Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc review: Android de Triumph

1 April 2011
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 new BRAVIA screen and the impressive...

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  • n
  • nathan
  • tug
  • 30 Jun 2011

my projecter don't have HDMI TV-out ,how do i connect my SE arc to the projecter?has any cable can convert HDMI to RCA tv-out?

    • r
    • ray
    • LCe
    • 24 Jun 2011

    hey guyz,i want to know wich colour is the best? cuz i noticed that the black on on the side is a bit round....but the silver on is straight...i think i wud prefer silver cuz of its straight looking...but wanted the black....anyone notice this?

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • t7y
      • 18 Jun 2011

      Prashant, 25 May 2011I bought the Arc last month. The battery backup is really P... moremine lasts for a day and a half of normal usage (2 days if lucky). Try to restart your phone immediately after charging and turn off wifi, bluetooth and gps when not in use. Hope this helps

        • B
        • BigDirtyJase
        • yJZ
        • 10 Jun 2011

        Well I just got the Xperia Arc last week (after a 1 month delay here in Australia) and here is my impressions of it:

        Pros:
        Stylish and sleek looking unit
        Screen is nice and bright.
        Seems more fluid in comparison to the X10 (I guess simplfying Timescapse and Mediascape helps and also having Gingerbread out of the box)
        Phone had already been upgraded to 2.3.3 out of the box (due to the delay).

        Cons:
        The Notification LED is on the side - would have been nice to have it on the top of the phone
        Switching the buttons around took some time to get use to (the back and option keys were switched from the X10)
        No foward facing camera - but it's not a deal breaker for me nor that I would ever use it (well the Xperia Pro is coming to Australia soon which pretty much the same phone in a different body and with the forward facing camera)
        No smart dialing - I found it sort of annoying on my previous phone but I guess it's still a nice feature to add.
        The camera key is small and location is a bit annoying at first but you get use to it.
        (Local Australia issue only) The phone was released on the same day as the Samsung Galaxy S2, this will (and most likely it has) put a hit in sales/subscriptions for this phone (delay didn't help) - but on the bright side, Optus (who with Vodafone Australia have timed exculisve righs for the Arc) lowered the price point for $0 up front for the phone to their $59 Optus Cap Plan.

        The next thing is for SE to release updates in a timely manner as people were burnt by the X10 and SE need to get back onside with customers

          • K
          • Kam
          • pKa
          • 30 May 2011

          Hmmmmmmm, Further to my previous comments on the phone I have sonce sent my back to Orange due to too many issues....and what I consider poor support from Sony.

          Issues I had was bad WIFI connectivity, camera unable to zoom at high resolutions, too much lag and poor build.

          Even my older HTC Desire is a more pleasurable experience.

          I ain't no fanboy but for a flagship model it's not good enough. Although still a massive improvement by Sony over recent years.

          On the plus side the phone got a great screen and for a such a large phone is very comfortable to hold....

          Other then that I have been been dragged back into the dual core race and have since upgraded to the Motorola Atrix.....A phone I really like and have no complaints ...it works like greased lightening!!!! :)...Got it free o a 18 contract with Orange which is strange as they charged me £70 for the Arc on an 18 month.....very strange.

          Thought my feedback might prove helpful and now that Sony's phone appear to be much improved I'd like to see to see what their answer will be to the GalaxyS2, HTC Sensation, LG x2, Motorola Atrix.....

            • D
            • AnonD-9629
            • 2@y
            • 29 May 2011

            Just bought it, nice mobile.

            It has good touch response, excellent video quality and good internet speed over wi-fi.

            The camera does a pretty decent job too, I could connect it to HDMI in of TV, shoot and stream video at the same time as well.

            Here are links to the videos I shot.

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW2WAbyHNlY

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlwFZGxCLEw

              • S
              • Shyam Sasi
              • T6r
              • 26 May 2011

              I'm using Arc for around 3 weeks now. Great phone no words to describe. The only cons are there an issue with syncing with exchange server and battery like is pathetic. Few minor bugs most of them are resolved with new new update 2.3.3. The leak version is already available in XDA forums.

                • P
                • Prashant
                • w4X
                • 25 May 2011

                I bought the Arc last month. The battery backup is really PATHETIC. I literally have to charge it twice a day if I fiddle with it a lot. However the Camera is just amazing (cant zoom in on 8 MP mode though) and the android 2.3 experience is brilliant.

                  • i
                  • iDave
                  • H5y
                  • 22 May 2011

                  Since the T68i I've been a Sony Ericsson fan, had a few minor detours but on the whole I've loved what SE do.
                  However. I owned Satio and after a few tweaks managed to make it into a half decent phone to add to its fantastic camera. SE let themselves down by using Nokia's symbian OS. I now have an X10 which I love dearly.
                  Ahead of time I knew there would be three contenders for my next upgrade, the Arc being the one I hoped would be the best choice re spec and camera. Alas, since the release of all three it seems the Arc is lacking somewhat in comparison to my other two choices, Sensation & Galaxy S ll. From what I've read on the other two threads it seems the Sensations camera isn't up to scratch but apart from that the Arc might not be as fast or as future proof as either the Sensation or the Galaxy S ll.
                  I get a feeling I might not be going for a Sony Ericsson phone this time but if I can be convinced by any of you guys I'm welcome to your opinions.

                    • B
                    • Bubbles
                    • w9L
                    • 19 May 2011

                    I currently have a Samsung Wave and i hate it,plagued by random DNS failures and crummy battery life(probably thats my fault)

                    the biggest problems are the the lack of applications, i been owning it for eight months and still the app store is not functional in my country, and the screen burn on the S-AMOLED screen, it's very disappointing,
                    this will be my first android hope i made a good choice ,ordered one today

                      • A
                      • Arak
                      • m4N
                      • 16 May 2011

                      Again Mr. Eldar Murtazin bashed Sony Ericsson in his 2 latest reviews ,,, read below the 2 reviews

                      http://www.mobile-review.com/r...50i-en.shtml

                      http://www.mobile-review.com/r...lay-en.shtml

                      I have not seen a review like this before full of hate to a company
                      not even one good thing was said about the SE phones .
                      I think he always has personnal problems with SE and lately Nokia , ,

                      I think that these companies did not give something to him that he asked !!!!!!!!!!!!!dont forget that both companies are European Origin and its they are getting bombarded by people like Eldar Murtazin to hit down any Europea products ,,, and I think that it is part of the international undergroung politics to destroy Europe with all its products and industry ..

                      Eldar murtazin belongs to the group of people that I can say that an 2 nd hand car dealer ,that he will sell anything even himself (moraly)in order to make money to survive.

                      Many other products are so inferior and bad quality , just look for example Samsung low end range and see for yourself what really do they offer (nothing), here he never took a product and based it ,,,

                      in his reviw he says thaty its a waste of time to review the Yendo ,, so I come to ask him as a professional , whhy then he choose such low end phone to reviiew ,,, the reason is just to hit back on Sony Ericsson and make bad comments on it

                      I come to say
                      Dear Eldar Murtazin
                      -------------------
                      you game have been discovered and its so obvious by many now that you have lost the credibility of your site ,,
                      I never saw a professional in my life talking about a company like this , if you read carefully the review , you can see that it was more of a personal than professional nature

                      i feel so sorry that such people still exist on this high tech planet

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • 3Ax
                        • 16 May 2011

                        "Text selection is a major change in the user interface. Gingerbread really takes things to a whole new level by placing two large pointers either side of the marked text..."

                        So does the Desire HD.

                          • y
                          • ys
                          • K8T
                          • 07 May 2011

                          Used the arc since 2 days have to say it has a blazing fast ui, the touch screen too is very responsive, good camera and screen clarity.Have to say this is the top droid right now and the looks are impressive too

                            • o
                            • op
                            • tA$
                            • 04 May 2011

                            the music player is always repeating,,, is that problem comes from arc or the os (android)???

                              • K
                              • Kam
                              • Saq
                              • 03 May 2011

                              AnonD-5197, 03 May 2011Well done :) I can't resist the temptation of the SGS II... moreCheers Dude,

                              Get the phone delivered today....still "umming" and "ahhing" about my choice.

                              BUt after speaking to Orange today, I have found out that the both the Atrix and the SGs2 have been delated :O(.

                              I still can still return the phone as long as I let them know within 7 days of recieving it :)

                              I think I'll b more then happy with it...but the dark side is very tempting...

                              Any Arc usres out there??? your hands-on thoughts of the phone would be really helpful :)

                                • D
                                • AnonD-5197
                                • Ti8
                                • 03 May 2011

                                Kam, 01 May 2011Apologies to myself and you all for the bad spelling spelli... moreWell done :)

                                I can't resist the temptation of the SGS II... Falling to the all powerful dark side... lol

                                  • R
                                  • Rohan
                                  • 7ty
                                  • 02 May 2011

                                  AnonD-7457, 01 May 2011i am confused between Xperia Arc,Desire S and Nexus S. her... moreGo for Arc it's best right now in market .. I have it and addicted to it ... It's 10 on 10

                                    • A
                                    • Arcy
                                    • vGk
                                    • 02 May 2011

                                    Is there a voice talk feature or lets say a voice to text messages feature?
                                    Or any other app that does this feature in Xperia Arc!

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-7457
                                      • vGE
                                      • 01 May 2011

                                      i am confused between Xperia Arc,Desire S and Nexus S.
                                      here in India we have only S-LCD version of nexus S,so the best feature of Nexus S (AMOLED screen)is lost.
                                      Also m not much interested in HTC Incredible S bcoz of its boxy looks.
                                      Suggestions plz..

                                        • K
                                        • Kam
                                        • pJN
                                        • 01 May 2011

                                        Kam , 30 Apr 2011I have officially taken myself out of the processor race...... moreApologies to myself and you all for the bad spelling spelling errors...;O)