Xperia Arc & Xperia Play
 

Anyone planning to get either of these phones?

I'm looking into getting the Xperia Arc myself, but the release date seems to keep getting pushed back :\ I'd love to hear any opinions you guys have on these phones.
I've heard that sony ericsson smart phones aren't the most reliable, and I have a x10 myself that's pretty glitchy so I'm not too sure if the Arc would be the same. I really the design and how thin it is, but I don't think I can live with a phone that messes up often

the older SE phones always seem to lag.. i hope it doesnt happen with these phones..

i dunno whether to get an Arc for the looks or the Nexus S for the function...

Also, reviews for the play and the Arc are up here:

Play 6/10: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/28/s...a-play-review/

Arc 7/10: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/30/s...ia-arc-review/

Not definitive reviews, but it gives a good idea on what to expect.

The Arc's looking like a great buy, only if Rogers releases the unlocked bootloader version, which I highly doubt they will do. But it's one damn sexy phone.

Samsung Galaxy S II, anyone?

No new android device for me this year unless something really blows my mind

Note that the PLAY does not play PSP games, only PS1 games. That in itself is cool, but actually any Android phone can do that with an emulator ;) No built-in controller of course, but I doubt it's worth getting a big clunky heavy slow phone just for the controller.

why not get the best of both worlds.
Buy an unlocked Arc (that comes with an unlocked bootloader) and pick any ROM you please :)

I don't see NFC catching on in Canada for a while

I have an X10 and if it's anything like the X10, avoid like the plague.

I was totally planning on getting the arc this spring but after reading reviews for the gs2 I think I've changed my mind.

Arc seemed great with sleek design and timescape widget but the resolution isn't as high as it should be for the screen size and since photos are res'd down for timescape and mediascape it really seems more like a novelty more than a useful inclusion.

it gets points for looking great and having a cool ui but the gs2 seems to win with better cpu, screen + gpu and a better rumored product support.

...but if I get impatient waiting for the gs2 launch (hopefully it'll be before may) I'll prolly just get the arc.

The SGSII will be a better phone, but MSRP is something like double the Arc. Of course if money isn't an issue I'd just wait for that phone, as being an owner of a Captivate it's hard to imagine them improving on that sexy Samsung screen.

But Eclypz said it best: if you're getting an Arc, be sure to get it unlocked so you'll have more flexibility in the future in case SE shits the bed with their GB skin. Although it looks like it's ok at best according to the reviews I've seen, I'd still go custom.

LOL @ SE.

Always has been and always will be a piece of shit company with piece of shit devices.

I've had decent experiences with SE, but I've owned so many in the past and they've all disappointed me.

People buy what they want, but I'm staying away from Sony Ericsson for good

When it comes to android...all phones could be 95% identical..its the hardware. At this time, SGSII has better hardware
but if you look at how well the NexusOne and NexusS have kept up with the singlecore processors well..that just about answers the question on android

i am using one.. not too bad i guess.... the screen are better from the nexus s

but i like it because is slim

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y30...3/5e21f503.jpg

Got to play with a Xperia Arc today. One sexy phone... makes me think why the heck is my Desire HD so boring in term of design.

Because function > form. The SE might have a nice thin case (at the middle) but it can't touch the DHD in terms of usability and everything else.

what are some of the functions that are lacking compared to other andriod devices then?

really? i have to see this bravia-powered screen in person then. Looking at all other phone screens nothing touches SAMOLED.

as for your question gilly- it essentially comes down to the manufacturer skins on top of Android. Currently the best OS flavour to have is vanilla Android (currently 2.3.3 GB).

However manufacturers put skins on top that get in the way of the smoothness that GB gives, hence lower functionality. That being said some skins are well implemented (HTC's Sense), while others shit the bed (MotoBlur, they only recently allowed you to customize the dock LOL).

That's why there's such a strong development community- essentially they're able to give you the best of both worlds. In my case, they take out all the crap in Samsung's TouchWiz, but leave in the cool shortcuts. It doesn't run exactly like stock Android but it's pretty darn close.

Read some reviews

Read some reviews and then do not contribute to this thread. That's how it should be...

Why don't you add to the thread?

I haven't had experience with the Arc itself. Someone posted a link to a review of the Arc, and it seems to have many of the problems the X10 had.

The X10 I did have some experience with, and it's a POS. The thing is slower than my sister's LG GT540 which costs like $150.

The only people who should buy SE phones are Sony fanboys. Everyone else, stay away.

well GSMarena posted a more in-depth review of the Arc. Catch it here: http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsso...review-584.php

For those discussing UI speed, they say the Arc is "smooth as silk" and that SE did "a vastly better job this time than the XPERIA X10 a year ago."

But for the disadvantages, it's here:

* Display has poor viewing angles
* No front-facing camera
* Main competitors have dual-core CPUs and better GPUs
* No smart dialing
* Display doesn’t have auto brightness control
* microSD card slot is not hot-swappable
* Camera key isn’t particularly comfortable

Esentially, according to the review, it's a great phone to compete with the likes of the DHDs and the Nexus S's of the world, but not the Atrix or any other future dual core phones.

As for the dual core argument, I don't really care for more cores. I have an i7 930 and I don't see how i'll need my phone to do what my computer does computationally. If i need to play games outside of Angry Birds and Flight Control, that's what I have a PC and a PS3 for.

We'll see how it goes in late April.

its pretty nice and fast, I change.from nexus s to this...