Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc preview: First look

Introduction

Sony Ericsson is back at it and they are pushing pedal to the metal with their latest unusually curved and unusually streamlined sports car – the XPERIA Arc. Once one of the top three phone manufacturers, Sony Ericsson has been through some hard times but the company underwent a painful restructuring and it found a way to make its handsets desirable again by focusing on the high-end segment and staking on Android OS. The XPERIA X10 did a lot to repair the company public image and it’s now up to the Arc to improve it even further.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc official photos

In theory it should be easier now – we already know Sony Ericsson is capable of producing top-notch hardware. Even if they aren’t doing spectacularly in terms of pushing updates, their recent smartphones have all been good value for money so the Arc won’t have its origin held against it.

Yet competition on the high-end has never been more intense so a significant performance boost would be required from the Arc even if it was only to retain the same position as the X10 last year. Fortunately it might just manage to deliver, or at least as far as it specs sheet suggests:

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 850/900/1900/2100 MHz, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, 5.76Mbps HSUPA
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone
• Dimensions: 125 x 63 x 8.7-10 mm, 117 g
• Display: 4.2" 16M-color TFT capacitive touchscreen, 854 x 480 pixels
• CPU: Qualcomm MSM8255 1 GHz Snapdragon platform
• OS: Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
• Memory: 287MB storage, 512MB RAM, microSD card slot, 8GB card included in the retail box
• Camera: 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash, face detection and touch focus; 720p video recording at 30fps
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, microHDMI port
• Misc: Sony Ericsson Timescape UI, built-in accelerometer, proximity sensor, Sony Mobile Bravia engine, multi-touch input, scratch-resistant surface

The lack of multi-touch input and the less RAM than most competitors were the sticks that were most frequently used for beating the X10. The XPERIA Arc not only fixes those, but expands the screen size and introduces the new Bravia engine for even better image quality.

The waistline has also been slimmed down and the new interestingly curved design adds another touch of class to the Arc. Now add the microHDMI port and the same capable camera as on the X10 and you get the idea that the Arc is a powerful beast indeed.

So, with high hopes and eagerness we are stepping into the hardware part of this preview. Join us after the break.