Gadgetory

hi this is Brian Bennett for cnet.com and today we're taking a first look at the Sony Xperia S now some of you out there may know that Sony announced this phone back at CES in January 2012 at the time I thought the Xperia S would never officially make it to us Shores remaining an untouchable global phone available for purchase everywhere on the planet except for the states well now that has changed with Sony offering the Xperia S for sale in America directly through its online store with a sticker price of 559 however the unlock phone doesn't come cheap so what exactly does this handset bring to the table first off the Sony Xperia S looks striking it comes in hues of white like the one I have here and a more conservative black it's design is also very futuristic with a rectangular chassis chiseled in sharp angles plus an illuminated clear bar running along the phone's base in front is a large 4.3 inch LCD screen with a 720p HD resolution above the display is a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera and notification light the left side holds a micro USB port covered by a flap on top is a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack and power button placed on back as the phone's 12 megapixel camera with LED flash sitting on the right side is an HDMI port also under a flap along with a trim volume rocker hair too is a dedicated camera button which shutter bugs will appreciate holding down the button fires up the Xperia S has camera even when the phone is asleep using the button to wake the camera also immediately snaps a picture for fast capture you can disable this function though if you just want to rely on the button to jump to the camera the phone's camera is snappy to capturing pictures in under a second and there are lots of scene and shooting modes to choose from other worthy features include a dual-core 1.5 gigahertz processor driving the Xperia S is Android 40 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system sony also has loaded apps for its music unlimited and video unlimited digital storefronts they let you rent and buy movies and TV shows plus download and stream audio tracks right from the device there are some things that don't throw me about the Xperia S its screen is not very impressive with lower contrast and washed out colors compared to other smartphones performance feel sluggish too and the screen doesn't respond as quickly or as smoothly as I would like I'm Brian Bennett and this has been a first look at the Sony Xperia S be sure to check out our full review at cnet com