Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc user reviews

chelsea993 26 March 2012

Good: Slim phone

Bad: Battery Life

Comment: After having a lot of problem with the Vivaz (which i do not recommend to anyone!!) Orange sent me the Xperia Arc, at first i loved the phone but the novelty wore off very quickly. The phone is very slim although very delicate. The app store is brilliant but the games, apps, etc completely rinse your battery. Every night i have my phone on charge yet through the day it still only lasts for around 5-6 hours with NO apps open! Overall i wouldn't recommend this phone to anyone unless you are looking for a phone that is slim and nice looking, the battery is crap!

yadan 1 December 2011

Good: The screen, the camera and the phone functions

Bad: Touchscreen too sensitive, serious deficiency in the scheduling function

Comment: As the owner of a small business, I am much more concerned with the screen size and clarity, the phone operations and the calendar apps than with the media apps.
The Xperia's screen is large and clear, and the phone and contacts apps are just fine.
The touchscreen, however, is far too sensitive for my touch; I find I spend as much time erasing mistakes as inputting names and numbers. Perhaps this situation will improve as I get more used to the screen.
The scheduling function is a pure disaster: there is no way to edit a single entry within a repeating series. Sony Ericsson did provide an update to supposedly solve this problem, but it didn't: although it added the option of editing "this plus future entries," it still did not enable one to edit only a single entry without impacting the remainder of the series.
The company then referred me to a different page on their site to download an alternate update, but the page simply did not exist!
I'm still corresponding with the manufacturer in order to achieve some sort of solution.

Vicky Smith 24 November 2011

Good: Slim design, impeccable screen quality and magnificent photos.

Bad: NOTHING!

Comment: I moved to this phone having previously using iPhone and had been an iOS fan for years, initially I was very skeptical about Android but was willing to give it a go having previously used Sony Ericssons.

Upon first glance I thought the size and thinness was both a good and bad thing I feared that it may snap or the screen may crack easily this is not the case.

The screen is amazing unlike with other smartphones there is no air gap between the screen and casing this teamed up with Sony Bravia Mobile engine gives impeccable clarity and colour.
It has an 8.1mp camera and Exmor R technology which allows you to take good quality photos even in poor lighting conditions, I did a test comparing the arc and my work Blackberry by taking a photo at night and was very surprised by the outcome the blackberry picture is very black with only a few small sections visible whereas the Arc picture was very clear.

I am very thrilled with the phone and would deffinately recommend it to anyone, I have turned my back on iOS and have never looked back. My only gripe is the battery life but that is to be expected with any smartphone.

Mugen13 20 October 2011

Good: brilliantly made, light and agile, lots of features, superb audio, camera and screen size

Bad: could have used something other than plastic, volume of music isn't as loud as i hoped.

Comment: As soon as i saw this phone in display i thought i had to get one. I had an iphone 4 back then and dont look back for a minute. Just the iphone was perhaps better made in terms of more exuberant materials, this sony however felt with more soul. it felt out of the pack and just so much more livid. Everyone who sees it wants to touch it and hold it like if it was a Pomeranian dog . I find it slim enough to make you stuff your pants yet not so much that it feels flimsy. the camera wont replace my nikon d60 any time soon but for outdoor shots on everyday life it more than makes up for with its 8mp camera and 720p recording. I recently updated to 2.3.4 and now you can take panorama pictures which are panoramic in plain english and they look great. The ability to hook it in to my hdtv via hdmi also comes in handy to watch videos either stream from netflix or locally stored. it will also show pictures or 3d material (if you have 2.3.4). you will rejoice having this phone. It solidifies your stance as someone who doesn't need to be told what to do but rather be assisted. I pretty much hate the apple way of always telling me what to do and not just allow me to do as i wish with my phone. Sony gives you an unlock code so you can root your device (at your own risk of course) and then install a loaf of rooms that can be easily downloaded from xdadevelopers. I am very happy with my purchase if only because they have a new arc S out, but then i knew this day would come. Highly recommended for anybody who loves a different style and a very decent pack of features.

phedro 13 October 2011

Good: fast, usable, good looking

Bad: battery's very disappointing, even by smart phone standards

Comment: at first i didn't like the phone, i'd wanted an LG Optimus 2X but the contract got more expensive the week before i bought, but within 2 days i loved the arc.
it's fast, the ui's easy to use & good looking, andf the styling of the phone's great. HDMI cable included & an 8gb card.
the battery's very poor though - i saw that in other reviews & thought 'it CAN'T be THAT bad' - i was wrong.
I'd also seen in other posts that the back panel was very flimsy, and thoguht that it didn't matter as i'd very rarely have it off the phone - trouble is it's so flimsy it flexes, just a little, when you're using it.
also the apostrophe's under the symbols menu so you need to keep switching when typing - dead annoying - maybe you can download new keyboards but i've not looked yet.
so a couple of negatives, but generally a brilliant piece of kit - highly recommend

dragonpumpkin 18 September 2011

Good: Thin, gorgeous, fun and customisable

Bad: Android Apps and bugs

Comment: I loved this phone - even though the plastic cover seems a bit cheap, it still looks and feels wonderfully graceful. The widgets, music player, camera, video etc are all top notch - fluid and easy-to-use. I found no problems with battery life, but I didn't use the phone heavily during the week I owned it.

I returned the phone because of the app support. I found that I could not access the Android Marketplace for love or money. Despite checking various workarounds, I still could not get access - and I resent having to spend days scouring the internet and looking for solutions.

There was also a number of annoying bugs that, I suspect, would never be updated and eliminated. When changing the volume levels, the phone has 3 volume settings for ringer, media and something else I can't remember. Changing the volume at different times changes the volume for that aspect of the phone. Sounds nice, but it isn't - what situation would you be in if you wanted your ringer muted but wanted full volume for an app? Plus, the only way to then equalise the volume levels is through the settings menu.
Another bug was changing the message tone for in-coming messages. When changing this through the settings menu, it didn't work. You need to change it from the message settings menu alone, another solution I had to use the internet to discover.

I loved the phone - felt great, looks fantastic and is great fun to use. But the bugs and apps problem killed it.

Dj Silent 13 September 2011

Good: style,look, multimedia and updates

Bad: Well because I am always using my phone it needs to be charged twice a day but its expected I suppose.

Comment: My sonyericsson arc is wonderful, I find it easy to use and I have set it up the way I want. With my apps in folders and music and video playlist shortcuts located on my homepages. The screen is really clear; I watch HD movies and music videos all the time. My arc is a part of my everyday life, I use it at work to communicate (whatsapp, Skype, Gmail, yahoo and business email) and listen to music (albums and playlists on my phone and the radio) In the gym I listen to music and watch videos while I’m working out, in the car I listen to music and talk and on public transport I play games and read apps.
My kids play on my phone for hours and watch movies and iplayers through the television via my playstation or the hdmi cable. I keep my phone up to date with the sonyericsson pc companion and I have backed up my calendar and all my contacts on my sonyericsson account on the sonyericsson website.

Jennifer Lancaster 10 August 2011

Good: Its just an overall good phone, sat nav is great, facebook, youtube! thumbs up.

Bad: lagging!!!!!!

Comment: i've had it for a few weeks now and recently its started saingy that all my applications are crashing and making them close, its running soo slow, i've deleted apps that i dont really need but its doing my headin to say its ment to me a 'top' phone! i advise you not to get it!!

James Alexander 8 August 2011

Comment: Amazing phone!!

Lou Barratt 3 August 2011

Good: Crystal clear graphics, decent enough battery life, it's on Android = loads of apps, really good camera - probably the best in any phone,

Bad: Nothing as of yet.

Comment: The last phone I had was a Xperia x10i, it was an amazing phone, much better then the iphone in MANY ways. The Arc, to be truthful, isn't that much different to the x10, apart from it's sleek, thin design and more of a HD feel about it. I can see me loving this phone for many years and nothing coming close to it for the same duration of time!