Sony Xperia S vs iPhone 4S
Sony, now officially rebranded from Sony Ericsson, has unveiled the Xperia S. It looks like being one of the most high-end smartphones in the world. But how does it match up to the iPhone 4S? Read on to find out.
Size
Xperia S: 128 x 64 x 10.6 mm, 144g
iPhone 4S: 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm, 140g
The Xperia S is noticeably taller than the iPhone 4S, and a little wider too, to accomodate its larger, widescreen display. The Xperia S also breaks from the recent trend of high-end smartphones being less than 10mm thin, which will hopefully result in longer battery life. The weight of the two handsets is essentially the same.
Processor and memory
Xperia S: 1.5GHz dual-core, 1GB RAM
iPhone 4S: 1GHZ dual-core, 512MB RAM
On paper the Xperia S appears to be the clear winner, with a processor 50% faster and double the RAM. However in practice the difference may be less discernible, if at all, due to the fact that the devices run different OSes with different power requirements. The Xperia S should be as fast and responsive as any Android handset, though.
Screen
Xperia S: 4.3″, 720 x 1280 pixels
iPhone 4S: 3.5″, 640 x 960 pixels
The famed Retina Display in the iPhone used to be the standard by which all phone screens were measured. Not any more. The 720p display in the Xperia S, over 4.3 inches, amounts to a pixel density of 341ppi – better even than on the iPhone 4S. The display is arguably the one area most in need of an upgrade when it’s time for the iPhone 5 later this year. The 4.3″ size of the screen on the Xperia S is becoming the norm; some users may find it a little large to use one-handed.
Camera
Xperia S: 12.1 megapixels, f/2.4, 1080p video
iPhone 4S: 8 megapixels, f/2.4, 1080p video
The iPhone 4S is recognised as
having one of the best cameras in any smartphone today. Sony Ericsson (now
just Sony) has traditionally equipped its phones with impressive cameras itself, so we have high hopes that the Xperia S will be a top performer in its own right. The bump in resolution, up to 12.1 megapixels, sounds impressive, although in reality increasing the resolution on a small sensor can actually degrade image quality, so that is something that will need to be analysed in full when the device becomes available. The f/2.4 aperture should ensure reasonable low light performance on a par with what the iPhone 4S can achieve.
Battery
Xperia S: 1750mAh
iPhone 4S: 1432mAh
The Sony Xperia S has a larger battery than the iPhone 4S, but any potential benefits may be offset by the larger screen size and faster processor. In truth, a day is probably the best you can hope for from either device.
OS
Xperia S: Android 2.3 (upgradeable to Android 4)
iPhone 4S: iOS 5
The Xperia S will launch with Gingerbread, Android 2.3, and will receive an update to Android 4 some time in the second quarter of 2012. Sony does customise the OS but in a fairly minimal way, adding a few extra widgets and useability tweaks, without ever completely changing the way the phone works as, say, HTC does. The number of apps is comparable to the iPhone, and both handsets have a comprehensive – if different – feature set, including the excellent Google Maps app on the Xperia S and the popular Siri speech recognition tool on the iPhone.
Verdict
The Sony Xperia S is looking like being one of the most powerful and exciting new smartphones of 2012. On paper it has the specs and features to match and even surpass the iPhone 4S in most areas although, as ever, what looks clear on paper does not always turn out to be so in practice.
We’ll find out when the Xperia S goes on sale in March.
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With so many phones coming out with superior hardware to the iPhone, it is really coming down to a choice between operating systems and the ‘cult of Apple’. Apple lost the lead in hardware a long time ago, yet people still keep buying them. Fair play to them, but consumers should be aware there are currently a lot more technically superior phones out there.