14 DAY TRIAL // Orange UK is the third UK-based retailer that launches the Sony Xperia S in the country. Three and O2 have already made the smartphone available in the last week.
Just like its rivals, Orange UK is now offering the Xperia S for free on select plans. Those willing to commit to a long-term contract can choose to subscribe to one of the carrier’s plans starting at £36 monthly on a 24-month agreement.
For the time being, Orange UK does not offer the Xperia S on PAYG (pay as you go), but most authorized retailers are selling the smartphone unlocked or SIM free (or both).
Sony announced the Xperia S in early January at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, along with Xperia ion. The smartphone is part of the recently announced Xperia NXT series, which also includes the Xperia P and Xperia U.
Although Xperia S is shipped with Android 2.3 Gingerbread platform on board, Sony promised users to deliver an Ice Cream Sandwich update in Q2 2012. However, the Japanese handset maker has yet to reveal an exact release date for the update.
Hardware-wise, Sony Xperia S is equipped with a powerful dual-core Qualcomm MSM8260 Snapdragon processor clocked at 1.5 GHz, and an Adreno 220 graphics processing unit.
On the inside, the smartphone packs 32GB, 1GB of RAM. Sony Xperia S lacks a microSD card slot for memory expansion, but the company may choose to launch another model with less onboard memory and microSD.
There’s also an enhanced 12-megapixel photo snapper on the back of phone, which features autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording. A secondary 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video calls is available as well.
Another strong point of the smartphone is the stunning 4.3-inch scratch-resistant LED-backlit LCD capacitive touchscreen that supports HD (720 x 1289 pixels) resolution.