Xperia S review: The 2012 debut of the Sony Mobile brand after the Ericsson split.
The first phone of the Sony Mobile era.
The Xperia S launched Sony Mobile after the Ericsson split, with a sharp HD screen and a 12 MP camera. A historically notable transition device.
01Display
44/10044/100 is one of the weaker display results among flagship phones of 2012 — 22 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
02Camera
32/10032/100 is one of the weaker camera results among flagship phones of 2012 — 26 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
03Performance
12/10012/100 is one of the weaker performance results among flagship phones of 2012 — 41 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
04Battery
32/10032/100 is one of the weaker battery results among flagship phones of 2012 — 28 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
05Build
50/10050/100 is one of the weaker build results among flagship phones of 2012 — 11 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
06Value
30/10030/100 is one of the weaker value results among flagship phones of 2012 — 18 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
- First phone of the Sony Mobile era after the Ericsson buy-out.
- Sharp 720p HD display for 2012.
- 12 MP Exmor R camera with fast capture.
- Distinctive transparent design strip.
- Dual-core S3 was already mid-pack at launch.
- No microSD; small battery.
- Software ended at Android 4.1.
- Discontinued — a vintage device.
How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 82-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .