro SDHC included
A-GPS with Google Maps
5MP camera with autofocus and LED flash
1500 mAh Li-ion battery
119 x 62 x 16 mm 175 grams

As you can see the specifications built in are at the top end of the Android market. It is difficult for any manufacturer to differentiate greatly when most push phones totting 1GHz processors, 5 Megapixel camera and everything else we now expect, but as you can see from the image above the game pad is completely unique in modern smartphones. It is pure Playstation with the front controllers built in below the screen and it really does feel like a gaming device the first time you pick it up with the game pad exposed.

The box contents are above average with a decent set of in-ear headphones, a smart looking A/C charger, a 16GB microSD card, 2 screen protectors (one pre-attached), 2 USB sync / charging cables and a very neat car charger. That is an impressive bundle and an example for others to follow.

From a gaming perspective the buttons and their form are just about perfect and everything sits in the right place. The screen does not tilt because it doesn’t need to and this results in a rock solid feel when closed or open.

One of my first thoughts was how nice this could work with a decent QWERTY keyboard instead of the game pad or even better, a keyboard that could be slotted in and the game pad removed and vice versa. Now that would be a neat trick for a smartphone.

The overall build quality is superb and feels like high quality components have been used in the construction. The subtle use of chrome against the shiny plastic works much better than it should and this is probably a deliberate decision to make the phone look more like a PSP from the outside.

Balancing the needs of a serious gamer and a smartphone user is not easy and this is apparent in some of the components. The screen works well indoors and is not too bad outdoors, certainly not as bad as some sites make out, and I would call it typical of most mid-range to high-end smartphones. The problem here though is one of expectation; gamers who buy this expecting it to replace a dedicated console and thus have the ‘use anywhere’ screen and battery that can power games for many hours may be disappointed. Smartphone users who buy this expecting to add console quality gaming to their smartphone experience will feel much more positive about the compromises that have had to be made.

The size and shape somehow work well as one unit, but that does not mean that this is a small phone by any means. It is chunky, quite heavy with a severely rounded back that makes it feel good in the hand. Everything about it externally reminds me of a smartphone from 3 years ago, but with much more power and much more novelty than I have seen for a long time.

My first 36 hours with the Xperia PLAY have been extremely positive despite some reservations about the screen and battery life. The entirety of a smartphone is what makes me see each aspect for what it is. Some phones like make the small deficiencies a huge negative, but others like the PLAY bring enough that is new to the party that I tend to view the is a less negative manner. I am really liking the PLAY so far because it feels like a breath of fresh air in a world where every Android smartphone looks and works very much like the next one. Sony Ericsson has done well to take advantage of the jewel in Sony’s crown and produce a smartphone that manages to feel like both a phone and a gaming console, without either making the other feel like an add-on.

I have lots more to write, that is for part two, and am looking forward to seeing how the experience goes. The fact that this phone has me wanting to test and use it is more than half the battle in my view.