- Conclusion Get the lowdown
- Features How they compare
- Performance Real world benchmarks
- Differences Technical showdown
- Reviews Word on the street
- Competition Others to consider
- Discussion Answers and opinions
Compare with...
- LG Nexus 4
- Samsung Galaxy S III
- HTC One S
- Samsung Galaxy S III mini
- Sony Xperia T
Rated 70% by by c|net (Sep, 2011)Without a doubt, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc is a looker-slim, attractive, and lightweight.
by GSM Arena (Apr, 2011)Other than those peculiarities, the video quality is very good at 1080p – the.
Conclusion Which is better for you?
Features Key features of the Sony Xperia Arc S compared to the Samsung Galaxy S II
GHz1.4
Android 2.3 Gingerbread 3.5G
by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The Xperia arc S is a beautiful phone: tall, super slim, that subtle curve adding extra style.
1.5 GHz
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich 3.5G
Rated 80% by by c|net (Sep, 2012)It's able to capture 1080p movies; video quality was also pleasing.
screen size
4.2"
4.5"
Xperia Arc S by J.-R.-Perez (Mar, 2012)I though that a 4.3 inch screen was too big, but now I am very happy with it.
Galaxy S II by Karla-Velarde (Dec, 2012)Is very simple to use when you get used to it, nice camera, very good HD screen quality, is the perfect size for those like me who think that we don't need a phone of the size of a tablet.
screen resolution
Xperia Arc S by c|net (Sep, 2011)Even on a cold and overcast winter day, the Arc S captured pleasing detail and rich colors outdoors.
Galaxy S II by GSM Arena (Apr, 2011)The images captured with the 8MP camera of the Galaxy S II are very good – low noise, plenty of fine detail and the color and contrast are good too.
memory
| 0 GB | 1 GB | 1 GB |
processor
Galaxy S II by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)With a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU and a powerful GPU, the Galaxy S II for T-Mobile can run every Android app designed for phones.
camera resolution
| 0 MP | 8 MP | 8 MP |
Xperia Arc S by c|net (Sep, 2011)The camera starts with a resolution of 6 megapixels by default, not 8, so you'll have to change that in the settings.
Galaxy S II by c|net (Sep, 2012)There's a nice, strong 2-megapixel camera on the front that's great for video chats, but the best lens yet is the 8-megapixel one on the back, which continues to take excellent shots on every Galaxy S II variation we've seen.
Performance Real world tests of Sony Xperia Arc S vs Samsung Galaxy S II
cpu speed
Xperia Arc S by TrustedReviews (Feb, 2012)Boosting the processor speed of the Arc S from 1GHz to 1.4GHz hasn't resulted in a hugely noticeable improvement in performance over its predecessor but it's just about enough to keep tabs with the competition.
Galaxy S II by c|net (Sep, 2012)Though Qualcomm's chip has a slightly faster CPU, we didn't notice a huge difference in speed in everyday use, and in fact the AT&T and Sprint models felt just a touch more responsive.
talk time
450 min
515 min
Xperia Arc S by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The battery is a 1500 mAh unit that is said to last up to 460 hours of stand-by or up to 7 hours and 25 minutes of talk time.
Differences What are the advantages of each
Advantages compared to the Samsung Galaxy S II
| Smaller | 63 x 125 x 9 mm | vs | 69 x 130 x 9 mm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Around 20% smaller | |||
| Longer standby time | 27,600 min | vs | 10,020 min |
| Around 3x longer standby time | |||
| Lighter | 117 g | vs | 135 g |
| More than 10% lighter | |||
| Sharper screen | 233 ppi | vs | 206 ppi |
| More than 10% sharper PPI; enjoy photo-realistic, crisp images | |||
| Marginally newer | Sep, 2011 | vs | Apr, 2011 |
| Release date 4 months later | |||
| Thinner | 9 mm | vs | 9 mm |
| Around 10% thinner | |||
Advantages compared to the Sony Xperia Arc S
| Screen uses OLED technology | Yes | vs | No |
|---|---|---|---|
| About half of phones are OLED; OLED screens are typically higher contrast and use less power | |||
| Supports NFC | Yes | vs | No |
| Somewhat common; Enables payment by phone and other wireless communications | |||
| Significantly newer operating system | Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich | vs | Android 2.3 Gingerbread |
| Newer Android OS; Get all the latest features and security updates with a more recent version | |||
| Store significantly more stuff | 16 GB | vs | 1 GB |
| 16x more storage capacity; free yourself from memory cards | |||
| More cores | Dual core | vs | Single core |
| Twice as many cores; each additional core lets your phone do more without visible UI slowdowns and jerkiness | |||
| Records higher definition video | 1920 x 1080 @ 30 fps | vs | 1280 x 720 @ 30 fps |
| Around 2.5x higher definition video | |||
| More battery capacity | 1,850 mA·h | vs | 1,500 mA·h |
| More than 20% more battery capacity | |||
| Bigger screen | 4.5" | vs | 4.2" |
| Around 10% bigger screen | |||
| Faster processor | 1.5 GHz | vs | 1.4 GHz |
| Around 10% faster processor; run computation-intensive applications, such as photo editing, faster | |||
Reviews Word on the street
Sony Xperia Arc S | Samsung Galaxy S II | ||
 |   
|
| |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Rated by 138 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by FJH123 (Jul, 2012) Rated 100% by by megan (Jan, 2012) Rated 100% by by J.V.-Osorio (Apr, 2012) | Rated by 446 users at amazon.com Rated 80% by by Wessam-Mesieha (Nov, 2011) Rated 100% by by samsung-I-9100-galazxy-s-II (Jul, 2012) | |
web browser
Sony Xperia Arc S | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The arc S web browser is an example of how a mobile browser should look and behave.
Sony Xperia Arc S | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)They needed a match for the latest single-core droids and they got it in the arc S.It may be a small thing like playing HD Flash videos in the browser hassle-free but it's subtle details that make the difference in user experience.
Sony Xperia Arc S | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The arc S browser supports double tap and pinch zooming, along with the dedicated virtual zoom buttons.
resolution
Sony Xperia Arc S | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)To its credit, the Xperia arc S did play a 720p MP4 video (but not 1080p).
Sony Xperia Arc S | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)We entered the Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S in our Video Compare Tool database too and put it head to head with other 720p mobile camcorders.
Sony Xperia Arc S | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S captures 720p video at 30 fps and does a very good job of it.
video
Sony Xperia Arc S | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The Arc had pretty nice audio quality and the Arc S is just as good.
Sony Xperia Arc S | Rated 80% by by TrustedReviews (Feb, 2012)It does, however, lack dynamic range and can get pretty noisy pretty quickly, though both these are typical problems with phone cameras and the Arc S copes better than most with no really distracting artefacts.
Sony Xperia Arc S | Rated 70% by by c|net (Sep, 2011)Sony Ericsson handsets have traditionally boasted quality cameras, and the Xperia Arc S is no exception.
screen
Sony Xperia Arc S | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)Those observations were confirmed by our contrast test, which the Xperia arc S passed with flying colors.
Sony Xperia Arc S | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)On the upside, the Xperia arc S manages to keep some detail in those shadows.
Sony Xperia Arc S | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The Samsung's Galaxy S Plus with a Super AMOLED screen and Galaxy W (LCD) are using the same chipset as the Xperia arc S and run Android Gingerbread, but fail to match the level of sophistication and the superior imaging capabilities of the arc S. Still if you need to save €50 or so, both phones are a good way to do it.
Competition What else you should consider
 | 1 | LG Nexus 4 Rated the best by consumers |
 | 2 | Samsung Galaxy S III Most built-in storage |
 | 3 | HTC One S 5-way tie: Fastest processor |
 | 5 | Sony Xperia T Sharpest screen |
 | 7 | Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 6-way tie: Has a removable battery |
 | 8 | LG Optimus L9 Better than usual battery capacity |
