Engadget Reviews The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc: They're Getting Better

[Jason Lee]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/30/sony-ericsson-xperia-arc-review/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/30/...ria-arc-review/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Like all good things Sony Ericsson, the Xperia Arc didn't wait for an official announcement to make itself known."</em></p><p><img height="332" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/adt/auto/1301673477.usr206.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" width="500" /></p><p>There are two product names that are not allowed in my house, Apple and Sony. I've been burned enough by the "if you don't buy all of our stuff it really isn't going to work well for you" ecosystem. Memory Stick anyone? Though it appears that if you try and squeeze a little Ericsson into the mix things aren't quite as bad.&nbsp;</p><p>All of Sony Ericsson's Android exploits to date have been what I would call a borderline&nbsp;tragedy. Horribly outdated versions of Android, terribly slow and buggy custom UIs, and not a drop of support or even an update. The Arc on the other hand might actually be an okay device. Almost. It's still skinned to death yet the most annoying features of SE's previous Android adventures, Time Scape and Media Scape, have been reduced to simple widgets which you can quickly drag to the trash (where they belong). You are then left with a somewhat stock, yet overly skinned, Android experience. An absolute surprise is that the device will actually ship with the latest version of Android, 2.3! The SE launcher can be fixed with some Launcher Pro love, so if you can get passed the mess they've made of the stock messaging and contact apps and such this might not be too bad of a smart phone. What are your thoughts on Sony Ericsson's latest Android attempt?</p>

[crimsonsky]

One word for SE failures - custom ROMs! I bought the Xperia X10 because AT&T was selling them for a penny. Hard to go wrong for a penny. The first thing I did was debrand it and update to 2.1. Still too junky, so I headed over to XDA-Developers and "fixed" it. Problem solved. And SE has mended its ways and will be offering Gingerbread for the X10.

The ARC looks like a nice machine, all told. Timescape actually almost looks usable. I don't think the idea behind TS was bad - just its laggy implementation and of course, if you don't want it, Root Manager to the rescue!

Of course, your average user isn't going to do any of that stuff, but the Arc's stock experience looks be be far superior to the OOBE of the X10. That said, I still don't see anything particularly compelling against the competition. I find that HTC's Sense UI is far better than SE's UE UI and I'm actually using SPB's 3D Shell on my X10 which I image would be just as great on the Arc.