water lilies monet iphone case

All these options for accessing media mean the Xperia S isn't the most streamlined of creatures, but you certainly can't complain that there isn't enough stuff to stick on your phone. The design of the Sony Xperia S stands out thanks to a striking transparent plastic strip near the base of what is otherwise a fairly standard-issue black (or white) slab. Sony has added a clutch of similarly stripped handsets to its Xperia range -- including the Xperia P and the Xperia U -- so the clear strip (or "transparent element" as Sony likes to call it) is no longer unique to the S.

To my eye, this strip has the look of a marketing exercise -- it exists to solve the "how can water lilies monet iphone case we make our slab phones stand out from all the other slab phones?" conundrum, It's confusing as it looks as if it houses the back, home and menu keys, because it contains the symbols for them locked inside its clear plastic heart, But you don't actually press on the strip to activate any of these functions, Instead you need to press the three touch-key dots above each symbol, It's inelegant to say the least, especially as the touch keys aren't always super-reactive and seem to require perfect finger placement to work..

The strip does function as an indicator -- pulsing with white light when there's an incoming call. But it's so subtle you'll hardly notice it unless you're in a darkened room. It also lights up when you're swiping around the home screens but there doesn't seem much logic to when it glows. It's a case of surface glitz over functional substance. The handset is a solid slab, with squared-off sides and a convex back that rests easily on the palm when you're not using the device for making calls. However, the slabby shape is an ergonomic nightmare when you hold it up to your ear for long periods -- certainly if you have small hands like me. After 10 minutes on the phone I was getting finger cramps.

The overall feel is disappointingly plasticky, The matte plastic backplate is especially thin and produces a cheap hollow sound when tapped with a fingernail, While the handset is quite chunky -- about 1cm at its thickest point -- and reasonably solid, it can be made to creak and flex by applying pressure, There are three physical buttons on the Xperia S, Up top is a power key that's irritatingly close to the 3.5mm headphone jack, making it awkward to access, On the right-hand side is a volume rocker and a water lilies monet iphone case dedicated camera button, All these buttons function well enough when pressed but the keys themselves lie very low, They can be easily missed if you're hastily seeking them with a finger..

The Xperia S takes a micro-SIM -- its slot is squirreled away inside the handset, next to the non-removable battery. There's a micro-USB port for charging and transferring photos and music to and from the phone, and an HDMI slot for hooking up to a TV. These two ports are covered when not in use with small plastic doors that swivel out on a single plastic hinge. There's no microSD card slot so you'll have to make do with the 32GB of onboard storage. Despite being so plasticky, the Xperia S is surprisingly weighty -- tipping the scales at 144g, making it slightly heavier than the smaller but glass-and-steel-clad iPhone 4S. If you like the look of the Xperia S but want a different material, Sony's Xperia P offers essentially the same design but with an aluminium body.