- 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
- Sony Xperia J
- Sony Xperia U
- Samsung Galaxy Ace 2
- Samsung Galaxy S Advance
by c|net (Sep, 2011)The Ray's aluminum chassis measures just 9.4mm thick and contains a 3.3-inch display.
by GSM Arena (Apr, 2011)While it’s still not as good as a hardware one, it’s the next best thing – the 3.7” screen has enough real estate for big, well-spaced keys, which are easy to hit.
Conclusion Which is better for you?
Features Key features of the Sony Xperia ray compared to the HTC Desire S
1 GHz
Android 2.3 Gingerbread 3.5G
Rated 80% by by TrustedReviews (Aug, 2012)The 800 x 480 pixel panel is incredibly bright when needs be, produces strong vivid colours, has a very high contrast ratio ensuring whites are white and blacks are black rather than shades of grey, is pin sharp and its viewing angles are excellent – there's almost no colour or contrast shift when viewed from even the most acute angle.
screen size
3.3"
3.7"
Desire S by TrustedReviews (Aug, 2012)We also like how, when you zoom in, text is re-wrapped so that it fits to the width of your screen, along you to read a large block of text without need to scroll left and right.
screen resolution
Desire S by nick88msn (Mar, 2012)Display resolution is 800x480 and is really good for a 3,7" display, color are vivid and angle view are great (I think this display is IPS).
memory
| 0 GB | 0.75 GB | 0.8 GB |
processor
Xperia ray by GSM Arena (Sep, 2011)It's no match for dual-core, but if it's good enough for the gaming-centered Xperia Play, the ray shouldn’t have any issues with speed.
Desire S by TrustedReviews (Aug, 2012)Its latest offering is the HTC Desire S that doesn't pack in a headline grabbing dual-core processor, fancy camera, or ginormous screen but is a beautifully made, classy smartphone that should be high on your wish list.
camera resolution
| 0 MP | 8 MP | 8 MP |
Xperia ray by GSM Arena (Sep, 2011)The Xperia ray boasts an 8 megapixel camera, complete with a single LED light.
Desire S by GSM Arena (Apr, 2011)The HTC Desire S packs a 5MP camera for stills of up to 2592x1952 pixel resolution.
Performance Real world tests of Sony Xperia ray vs HTC Desire S
cpu speed
Xperia ray by GSM Arena (Sep, 2011)The ray is powered by the 1GHz processor with 512MB RAM and Adreno 205 graphics, courtesy of the Qualcomm MSM8255 chipset that is prevalent in the Xperia line.
Desire S by Omar-Garcia (Mar, 2012)After rooting my phone, I installed an app to control the CPU frequency and I have used the phone at 400 MHz and it runs flawlessly.
browser benchmark
Xperia ray by GSM Arena (Sep, 2011)It may take a few seconds to refocus after you re-frame but that's better than fast but constant focus hunting that may ruin a video.
Desire S by TrustedReviews (Aug, 2012)As with the rest of the interface, it feels really snappy, though flash content can slow it down somewhat.
talk time
390 min
589 min
Xperia ray by TrustedReviews (Feb, 2012)Despite Sony Ericsson's claims that the handset uses a high capacity battery, we found that its battery life was actually quite poor.
Desire S by GSM Arena (Apr, 2011)The 1450mAh battery inside the HTC Desire S is quoted at up to 455 hours of stand-by or up to 9 hours and 50 minutes of talk time.
Differences What are the advantages of each
Advantages compared to the HTC Desire S
| Much newer operating system | Android 4.1 Jelly Bean | vs | Android 2.3 Gingerbread |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newer Android OS; Get all the latest features and security updates with a more recent version | |||
| Significantly smaller | 53 x 111 x 9 mm | vs | 60 x 115 x 12 mm |
| More than 30% smaller | |||
| Significantly lighter | 100 g | vs | 130 g |
| More than 20% lighter | |||
| Significantly higher resolution front camera | 8 MP | vs | 5 MP |
| 60% higher resolution front camera; Video chat with other people | |||
| Records higher definition video | 1280 x 720 @ 30 fps | vs | 1280 x 720 @ Unknown |
| 30x higher definition video | |||
| Sharper screen | 295 ppi | vs | 251 ppi |
| Around 20% sharper PPI; enjoy photo-realistic, crisp images | |||
| Thinner | 9 mm | vs | 12 mm |
| Around 20% thinner | |||
| More highly reviewed by consumers | 78.02% | vs | 73.78% |
| Around 10% more highly reviewed by consumers | |||
| Better browser benchmark | 1,000 ms | vs | 1,497 ms |
| More than 30% better browser benchmark; load pages more quickly on your mobile device | |||
Advantages compared to the Sony Xperia ray
| Longer talk time | 589 min | vs | 390 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| More than 50% longer talk time; go days without charging | |||
| Bigger screen | 3.7" | vs | 3.3" |
| More than 10% bigger screen | |||
| Faster real world upload speeds | 1.33 Mb/s | vs | 1.02 Mb/s |
| More than 30% faster actual upload speed | |||
Reviews Word on the street
Sony Xperia ray | HTC Desire S | ||
 |   
|
| |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Rated by 75 users at amazon.com Rated 80% by by purplep (Jan, 2013) Rated 80% by by purplep (Jan, 2013) Rated 100% by by sergio (Dec, 2012) | Rated by 17 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by RedWolf (Jul, 2011) Rated 100% by by MAURICIO-VANEGAS-GUERRERO (Aug, 2011) | |
Competition What else you should consider
 | 1 | LG Nexus 4 Rated the best by consumers |
 | 2 | Sony Xperia J 6-way tie: Supports Flash |
 | 3 | Sony Xperia U 3-way tie: Outputs video to TV |
 | 5 | Samsung Galaxy S Advance 2-way tie: Screen uses OLED technology |
 | 6 | HTC One Most built-in storage |
 | 7 | Sony Xperia Miro 6-way tie: Supports Flash |
 | 8 | Samsung Galaxy S III mini 2-way tie: Screen uses OLED technology |
