Sony Xperia S - Specifications. A web browser is a software application for accessing and viewing information on the Internet

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New flagship with new features

However, the model itself Sony Xperia S was announced even earlier, at the beginning of the year, during the CES 2012 exhibition. And now, finally, the final sample is in our editorial office: we meet and test new flagship Sony Mobile (formerly Sony Ericsson), which will remain so for quite some time long time- until the fall for sure.

In the field of mobile device production at Sony, everything is now unusual and new. It all started with the “breakup” of the Sony Ericsson brand, from which at the beginning of this year only “Sony” remained. The division of the Japanese company that develops phones and players is now called Sony Mobile - and, we hope, it will soon also deal with tablets with readers, which are still under the control of “big” Sony.

Further, new line or, more precisely, the new NXT series in the Xperia line is the “Next generation”, new generation, as the company itself says. It is clear that this is an emphasis on the turning point in the life of the company's mobile division after the breakup: a new brand, a new design, a new policy. From the old one - only the logo: an unshakable circle remains on all devices and does not change a bit.

From the global tops, all this novelty is transmitted below - to the devices themselves, their positioning, appearance and even packaging. Sony Xperia S comes in a cardboard box of an unusual format: flat and wide, it is not at all similar to the narrow parallelepipeds of Nokia and HTC, for which they are new packaging is a copy of an iPhone box.

From this package comes a flat black box with many opening compartments - even though it is made of cardboard. True, the compartments themselves are not so dense: a charger with a USB input, a USB-micro-USB cable, hdmi cable and a wired stereo headset with in-ear headphones. The equipment, at first glance, is not rich, but even here everything “breathes” with novelty - even if it is not striking, then the thoughtfulness in the development process is certainly noticeable. It turns out that the new high-power power supply is capable of charging a phone battery much faster than its predecessors, and this also has a certain turning point: after all, smartphones, which have grown in inches and are crammed with gigahertz, have a very short lifespan for a long time, and in terms of batteries and their charging there is nothing global does not change. But with the new one charger literally a ten-minute recharge is enough to extend a smartphone conversation for an entire hour, and this is truly an innovation. Not a breakthrough, of course, but the main thing is that the care and effort of the developers to create at least something new is visible, and this little thing is really pleasing.

Characteristics

• SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8260, CPU 1.5 GHz, dual cores
• GPU Adreno 220
• operating system Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread
• TN type LCD touch display, 4.3 inches diagonal, 720×1280 pixels, capacitive
• RAM 1 GB, flash memory 32 GB (25.8 GB available)
• GSM communication 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, GPRS/EDGE
• Communication 3G UMTS HSPA 850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz
• Bluetooth v2.1 EDR
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Hotspot
• TV-Out
• GPS, AGPS
• FM radio
• Camera 12 MP, autofocus, LED flash
• Lithium-ion battery 1750 mAh
• Dimensions 128x64x10.6 mm
• Weight 144 g

Design

New design... It turns out that you only need a little to become completely different from others. And although new Sony design The Xperia S (as well as the P and U models) has common features with previous Sony Ericsson models, especially in terms of the curved back, but due to new materials, which the developers themselves call a new generation of soft touch, the devices look completely different. And they certainly don’t look like Apple or Samsung products, with which users of numerous forums usually compare any new product. No, everything here is our own, our own, not copying anyone.

As for that very “new” soft touch, its innovation is not only less velvety and more similar to the blued steel of a weapon, but also some protective properties: during the demonstration of the device, the organizers literally draw on its surface with a ballpoint pen, and then playfully erase . This looks especially impressive on the white body of the Sony Xperia S. By the way, the new flagship has only two color variations: black and white, and both look equally interesting. Black, as already noted, resembles blued steel, even though it is plastic. White is certainly softer, but the chopped features of the new design prevent even the white version from being called feminine. It will look quite appropriate in men’s hands too.

Despite the large screen size - 4.3 inches, the communicator fits quite comfortably in the hand. The dimensions are large, but not so large as to become a burden on the palm. The weight of the device is too large for wearing in the breast pocket of a shirt, but it is quite suitable for other clothes, and the good quality of assembly of all the parts means that there is no need to be too careful with it. Of course, you shouldn’t put the Sony Xperia S in the back pocket of your jeans, but it would be blasphemy to cover such an interesting-looking device.

Most of the front surface area is occupied by the screen covered protective glass. Above it is a slot for the earpiece and eyes for the sensors and front camera. Here, under the glass, there is an LED hidden, notifying about certain events - for example, charging the phone. I didn't like the speaker gap: it is not covered by any grille, has sharp edges and is unpleasantly rough when in contact with the ear. In addition, dust accumulates in this gap over time. A nice grille would definitely not hurt here. Above the speaker hole is the inscription “Sony” - now there is only one, without “Ericsson”.

The most unpleasant design feature is located under the screen, at the bottom of the case. Here the monolith of the body is unexpectedly intersected by a completely transparent strip of plastic, on which pictograms indicating the buttons are applied. But this is not what’s unpleasant, but the fact that when you click on these icons, nothing happens. The sensors themselves (damn them!) are hidden under tiny, barely noticeable dots placed above this strip. Many friends who had the chance to touch the Sony Xperia S for the first time unanimously report erroneous clicks and curse the developers. We also encountered multiple erroneous clicks in the first days of using the device. Then, of course, we got used to it, but the residue, as they say, remained. By the way, below this transparent strip there remains a small fragment of the surface that is not covered by the protective glass. This lower part of the body looks like a separate cover and, in fact, it is such in another model - Sony Xperia U. In addition to the main one, that one is expected to have as many as three multi-colored replacement covers.

But in the case of the Sony Xperia S, this is not at all the case: the lower fragment, with the “Xperia” inscription printed on it, is rigidly linked to the rest of the body, and in it, at its lower end, there is even a hole made for attaching a strap - convenient, but, Unfortunately, this is a rarely used function in modern smartphones.

The remaining three edges are scattered with control elements and connectors covered with plastic covers: micro-USB on the left, micro-HDMI and volume rocker on the right, and on top there is a 3.5 mm audio input for headphones. There is also a power key there.

But I was pleased with the separate button for activating the camera on the right side: its presence is a rarity for modern Android smartphones. The keys themselves are small, their travel is short, and the location of everything except the photo button is completely inconvenient for a left-handed person. For some reason, the power key suddenly “moved” to the very left edge of the top end, where it can only be reached using the second hand. “Volume” is a little better, but for some reason it was moved to the very middle, where the grip is usually the tightest. The developers’ initiative in this case turned out to be punishable: everything had already been invented a long time ago, and there was no point in spoiling one’s karma once again.

The back plastic cover is remarkable: it is exactly a cover, the size of the entire surface of a smartphone, but only a SIM card slot is hidden under it, and nothing else. The battery here is non-removable, and the slot could be on the side, like other smartphones. It is not clear why there was any need to be clever with this cover, weakening the overall rigidity of the structure. By the way, the SIM card here, in accordance with new fashion trends, is used in micro format, and this is an alarm bell. This means that the quiet life is over, and users will very soon find themselves divided into two camps whose SIM cards do not fit each other. Now no one is confident that he will be able, if necessary, to use a friend’s phone or an old spare one gathering dust in his bag. Nowadays, not everyone can move a card from their own phone to a tablet. When moving to near and far abroad, it is also not a fact that you will be able to immediately buy a micro-SIM on a tray from a local operator - checked. Someday everything Cell phones will work with microformat cards, but this transition process, like the recent transition of all proprietary connectors to a single micro-USB standard, will be painful for some. The modern SIM card wasn't big enough to shrink it even further.

Eventually general impression The experience of using the Sony Xperia S is ambiguous: on the one hand, there are high-quality materials and high-quality assembly, an interesting, unconventional design and comfortable, well-thought-out dimensions. But, on the other hand, the inconvenient location of the buttons and the dubious usefulness of some innovations do not allow us to give the new flagship a solid “A” for its exterior.

Screen

The screen in the Sony Xperia S is a regular liquid crystal TFT TN matrix, but with an HD resolution of 720x1280, physical dimensions of 95x54 mm and a diagonal of 4.3 inches. With such high resolution within the given physical dimensions, the picture turns out to be quite clear and smooth; naturally, you won’t notice any graininess - the pixel density is this screen extremely high. In addition, the picture is further improved using proprietary Mobile Bravia Engine technology, which makes it even more realistic. This technology is software, and it only works while viewing photos and videos. According to the manufacturer, the technology allows you to display the picture in a more natural way for the eye, adding clarity, saturation, contrast and, moreover, removing some of the noise.

The colors on this screen look, of course, more realistic than on acid AMOLEDs, but the picture seems to lack saturation and looks slightly velvety. This may be because the display lacks brightness, even at maximum level. By the way, there is no automatic brightness adjustment in the settings, only manual. The outside of the screen is covered with protective mineral glass that is scratch-resistant. The screen responds sensitively to finger touches; no erroneous clicks were noticed.

Sound

The sound of the external speaker was not particularly pleasing: it is loud, but mostly high frequencies predominate, there is no bass. However, it does not choke at the maximum volume level, remains clean and performs an excellent alert function. incoming call— you won’t miss a call even on the street. In addition, the sound here is processed using proprietary xLoud technology. This technology developed by Sony does not affect the sound quality in any way, but serves to enhance the volume of the main speaker. To ensure that the table surface does not interfere with the propagation of sound, back cover there is a small protrusion that raises the speaker opening above the surface.

But the sound of the media player in the headphones, including the included ones, was quite satisfactory: the sound was loud, clear, and low frequencies are present. Sony Xperia S can definitely be used as an audio player, especially since there are a lot of settings, including an equalizer with ten preset values ​​to choose from (you can set your own).

Camera

The device has two cameras: the front one, for video communication, and the main one, with automatic focusing and LED backlight. The matrix resolution of the front module is 1.3 megapixels, the camera is quite suitable for video conferencing and for using the screen as a mirror.

The main camera module is more interesting: the 12-megapixel camera (f/2.4 aperture) is equipped with a Sony Exmor R CMOS matrix and produces images of very decent quality. The maximum size of photos when shooting with default settings (9 MP, 16:9) is 4000×2250, and when switched to shooting mode 4:3, 12 MP - 4000×3000. The quality and clarity of photographs in original resolution can be assessed by clicking on the thumbnails. An interesting observation: in the first picture, when enlarged, you can even see the numbers on the car’s license plate, which looks tiny against the general background.

Thanks to the possibility of automatic focusing, text taken from paper or a monitor screen remains perfectly readable.

During the demonstration of the Sony Xperia S, company representatives emphasize the shooting speed of the new communicator's camera. Indeed, literally 1.5 seconds pass from pressing a key to taking a picture, even when the screen is locked. That is, with the Sony Xperia S you don’t need to select anything from the menu if you need to take an urgent photo on the go - just take out the phone and hold down the camera button. By the way, in the settings you can change the assignment of this button to the function of turning on the camera without taking a frame, for example.

The module can also shoot video in Full HD resolution (1920×1080) and take panoramic photos. You can evaluate the quality of video shooting using the example of a 10-second video (MP4, 1920×1080, 17 MB). An example photo is in front of you. The quality and resolution are not great, but overall the feature looks attractive.

Software

Sony Xperia S runs the familiar version of the Android 2.3.7 (Gingerbread) operating system, but this model has already been promised an update to version 4.0 in the second quarter of this year. It also has its own software shell, which slightly changes and complements the standard Android interface, but not much. Five at a time home screens branded widgets (like the weather) are scattered across the desktop, the general internal list of programs can be sorted by several parameters, and when you turn it on for the first time, the proprietary application offers to configure the smartphone.

Another interesting feature: using the Media Remote software application this smartphone can serve as a remote control for controlling Sony equipment, and this is just part of the ecosystem that the company is creating. During the recent exhibition in Barcelona, ​​the Sony Mobile stand demonstrated various ways of interaction between smartphones, tablets and Sony TVs, turning these bundles into multimedia combines or gaming consoles. For example, the communicator is equipped with an HDMI port and can be connected to a TV using a cable, turning into a multimedia center. The same Media program Remote does not require a cable at all, it works via wireless network and allows you to control other devices connected to this network, such as Sony players or Bravia TVs.

Also, the Sony Xperia S is PlayStation certified, which turns it into a full-fledged portable gaming console with the ability to download and play compatible games from the PlayStation Store. These are mainly games for the first PS One console, adapted for smartphones, or new games specially written for them.

Performance

The Sony Xperia S hardware platform (model LT26i) is built on a Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8260 single-chip system with a central processor based on ARMv7 architecture, which contains two cores operating at a frequency of 1.5 GHz. Besides central processor, there is an Adreno 220 graphics coprocessor. All this power is served by 1 GB of RAM. There is 32 GB of flash memory on board, and it cannot be expanded with memory cards due to the lack of a slot for them.

In Quadrant Standard, the communicator confidently overtook another owner of an HD screen - Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and according to the results of the comprehensive AnTuTu Benchmark, both flagships are almost equal, but the Galaxy Nexus is slightly ahead (6260 points versus 6146).

In terms of graphics performance in NenaMark2 (v2.2), the Sony Xperia S is again ahead: 37.5 fps versus 24.7 fps for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

In respect of battery life Sony Xperia S cannot and should not shock with records. If you're lucky, it will last until the middle of the next day, but it's better to charge every evening. This, naturally, applies to a normal workload mode, when both the Wi-Fi module is turned on and GPRS is not turned off, plus several telephone conversations and SMS, a little surfing the Internet and listening to music. The operating time will be greatly reduced if you use GPS navigation or watch a movie. Continuous listening to music on headphones lasted about 23 hours, and watching a movie in an AVI container with a resolution of 720p drained the battery in 5 hours.

Bottom line

When comparing with competitors - with those models that today claim to be flagships - it is worth considering that Sony Xperia S is a flagship new season, which “shot” the first of the new products. The smartphone is now available for pre-order in branded stores Sony Store at a price of 24,990 rubles. But the rest of the top new products have not yet reached the counter, so pivot table now the flagships of last season, which will soon be replaced.

As can be seen from the table, no outstanding breakthrough happened with the release of the Sony Xperia S. Perhaps, only in terms of camera can Sony Xperia S be considered a market leader, and it is not a fact that Nokia N8 will give up without a fight in the competition for supremacy.

However, the Sony Xperia S is worthy of the title of flagship. It showed excellent results in synthetic tests, has an interesting, unconventional design, high-quality case materials and decent hardware characteristics. Considering its pedigree and not a shocking price even at the start of sales, the new top Sony smartphone can count on a serious share of attention from buyers.

In order to regulate power consumption so carefully, a dedicated utility was required. It’s called “Energy Saving”. There are several power consumption options that depend on the current charge level and determine the set of active modules, backlight intensity, and so on. It is possible to configure auto-run mode according to a schedule.

As for media capabilities, the gallery for viewing photos and videos remains standard from the Android platform - unlike the audio player. The transformations made by the manufacturer are noticeable here. Namely, a menu similar to Windows Phone; equalizer; similar to the Genius function from iTunes.

The capacity of the built-in battery is 1750 mAh, which is approximately 15-20% more than the standard for top smartphones. But with maximum load on the smartphone, its autonomy remains the same, no better or worse than its closest analogues - the device “holds on” throughout the day. However, with more restrained use, and taking into account active circuits energy saving, the operating time can actually be extended to two partial days. For a smartphone with similar characteristics, this is a good result. One might even say very good. Well, who will have to compete with him? Let's get a look!

Competitors

The Mobile World Congress, held in Barcelona at the turn of February and March, showed the world several quad-core smartphones. And yes, this is already a prerequisite for being called a full-fledged flagship. In this regard, the Sony Xperia S is a little behind, but let's not forget that it was introduced earlier. In addition, there is no real benefit from four cores yet, and there won’t be until the very end of 2012.

HTC One S. Quad core HTC flagship One X costs significantly more than the Sony Xperia S, but the middle model from the new HTC line can compete on equal terms. It is good because it already has an operating system at the time of release latest version(Android 4.0), as well as the beautiful Sense 4 interface and a number of significant software improvements: the ability quick launch cameras, the function of saving photos during video recording and so on.

The device is made in a monoblock form factor and is equipped with a 4.3-inch LCD display with Mobile Bravia Engine technology. The display resolution is 1280 x 720 pixels (720p), resolution - 342 ppi. The screen is capable of displaying 16.7 million colors. The Sony Xperia S camera is equipped with a Sony Exmor R sensor with a resolution of 12 MP, 16x digital zoom, autofocus with the ability to select a subject by touching the screen, LED flash, face recognition technology, automatic scene selection, stabilizer and Sweep Panorama function, and has the ability to shoot video in 1080p format and backlit in video mode. The camera starts up in 1.5 s. The Sony Xperia S features surround sound, PlayStation certification, built-in FM radio and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Communication capabilities presented: Wi-Fi (with the ability to create an access point), Bluetooth, HDMI, USB 2.0, DLNA and NFC. In addition to GPS smartphone supports GLONASS.

According to ZOOM.Cnews readers
Sony XPERIA S:

Functional, beautiful, has a good camera, ergonomic, lightweight, can be a replacement for a player, can act as a GPS receiver, expensive, has a weak battery.

CHARACTERISTICS

Beautiful

Has a good camera

Ergonomic

Easy

Can be a replacement for the player

Can act as a GPS receiver

Affordable

Possesses capacious battery

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MAIN TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Nutrition

General characteristics

Screen

Calls

Multimedia capabilities

Connection

Memory and processor

Other features

First look at the flagship smartphone Sony Xperia S: pure Japanese charm