Xperia Arc Goodness

I got the chance to play with the all new Xperia Arc today and simply put, it was absolutely awesome.

Comparing it side by side with my X10 was such a shock because of the level of improvement that this new unit, whose specifications are almost the same as mine, had to offer. The interface responsiveness was similar to how it feels on the X8, only on a 4.3″ screen: very smooth and fluid almost without any noticeable lag. Of course one major factor is that it is running the Android Gingerbread natively, and there are better optimizations that utilize the processor power better with that Android release, I’d wait for the X10 Gingerbread update for a better and much more accurate account.

The screen, while not a Super AMOLED, made the X10’s look pale and washed out. I was playing the same clip as they had showing on the demo unit, the FFXIV promotional video. Even the screen size of the X10 felt so small when the two were together. They had the unit hooked onto a 32 inch LCD screen and even with just that and the phone itself, you can see how the ‘Bravia Mobile Engine’ had that much effect on RAW footage. They weren’t kidding when they suggested in an ad that you’ll watch movies with your phone because it could actually have better colors than that of your television.

Finally, the form… it was so thin that it looked as if the profile was half that of the X10’s and surprisingly it wasn’t hard to grip at all.
Available with a cash price of Php 27,800 it’s significantly lower than that of the X10 when it first came about; even when you get it under installment, it only comes up to about 31k.

Admittedly, this is one of the sexiest full touchscreen phones out on the global market to date, but the internal hardware will be left behind once the dual-core Galaxy 2 and LG Star debut in the country. There is an argument that with phones you really don’t need as much juice as you’d require on a tablet but you know consumers, they’re always greedy.

I would recommend it still for its engineering beauty… get one if you’re playing about the higher end of Android telephony.