Sony Xperia acro S

Overview

Sony Xperia Acro S: Solid & Rugged

The Sony Xperia Acro S joins the other models in Sony’s range of ‘tough-phones’ – rugged mobiles designed to stand up to withstand much more than just rough handling. But how well does it perform as a phone?

Design and Build Quality of Sony Xperia Acro S

In design, the Sony Xperia Acro S strongly resembles the devices in the Sony NXT series, but with a few subtle differences. The handset’s connections have been positioned at the top, and it doesn’t have the distinctive illuminated strip. The Sony Xperia Acro S has earned an IP57 rating: this means that it’s both water- and dust-resistant, much like Motorola’s Defy XT. According to the phone’s certificate, users should be able to submerge the phone in water of 1m depth for a period of 30 minutes. Its audio jack, micro-HDMI and micro-USB ports are hidden by watertight plastic seals. The phone’s 4.3” HD (720p) display is scratch-resistant. Its 720x1280 resolution is vivid and crisp, and it performs well even in direct sunlight and from multiple angles. The device itself weighs a hefty 147g and feels strong and durable.

User Interface and Comfort to Use Sony Xperia Acro S

The Acro S is one of Sony’s first mobiles to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but the manufacturer would have been wiser to choose Gingerbread (2.3), as the interface is generally very poor and limited. The menu button has only two functions: adding widgets and altering the theme. Widgets can’t be added from the app drawer, which is inconvenient for users. The home screen can be customized with folders, shortcuts and widgets, and the level of customization is otherwise good. Equipped with a 1.5 Ghz processor, the phone’s performance is smooth and responsive, although responses from the phone’s dedicated key can be sluggish.

Telephony and Phonebook

The phones contacts app is quick and intuitive, permitting unlimited entries and sorting by Groups. Social media compatibility is excellent, as we’ve come to expect from the newest generation of smartphones: simply connect to your Facebook and Twitter accounts to pull contact info into the phone. Each contact can be assigned an image and ringtone, and there’s support for Facebook Chat. Call quality is good, and the phone very rarely drops calls. However, the positioning of the speaker behind the handset makes the speakerphone option useless – even at top volume, it’s difficult to hear anything. The phone is also capable of 720p video calling, a great feature.

Messaging and Emails

The phone includes support for a wide range of messaging options, including SMS, MMS, IM, Push Email and more. Users are encouraged to use their Google Account with the phone, and the native Email app is simple but straightforward to use. With Xperia Timescape, the phone combines all of your contact information, messages and photos into one place, with support for threaded messages from multiple sources in chronological order.

Gallery, Photo Viewer and Video Player

The phone includes only 4.1 GB of internal storage, so you’ll undoubtedly want to use the ports to boost storage. You can use the micro-USB slot to connect the phone to a TV and use it for viewing media on a big screen, or stream in HD using the micro-HDMI slot. But the phone itself is a great media-viewing device, particularly in HD: the apps for viewing pictures and video are clean and clear, and the visuals are exceptional, with vivid colors and sharp edges.

Sony Xperia Acro S Music Player and FM Radio

The Music app is well crafted on this phone, with plenty of functionality. Browsing is quick, with support for album artwork. The audio quality is very good with headphones. Supporting a wide range of formats, it includes Walkman Player technology and Track ID Recognition. The built-in FM radio, using the audio jack as a transmitter, offers support for RDS and AF transmissions, and the auto-detect function picks up local radio stations quickly.

Still Camera and Image Quality of Sony Xperia Acro S

The phone comes with a 12.1 MP camera, equipped with LED flash, and its performance is distinctly average for that kind of hardware. Shutter speed is good, but an annoying quirk means that touch focus can’t be used when the camera is shooting in automatic mode. Image quality is generally good, with crisp colors and strong detail, but in low light many images showed noise and distortion. It features some useful additions such as face recognition and geo-tagging.

Sony Xperia Acro S Video Camera and Video Quality

Video is one area where the camera shines: in addition to being water- and dust-resistant, it takes great video. The phone can shoot at 1080p HD at a rate of 30fps, and includes video stabilizing, video light and auto-focus. The results are pretty stunning: clear, crisp and stable even when capturing objects in motion.

Connectivity Options

Connectivity is one of the phone’s strongest features. It includes Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth 3.0, and the Bluetooth support is particularly strong, with fast exchanges between compatible devices. With the latest version of Android you can also turn the phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot, handy for a stable, fast connection on the go. It also supports wireless transactions with the new NFC technology.

Organiser and Other Utility Tools in Sony Xperia Acro S

The phone comes pre-installed with a useful array of tools, including Calendar, Alarm/Clock, document viewing support in the form of Office 2007 and Office 2003, as well as a PDF viewer, Flashlight, Calculator and Stopwatch.

Web Browser and Applications

The large, sharp screen displays text, video and images well, and the phone supports Adobe Flash, HTML5, CSS and XHTML, so all elements of web pages will be rendered. The Web app (the standard Android package) performs quickly and smoothly, with fast load-times, and includes some nice features such as smart bookmarking.

Google Maps and GPS

Equipped with Google Maps for mobile out of the box, the phone is an excellent way-finding device: location detection is quick, and directions are clear and simple to follow. It includes assisted GPS and an integrated compass, as well as Google Latitude and Street View, and it renders details and landmarks quickly and smoothly.

Distinctive Features of Sony Xperia Acro S

As this is a Sony phone with a sharp screen, it’s no surprise that it comes PlayStation-certified, so you can play PlayStation suite games and connect to Sony’s Entertainment Network for video and audio downloads.

Value for money and Verdict

The Sony Xperia Acro S doesn’t come cheap, but the sheer range of features and functions justifies its price tag. If you want a rugged smartphone with extensive media support, including excellent photo and video captures, the Sony Xperia Acro S is an excellent buy.