Sony xperia asset. Sony Ericsson Xperia Active is an off-road communicator for active owners. Battery life and performance

: To date, the only rugged smartphone that is officially sold on Russian market is the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active. This remarkable model guarantees its owner that nothing will happen to it as a result of active and inaccurate use.

The model is based on the filling from. In other words, the characteristics of the devices are the same. This is a 3-inch screen with a resolution of 320x480 pixels, a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, and a powerful 1-GHz processor with 512 MB of RAM.

The "active" is more expensive, but we have not seen such protected devices from Sony Ericsson in recent years. It's interesting to see how far development has come in the field of rugged smartphones.

Contents of delivery

• Smartphone


• Battery


• Stereo headset


• 2GB microSD card


• MicroUSB cable


• Additional removable panel


• Strap


• Case

I would like to tell you about this accessory right away. A smartphone is placed in it, and so that the bottom end is at the top. Apparently, this is thought out so that you can connect headphones to your smartphone and listen to music while doing sports. Why this particular method? Because on the side you can see the symbol of the screen lock key, from which it is easy to draw a conclusion about the correct position of the phone. The cover has a vertical flap that covers the device from above, protecting it from moisture or dust. In addition, it has a transparent window that allows you to monitor the phone screen. The cover also has a special pillow. It is made of a material that is somewhat reminiscent of foam rubber, but more elastic. It works as a shock absorber, eliminating possible inconveniences that may arise, for example, when jogging.

Appearance

The body of the smartphone attracts attention primarily by its colors. The bright combination of black, orange and silver makes the image of the device expressive. Do not forget that the phone comes with an additional removable panel. It is white, so you can periodically vary a couple of replacement covers and thus update the exterior of the gadget.

By the way, the base black panel is made of soft-touch plastic, and the second one is replaceable from a simpler, matte one. I liked the first one more, it feels more pleasant in the palm of your hand. There will also be a modification where there will be not an orange, but a calmer white edging.

The dimensions of the phone are 92x55x16.5 mm, the weight is 110 g. For comparison, the dimensions of the Xperia mini are 88x52x16 mm, the weight is 94 g. As you can see, despite the increased protection, the parameters remained similar and increased insignificantly.

Attention is also drawn to the large strap mount, which protrudes at the bottom. By the standards of mobile devices, it is simply huge, but for a phone with a sports bias, this is a necessary element. The complete strap is threaded through the earhook and secured with an additional silver clip. In this case, the strap snaps tightly into the groove, it has a strong head. Taking into account the fact that the hole for the strap is made in the steel part that surrounds the entire phone in front, we can confidently say that you will not be able to drop the phone just like that.

There is a small cutout at the top of the screen, where the earpiece is hidden. Nearby is a proximity sensor that turns off the screen backlight during a call. This model does not have a camera for video calls.

There are three touch-sensitive keys under the screen. The first one returns to the previous menu item, the second one enters main screen, and the latter is responsible for additional functions. They are backlit, and vibration feedback can also be triggered at the moment of touch. A microphone hole is located under them.

On the left is the screen lock key.

On the right side there is a volume control button. Below is a dedicated key for taking photos.

The top end is without any details.

At the bottom, besides the already mentioned "eyelet" for the strap, there is a pair of connectors. They are closed very securely, they are protected by separate plugs, which are tightly fixed. Under one there is a microUSB port, while the other hides a 3.5 mm output. If you open one of them, the phone will inform you with a special notification on the screen that you must remember to close the compartment to avoid moisture ingress.

The chubby rear panel combines the hole of a deeply recessed 5MP camera lens and an LED flashlight located next to it. Nearby is the oval speaker hole.

A recess will help remove the back panel. However, you will also need to remove the port covers, which also hold the panel in place as an additional means. After that, the cover can be removed and the inside of the smartphone will be revealed.

Here is a special plastic pad, which is tightly held in the grooves with the help of an elastic band. She sits very tightly, she is removed only with effort. There is a battery inside that blocks the compartment for the SIM card. The other slot has a microSD slot. You won't be able to change the card quickly, but taking into account the design features of the model, I will not write it down as shortcomings.

High-quality assembly and pleasant materials, as well as compliance with the IP67 standard - all these are nice features of the new smartphone for active sports from Sony Ericsson. By the way, the model is guaranteed to work under water at a depth of up to 1 meter, if it stays there no more than 30 minutes.

Screen

The resolution of the TFT-display is 320x480 pixels, the 3-inch screen displays up to 16 million colors. The display is covered with durable mineral glass, which reliably protects the screen from possible scratches. Additionally, the factory film is neatly glued, which will not be superfluous, it almost does not rush into the eyes, it is not easy to notice it.

The screen is capacitive, it responds well to pressing, there is a multitouch here. In addition, as in the older models, the development of the Sony Mobile Bravia Engine is used here. It works as a kind of "enhancer", making the image on the screen more attractive due to the saturation of colors. This option is disabled if desired.

The screen behaves as usual outdoors. The information remains readable, but there is little margin for brightness.

Platform

The device has Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread installed. The new smartphone uses a Qualcomm 8255 processor with a frequency of 1 GHz, an Adreno 205 graphics accelerator. 512 MB of RAM is available, about 300 MB for user data storage. The set comes with a 2 GB memory card. If this amount is not enough, you can install a drive up to 32 GB.

Interface

At the top there is a service line, which displays the time, battery charge, signal reception level indicator. Active connections and other data are also displayed there. By clicking on it, you can find out in more detail about which programs were downloaded, what messages and letters were received, or which files were received via Bluetooth.

As design elements, you can use both pre-installed images or wallpapers from Sony Ericsson, and your favorite pictures. There are now seven multi-colored menu themes available. In addition, shortcuts and folders are placed on the desktop. For a folder, you can choose one of eight design options, give it a name. Icons are added by dragging them from the phone menu directly to this area.

Shortcuts and folders are placed on the desktop. For a folder, you can choose one of eight design options, give it a name. Icons are added by dragging them from the phone menu directly to this area.

Application icons can be added to one of four zones located at the corners of the display. Each area contains up to four icons. Adding them is simple: you just need to drag them from the application menu to the main screen.

Of course, there are also widgets here, they can also be added to the desktop. There can be 5 of such screens. Considering the size of the diagonal, no more than three widgets can be placed on the screen, depending on their size. At the same time, in a certain area, space for additional icons in the corners of the screen is lost if there is not enough space for a graphic element.

An interesting feature has been implemented: you can swipe with two fingers from diagonally opposite corners, all desktops will be reduced and displayed on one screen. At the same time, the widgets seem to float on the desktop, the action is complemented by animation.

When the screen is locked, the display shows the date and time. To unlock the screen, you need to slide your finger along from left to right. If you do it the other way around, then the silent mode is turned on, as evidenced by an additional icon. Moving between zones is fast, without any hint of lethargy.

The Application Manager is activated by the Home button. It displays 8 programs and, in essence, is not your usual task manager. As you know, Android closes applications on its own, guided by the amount of free RAM.

The smartphone menu consists of several working areas, initially there are 4 of them. If you install additional applications, then over time there will be more such areas. There are 12 icons on the screen. translucent background, under which you can see the wallpaper set on the main screen. The icons can be arranged in a way that is convenient for the user. There is also a sorting according to several criteria: alphabetically, frequently used, recently installed.

Phone book

The smartphone has a convenient assistant for importing contacts from both a SIM card and from Facebook and Google accounts, they are displayed in a single list. A backup copy of the list of numbers on the memory card is created, later the data can be restored.

When creating a new contact, many fields are created. These are different types phone numbers, e-mail addresses, means of quick communication, residential address and others (pseudonym, note, internet call). There is no sorting by last name, the list is ordered only by first name.

If you press your finger on the area on the right side of the screen and swipe down or up, then a letter will pop up on the screen - a kind of quick search that helps in cases when the phone has several hundred, or even thousands of contacts. Search works by the first letters of the contact name for both language layouts. There is a menu of favorites where you can add the most requested contacts.

There is a quick menu: you need to click on the place for the icon with the contact's photo, after which you can call, send a message by SMS or e-mail, view the data on Facebook.

Call log

You can access the call log directly from the phone book - it is highlighted in a separate tab. There the dialed numbers, received and missed calls are listed as a single list; for clarity, they are marked with icons of different colors. By clicking on the line, you can delete a number from the call log, add it to a contact, or perform some other actions. After selecting a number from the list, detailed information about the call will be displayed.

Viewing the call history, you can not only make a telephone conversation with the selected subscriber, but also send him an SMS or e-mail from this list without going to another menu. The number is dialed using a convenient virtual keyboard. The smartphone cannot automatically substitute numbers based on the order of the entered digits. During a call, the picture assigned to the user is stretched to fill the entire screen.

Posts

For SMS and MMS there is a shared folder where received messages go. When sending, adding various objects to the SMS, you can automatically convert it to MMS. Messages are grouped by addressee in the message feed. By dialing the subscriber's number, the phone displays a list of suitable numbers by alternating digits.

While typing, a small field will be displayed for characters. The longer the message, the more the space allocated for the character set increases. The device can copy, cut and paste text (and not only in the messages themselves, but you can also add it to a document or to email). A convenient cursor is used for navigation, which helps to correct typos, highlight the necessary sections of the text.

The keyboard has changed in the smartphone. Now typing has become much more convenient. Previously, you had to be content with a layout that looked like a regular telephone. There, several symbols were combined on one button, you had to click on each several times. In the novelty, the previous method of typing has remained, but now it is supplemented by a QWERTY layout that works in landscape orientation.

The keyboard is good considering the limited screen size. Predictive text input is available when correction and word completion systems help you type in text, so you don't waste time correcting mistakes. Possible word suggestions are shown on a separate line above the keyboard. Copying and pasting of fragments is supported.

Email

For work with e-mail, automatic configuration starts mailbox(unless it is Gmail, which connects immediately after entering the email address during the initial activation of the phone). It includes entering basic information (login, password). The phone perfectly understands various encodings, supports downloading attachments (you need to insert a memory card, otherwise this function will not work) formats familiar to it.

When composing a letter, you can also attach various files from the device's memory to it. Both the function of copying text and automatic mailbox check (the interval is set manually) work. Sorting of mail by date, subject, sender and size works.

Camera

The Sony Ericsson Xperia active has a 5-megapixel autofocus camera and a flash. You can start shooting not only from the menu, but also by pressing the dedicated key to launch the application. By holding it down for a few seconds, the shooting mode starts, this can be done from any application, it is not necessary to go to the main menu. Liked it high speed launching the camera, as well as saving pictures very quickly. The button is comfortable, large, two-position.

The interface works in landscape or portrait orientation. Help icons are displayed on the screen to help you set up the modes and conditions of photography. 5 small icons are displayed on the side - the phone shows the last received frames. Pulling the icons aside, a gallery of captured images opens.

Various options are available:

Image Capture Mode: Normal, Scene Detection, Smile Detection.

Photo size: 5M (2592x1944), 3M (2560x1440), 2M (1632x1224 pixels).

Shooting Conditions: Normal, Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Night Portrait, Beach & Snow, Sports, Party, Document.

Touch capture: enable, disable (this function allows you to take a picture without pressing the camera key, just touch the screen).

Flash: Auto, Off, Fill In, Red-eye Removal.

Timer: 2, 10 seconds.

Exposition.

Image stabilizer.

Geotags.

Shutter sound: there are 3 sounds to choose from, you can also turn it off.

White balance: auto, indoor lighting, fluorescent, daylight, cloudy.

Measurement: center, middle level, point.

Focusing: single autofocus, multi-autofocus, macro, face detection, infinity, touch focus.

Shooting of 3D panoramas is working.

To switch between photo and video shooting, there are two icons at the bottom of the screen. Video recording is carried out in a maximum resolution of 1280x720 pixels, 30 frames per second. Video size: HD (1280x720), FWVGA (800x480), VGA (640x480), QVGA (320x240), multimedia message (320x240 pixels). Focusing: single autofocus, face detection, infinity. Backlight. Other settings are the same as for photography. Gallery Photos and videos stored in the smartphone's memory are shown here. The gallery works both vertically and horizontally. Working with files is accompanied by nice animation effects. Working with files is fast, previews of images are generated without delays. Pictures are displayed in a 2x3 or 3x2 grid, depending on the position of the device. In folders, thumbnails are smaller, so that not 3, but 4 images are placed vertically. The image opens in full screen, scaling works with the help of multitouch. Files can be sent via email, Bluetooth, SMS, or posted on Picasa. You can assign images as desktop wallpaper or assign to a contact. Rotation of images, reduction of their size is supported, as well as additional information about a specific file is displayed, the place where the picture was taken is also shown if geotagging is working. Images are shown as folders (for example, received via Bluetooth, photo section), and sorted by date. Thanks to this, it is very convenient to view photos - several sections are obtained in the same folder. You can scroll using the strip displayed at the bottom of the screen, or by simply touching the screen with your fingers anywhere. The video is played from the gallery, where there is a separate folder for videos. Nothing special can be said about the phone here. There is no support for DivX and XviD codecs in the smartphone, so the possibilities for playing video out of the box are rather modest. Timescape Timescape combines tabs that combine messages from various social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Vkontakte. In addition, there is data on phone calls, SMS and MMS, email. The output data is configured, unnecessary data can be hidden. An update is also installed: manually or automatically. Additional applications installed from the market. So, for example, you can supplement the set with the Foursquare program. Messages are presented in the form of translucent panels on which the name of the sender is written, the test message itself, as well as the source where the message came from. Gone is the ability to customize the background, it is now a permanent blue color. The list scrolls very quickly, without a hint of delays. In general, the thing is beautiful and interesting, the main drawback is related to the not very beautiful design - if the author of the post has an avatar, then this image will be displayed stretched across the entire width of the transparent panel. Player To listen to music, you can select tracks sorted into several categories: artist, album, tracks, lists. In the latter case, there are automatic playlists (recently added, popular tracks never played), and manual listening lists are also created. From the list with music, you can add songs to a playlist or send them via MMS, Bluetooth or email. The screen displays the name of the artist, the name of the album and the song being played. In the music playback mode, the album art is displayed (if it was assigned earlier), there are playback control buttons on the screen. Optionally, the song is set as a ringtone. Equalizer settings are available. These are the following presets: normal sound, classical, dance, flat sound, folk, heavy metal, hip-hop, jazz, pop, rock. There are no manual settings. The mixing mode is provided. While listening to music, you can find additional information about the artist using tools from Google. The xLOUD function allows you to get very loud sound from the speaker. It is not difficult to notice the difference, this option allows you to hear your phone in any, even a very noisy place. While listening to music, you can search for a video clip or find out more information about a file using YouTube. The sound quality for the Android segment is very good. There is a sufficient headroom in terms of loudness, the middle frequencies are well developed, and the lower range is also quite good. Lovers of deep bass can try to play with the equalizer, which will help change the sound image, albeit not without some distortion. Radio The smartphone has a radio that has the function automatic search stations. You can also save dozens of frequencies in the phone's memory. You can easily switch between your favorite stations by clicking on the small icon, which will automatically move between the saved waves. TrackID allows you to identify the melody sounding on the radio in your smartphone or somewhere nearby. Not only the song title will be displayed, but also the album title, artist name, and cover art. Organizer The calendar in the device is made in a traditional style, the display of information for a whole month, week or a specific day is configured. You can customize the type and alert tone for recorded events and appointments. There is a division of information by storage location, each option has its own color label. While creating new entry it is given a name, a period, a place. It is indicated with which of the calendars it will be synchronized, you can send invitations to contacts from the notebook. The snooze period is set (every day, weekly, monthly, yearly). A reminder will help you not to lose sight of the recording - the signal will be triggered in advance. Alarm The smartphone allows you to store multiple alarms in memory. The repeat is set both for 1 time and for every day, only for working days or weekly. You can also set specific days. The ringtone is set, you can add a vibrating alert and a text file to it. The period of repeated signal triggering is set. The phone screen can display the weather forecast, date and time in large symbols. The calculator works in both portrait and landscape orientation, there is a menu with additional functions. Android Market offers a convenient search function among thousands of apps. Programs are divided into categories, making it easier to browse. You can see the reviews, rate the rating and express your opinion about the software. Each application is provided with a short description and images for better clarity. Purchased applications are displayed in a separate list, which is convenient: if they were purchased new phone, you can immediately install those programs that were previously purchased. The application, standard for most modern devices, allows you to view videos, search among them. The application runs in full screen mode. Weather forecast and news are useful every day. DLNA support allows you to view photos and videos from compatible devices wirelessly. The Facebook application will allow you to communicate on the network of the same name directly from your mobile device. Moreover, this function is better implemented in a smartphone, in other devices. So, you can mark your favorite song in the player while listening. Facebook albums are added to the gallery, and friends' birthdays are added to the calendar. Neo Reader will help you read information from barcodes. The built-in Walkmate pedometer allows you to track the average daily distance traveled. There is a program for calculating traffic. The compass is working, which allows you to create geotags. The flash can act as a flashlight, there are several modes of operation. There is an application for sports. For viewing documents, the Office Suite program will do. Quadro Pop develops the ideas of Tetris and invites sports accessories to be chipped into ranks. Browser A convenient application is used for Internet surfing. The navigation bar is displayed at the top of the screen, to the right of it there is a shortcut that allows you to bookmark the page. The phone remembers the most visited pages, there is a log of the pages viewed. Multi-window support is supported, word search on the page, text highlighting, and a practical function of changing the screen brightness directly from the browser works. Thanks to multitouch, pages are easily scaled (virtual keys also work to change the size of the displayed one). Font size changes, password saving works, flash is supported, browser works fast. GPS navigation Google Maps is used for navigation - the standard software for all android phones. The only drawback is that the program requires constant network activity, which affects the amount of traffic consumed by the device. Traffic jams are displayed, thus, the application has become fully functional and convenient not only for pedestrians, but also for car owners. There is a function of determining the current location, calculating the route from the start to the end point, and the method of movement is set: by car, on foot or by public transport. The route is laid on the map, while key places are indicated in the form of text messages that are displayed on the screen in the form of a column, you can switch between them: view the route in advance or vice versa, go back and pave another path. Scaling works with multitouch or virtual buttons. Another application for calculating routes can be the Wisepilot program. She knows how to calculate the route, display weather data. An active network connection is also required. Connections The smartphone operates in the ranges GSM 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS 900/1700/2100. There is Bluetooth 2.1 with support for EDR and A2DP, not counting support for other generally accepted profiles. Wi-Fi work b \ g \ n is implemented at the usual level. The smartphone remembers the entered passwords for networks, is able to automatically connect to them, being within their radius of action. There is a function of working as an access point. Using the microUSB connector allows you to connect your phone to a computer for synchronization and battery recharging. Working hours The smartphone is equipped with a 1200 mAh battery. It claims up to 5 hours of talk time, up to 351 hours of standby time. In the music playback mode, the smartphone works up to 25 hours. On average, you should focus on a day of work when using various Google services, 30 minutes of calls, 2 hours of listening to music. In continuous video playback mode at maximum screen brightness and working Wi-Fi, the phone worked for 6 hours and 15 minutes. Conclusion The phone rings very loudly, this is the merit of the xLOUD option, the call is heard perfectly. The speaker flawlessly, perhaps a little deaf, but apparently, this is caused by a special protective membrane that covers it. But there are no complaints about the volume, it's nice to talk on the phone. The vibration alert is rather weak, it is not always felt. Sony Ericsson Xperia Active will be a good addition to the company's lineup. Smartphone protection allows it to withstand swimming in water, as well as work in high humidity conditions. Touch screens are often uncomfortable to press and don't respond well to wet fingers. This device, thanks to a special screen coating, will not have such a problem. The gadget is good because it offers a modern filling, which is enclosed in a solid frame. I cannot attribute the device to those that tourists take with them. Here the working time is a limitation. It's easier to take with you a simpler device from the Philips Xenium line or a model like, putting it in a sealed bag (there are such things for travelers). However, for those who love sports and related attributes, this model will be a godsend, because our competitor is not officially on sale, and the new protected smartphone from Samsung (Galaxy Xcover model) has not yet appeared on sale. The surcharge for a new product in the amount of 2000-3000 rubles compared to the Xperia mini looks reasonable and reasonable. The package bundle is better here, the phone itself is more durable, and outwardly it looks more impressive. It can be safely recommended for purchase to all those who are looking for a smartphone with an increased margin of safety. © Alexander Pobyvanets, Test laboratory Date of article publication - October 26, 2011

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 in translation from English means "active", "energetic" or "alive". The key features of this model are the dust- and water-resistant casing, as well as the scratch-resistant screen covered with mineral glass.

As it was stated in the "Delivery set", a large number of accessories are included with the phone. From the pre-installed software - special applications for sports: "WalkMate" (step counter) and "iMapMyFITNESS +" (tracks the path on the map, records the distance and speed of your movement). As for the rest, it is a typical "android" Sony Ericsson of 2011: a single-core "gigahertz" processor, 512 MB of RAM, a camera with the ability to record HD-clips.

Design, dimensions, controls

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

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

1. Complete dust protection.
2. With a short-term immersion up to 1 meter, water does not enter in quantities that disrupt the operation of the device. Permanent job immersed is not expected.

To prevent moisture and dust from getting inside the phone, there is another cover with rubberized edges, which is hermetically inserted into the grooves, under the back panel. The connectors are also protected, on which the plugs located on the cover are tightly fitted. After removing the USB cable or headphones from the connectors, a warning message will appear on the screen: "To ensure water resistance, close the outer connector caps." Therefore, if suddenly, as an experiment, you decide to "drown" the Xperia Active, then before doing this, you must close them.

In general, the case looks sturdy, but you should not get carried away with crash tests, in particular, dropping the device: it has no impact resistance classification.

Thanks to its streamlined shape, the device fits well in the hand and fits easily into a shirt or jeans pocket. On the lower edge there is a large bow for attaching a strap.

There is a speaker on the front panel. Its volume is high, there is a margin, and the intelligibility is not bad. Nearby - a light and proximity sensor, as well as a very tiny LED indicator. It flashes blue during an incoming call, but does not indicate a missed call in any way. But when the SMS is skipped, it flashes green, when connected to a PC or the battery is charged, it is constantly lit in red. At the bottom there are three touch buttons: open the context menu, exit to the main screen and "back". They are backlit 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 an on / off button practically recessed into the body; it also acts as a lock for the display. Its stroke is large, pressing is soft. On the right is the volume rocker and camera activation. The stroke is small, but the pressure is soft. There are no connectors on the top, and microUSB and 3.5 mm audio-out (under the caps) on the bottom.

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

Under the protective cover at the bottom is the slot where the memory card is inserted.

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), the matrix is ​​made using TFT-LCD technology with backlighting, displays 16.7 million color shades, touch layer - capacitive, with support for up to four simultaneous touches. The sensitivity is high.

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

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

Battery

The "Active" uses a lithium-polymer (Li-Polymer) battery with a capacity of 1200 mAh, 3.7V, 4.5 W * h. Model - EP500 (fits from Xperia Mini, Xperia Mini Pro, X8, Vivaz and Vivaz Pro). According to the manufacturer, a full charge of the battery should be enough for almost 5 hours of talk time and up to 350 hours (15 days) of standby time.

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

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

The battery is charged from USB in two hours, from network adapter- in an hour.

Communication capabilities

The smartphone works 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. Supported by DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) - a standard that allows compatible devices transmit and receive by home network various media content (image, music, video), as well as display it in real time.

Memory, memory card

As with the entire Xperia lineup, the SE Active comes with 512MB of RAM. For most tasks, this volume is more than enough. Internal memory- about 320 MB, and 270 MB free. The set comes with a 2 GB card, so if you wish, all applications can be "dropped" on it.

The speed of USB 2.0 when writing to a complete memory card is about 10 MB / s, reading - up to 21 MB / s.

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

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 about 1.5 - 2 meters.

The quality of the photos is significantly worse than on the Xperia Mini: the color reproduction is not very good, the clarity is mediocre. Possible reason- low quality safety glass... Videos also do not look the best, but the stereo base is excellent (you can clearly hear where is the left channel and where is the right). Front-camera the ST17i smartphone is missing.

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 a 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 - gallery, and in the center - switching 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: on the 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 characteristic:

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

Sample photos:

Performance

The Xperia Active features the same Snapdragon chipset and Qualcomm MSM8255 (Scorpion) processor with clock frequency 1000 MHz, like on Sony Ericsson Arc, Ray, Mini Pro. Codename - Snapdragon S2, architecture - ARMv7, CMOS technology, process technology - 45 nm. Responsible for the graphics part is 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.

During the testing of the device, I did not have any serious questions about performance: it works quickly, there were no glitches or slowdowns. It is understandable, since its “brothers” with the same processor have a higher screen resolution.

Technical specifications:

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

Quadrant Standart

Antutu Benchmark

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

Active performance test:

Software platform

The Xperia ST17i smartphone is running operating system Google Android version 2.3.4. At the moment it is relevant. The long-awaited update for the Xperia lineup 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 time is less than 10 seconds. "Maps" are used for navigation.

Shell and menu

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

The menu is represented by 12 shortcuts on one screen with a 4x3 grid. At the bottom right there is a button, when you click on it, the shortcuts start to "float". In this mode, they can be moved from one place to another, or by clicking on the cross, you can delete the application. The rest of the interface is similar to the previous models. Sorting is carried out: alphabetically, by frequently used programs, by recently installed or at your own discretion.

Challenges

By clicking on the "phone" icon, the dialer is called. It is large and convenient, but when entering a number, the 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 is easy to switch from "dialer" to "contacts". To add a new contact, you need to click on the icon on the top right. The following information applies to each subscriber:

• Surname
• Telephone
• Email
• Call signal
• Other

In the "Calls" section, the subscriber's name, phone number, date and type of call (incoming, outgoing, missed) are displayed.

Posts

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 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... Determination of the artist and the title of the song by its small excerpt.

Youtube.

News and weather.

Adobe reader.

Quadrapop... A game in the style of "Tetris".

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

3D camera... A new application that appeared in the Android 2.3.4 firmware. Photos can only be viewed on TV Sony bravia with 3D technology.

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

Connected devices... This app plays photo or video content on BRAVIA TVs or Sony PlayStation 3.

Watch.

Wisepilot... Navigation app.

3D Album.

NeoReader... Is an universal scanner application barcode, which turns the camera on your mobile phone into a barcode scanner and allows you to access mobile content on the web.

Music and video... Allows you to access music and video compositions of your Facebook friends.

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 take and the steps left to reach your daily health requirement.

OfficeSuite... It 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 for following the main football tournament in Europe.

Update center... Software update application.

games and applications.

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

Liveware Manager... Allows you to launch any application when a headset, headphones or power cable is connected.

Compass.

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

Web browser

A standard browser is installed. Works fast, supports flash-animation (Flash 11) and multitouch. However, surfing on a small screen at a low resolution is inconvenient.

Multimedia

Music player

After launch, the screen displays: a large album cover, three player control keys ("forward", "backward" and "play / pause"), go 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 the latest Sony Ericsson models), the sound is very clear and pleasant. There is an xLOUD parameter in the general sound settings. 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 slightly raised, and the low ones are not very much. Complete "ears" are not as hopeless as it might seem: music lovers, of course, will replace them with others, but I do not recommend the rest. On the headset, the call answer button can be used to switch tracks or pause them.

FM radio

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

Video player

By default, the player can play MP4 and 3GP files. When installing, for example, a Dice-player, a number of supported codecs and file types are expanded to MKV and AVI recorded in H264, DivX and XViD. The maximum resolution is up to 720p.

Impressions

The call quality is of a high standard and is comparable to other phones in the Xperia line. The vibrating alert is average in strength, but feels good in a jacket or jacket pocket.

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 does not know how to write videos in HD. The rest of the parameters are identical. Despite the fact that Motorola's mobile division does not work in Russia, the company guarantees service of already sold phones. Defy + was released at the end of September, but it is sold only in Europe and Latin America for $ 350.

Another similar smartphone is Samsung Galaxy Xcover. Unlike the 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 Sony Ericsson Xperia Active is the most affordable "google phone" with a case protected from dust and moisture.

Specifications:

• Class: Smartphone
• Form factor: candy bar
• Body materials: plastic, screen coating - 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: 320MB and 2GB memory card
• Interfaces: Wi-Fi (b / g / n /), Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP), microUSB (USB 2.0) connector for charge / synchronization, 3.5 mm for a headset
• Screen: capacitive, TFT-LCD 3 ″ with a resolution of 320x480 pixels
• Camera: 5 MP with autofocus, video is recorded at 720p, LED flash
• Navigation: GPS (gpsOne Gen8)
• Optional: accelerometer, proximity sensor, FM radio
• Battery: removable 1200 mAh Li-Polymer
• Dimensions: 92 x 55 x 16.5 mm
• Weight: 110 grams

Roman Belykh (

But I got it into my hands for a full review quite recently. I will tell you about the results of the weekly operation of this gadget in this review. But first, a few words about what it is.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia active, one of the latest Xperia line-ups introduced this year, has opened up the niche for active lifestyles and rugged smartphones for Sony Ericsson. Compact, waterproof and dustproof, with a powerful processor and on Android 2.3.4. Shockproof and unsinkable phones are a rarity, among Android "s in our market it is" he is the only one. " a little, and therefore, having received it for a test, I took him to the dacha in a well to drown and chop with an ax.

Basic performance characteristics of the model:

Weight and dimensions: monoblock size 55x92 mm and 17 mm thick, 110 g weight
Screen: 3 inches, 320x480 pixels, capacitive, multitouch, with auto-rotate
Battery: lithium-ion, 1200 mAh
Memory: 320MB built-in, 2GB microSD card included, up to 32GB supported
Camera: 5 megapixels, with autofocus, flash and digital 8x zoom, function of shooting panoramas and 3D-panoramas
Video: up to 720p (1280x800), 30 fps

It is easy to see that in terms of screen characteristics and in general, the phone resembles the popular Xperia mini and Xperia mini pro (the one with the keyboard). The same 3 "screen, the weight is exactly in the middle (a little heavier than a mini and a little lighter than a mini pro). The idea of ​​the engineers is clear: a phone for jogging or going out of town should be compact.

Equipment

The Active surprised me: the richest set of additional equipment of all Sony Ericsson's, which I have visited over the last year, was hidden in the usual-looking, almost cube-shaped box.

The complete list is as follows:

• phone itself, battery and microSD memory card 2 GB
• headphones with a regular 3 mm plug, a clip for attaching the wire to clothes and earhooks (special rubber earhooks for attaching headphones - in them, ordinary earbuds sit firmly on your ear like a good headset)
• case for carrying on the shoulder or wrist
• clip strap
• replaceable white cap

Armor

Sony Ericsson Xperia active - the phone is bright in every sense. First, it's orange. Secondly, it has an original silhouette - due to the hypertrophied "ear" for attaching a strap. It's hard to miss and hard not to recognize. At the same time, the image turned out to be integral and harmonious. With a replaceable white cap, it looks no less interesting:

But the most important thing in its design is functionality.

The Xperia active is IP67 protected (Ingress Protection Rating 67). The numbers indicate the degree of protection against penetration of foreign objects (dustproof) and water (moisture resistance). The first number 6, according to Wikipedia, says that “some dust can get inside, but this does not interfere with the operation of the device. Complete protection against contact. " The next 7 means that “during a short-term immersion, water does not enter in quantities that disrupt the operation of the device. Continuous work in submerged mode is not expected. "

The Xperia active is protected at this level by its case design.

Firstly, all connectors (both two - microUSB and 3.5 mm headphone) are closed with dense plastic caps. Rubber mounts look solid and reliable enough:

At the same time, the lid itself is not at all waterproof - drops of water flow under it. The real protection of the "internal organs" of the phone is the shell, which is an inner cover, under which, in fact, the usual filling is hidden - a battery, slots for SIM and microSD-cards.

The tightness of the recess under the nail, which opens the lid, is ensured by an elegant solution - it is located on the protruding fastener for the strap:

By the way, the real aluminum frame surrounding the phone ensures that, if something happens, it won't be easy to tear off the strap. Well, it just symbolizes the strength of this device.

In the smallest detail, phone protection is provided by:

The front surface of the phone is almost completely hidden under one piece of mineral, scratch-resistant glass, which is also like all others. Sony models Ericsson this year of release, also sealed with a pre-installed at the factory protective film.

Search buttons, menu and Home are touch-sensitive. The integrity of the coating is violated only by the hearing speaker and microphone, which, for obvious reasons, cannot be shoved under glass. But they, as well as the LED flash on the back, are protected by special membranes.

The power buttons, the camera, and the volume rocker protrude from the body only slightly and fit tightly. The feeling when pressed is "loose", without pronounced mechanical feedback.

Exploitation

When it comes to niche products, one of the most important questions is use cases. That is, situations in which, in fact, the usefulness of its features is manifested.

So, in what situations and how does the Xperia active outperform regular phones / smartphones?

• Going to the gym, exercising on simulators - convenient attachment on the arm
• Jog / Sport Walk - Pedometer, Heart Rate and Heart Rate Monitor, imapmyfitness app to track your workout results.
• Fighting excess weight (controlling calories burned)

Which one is right for me? Jogging or going to the gym in the morning is almost fantastic for me. The bike has already been removed until next spring. I'm not losing weight, but gaining more and more. It remains only to go for a walk. Our actions?

We shove the phone into the case and use the strap to fasten it to the hand
The case has a very thick, almost a centimeter, foam lining - probably so that the hand does not rub and so that the phone does not sink if suddenly water will fall in a case. Because of it, pushing the phone inside is not very convenient, but it also sits tightly afterwards. A thing when running is absolutely necessary - fixed on the hand, it is guaranteed not to fall out and will not interfere.

The strap is wide, but a bit short - it fits well on the hand, but you can't put it on the thigh. The cover can be fixed on the shoulder or forearm - as it is more convenient for anyone.

You need to put in the phone with an eye to the lock icon printed on the case - then on the go it will be easy to press a button and see, for example, the time and missed calls / SMS.

Putting on headphones
Headphones with a case get along well - but a regular headset without a remote control does not allow more than starting / stopping playback or accepting / rejecting a call on the go. You can rewind tracks by quickly double-tapping the track forward, and triple-tapping backward.

The included temples are absolutely awesome. Firstly, they fit any type of headphone. Secondly, they fit perfectly on the ears - no worse than any other bluetooth headset. And thirdly, they can and should be worn in any situation - I was always annoyed by the habit of earbuds flying out, for example, in a flea market in public transport or just on the go.

You can also insert a strap
The thing is simple and elegant, made soundly - he dresses tightly, does not fly off. The size of the node is adjusted with a slider. It is convenient to quickly get the phone out of your pocket by the lace, or simply fasten it on your hand if there are no pockets during your workout.

So we equipped ourselves. You can run, you can exercise on simulators, you can just walk around the city or in the forest. In addition to accessories, special software is also responsible for the "active" orientation of the smartphone.

On the run
A pedometer will come in handy - it counts how many steps you have taken in total, the average for a week and looms in front of you with a goal to walk 10,000 steps.

In the woods
A digital compass will help you navigate the terrain, which can determine its relative position in the Earth's magnetic field. And you can also add marks, records or select a direction to an already marked object.

In the gym and outdoors
The Xperia active comes preinstalled with the iMapMyFITNESS app for Android. With it, a smartphone owner can track route, time, distance, speed, pace and calories in real time for their activities using their fitness GPS mobile devices. Your sync results with www.MapMyFitness.com! According to the website of the developers of the application, iMapMyFITNESS is great for fitness, cycling, running or for weight loss control.

And the built-in ANT + chip allows you to monitor your heart rate and count the pulse. He does this not literally - you can't put it to your heart - just with its help a smartphone can interact with sensors of different types, including heart rate meters.

In the dark
Also extreme, in a sense, the situation. For this case, the Xperia active has a built-in flashlight (the classic quote from the bash immediately comes to mind). More precisely, an LED that can fulfill its role and is controlled - and of course - by a whole special application. With it, you can select the backlight mode or turn the screen into a light bulb:

Unsinkable

In general, this phone is not for swimming. Its water resistance guarantees 100% protection in most everyday situations - splashing, falling into water. Xperia active can withstand immersion in water to a depth of 1 m (0.1 atmosphere, so) for up to half an hour. Boiling it, for example, is not recommended. It is probably possible to swim with him with such performance characteristics. True, you will not be able to listen to music in ordinary headphones - to ensure waterproofness, the headphone and MicroUSB jacks must be closed, which the phone itself periodically warns about:

I did not drown it in the well, although there was an idea to dip it in a bucket to the recommended meter depth. Only if the bucket, for example, turned upside down, would the smartphone float away to illuminate the depths of underground waters near Moscow from the last amperes. Therefore, I limited myself to slightly wetting it in the bath - in the conditions for the Xperia active, it is practically resort.

The phone accepts calls under water, calls itself and can even take a photo. Thanks to wet fingers technology, the Xperia active's capacitive touchscreen responds well to pressing, even when it is wet when taken out of the water.

The back cover made of black soft-touch plastic, by the way, not only feels "expensive", but also does not allow the phone to slide in wet hands. And scratches are almost invisible on this coating. But if this is without fanaticism, it is better not to chop it with an ax.

Platform

The Xperia active is the same as other models of this year, including the top-end Xperia arc: 1 GHz Qualcomm MSM 8255 processor and Adreno 205 graphics accelerator, 512 MB RAM, 1 GB of internal memory, of which 320 MB is free for information storage user and applications.

Interface

The “four corners interface” used is already familiar from the Xperia mini. In short, at the corners of the screen in the desktop display mode (or rather, there are only five tables) there are buttons for quick access to applications. Up to four buttons can be grouped in each corner, giving you quick access to 16 apps in total. This interface is an original development by Sony Ericsson, which allows you to use the relatively small space of the 3-inch screen as efficiently as possible and is optimized for control with just one thumb.

The Xperia active I tested has already installed the latest Android 2.3.4 update, which contains a number of original Sony Ericsson solutions.

Of the interesting ones, I drew attention to the new kind of folders on the desktop - now they contain a preview of the applications placed in them (up to 4 icons), which also simplifies navigation on the phone:

And new camera features.

Camera

Key features of the camera - 5 MP, flash, autofocus, smile and face detection, panoramic
shooting and 3D panorama:

And also shooting video in resolution up to 720p at 30 frames per second:

The appearance of Sony Ericsson Xperia Active has created a new segment on the communicator market in Russia - the segment of moisture-resistant and dust-proof devices. The IP67 protection class, to which the new product belongs, until recently had only one model with a modern OS on board - Motorola Defy, but it was not officially delivered or delivered to Russia, besides, it has completely different characteristics.

Segment of phones with increased protection against adverse external influences has never been extensive at all. Of the popular models of the past, only the line of devices of the M series from Siemens comes to mind. Unfortunately, they are already irrevocably outdated, although, undoubtedly, many of them still regularly serve their owners.

Taking into account the low popularity and narrow specialization of "protected" models of smartphones, it is not surprising that few of the current manufacturers of mobile computers wanted to spend efforts on the release of such devices. One of them was Sony Ericsson, which, while developing its line of communicators with the Android system, apparently decided to fill all the niches on the market. We have already seen this company, scaled-down versions of "standard" models, scaled-down variants with a keyboard and even a hybrid communicator - a handheld game console. It's time to get acquainted with the off-road communicator.

Scope of delivery and characteristics

There is little information on the device itself on the packaging. But additional accessories are listed in detail and their images are shown, including: a case with an arm mount, a rubber safety strap, a wired stereo headset, a USB cable, Charger, rechargeable battery, interchangeable black and white back panels, spare ear tips, documentation. The package bundle of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active is decent - there is practically everything for an active life with a communicator.

The characteristics of the communicator Sony Ericsson Xperia Active (ST17i) are as follows.

• Scorpion 1 GHz processor, Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon chipset with Adreno 205 video core;
• Operating system Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread);
• TFT-display, diagonal 3 inches, 320 × 480 pixels, capacitive, with multitouch, Sony Mobile Bravia Engine;
• 512 MB RAM, 1 GB Flash (320 MB available);
• Communication GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, GPRS / EDGE;
• Communication 3G UMTS 900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 7.2 MB / s; HSUPA, 5.76 MB / s;
• Bluetooth v2.1;
• WiFi 802.11b / g / n, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot;
• GPS, AGPS;
• Slot for microSDHC cards;
• FM radio;
• USB host;
• Position sensor in space;
• Light sensor;
• Magnetometer;
• 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, 720p video recording;
• Lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 1200 mAh;
• Dimensions 92 × 55 × 16.5 mm;
• Weight 110.8 g.

The hardware platform is identical to its 2011 Xperia Mini siblings, such as the recently tested Xperia Mini Pro. The communicator has everything you need to work: making calls, messaging, going online.

• Protection degree IP67;
• Double cover;
• Anti-scratch mineral glass;
• Capacitive display that recognizes the touch of wet fingers.

Degree of protection IP67 means that if handled correctly, the communicator is protected from dust penetration, and if immersed in one meter of water, the ingress of liquid will not harm the mobile computer for 30 minutes.

The communicator display is designed to be operated with wet fingers. This function will undoubtedly be appreciated by many who tried to use modern communicators, whose capacitive screens got wet in the rain.

Design and appearance

The novelty is a monoblock communicator with a very unusual exterior. The gaze, first of all, stops at the large metal eyelet, which is used to attach the strap. None of the previously tested communicators has this passive safety element such outstanding dimensions. The mount practically does not interfere with the work with the communicator if you hold the device in your right hand. Lefties will have a harder time, but they will also be able to find a comfortable position for a mobile computer.

Like the Xperia Mini Pro, which has previously been in the edition, the novelty is notable for its small dimensions in length and width, but the thickness is beyond the fashion trend of thinning communicators. If the "fatness" of the Xperia Mini Pro was due to the presence of a slide-out keyboard, then the reason for the Xperia Active's great thickness is its moisture and dust resistant body. The volume of the communicator does not cause any difficulties when working, only outwardly it seems large and angular, but you quickly get used to it.

All the edges of the novelty's case are rounded, sharp corners are absent - their presence would be dangerous both for the most "active" owner and for the device. The most vulnerable part of the communicator - the display - is enclosed in an edging made of durable metal: either aluminum or an alloy based on it. The only pity is that the screen is flush with the metal rim, it would be better if it was deepened. By sacrificing some of the convenience and aesthetics, it would have been possible to achieve greater safety when the communicator falls flat on the display. Among other security elements of the screen, it is worth noting the presence of a factory protective film.

The plastic case of the communicator is attached to the metal rim. Its upper outer part is made of orange material - the bright color attracts attention and is convenient when searching for the device on the ground. He also distinguishes the device among its fellows - it is not often possible to find such a flashy shade in the design of a communicator.

The inner case is made of durable black plastic, the battery compartment cover is attached to it, over which the outer protective casing is put on. The cover fits snugly against the body and is pressed by the casing. The latter comes in different colors, the kit includes black and white options: black has a soft-touch coating and feels like rubber to the touch.

Disassembling a communicator is a simple task. To detach the outer casing, there is a large nail gap on the lanyard eyelet. With a little effort, the cover is removed from the latches, then the internal protection is detached without any problems. You can change the microSD card without disconnecting the battery.

Because the various structural elements of your device must have access to the environment, the Xperia Active has various protections to protect them. The camera and flash are protected by plastic covers in the battery cover. It also carries the protection of an additional microphone and something resembling a pressure valve. On its inner side there are contacts of various antennas, which, in turn, are placed on the outer side of the plastic part. The outer casing carries protection for the main speaker and rubber plug-valves for external connectors: microUSB and 3.5 mm audio jack for a headset. The phone speaker and microphone are in the front, and nothing definite can be said about their protection, since only small holes in the glass are provided for them, but, apparently, they are also protected by membranes.

In addition to the display, on the front panel of the communicator there are three touch buttons, ambient light and proximity sensors, as well as an LED that informs about the state of the device.

On the left side of the device there is a power control key. On the right: volume and camera control buttons. When examining them, gaps between the surrounding case and the keys are noticeable, but there is definitely additional protection under them - otherwise, moisture and dust would fall straight to the board and the display.

The lower end of the communicator case, as already mentioned, is used to accommodate the connectors and fasten the lanyard, while the upper one is not equipped with anything.

There are only two complaints about the design of the novelty: the first is a large eyelet, which could have been made from above, and then it would not interfere when working with the communicator; the second is the display, which is not recessed inside the case. Otherwise, the Xperia Active is a well-built mobile computer with adequate and convenient layout of controls. You can get used to the unusual appearance and thickness of the device, as well as count on working in all declared extreme modes.

Software and settings

The communicator runs on Android 2.3.4 operating system. For future owners of this mobile computer, like others Sony devices Ericsson, released in 2011, the good news is the announcement from the company that it will prepare firmware updates for all of these devices running Android 4.0. Now it's worth looking at what software the current firmware has.

As a proprietary shell installed on top of the system, the standard for Sony Ericsson devices Timescape UI is used. Despite the fact that it does not shine with special effects, like the HTC Sense, it is ideal for communicators with a small display diagonal. In this shell, the most frequently used applications can be placed in four areas at the corners of the screen, which significantly speeds up the work with the communicator and takes up quite a bit of precious display area.

In addition to standard programs, such as: phone calls, address book, messages, - in one of the corners of the screen are grouped several applications related to the active life of the owner of the communicator: iMapMyFITNESS + and WalkMate. The first program takes into account the owner's movements on foot, jogging or cycling using a GPS receiver, records tracks and counts the calories burned. The second is a pedometer; steps are counted using an acceleration sensor built into the communicator.

Travelers will also find the digital compass useful - it can be found among the pre-installed applications. Of course, it is easier and easier to use one of the satellite navigation programs, but the GPS signal, as well as the cellular network, may disappear - then the old one will come in handy navigation device... Flashlight - this is the simple name of another program, which, without exaggeration, will be useful both to active owners of the communicator and to all other users. The light source can be either the camera's LED flash or the main display.

Of the additional software in Xperia Active, it is worth noting: an application for accessing the social network Facebook, Adobe Reader - viewing PDF files, Office Suite - working with Microsoft Office documents, NeoReader - reading various barcodes. In addition, there are programs for downloading games and other applications, several reference applications, a traffic counting utility, media players and other standard programs.

Camera

The communicator is equipped with a 5 megapixel photosensitive matrix. The camera has an autofocus system, LED flash, and can recognize faces.

The camera is controlled using a separate key on the right side of the communicator body. As with the Xperia Mini Pro, the camera control interface is organized in a two-panel fashion. Lists of settings and thumbnails of images are located on the left and right of the display, they can be minimized and free up additional space for cropping. All settings are always at hand - to change them you do not need to climb into the jungle of the menu.

The quality of the images is decent, their maximum resolution is 2592 × 1944 pixels. Video is recorded in MPEG-4 / H.264 format with 720p resolution. You can see examples of videos and photos.

In addition to normal shooting, you can take stereo photos with the Xperia Active. To do this, the communicator must be moved horizontally during shooting, and very carefully, maintaining a constant speed and direction. As a result, the resulting image will be saved in MPO format and can be viewed on a device that supports stereo mode. On the device itself, the photo will look like a long panoramic shot.

Wireless interfaces, communications and GPS

Sony Ericsson Xperia Active will provide its owner with a full range of modern information exchange services. In addition to phone calls, the communicator, for example, will be able to transfer photos received using the built-in camera to the user's page in social network... In a comfortable environment - with the help Wi-Fi networks, in the field - using one of the data transmission technologies in cellular networks: HSPA or EDGE / GPRS.

Technologies supported by Xperia Active include USB host and DLNA. The USB host allows you to connect various equipment to the communicator: mouse, keyboard, external drives and USB flash drives. DLNA allows you to exchange media content with other devices, such as computers or TVs, that are connected to the same network.

The built-in receiver of the satellite signal of the GPS network will provide the owner of the communicator with accurate positioning anywhere in the world, while the approximate location will help to determine the AGPS technology.

Athletes will be interested in ANT + technology, which is supported by the Xperia Active. Built-in chip of the same name allows you to connect to a mobile computer various sensors measurements of speed, distance, accelerations. They can be equipped with various items of equipment, vehicles. Supported devices also include heart rate monitors and medical equipment.

All wireless communication modules remain operational even under water, in support of which an experiment was carried out with the immersion of the communicator to a depth of several tens of centimeters.

Display and sound

The basic parameters of the Xperia Active display are standard for the mainstream Xperia communicators in 2011. The resolution of 320 × 480 pixels is optimal for a 3-inch TFT matrix. The capacitive touch display is sensitive even to the touch of wet fingers, multi-touch is supported. The backlight brightness is sufficient for most tasks and is automatically adjusted. The screen dims noticeably only in strong ambient light.

The speaker located on the back of the communicator body reproduces sounds even when underwater. Of course, the water column drowns out the power of sound waves, but if you drop the device into a small reservoir, you can determine its location by simply calling on the phone.

The volume of all speakers is more than sufficient for comfortable work with the device. Two microphones provide high quality communication with the interlocutor. The power of the whole sound system adjustable with two keys.

The Xperia Active also features Sony Ericsson proprietary technologies to improve display and speaker performance: Sony Mobile Bravia Engine and xLoud, respectively.

The communicator comes with a standard Sony wired headset. The control module is equipped with a button and a microphone; headphones cannot be disconnected from it. The sound quality of the headset is good; the kit includes replaceable earpieces of various sizes.

When a headset is connected to the communicator, the FM radio becomes available. The receiver control interface is laconic and convenient, the program itself searches for radio stations and adds them to the list. RDS technology is supported, the signal reception quality is excellent.

Battery life and performance

During the short time that the communicator was in the editorial office, it was possible to carry out only basic tests for autonomy. The rechargeable battery in the Xperia Active has a capacity of 1200 mAh, a processor frequency of 1 GHz, and a screen diagonal of 3 inches. Taken together, this leads to the fact that when reading an e-book with 50% backlight level, the communicator worked for 16.5 hours, music playback with the display turned off lasted for 20 hours, the minimum operating time of the device was 4 hours. It was achieved by setting the maximum backlighting, turning on all wireless communication modules, and launching a movie to play.

Overall, the Xperia Active's battery life is good. Setting the backlight to an acceptable level and turning off unnecessary communication modules can significantly extend the life of the device in mobile operation.

The summary table shows the results of testing the performance of the hero of the review and other communicators that have been in the editorial office.

	Sony ericsson Xperia Active 1 GHz (Android 2.3)	Sony ericsson Xperia mini pro 1 GHz (Android 2.3)	Samsung Galaxy S II 2 × 1.2 GHz (Android 2.3)	Htc Sensation 2 × 1.2 GHz (Android 2.3)	Sony ericsson Xperia Arc 1 GHz (Android 2.3)	Samsung Galaxy S 1 GHz (Android 2.3)	Samsung Galaxy S 1 GHz (Android 2.1)
Graphics
Total graphics score	420.2186	487.65515	34.054173	63.32414	26.784534	30.028656	30.482296
Draw opacity bitmap (MPixels / sec)	139.31973	181.23894	11.17294	22.188517	8.943233	8.854302	9.3687105
Draw transparent bitmap (MPixels / sec)	117.70115	117.02857	9.655823	16.542812	7.4391575	9.512309	9.275363
CPU Whetstone
Total CPU score	2178.7073	2258.528	3261.4143	2500.6213	2228.1846	1571.6143	771.9937
MWIPS DP	145.13788	149.25372	181.4882	162.86644	145.56041	97.84736	57.636887
MWIPS SP	167.78525	175.4386	296.7359	190.4762	174.52007	108.813934	60.79027
MFLOPS DP	12.365972	13.428502	12.005697	26.03444	12.867661	6.510691	7.3144784
MFLOPS SP	15.663344	17.23695	34.02756	34.39461	17.652456	14.372471	8.3832655
VAX MIPS DP	130.0208	134.85927	156.00337	143.94771	132.27618	111.43894	39.92782
VAX MIPS SP	134.3838	137.31831	225.92809	137.0819	136.2276	97.69196	40.446907
Memory
Total memory score	625.6395	645.8333	782.7169	792.86743	702.7458	647.3529	600.7096
Copy memory (Mb / sec)	568.5048	586.85443	711.23755	720.4611	638.5696	588.2353	545.8515
Filesystem
Total file system score	194.14053	167.95865	325.3547	213.823	227.13245	74.25825	143.54076
Creating 1000 empty files (sec)	3.559	2.963	0.256	1.342	4.456	13.402	41.504
Deleting 1000 empty files (sec)	2.088	1.391	0.13	0.408	2.875	25.047	27.346
Write 1M into file (M / sec)	5.966587	4.5745654	99.0099	13.513514	2.4113817	37.037037	3.068426
Read 1M from file (M / sec)	384.6154	333.33334	555.55554	416.66666	454.54544	112.35955	285.7143
SD card perfomance
Creating 250 empty files (sec)	13.288	18.224	9.34	8.588	6.348	3.444	11.908
Deleting 250 empty files (sec)	43.392	56.308	12.42	4.772	5.904	3.0	13.684
Write 1M into file (M / sec)	32.258064	34.129692	23.364487	26.88172	44.052864	16.10306	20.833334
Read 1M from file (M / sec)	384.6154	400.0	312.5	357.14285	454.54544	344.82758	303.0303

Comparing the Xperia Active with the Xperia Mini Pro, you can see that the hero of the review performed worse than his brother in the product line. Considering the identical hardware filling of both devices, the discrepancy in the tests can be attributed, perhaps, only to different version Android: 2.3.3 in Xperia Mini Pro and 2.3.4 in Xperia Active.

Both devices demonstrate exorbitant results in the tests of the graphics subsystem, which, however, are easily explained by the small resolution of the communicators' displays. More expensive and powerful devices spend more time calculating the image of their multipixel matrixes. This fact is confirmed by the Quadrant Standard test, in which the Xperia Active scored 1483 points.

In other respects, the Xperia Active, like the Xperia Mini Pro, lags behind top-end devices such as and. The similar processor frequency determines the coincidence of the results in the processor performance tests for all Sony Ericsson devices presented in the table. The same applies to operations with the memory of communicators.

conclusions

With the advent of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active, those buyers who need an “all-weather” and “protected” communicator have a choice. Although the range of devices is not very wide: Xperia Active and Motorola Defy are better than nothing. Despite the fact that the latter is not officially supplied to Russia, it can be easily purchased at one of the online stores.

On the side of Xperia Active, its advantages in the form of a productive hardware filling, a fresh version of the OS and a convenient shell, a good time autonomous work... The negative sides of the novelty can be attributed only to the non-standard design.

Compared to "regular" communicators, such as the Xperia Mini, the Xperia Active looks decent, which is not surprising given their identical hardware. There is a suspicion that Sony Ericsson specifically gave the new product such an extravagant appearance so that it does not create serious competition for its other devices.

It is unlikely that the Xperia Active will be the everyday phone of an office worker or anyone else who spends most of their time in comfortable conditions. However, it will become an indispensable assistant to anyone who is in direct contact with the environment for a long time, especially such a changeable one as in Russia, and must be constantly in touch. The Xperia Active could also be the perfect second communicator for all hobbyists active rest, tourism and extreme entertainment. In the end, even if something happens to a communicator, its price will cause less worries than the demise of a much more expensive mobile computer.

Classic candy bar with original design. Differs in high quality workmanship. Can be used with careful handling for a long period of time. When creating, high-quality plastic with a solid margin of safety is used. Today, the best value for money. Mobile phone Sony Ericsson Xperia active (St17i) The best option for lovers of an active lifestyle. The device is compact and lightweight. It can be used without a second hand. A thin metal edging runs along the perimeter of the device.The mobile phone case provides effective protection against dust particles. Able to submerge in water to a depth of 1 meter. His performance does not suffer. Waterproof and dustproof touch phone Sony Ericsson Xperia active (St17i) has a protective case under the back cover. It covers the elements that are important for its work. All connectors in the model are reliably protected by 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 control key for a mobile device. Next to it you can see the camera activation key. At the bottom of the phone there is a connector for connecting usb and a headphone output. All of them are closed with sturdy plugs.On the back of the mobile phone there is a second microphone, speaker, flash and camera peephole. Under the cover that covers the battery, you can find a slot for inserting a memory card. The screen of the device has a diagonal of 3 inches. The resolution is 320 by 480 pixels. The matrix can display 16.7 million colors. The screen is touch-sensitive and can support up to 4 simultaneous clicks. Its sensitivity is high. It is very convenient to use.

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

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