Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc hands-on pictures and video

We got our hands on the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc and we hurry to give you some live shots, video demos and quick screen comparison with two of the most popular mobile screens out there. The Arc is full of surprises, so let's not waste any more time and see some action.

We expected quite a big gadget, but in the end we found the Arc is ok to handle as there's hardly any unused space around the 4.2" screen. The extraordinary 8.7mm thickness (in the center at least) and the arc-like design add for the impression of a smartphone that's quite smaller than what the screen size might suggest.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc live shots

The battery cover reminds us of XPERIA X8 with the dark blue splash at the bottom. Unfortunately Sony Ericsson has decided to use glossy plastic, which turns the rear panel into a smudge magnet. The smudge problem also applies for the mineral glass-covered display, but similar to iPhone 4 you can easily clean it.

More live shots of XPERIA Arc

Proceeding to the software side of things we meet something familiar. The XPERIA Arc has the typical Sony Ericsson theme and TimeScape UI but beneath that there's the latest Android Gingerbread. Here is a demo video:

We were surprised by the lack of the Mediascape UI, but this just might be due to the pre-release status of our unit.

Unlike its X10 predecessor, the Arc is fast and responsive all the time, without any interface glitches, loadings or noticeable lag whatsoever. And this is just a pre-release unit with the software being far from final. We expect the retail Arc to be an excellent performer.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc relies on an LED-backlit LCD screen with the BRAVIA Mobile Engine for picture improvement. Sony Ericsson calls that combo the Reality display. Well, in reality, it's nothing out of this world.

If we have to compare it (and we do, don't we?), it's definitely better than the screen of the Desire HD and that of the previous XPERIA X10. The Samsung's Super AMOLED screens and the Apple iPhone screen are still on top. And so is, the Nokia Clear Black display too. So on it's own, the Arc's Reality display is a really nice achievement but that's about it.

The Arc's Reality display compared to iPhone Retina and Samsung Galaxy S Super AMOLED

Looking head-on at the Arc's display the colors seems natural and the contrast is excellent. When you look from the side, the viewing angles are nice too, but the contrast and the colors can't keep up.

The Arc's Reality display compared to iPhone Retina and Samsung Galaxy S Super AMOLED

Still we give the credit of Sony Ericsson for the improvement over its previous generation displays and hope we'll see some development in this direction.

Well, that's pretty much everything we wanted to share with all of you today. We're working on our XPERIA Arc preview and you should expect it in a few days.