Archive for the ‘Sony Ericsson’ Category
Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo review: More than a sequel
Introduction
It’s a sequel. Same cast and the same story but with a new lead and a new director. Shot in HD. The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo is to settle some unfinished business at the box office. A year stands between the Vivaz and the Neo and Android does make all the difference.
Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo official photos
The XPERIA Neo is part of Sony Ericsson’s new droid lineup and takes advantage of all the new features – the LED-backlit Reality display with Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine, an 8 megapixel Exmor R camera sensor, 720p video with continuous autofocus and the latest Android – 2.3 Gingerbread.
Key features
- Quad-band GSM /GPRS/EDGE support
- 3G with 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
- 3.7″ 16M-color capacitive LED-backlit LCD touchscreen of FWVGA resolution (480 x 854 pixels) on Sony Mobile BRAVIA engine
- Android OS v2.3 Gingerbread
- 1 GHz Scorpion CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 chipset
- 512 MB RAM
- 8 MP autofocus camera, LED flash, geotagging
- 720p video @ 30fps, continuous autofocus
- Front facing VGA camera, video calls
- Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
- GPS with A-GPS
- microSD slot (32GB supported, 8GB card included)
- Accelerometer and proximity sensor
- Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
- Stereo FM radio with RDS
- microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
- Voice dialing
- Adobe Flash 10.2 support
- microHDMI port
Main disadvantages
- Display has poor viewing angles
- The competition has dual-core CPUs, 1080p video
- No smart dialing
- Loudspeaker has below average performance
- No DivX/XviD support
- Memory card slot under the battery cover
The Neo benefits from new technology but it does well to focus on the important stuff: imaging. It’s not the 3.7 touchscreen that makes this phone, nor is it the 1 GHz CPU or the latest Android Gingerbread. And hey, these are all fine features to have. But in the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo the HD-enabled cameraphone comes before the all-round droid smartphone.
Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo at ours
The short list of downsides gives away a well-focused device. The XPERIA Neo is spared the predicament of a flagship too. While the Arc might be unsettled by the new dual-core beasts – the Neo doesn’t need top specs to be good at its main job. The previous generation hardware is less of a disadvantage.
Having met the Neo, this review doesn’t look as such a tough challenge. All it needs to do is cement the good impression it already made. Such kind of safety can be deceptive though. Let’s hope the Neo didn’t let its muscles soften. You’re welcome to follow us as we try to find out.
Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc review: Android de Triumph
Introduction
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc is back for a second round and this time it will stay a while longer. The company’s new flagship did great in our preview and we’d gladly have more of it.
The statement just couldn’t have been stronger and clearer. The new BRAVIA screen and the impressively slim and fit body are exactly the way to treat a flagship. Android Gingerbread too is as good as it gets in the smartphone world these days.
Just months ago that combination would’ve equaled a license to kill – which the Arc would’ve used without second thoughts. But the competition is insanely intense today and no one is given a second to think.
Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc official photos
It takes more than a few outstanding features these days, and they’d better be backed by solid performance across the board. Omissions are not easily forgiven so the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc better stay focused.
Key features
- Quad-band GSM /GPRS/EDGE support
- 3G with 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
- 4.2″ 16M-color capacitive LED-backlit LCD touchscreen of FWVGA resolution (480 x 854 pixels) with Sony Mobile BRAVIA engine
- Android OS v2.3 Gingerbread
- 1 GHz Scorpion CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 chipset
- 512 MB RAM
- 8 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging
- 720p video recording @ 30fps with continuous autofocus
- Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
- GPS with A-GPS
- microSD slot up to 32GB (8GB card included)
- Accelerometer and proximity sensor
- Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
- Stereo FM radio with RDS
- microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
- Voice dialing
- Adobe Flash 10.2 support
- microHDMI port
- Ultra slim (8.7mm at its thinnest point)
Main disadvantages
- Display has poor viewing angles
- No front-facing camera
- Main competitors have dual-core CPUs and better GPUs
- No smart dialing
- microSD card slot is not hot-swappable
- Camera key isn’t particularly comfortable
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc is a sweeping update of the X10. A new generation chipset, more screen estate and a microHDMI port in a well done facelift make the Arc an easy pick even over a Gingerbread-powered XPERIA X10.
The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc live pictures
However, in-house competition is by far not the XPERIA Arc’s biggest problem. Competitors have moved so much forward over the past year or so that the question really is whether Sony Ericsson have managed to keep the pace.
More Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc beauty
LG and Samsung have already gone dual-core and got Full HD video recording, while Sony Ericsson – and HTC – are so far choosing to focus their efforts elsewhere. This review should help us answer – among other things – the question of who made the right call and who will have to play catch up.
We start with the unboxing right after the break.
Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 review: Ace in the hole
Introduction
The Samsung Galaxy Ace can get far with a name like this but it isn’t going any further than its comfortable midrange spot. You know, if you want the best seat in the house you need to move the cat. The Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 is a feline droid – the black cat in Samsung’s Android portfolio. And it spells bad luck for the competition – mid-range droids are a force to be reckoned with in the smartphone world.
Samsung S5830 Galaxy Ace official photos
With the kind of specs, the Galaxy Ace could have passed for a high-end phone a while back. So, if your processing power and screen estate needs haven’t risen sharply during the past year or so, the Ace will serve you well.
In fact, with Froyo on an 800MHz processor, good connectivity and screen size and resolution that were good enough for the first three iPhones, the Samsung Galaxy Ace is looking good.
The only downside to the package is the QVGA video @ 15fps. That may be acceptable on a low-end dumbphone but certainly disappointing on a mid-range Android.
Here’s what else is going on the Ace’s spec sheet.
Key features
- Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support
- 7.2 Mbps HSDPA support
- 3.5″ 16M-color TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen of HVGA (320 x 480 pixels) resolution
- 800MHz ARM 11 processor, Adreno 200 GPU, Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset; 278MB of RAM available to the user
- Android OS v2.2 (Froyo) with TouchWiz 3.0 UI customization
- Swype text input
- 5 MP autofocus camera with LED flash; Geo-tagging, face and smile detection
- QVGA@15fps video
- microSD slot (up to 32GB, 2GB in box)
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b, g, n and DLNA
- GPS with A-GPS connectivity; Digital compass
- microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
- Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
- DNSe sound enhancement
- FM radio with RDS
- Document editor
- File manager preinstalled
- Samsung Apps brings a few nice apps for free
- Accelerometer and proximity sensor
Main disadvantages
- Dismal QVGA video recording @15fps
- No shutter key for the camera
- No support for Adobe Flash in the web browser
- No ambient light sensor
- No DivX/Xvid video support out of the box
So, the video is no good, but the still camera should be doing pretty well. Samsung’s refined TouchWiz 3.0 with a document editor and file manager out of the box score good points for the Galaxy Ace too.
The phone is pretty compact and we especially like the new rubbery textured back. There’s nothing to worry about in terms of ergonomics or pocketability, but those decidedly iPhone-ish looks are a bit questionable.
Samsung S5830 Galaxy Ace live shots
That’s about all we can say by just looking at the phone – and it’s the second time we meet the Samsung Ace. You may as well remember our quick preview from a while back. It’s now time to see how ready the Samsung Galaxy Ace is for the real world and we begin with the hardware.