Sony Xperia acro S

Out now
30th May 2012

The Sony Xperia acro S is a powerful Android smartphone that is also water and dust resistant, featuring a 4.3" display and a 12 megapixel camera plus a lot of other high-end features. In most respects, the Xperia acro S is very similar to the Xperia S that was released a couple of months ago.

Waterproof smartphones are quite common in Japan, and indeed Sony's own similar Xperia acro HD has been the best selling smartphone for the past couple of months in that market. Sony say (confusingly) that the Xperia acro S is IP55 and IP57 rated, which means that the handset can be immersed in up to 1 metre of water for 30 minutes, it can withstand water from a nozzle and it is dust resistant. The display is also scratch resistant and coated in mineral glass.

The display is a high-resolution 4.3" 720 x 1280 pixel TFT screen, which should be very sharp in use. This also enables HD playback on the phone itself or through an optional HDMI cable. The Xperia acro S's display also supports wet finger tracking. 

On the back is a 12 megapixel camera with auto focus, an LED flash and 1080p HD video recording and all the usual enhancements that you'd expect in a Sony smartphone. On the front is a 1.3 megapixel camera capable of 720p video calling.

Inside is a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal flash memory (11GB is available to the user). If that isn't enough, then the Xperia acro S has a microSD slot as well. There's a large 1910 mAh battery that is quoted as giving up to 7 hours talktime and 13 days standby time. The Xperia acro S measures 126 x 66 x 12mm and weighs 147 grams.

This is an Android 4.0 smartphone, so it will be up-to-date out of the box. Other features include GPS and GLONASS positioning support, an FM radio, HSPA+ and WiFi support and all the usual Android features that you would expect.

Overall, the Xperia acro S looks like a good package. The 4.3" display is about as big as most people want, but it has the advantage of being very high resolution too. The camera looks like one of the best in its class, and internally it has enough processing power to do anything you want.

Sony say that the Xperia acro S should be available during Q3 2012 in black, white and pink colours. No guidance was given on price, but we would expect this to launch at around €500 SIM-free including taxes.

Sony Xperia acro S Promo Video