Sony announces the Xperia Go and Xperia acro S Android smartphones

The Sony Xperia Go and Xperia Acro S are two new phone models which are aimed at those looking for a rough handset without compromising design and functionality. These are not the first Android smartphones which can be used on the beach without worrying that sand or humidity will destroy the phone. The older Xperia Active is IP67 certified as well. Some of the competitors are the Samsung Galaxy Xcover which also has a IP67 certification and the Motorola Defy Plus. It is definitely a market for these type of phones and since most people want more functionality than feature phones can offer, manufacturers are making touchscreen smartphones running Android which are IP certified.

IP certified smartphones are traditionally small in size but the Xperia Acro S announced today has a large 4.3 inch touch display with a 720 x 1280 pixel resolution. The Xperia Go has a 3.5 inch display with a 320 x 480 pixel resolution. Both displays are of the TFT type with scratch-resistant glass. The display on the Xperia Acro S is also shatter proof.

The first of the two digits following the IP characters tells us that the Xperia Go is

Dust tight: No ingress of dust; complete protection against contact

which is the highest degree of protection against dust. The second number (7) is for liquid protection. Seven means that the smartphone is

Immersion up to 1 m: Ingress of water in harmful quantity shall not be possible when the enclosure is immersed in water under defined conditions of pressure and time (up to 1 m of submersion).

Strangely enough, the Xperia Go is shipped with Android 2.3 Gingerbread which seems odd now that Sony has managed to release an Android 4.0 update to most of its older Xperia smartphones.

Xperia Acro S is rated with IP55 and IP57. Again, the first number indicated level of dust protection. Level 5 is one level below 6.

Ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete protection against contact

The liquid ingress protection level 5 and 7 means that the Xperia Acro S passes the water jet test and immersion test:

• Water projected in powerful jets (12.5mm nozzle) against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effects
• Ingress of water in harmful quantity shall not be possible when the enclosure is immersed in water under defined conditions of pressure and time (up to 1 m of submersion).

Sony Xperia Go highlights

• Size: 111 x 60.3 x 9.8 mm
• Weight: 110 gram
• Networks
  • ST27i (Global model): GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS/HSPA 900/2100
  • ST27a (Americas): GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS/HSPA 850/1900/2100
• WiFi b/g/n and WiFi Hotspot
• 3.5 inch touch TFT touch display, 320 x 480 pixels resolution, scratch-resistant, 16.7 million colours, anti-reflection coating on mineral glass, wet finger tracking
• 5 megapixel camera with auto focus, 16x digital zoom, LED light 3D Sweep panorama, face detection
• 720p HD video capture
• 1 GHz dual-core processor, ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8500 Cortex A9
• ARM Mali-400 GPU
• IP67 certified
• 512 MB RAM
• 8 GB storage. 4 GB user-accessible memory. Expandable up to 32 GB with microSD card
• 1305 mAh battery
• Standby time: 520 hours
• Talk time: 6 hours and 30 minutes
• DLNA
• USB 2.0
• Bluetooth
• Signature feature: Xperia Timescape, Xperia Infinite button, Xperia Local connectivity, Xperia Home screen application
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread

 

Sony Xperia Acro S highlights

• Size: 126 x 66 x 11.9 mm
• Weight: 147 gram
• Networks: GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS/HSPA+ 850/900/1900/2100
• Wi-Fi b/g/n and WiFi Hotspot
• 4.3 inch touch Reality TFT display with Mobile Bravia Engine, 720 x 1280 pixels resolution, scratch-resistant and shatter proof, 16.7 million colours, wet finger tracking
• 12.1 megapixel camera with auto focus, 16x digital zoom, LED light, 3D Sweep panorama, face detection, Exmor R CMOS sensor, f/2.4 aperture, fast capture
• 1080p HD video capture
• 720p HD front video camera
• 1.5 GHz dual-core processor Qualcomm MSM 8260
• Adreno 220 GPU
• IP55 / IP57 certified
• 1 GB RAM
• 11 GB eMMC, 2 GB internal storage (1.8 GB available to user). Expandable up to 32 GB with microSD card
• HDMI
• Sensors: Accelerometer, proximity, ambient light, magnetometer, gyroscope
• 1920 mAh battery
• Standby time: 290 hours
• Talk time: 6 hours and 40 minutes
• DLNA
• USB 2.0
• aGPS and Glonass
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Signature features: Xperia Timescape, Xperia Infinite button, Xperia Local connectivity, Xperia Home screen application
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

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