Sony Ericsson Xperia Active hands on

The Gadget Show  Wednesday 26 October 2011

While the rest of the tech world concentrates on Nokia and the latest Windows Phone handsets, we’ve been having a play with the new Sony Ericsson Xperia Active smartphone. This affordable Android smartphone could be the perfect choice for those of you with a love of the great outdoors – join us after the break to find out more.

The most noticeable thing when you take the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active out of its box is the size – in comparison to handsets like the Xperia Arc or Galaxy S II, it’s tiny.

The 3-inch screen gets a resolution of 320×480 pixels. It’s not the sharpest display, but it’s fine for casual use, and it’s also responsive even when covered in water.

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Sony Ericsson has tweaked the Android operating system slightly to take advantage of the small screen. You’ll find folders pushed out the the corners of the screen, with different apps contained within them, and it all works well. The keyboard switches to a T9-style alpha-numeric option when held in portrait, and swaps back to QWERTY when you turn the Active on its side. There’s an integrated fitness app on the Xperia Active, which should fit in perfectly with the outdoor design, but we’ve yet to put it through its paces.

In keeping with the outdoor lifestyle, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active is both water and dust resistant. It’s actually an incredibly tough little device – there’s a brushed aluminium bezel around the phone itself, and this also incorporates a loop to attach a strap to.

The attention to detail is immediately noticeable when you open one of the covers for the micro USB port or headphone socket, with thick rubber in place to stop any water or dirt from getting close to the electronics. Take off the rear cover, and you’ll be met by another plastic cover – again surrounded by rubber – which you’ll need to remove to get at the battery, microSD and SIM card.

All this makes the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active rather chunky, but it’s still a compact handset that’s a nice shape when in the hand.

First impressions of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active are good though. It’s perfect for those wanting a smaller smartphone, and it’s very well made. We’ll be bringing up a further update when we’ve had the chance to test it thoroughly, so stay tuned for more.