At least Xperia S has a unique design, 12MP Camera with Sony Exmor R sensor, highest DPI LCD screen.

Much like previous Xperia phones, the S uses a backlit Exmor R sensor for improved low-light performance.

With a 12MP camera, image quality is obviously a priority with the Xperia S and Sony have created a very capable shooter.

The Adreno 220 isn't exactly the most powerful GPU around, but Sony have managed to get the best out of it - 37.5fps in NenaMark 2 is a playable framerate, despite the high resolution (the 720p Xperia S screen has 140% more pixels than the WVGA screen of the Galaxy S II, for example).

The Xperia S brightness is average at best but it's still brighter than the LG Optimus LTE, which is the other 4.3" 720p LCD screen we've tested.

We say on the big screen because you don't have to use the phone's touchscreen to control the launcher (you can if you want to).

To its credit, the Xperia S did play a 1080p videos and the 4.3" Reality display offers excellent image quality (the BRAVIA engine comes into play here too), plus you can watch 720p videos at 100.

But while the OS update is just a matter of time, what most other competing phones don't have (and can't get via an update) is the 342ppi pixel density of the 4.3" 720p screen or the 12MP camera.

The Sony Xperia S captures 1080p video at 30 fps and does a very good job of it.

Here's an example of what you can do with a Smart Tag - a tag in your car can switch on Bluetooth so the phone hooks up to the car audio, enable GPS and launch the SatNav app and enable text to speech, which will read incoming texts out loud.

The Xperia S also supports DLNA, so you can easily play media (photos, videos, music) from DLNA-enabled storage devices or push content from your phone to a DLNA TV or music player.

Luckily, you no longer have to use a PC Suite to tag songs - you just need an Internet connection, the phone will handle the rest.

If you're reading this in the US, then the Sony Xperia ion for AT&T is what you're looking for - it's a lot like the Xperia S (including the 12MP camera), but the 720p screen is bigger (4.55"), the built-in storage is only 16GB (but you get a microSD card slot) and as an extra bonus, there's LTE connectivity.

We tried hooking up various accessories - flash storage worked, but pairing up with other phones in Mass Storage mode was problematic (especially if the second phone supports USB OTG too), we even tried a USB keyboard and it worked (but a USB mouse didn't).

We tried hooking up various accessories - flash storage worked, but hooking up other phones in Mass Storage mode was problematic (especially if the second phone supports USB OTG too), we even tried a USB keyboard and it worked (but a USB mouse didn't).