First test in Russia: super-protected Sony Ericsson Xperia active smartphone. First test in Russia: super-protected Sony Ericsson Xperia active smartphone The screen of a mobile device is characterized by its technology, resolution, pixel density, length

Today the market is chasing gigabytes and gigahertz, having forgotten about the consumer and his needs: it is much more prestigious today to make a thin phone with a bright screen, eclipsing its predecessor. But there are also those rare devices that are truly different from others. For example, sports smartphones: such as Sony Ericsson Xperia active.

First test in Russia: super-secure Sony smartphone Ericsson Xperia active

History and philosophy

Extreme sports and lovers of an active lifestyle have always been something that is not very profitable and, accordingly, unpopular with manufacturers. This is understandable - the segment is narrow, few changes can be introduced.

Sony Ericsson Xperia active

Old-timers will probably remember telephones or: the shock-resistant and dust- and water-proof cases of these truly legendary devices were recognized by many in their time. Today, producing such devices is much less profitable than before, and the situation is especially bad with shock resistance. Due to the fact that the most trendy keyboardless smartphones today are much more difficult to protect from the aggressive influence of the external environment, the production of protected models has practically come to naught.

Metal edging gives the body strength and rigidity

Today, such devices are allocated to a separate niche along with “military” laptops - for example, only rugged phones are produced under the Sonim brand, and they cost as much as good smartphone premium segment with a large screen.

However, not everyone is ready to fork out for such a miracle of technology as Sonim. Now all lovers of an active lifestyle have the opportunity to buy a modern smartphone on the fashionable Android platform. Sony Ericsson Xperia active is a mid-budget smartphone that is protected from water and dust, and is also equipped with sports functions and is preloaded with a whole range of sports applications.

But first things first.

Don't hurt kids

Clad in a special case, reliably protected from dust and moisture, in addition, it was equipped with sports accessories.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia active display is not afraid of water and perfectly recognizes touches in any conditions

But at the same time it is compact. Its screen diagonal is 3 inches and dimensions are 92x55x16.5 mm.

This thickness is largely due to the solution to protect against water ingress. In this case, we are talking about a double back cover: that is, if you want to insert a SIM card, you must first remove the main colored cover, then the additional one, which is not specially attached, but fits tightly due to the rubber gasket along the edges; then you need to remove the battery and insert the SIM card into the deep groove under it. There is also a slot for a micro-SD card.

Sony Ericsson Xperia active's double cover protects against water penetration

The outer cover has fairly durable three-layer plugs for the micro-USB and mini-Jack slots, and if these plugs do not fit tightly enough to the body, a warning appears on the screen that in this case water may enter. A very good and thoughtful solution that allows you to avoid unpleasant incidents.

True, you won’t be able to listen to music in the pool - the headphone slot is not waterproof, so it’s better not to experiment.

Oh my screen...

Another manifestation of water resistance is the screen, which can be operated with wet fingers. Say, in the pool or while surfing or kiting.

A large selection of sports applications will allow you to monitor your condition

As we wrote earlier, the diagonal of the Xperia active display is three inches. Display resolution 320x480 pixels. A larger screen would be more difficult to protect, so in this case the SE made a compromise by creating, on the one hand, a protected, but on the other hand, still quite advanced (for rugged smartphones) display.

The smartphone display cannot be called the brightest even with the maximum backlight level

Training with a smartphone reaches a new level of quality

A subjective disadvantage can be considered the location of the buttons under the screen. There are three buttons, as is done in the latest fashion – “Return”, “Home” and “Options”. But “Home” is located exactly under the screen at such a distance that when calling top menu(when the user swipes from top to bottom) it is very difficult not to touch this button and not bring up the menu again. Involuntarily, I remember a more successful solution, as we can now see, when the “Home” button was not touch sensitive and was located at the bottom of the screen, although such a comparison is not correct, because devices belong to different categories.

Everything has its good sides

The smartphone's equipment is very rich, for which it gets the maximum rating. In addition to the “body” itself and a 1200 mAh battery, the kit includes a black case with a wrist strap, a durable rubber cord, replaceable back panel covers (black and white, which, together with the orange edging, create a very pleasant color scheme for the smartphone), and Also vacuum headphones with clip-on ear hooks. The latter was especially surprising, but just right for a sports phone. You run and don’t worry that your headphones will fall out of your ears. Also, this case will not sink even with the phone if it is dropped into water.

Camera settings lack variety

Separate mention must be made about the wrist case. It is quite dense, and, apparently, is intended to be an additional protective element. Through its transparent plastic window you can even try to control the device, which is very difficult, but possible (this is partly implied by the icon on the case itself in the area of the phone's power button; the case itself is not designed to control a smartphone). The cover is attached to the arm using Velcro and is quite difficult to tear off. And there is a softening pad between the hand and the phone. In general, a competent and thoughtful solution: runners, cyclists and swimmers will find it very useful.

Or, for example, you can say good things about the location of the control elements on the body. They are all located on the sides, right under the fingers, if you take it in your left hand. Under the thumb there will be a power button on the left side, under the middle and index fingers there will be a volume control, and the little finger will have the camera power button.

At the bottom there are slots covered with dense three-layer plugs, which we wrote about above, as well as a very powerful eyelet for the cord. We note, however, that shock resistance would actually not hurt, since the plastic case is quite slippery and tends to slip out of your hands.

Software

The Android 2.3.4 operating system with a proprietary four-corner shell and the Timescape application is installed. The traditional 4 shortcuts at the bottom are located in the corners of the screen, and they are not only present on each of the five desktops, but they can also be replaced with application icons - if you do not have enough screen space.

The menu contains a standard set of applications

These labels themselves are also not entirely ordinary - more precisely, one of them, the top right one. It serves as a “home” for four applications at once: iMapMyFitness+, WalkMate, a music player and an Android Guide link that leads to the Sony Ericsson website, which presents useful applications and games, according to Sony Ericsson. Applications can be changed.

The most interesting one is the first one - iMapMyFitness+, which comes from the AppStore and allows you to keep track of the distance you have run, walked or biked using GPS. You can communicate with other athletes, and the language of the program is partly English, partly Russian. The second application, Walkmate, is a hardware-software pedometer that measures how many steps you have taken today. The required healthy minimum, the program believes, is 10 thousand steps a day.

How many steps are there from work to home? A pedometer will give you the answer.

The music player is quite standard and the only thing I would like to note is the xLoud function for artificially increasing the volume. Other applications may already be familiar to users of the Swedish-Japanese duo's products - TrackID for song recognition; the game Quadrapop, a kind of Tetris; Wisepilot, a simple navigation program; NeoReader for reading QR codes and OfficeSuite - an office suite.

I was very pleased that the phone natively supports Swype typing technology using strokes.

Automatic smiles

The five-megapixel camera takes decent pictures both indoors and outdoors. “Passable” does not mean “good”: when zooming in, a strong “oversharpening”, artifacts and a generally dim color scheme are noticeable.

The built-in camera cannot compete in quality with top smartphones

As for the shooting options, there are: scene selection, timer, flash, geotagging, shutter sound selection and the ability to shoot with a touch. The maximum resolution is five megapixels for shooting in 4:3 format and 3 megapixels for 16:9. Actually, that's all: Xperia active does not offer any additional features for regular photography.

Video shooting is much richer in possibilities: there is a choice of white balance, a focus mode, a choice of exposure, and even a stabilizer is offered. It's a shame that there's nothing like that in photo mode. In addition, we note that the camera shoots video in HD standard and can even record underwater.

Test shots of Sony Ericsson Xperia Active

It is impossible not to note the so-called. “3D shooting” capability: this is the name given to the improved interface for shooting panoramas, allowing you to view them from several points using special equipment. It is improved in the sense that a bar is shown on the screen to help you hold the camera and guide it in the exact direction.

And finally I’ll write

Technical parameters of the smartphone include a single-chip gigahertz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 512 MB of RAM. Taking into account the small screen and low resolution, this combination is quite justified and sufficient. The battery is 1200 mAh, and it is not enough, since the smartphone can hardly work for a day in active mode. The internal memory of the phone is 1 GB (320 MB available for the user), but memory cards save the day (up to 32 GB is supported)

The proprietary SE shell will facilitate access to the main functions of the smartphone

Among the interesting possibilities we can note wireless connection using ANT+ technology to “a wide range of health products.” Unfortunately, we did not have such goods in stock, so we were unable to verify this statement. The next interesting thing is the built-in noise reduction technology during conversations.

Support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, DLNA and GPS with aGPS is also announced. Particularly pleasant is the fact that the phone can operate in Wi-Fi router and provide Internet access to an “adult” computer as a modem for a mobile network.

Sportish, practical, gut

The overall impression of the phone is positive. Of course, two disadvantages - a small screen without automatic brightness control, as well as a low-capacity battery - do not allow us to admire this phone and not pay attention to its shortcomings. But it can be given good marks for its rich software content: good apps and a good addition of 4 corners. The packaging and replaceable back panel are also a plus. We can also say that the main function is a smartphone for athletes - Sony Ericsson Xperia active

Android 2.3 - Android 2.3 Qualcomm Snapdragon1000 MHz - 800 MHz 320 MB microSD (Transflash) microSD (TransFlash) 512 MB RAM; 150 MB microSD 3" 480x320 2" 240x320 3.7" 480x320 (HVGA) WiFi; Bluetooth; Email; GPRS WAP 2.0; Bluetooth 2.1; GPRS; MMS WiFi; Bluetooth; Email; WAP; GPRS; MMS WxHxD 5.5x9.2x1.65 cm; Weight 111 gr. WxHxD 6x12.6x2.5 cm; Weight 185 gr. WxHxD 6.6x12.2x1.2 cm; Weight 116 g 14,000 rubles 19,000 rubles n/a

The official cost of Xperia is 13,990 rubles. This is an adequate price for this set of functions, but those who do not play sports should be warned against purchasing this gadget. For the majority of users, a weak screen and short operating time on a single charge can serve as significant disadvantages that will cause disappointment in this good, in general, but niche device.

Contents of delivery:

Telephone
Battery
Charger
USB cable
Wired stereo headset
Additional socket
Special case
Headphone holders
Hand strap
Warranty card and user manual

Positioning

Sony Ericsson has released an original smartphone for lovers of an active lifestyle. Hence the name of the device “Active”, which translated from English means “active”, “energetic” or “alive”. The key features of this model are a dust- and water-resistant body, as well as a scratch-resistant screen covered with mineral glass.

As stated in the “Supply Contents”, the phone comes with a large number of accessories. The pre-installed software includes special applications for sports: “WalkMate” (step counter) and “iMapMyFITNESS+” (tracks the path on the map, records the distance and speed of your movement). Otherwise, this is a typical Sony Ericsson 2011 Android: a single-core “gigahertz” processor, 512 MB of RAM, a camera with the ability to record HD videos.

Design, dimensions, control elements

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Active smartphone has small sizes(92 x 55 x 16.5 mm), comparable to the Xperia Mini (88 x 52 x 16 mm). Weight is 110 grams, i.e. 11 grams more than ST15i. The perimeter edging is made of metal (aluminum), the side edges are made of plastic, painted orange, the back surface (depending on the replacement panel) can be black (“soft-touch”) or white (porous, matte plastic).

The degree of protection of this device is IP67, which means:

Full protection from dust.
During a short-term immersion of up to 1 meter, water does not enter in quantities that disrupt the operation of the device. Continuous operation in immersed mode is not expected.

To prevent moisture and dust from getting inside the phone, under rear panel there is another cover that fits hermetically into the grooves with rubberized edges. The connectors are also protected by tightly fitting plugs located on the cover. After removing the USB cable or headphones from the jacks, a warning message will appear on the screen: “To ensure water resistance, please close the outer jack caps.” Therefore, if suddenly, as an experiment, you decide to “drown” Xperia Active, then before doing this, you need to close them.

In general, the case looks strong, but you should not get carried away with crash tests, in particular, dropping the device: it is not rated for shock resistance.

Thanks to its streamlined shape, the device fits well in the hand and is easy to fit in a shirt or jeans pocket. There is a large loop on the bottom edge for attaching a strap.

There is a speaker on the front panel. Its volume is high, there is some headroom, and the intelligibility is quite good. Nearby there is a light and proximity sensor, as well as a very tiny LED indicator. It flashes blue during incoming call, but does not indicate a missed call in any way. But when an SMS is missed, it flashes green; when connected to a PC or charging the battery, it lights up constantly in red. There are three touch buttons at the bottom: call context menu, exit to the main screen and “back”. They are illuminated with white LEDs. The brightness is weak, but in the evening it does not blind the eyes, and during the day it is quite noticeable. Just below the “back” key is the main microphone.

On the left side there is a power on/off button almost recessed into the body, which also acts as a display lock. Its stroke is large and the pressure is soft. On the right is a volume rocker and camera activation. The stroke is small, but the pressure is soft. There are no connectors on the top end, and microUSB and a 3.5 mm audio output (under the plugs) on the bottom.

The second microphone, speaker, LED flash and camera eye are located on the back of the surface.

Under protective cover At the bottom there is a slot where the memory card is installed.

Appearance of SE Xperia active (left), Samsung Wave Y, Samsung Wave M, HTC Mozart, HTC Radar, SE Play (right):

Display

It has exactly the same parameters as the Xperia Mini: diagonal – 3″ (physical size 64x43 mm), resolution 320x480 pixels (192 pixels per inch), matrix is made using TFT-LCD technology with backlighting, displays 16.7 million shades of color, The touch layer is capacitive, supporting up to four simultaneous touches. Sensitivity is high.

There is also proprietary software image processing - Mobile Bravia Engine, borrowed from Sony TVs. Viewing angles are good, but the brightness drops slightly when tilted. There is a proximity sensor. Reacts quickly, no complaints. The brightness of the display backlight is controlled by a light sensor, and you can manually set its upper threshold. It practically does not fade in the sun. The Xperia active has a built-in accelerometer, compass, linear acceleration sensor and G-sensor.

Below is a comparison of the Sony Ericsson ST17i and Samsung Wave Y screens (as they are the most similar in diagonal size):

Battery

“Active” uses a lithium-polymer (Li-Polymer) battery with a capacity of 1200 mAh, 3.7V, 4.5 Wh. Model – EP500 (suitable for Xperia Mini, Xperia Mini Pro, X8, Vivaz and Vivaz Pro). According to the manufacturer, a full battery charge should last almost 5 hours of talk time and up to 350 hours (15 days) of standby time.

During testing, the following figures were obtained: the smartphone worked for about a week in standby mode, up to 15 hours when playing music at maximum volume (in headphones) and up to four hours when playing HD video at automatic backlight brightness.

On average, with 15-20 minutes of talking a day, one hour of taking photos and videos, the same amount of listening to music, four hours of Wi-Fi (Twitter, Skype, Internet surfing) and two hours of watching movies, the battery was discharged in 11-12 hours. The Xperia Mini lasts about the same amount of time.

The battery charges from USB within two hours, from network adapter- in an hour.

Communication capabilities

The smartphone operates in 2G (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900) and 3G networks (HSDPA 900 / 2100; 1900 / 800). GPRS speed – up to 86 Kbps, EDGE – up to 237 Kbps, HSDPA and HSUPA – up to 7.2 Mbps and 5.8 Mbps, respectively.

There is Wi-Fi standard 802.11 b/g/n. To distribute the Internet, it can be used as an access point. DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) is supported - a standard that allows compatible devices transmit and receive by home network various media content (image, music, video), and also display it in real time.

Memory, memory card

As with the entire Xperia line, the SE Active comes with 512MB of RAM. For most tasks this volume is more than enough. Internal memory is about 320 MB, and 270 MB is free. The kit comes with a 2 GB card, so if desired, all applications can be “dropped” onto it.

USB speed 2.0 when writing to the included memory card is about 10 MB/s, reading – up to 21 MB/s.

The maximum supported microSD card capacity is up to 32 GB.

Camera

The Xperia active has a 5-megapixel camera module with autofocus and LED backlight (single-section, LED). The maximum photo resolution is 2592x1944 pixels, videos are recorded in a resolution of 1280x720 pixels at 30 frames per second. The flash shines at approximately 1.5 - 2 meters.

The photo quality is significantly worse than on the Xperia Mini: color reproduction is not very good, clarity is mediocre. Possible reason- low quality safety glass. Videos also don’t look the best, but the stereo image is excellent (you can clearly hear where the left channel is and where the right one is). The ST17i smartphone does not have a front camera.

To activate the camera, you need to press the button on the side of the device. It has two positions: focus (press halfway) and get a frame (press). There is also touch focus.

Photo mode interface: on the left – image capture mode (normal, condition recognition, smile detection), resolution (2MP, 3MP and 5MP), touch focus (on or off), shooting conditions (portrait, landscape, sports, etc.) and flash; on the right is the gallery, and in the center is the switch from photo to video mode.

Photo mode settings:

Timer, stabilizer (on/off)
Focus mode (single, multi, macro, face detection, infinity, touch focus)
White balance
Geotags
Shutter sound
Measurement (center, middle level, point).

Video mode interface: left – shooting conditions (portrait, night mode, sports, landscape, etc.), video size (MMS, QVGA, VGA, FWVGA, HD720p), exposure, focus mode (single, face detection, infinity), backlight (on/off).

Video mode settings:

Exposition
White balance
Measurement (center, middle level, point)
Timer
Stabilizer (on/off)
Microphone
Shutter sound

Gallery:

Video file characteristics:

Format: MP4
Video: AVC, 6000 Kbps
Resolution: 1280 x 720, 30 fps
Audio: AAC, 128 Kbps
Channels: 2 channels, 48.0 KHz

Photo examples:

Performance

The Xperia Active has the same Snapdragon chipset and Qualcomm MSM8255 (Scorpion) processor clocked at 1000 MHz as the Sony Ericsson Arc, Ray, Mini Pro. Code name – Snapdragon S2, architecture – ARMv7, CMOS technology, process technology – 45 nm. The graphics part is handled by Adreno 205 with support for OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenGL ES 1.1, OpenVG 1.1, EGL 1.3, Direct3D Mobile, SVGT 1.2, Direct Draw and GDI.

While testing the device, I did not have any serious performance issues: it works quickly, no glitches or slowdowns were noticed. This is understandable, since its “brothers” with the same processor have a higher screen resolution.

Technical specifications:

Below are the performance tests of Active (left), Mini, Ray (right):

Quadrant Standard

Antutu Benchmark

Performance test Active (top), Mini, Ray (bottom):

Active Performance Test:

Software platform

The Xperia ST17i smartphone runs on an operating system Google Android version 2.3.4. On this moment it is relevant. The long-awaited update for the Xperia line will be available in the coming weeks. Namely, for the following models: Xperia arc, Xperia PLAY, Xperia neo, Xperia Mini, Xperia Mini Pro and Xperia Active, Xperia pro, Xperia ray, Xperia neo V, Xperia arc S and for Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman. The update can be done both using a PC and over the air.

Navigation

The Snapdragon S2 chipset includes a GPS module based on gpsOne Gen8. The “cold” start time is up to one minute, the “hot” start is less than 10 seconds. “Maps” are used for navigation.

Shell and menu

To unlock the screen, you need to press the power or home button and then slide your finger from left to right along the square with a lock pattern. The home screen is represented by the “four corners” interface already familiar to the Xperia line: up to four shortcuts can be placed on each of them. They are dragged from the menu or desktop. To delete a specific shortcut, move it to the trash. There are 5 virtual desktops in total. It cannot be expanded.

The menu is represented by 12 shortcuts on one screen in a 4x3 grid. At the bottom right there is a button, when clicked, labels begin to “float”. In this mode, you can transfer them from one place to another or, by clicking on the cross, delete the application. Otherwise, the interface is similar to previous models. Sorting is carried out: alphabetically, by frequently used programs, by recently installed ones, or at your discretion.

Challenges

By clicking on the “phone” icon, the dialer is called up. It is large and convenient, but when you enter a number, saved contacts with these numbers are not displayed. At incoming call The photo and name of the subscriber are displayed on the screen. During a call, you can turn on the speakerphone. It’s easy to switch from the “dialer” to “contacts”. To add a new contact, you need to click on the icon at the top right. The following information applies to each subscriber:

Surname
Telephone
Email
Call tone
Other

The “calls” section displays the caller’s name, phone number, date and type of call (incoming, outgoing, missed).

Messages

To enter text, a standard Android keyboard is used, which in this model is called “international”. There are also two types of keyboards available: full-size and standard (telephone). However, the user has the right to install any other one from the Market.

Applications

There is a standard set of programs for most SE smartphones:

Alarm.

Calendar.

Cards.

Google Talk.

Navigation.

Addresses.

Locator.

Calculator.

TrackID. Determining the artist and title of a song based on a short excerpt.

Youtube.

News and weather.

Adobe Reader.

Quadrapop. Game in the style of "Tetris".

Data tracking. The program controls data transfer between the phone and the GPRS/3G network.

3D camera. New application that appeared in Android firmware 2.3.4. Photos can only be viewed on a Sony Bravia TV with 3D technology.

Xperia Hot Shots. A special application that tracks the play of six famous tennis players who will later become heroines of a reality show.

Connected devices. This application plays photo or video content on BRAVIA TVs or the Sony PlayStation 3 game console.

Watch.

Wisepilot. Navigation application.

3D album.

NeoReader. Is a universal app barcode scanner that turns the camera on your mobile phone into a barcode scanner and allows you to access mobile content via the web.

Music and video. Allows you to access your Facebook friends' music and videos.

WalkMate. The program is a step counter. The easy-to-use Walk Mate app stays active throughout the day. It keeps track of the number of steps you've taken and the number of steps left to reach your daily health goal.

Office Suite. Is a document viewer application for Android. Allows you to open DOC, DOCX, TXT, XLS, XLSX, CSV, PPT, PPTX, PPS, PPSX and PDF files.

UEFA. The official application that allows you to follow the main football tournament in Europe.

Update center. Software update application.

games and applications.

Flash. The application allows you to turn on the LED flash or screen. They may flash depending on the option selected.

Liveware Manager. Allows you to launch an application when you connect a headset, headphones, or power cable.

Compass.

iMapMyFITNESS. The app tracks your route, travel speed, duration, and heart rate thanks to ANT+ technology.

Web browser

A standard browser is installed. It works quickly, supports flash animation (Flash 11) and multi-touch. However, it is inconvenient to surf on a small screen with a low resolution.

Multimedia

Music player

After launch, the screen displays: a large album cover, three player control keys (“forward”, “back” and “play/pause”), and a transition to the list of songs. There are 10 equalizer presets in the settings (normal sound, classical, dance music, flat sound, folk, heavy metal, hip-hip, jazz, pop and rock).

The speaker volume is high (in fact, as in all recent Sony Ericsson models), the sound is very clear and pleasant. In the general sound settings there is an xLOUD parameter. It allows you to increase the volume up to 20-30%. After “bathing” the device in water, the speaker may wheeze a little. However, after drying everything becomes normal.

The sound quality in the headphones is excellent, but the high frequencies are somewhat elevated and there are not very many low frequencies. Complete “ears” are not as hopeless as they might seem: music lovers, of course, will replace them with others, but I don’t recommend them to others. On the headset, you can use the answer button to switch tracks or pause them.

FM radio

Operates in the range 85 – 108 MHz. Supports RDS. From the settings - only outputting music to the speaker and searching for radio stations. The sensitivity of the receiver is good, the volume in the headphones is high, as well as when outputting to the speaker.

Video player

By default, the player can play MP4 and 3GP files. When installing, for example, a Dice player, the range of supported codecs and file types expands to MKV and AVI, recorded in H264, DivX and XViD. Maximum resolution – up to 720p.

Impression

The call quality is high and comparable to other phones in the Xperia line. The vibration alert is average in strength, but is well felt in the pocket of a jacket or jacket.

The direct competitor to the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active is the Xperia mini. The difference in cost is almost 4,000 rubles. This is an overpayment for a dust- and waterproof case and a richer set of accessories.

For about 12,000 – 13,000 rubles, you can try to find last year’s Motorola Defy model. It has a larger screen and resolution, but the processor frequency is weaker, and it cannot record video in HD. The remaining parameters are identical. Despite the fact that Motorola's mobile division does not operate in Russia, the company guarantees service for phones already sold. At the end of September, “Defy +” was released, but it is sold only in Europe and Latin America for $350.

Another similar smartphone is the Samsung Galaxy Xcover. Unlike SE ST17i, it has a large 3.65″ screen. The camera is only 3 megapixels, and the processor frequency is 800 MHz. The cost is not known exactly, and when it will appear is also unclear.

So it turns out that at the moment the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active is the most affordable Google phone with a dust- and moisture-proof case.

Characteristics:

Class: smartphone
Form factor: monoblock
Case materials: plastic, screen cover – mineral glass, protection class IP67
Operating system: Google Android 2.3.4
Network: GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS/HSDPA 900/2100
Processor: single-core, 1000 MHz, Qualcomm MSM8255
RAM: 512 MB
Storage memory: 320 MB and 2 GB memory card
Interfaces: Wi-Fi (b/g/n/), Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP), microUSB connector (USB 2.0) for charging/synchronization, 3.5 mm for headset
Screen: capacitive, TFT-LCD 3″ with a resolution of 320x480 pixels
Camera: 5 MP with autofocus, video recorded in 720p, LED flash
Navigation: GPS (gpsOne Gen8)
Additionally: accelerometer, proximity sensor, FM radio
Battery: removable, lithium-polymer (Li-Polymer) with a capacity of 1200 mAh
Dimensions: 92 x 55 x 16.5 mm
Weight: 110 grams

Roman Belykh (

Battery capacity: 1200 mAh Battery type: Li-Ion Talk time: 4.9 h Standby time: 351 h Operating time while listening to music: 25 h

Additional Information

Features: waterproof and dustproof case (IP67 protection standard) Announcement date: 2011-06-22 Equipment: phone, battery, stereo headset, case, strap, 2 GB MicroSD memory card, removable panel, Charger, micro USB cable for charging, documentation

General characteristics

Type: smartphone Weight: 110 g Case material: plastic Design: waterproof Operating system: Android 2.3 Case type: classic Number of SIM cards: 1 Dimensions (WxHxT): 55x92x17 mm SIM card type: regular SAR level: 0.86

Screen

Screen type: TFT color, 16.78 million colors, touch type touch screen: multi-touch, capacitive Diagonal: 3 inches. Image size: 480x320 Pixels per inch (PPI): 192 Automatic screen rotation: yes

Multimedia capabilities

Camera: 5 million pixels, 2592x1944, LED flash Camera functions: autofocus, digital Zoom 8x Video recording: yes (MPEG4) Max. video resolution: 1280x720 Audio: MP3, AAC, WAV, WMA, FM radio Headphone jack: 3.5 mm Recognition: faces, smiles Geo Tagging: yes

Connection

Interfaces: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB, ANT+ Standard: GSM 900/1800/1900, 3G DLNA support: yes Satellite navigation: GPS A-GPS system: yes Use as a USB drive: yes

Memory and processor

Processor: Qualcomm MSM 8255, 1000 MHz Number of processor cores: 1 Built-in memory volume: 1 GB RAM capacity: 512 MB Memory card support: microSD (TransFlash), up to 32 GB Video processor: Adreno 205 Amount of memory available to the user: 320 MB Slot for memory cards: yes, up to 32 GB

Other features

Control: voice dialing, voice control Sensors: light, proximity, compass Speakerphone (built-in speaker): yes Flight mode: yes A2DP profile: yes

Xperia active is one of latest smartphones the now defunct Sony Ericsson company. Now only the Japanese manufacturer is responsible for the development and production of such devices, having bought a 50 percent share of the joint venture from the Swedish partner. Nevertheless, despite the financial failures of Sony Ericsson, last year the company managed to release several memorable models, which include the Xperia active.

The smartphone is aimed at people who are interested in active sports. This is indicated by the “sporty” colors of the case, the included accessories, design features, and a set of special applications. In addition, the Xperia active case protects the device from dust and moisture. Let's see what features are implemented in one of the most non-standard Sony Ericsson Android smartphones.

Appearance, controls

We rarely talk about a smartphone kit, because in most cases the box contains a standard set: the device itself, a USB cable, a charger and headphones, and sometimes a memory card. However, from time to time manufacturers supplement the kit with other accessories. As an example, we can recall. And although the Sony Ericsson Xperia active does not have a key fob or a docking station with built-in speakers, some interesting things can be found here.

So, in addition to the smartphone itself, the box contains an additional white cover, a strap for carrying the device on your hand, and a case that can be attached to your shoulder. The last accessory will be appreciated by those who are used to running: the case is firmly fixed, does not interfere during runs, protects the device from precipitation and allows you to see the screen through a transparent window.

The Xperia active smartphone should not be perceived as a model protected from any adverse influences. The body of the device is not shockproof, and you should be careful with water procedures. Although the device is positioned as waterproof, the manufacturer warns against prolonged “swimming” of the Xperia active. The model simply offers additional protection in emergency situations - the phone will remain operational in the rain, after falling into a puddle or mud.

We did not perform stress tests on the device, but simply held it under running cold water. Quite expectedly, the device withstood this simple experiment without any visible consequences.

Compared to the majority modern smartphones The Xperia active model looks very compact, although its thickness is rather large - 16.5 mm. Thanks to the rounded ends, the device fits comfortably in the hand; its large thickness does not affect its ergonomics.

Almost the entire body of the Xperia active is made of fingerprint-resistant plastic. A silver edging is made of metal, turning into an unusually large loop on the bottom edge of the device. The same cord mentioned above for carrying the phone on your hand is threaded into the hole.

The smartphone has few hardware controls: on the left side there is a power button, on the right there is a volume rocker and a camera activation button. The buttons are convenient to use; they protrude 1-2 mm from the body and are characterized by clear clicks.

The audio jack and microUSB port are located on the bottom edge and are closed with sealed rubber plugs. Above the display there is a speaker, proximity and light sensors, and an LED indicator. Contrary to first impressions, the Xperia active does not have front camera, instead Sony Ericsson has built in a second proximity sensor. Below the screen there are three familiar backlit touch buttons: “Back”, “Home” and “Menu”, and even lower is a barely noticeable microphone hole.

The most interesting part of the Xperia active, apart from the strap hole, is the front panel. By default, the smartphone has a black cover with soft touch coating. If desired, it can be replaced with a white matte panel. Both the first and second options provide an effective combination with an orange stripe running along the perimeter of the device.

On the back there is a 5-megapixel camera eye, an LED flash, additional microphone for noise reduction and speaker. Removing the cover, we see a small surprise - another rubberized panel that fits tightly to the body and reliably protects the battery, SIM compartment and memory card slot from moisture.

The assembly of the Xperia active is of high quality, without any backlash. Despite the thickness of 16.5 mm, due to its short length, width and weight, the smartphone will fit into almost any pocket. The appearance and materials from which the device is made also leave a positive impression. At least the device is not like most other smartphones and attracts attention.

Display

The Xperia active model is equipped with a 3-inch TFT display with a resolution of 320x480 pixels. Since the screen diagonal is small, it is difficult to notice individual pixels in the image. The picture quality can be assessed as good, especially if you enable the Bravia Engine function - it makes colors more saturated.

You can see the image in the sun, but I would still like to add brightness. But the viewing angles of the display are good both horizontally and vertically. In general, we have before us an ordinary mid-level screen, without any special advantages or disadvantages.

As befits a protected device, its display is scratch-resistant. In addition, the manufacturer pasted a barely noticeable film over the screen.

Interface, functionality

The smartphone works under Android control 2.3 and is equipped with a proprietary interface, well known to those who have experience communicating with Sony Ericsson smart phones. To unlock the screen, you need to slide your finger along the virtual slider from left to right. If you do this from right to left, silent mode will turn on.

The user has access to five desktops on which application shortcuts, widgets and folders can be placed. Browse mode displays the contents of all desktops on one screen.

The most popular programs can be assigned to one of the four corner zones. Each of them contains four icons. In this way it is possible to ensure fast access from any desktop to 16 applications. Programs can also be viewed from the main menu. There you can sort applications alphabetically, frequency of use and installation date; you can also organize your own list.

There are many additional programs installed in the firmware. There is, for example, in addition to the standard one, also a catalog of applications from Sony Ericsson. The TrackID program can determine the name of a track from a short passage, WalkMate counts the number of steps taken, and iMapMyFitness+ takes into account the route traveled and supports GPS and ANT+, which can be used to connect to a heart rate sensor and other specialized devices.

The Timescape program, which aggregates messages from popular social networks, mail and SMS, has not gone away. In addition, there is a flashlight, a QR code reader, the Wisepilot navigation service, an office suite, and the ability to play photos or videos on Sony TVs and consoles.

The musical component of the smartphone deserves special mention. Moreover, it’s not so much about the audio player, but about the quality of the sound - it’s loud, rich and “bassy”. The Xperia active model can be used as a replacement player. In addition, the set included unexpectedly good headphones, which is not typical for most other phones. Perhaps, in terms of music playback quality, the device can easily compete with more expensive HTC smartphones that come with a Beats Audio headset.

Camera

The Xperia active smartphone is equipped with a 5-megapixel camera with the ability to record HD video. In terms of image quality, it is not inferior to photo modules with the same resolution installed in the Samsung Galaxy model. In low-light conditions, noise and problems with sharpness are noticeable, but overall the photos are not bad for a mobile device.

A classic candy bar with an original design. Is different high quality manufacturing. Can be used for a long period of time if handled carefully. When creating, high-quality plastic with a significant margin of safety is used. To date optimal ratio prices and quality. Mobile phone Sony Ericsson Xperia active (St17i) The best option for lovers of an active lifestyle. The device is compact in size and light in weight. It can be used without the use of a second hand. There is a thin metal edging along the perimeter of the device.Frame mobile phone provides effective protection against dust particles. Capable of immersion in water to a depth of 1 meter. Its performance is not affected. To protect your touch phone from dust and moisture Sony Ericsson Xperia active (St17i) has under back cover protective case. It covers elements important for his work. All connectors in the model are reliably protected with special plugs. The case is solid and looks one hundred percent.

On the front panel you can see a speaker responsible for sound output. Next to it is a proximity and light sensor. They are closely related to the operation of the mobile display touch phone Sony Ericsson Xperia active (St17i). On the left side of the model you can see the on and off button. On the right side there is a volume key for the mobile device. Next to it you can see the camera activation key. At the bottom end of the phone there is a connector for connecting usb and a headphone output. All of them are closed with durable plugs.On the back of the mobile phone there is a second microphone, speaker, flash and camera eye. Under the battery cover you can find a slot for installing a memory card. The device screen has a diagonal of 3 inches. The resolution is 320 by 480 pixels. The matrix supports display of 16.7 million colors. The screen is touch-sensitive and can support up to 4 simultaneous clicks. Its sensitivity is high. Very convenient to use.

On a mobile device Sony Ericsson Xperia Active St17i A lithium polymer battery is used. It can hold a charge for about 2-3 days with average use of the device. The phone takes about two hours to charge on average. The mobile device uses memory cards. Due to them, its functionality can be significantly increased. The gadget menu is easy to learn and does not require special knowledge. You can figure it out very quickly.

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