Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc: Our first hands-on impressions

January 6, 2011 By Jeffrey Van Camp

Sony Ericsson isn't ready to cede the retinal screen race. The Xperia Arc is the manufacturer's newest Android device and runs its new Bravia Engine.

This large picture still does little justice to the screen of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc. Like Samsung’s Super AMOLED phone and a whole crop of new phones hoping to compete with the iPhone 4 “Retina Display,” the Xperia Arc has a bright and vibrant high-end “Reality Display.” Buzzwords aside, it is a very nice 4.2-inch, 854×480 pixel screen. It’s also scratch and shatter resistant, thanks to a form of mineral glass–a type of glass used to make watch crystals.

The phone runs Android 2.3 with Sony’s shell on top, the Bravia Engine, which dolls up the interface, making it look more like Sony’s line of TVs and the PS3 with more blues and windowpane-like menus. Every manufacturer feels compelled to add its own flavor to Android, but Sony does an especially slick job, besting Motorola’s Blur interface and maybe even HTC Sense–though Sense has far more custom widgets to choose from.

Physically, the Xperia Arc is pretty thin and has an “inhale” design where the center is actually thinner than the top and bottom. Representatives told us that, at its center, the device is thinner than the iPhone 4. Impressive, I suppose, but the plastic casing can’t match the solid feel of the iPhone 4. Nevertheless, the design fit surprisingly well in my hand. Another notable change from most Android phones is the addition of actual physical Home, Back, and Menu buttons. Representatives also made a point about the quality of the low-light pictures it takes, but we haven’t had a chance to test this feature due to the bright lights on the show floor.

Like most Sony Ericsson phones, the Xperia Arc is having a difficult time finding a carrier to support it in the United States. No pricing, carrier plans, or release dates have been announced. The most likely candidate is AT&T, but we’ll have to wait and see.

The video below shows the device in action. We also have a few more photos of the phone here.

Showing 4 comments

Musthafa Ullal at 6:57am 11th April 2011 great phone and great features from sony ericsson again..this phone and Xperia Neo Avaible for Pre-Order at just Rs. 1000 http://t.co/kNbSqCu This is the good news for Indians only!
saltorio at 10:19am 10th January 2011 @Anmol You have to be kidding? What innovation? The only innovation on the Arc is... nothing? The specs on this phone are the same as on phone released last spring & summer. The screen is 0.2" larger than is typical on most smartphones these days, but the similar to phones like the HTC Evo 4G (4.3"). 854x480 is the same screen resolution as the X10 and Droid/Milestone, both of which have smaller screens (and thus higher pixel-per-inch densities). So where's the innovation here? What DigitalTrends should mention in their article is how poorly Sony Ericsson support their phones (look at their track record with the Xperia X1, X2, and now X10).
Anmol at 1:05am 7th January 2011 Nice, but one should praise sony for their innovative designs. Common, the screen is much larger than prevailing sets in the market and has better display than many of the sets. for ex: nokia n8 (got an inferior display than arc). Sony is always first in innovation then all companies copy and give their name to the innovation. (then how is it innovation). Sound is best in sony handsets and camera quality too. Only thing which i think is less is the durability. Other than that, Sony Ericsson rocks.!!!!!
1. dirtyd at 12:33pm 25th January 2011 Sony buys their technology then gives it a fancy name. They bought the old school trinitron tv design from rca. Except rca had their tv in a wood box, Sony put it in a plastic box gave it a fancy name and suckers like u were born. Sony makes garbage. Don't know about their phones, but tvs, recievers, computers, n all their other electronics is crap. Nothing they make is the best in the category. They just do good marketing, n dumb people drink the cool aid ...