Hands on with the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc

Yes it may be made out of cheap plastic but that doesn’t mean this phone isn’t a looker. The XPERIA Arc from Sony Ericsson is one of the rare Android 2.3 Gingerbread-ready phones in the local market today (the other one being the HTC Desire S). This is an “Acceptance Unit” which simply means that it is, like us, waiting for someone to accept us for who we really are.

OK seriously, more photos after the jump.

Perhaps the most notable feature of the Arc is its sprawling 4.2 inch screen putting it at par with Samsung’s Galaxy S line. Although the screen isn’t as crisp the latter’s Super AMOLED display technology, the Arc still can boast of the utility of a bigger screen.

There are three hard buttons which are now heavy staples for most Android phones today. “Back,” “Home” and “Menu.” I wish the Arc also had a contextual search button that allows you to search from within your contact list, Foursquare locations, Facebook friends, etc. But maybe I’m asking for too much.

Compared to the HTC Desire S, I was able to get better battery results from doing just about everything you’d want to do with a smartphone. 1500mAh: Always on data. Games. Calls. SMS. Social networking. Browsing. Full charge to drain in about 10 hours. Superstar blogger Rico Mossesgeld got slightly different battery results with the screen brightened to full. I had mine on medium. Still, one of the better batteries for Android 2.3.

The phone retails for PHP 29,xxx but you can get it for free at Plan 2500 with SMART.

Bottomline
It’s a good phone. If you have the cash for it, you WILL have to decide between this and the Desire S because they’re the most similar in price and specs, sans the screen. IMHO I’d go for the one with better build quality — the HTC. But if you do own a Sony Bravia, you can connect the XPERIA Arc via HDMI. The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc comes with a neat 8MP camera with HD video. It’s a damn good camera.

The biggest gripe would be the build quality. It feels, sometimes like the phone would snap if I placed it inside my pocket and sat down. Thankfully that didn’t happen. Or maybe I’m just paranoid.

A Paranoid Android.

OK BYE!