Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc Android smartphone

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc is a powerful Android smartphone with a big 4.2in screen.

It's thin, despite the large screen, and surprisingly light. There are buttons on the side for volume control and taking pictures, and it has three standard Android buttons on the front (Back, Home and Menu).

Getting started was easy. There was a ‘my first hour' leaflet in the box and the phone's setup wizard connected us to the internet. Besides a capable web browser, the Xperia Arc has dedicated apps for the BBC iPlayer and Youtube with many thousands of other apps available on the Android Marketplace

The screen looked great whether we were browsing the web or watching video. A mini HDMI socket on the side connects it to flat-panel TVs for watching pictures and video.

It has a good-quality 8.1-megapixel camera, which is optimised for taking pictures in low-light – a rarity on a phone camera. Since it has a powerful processor, the phone was quick and smooth in use. With the great screen and camera and HDMI output, it's a great phone for people who want to view or create video or photos.

The main screen follows the standard Android system of panes, to which you can add icons. Centre-stage on the first pane is Timescape, which shows your latest text messages and Twitter and Facebook updates. It's a handy way of hearing from friends and family but text messages are easily lost in the stream.

Speaking of text messages, the Arc has a clever way of moving text around inside a message. Tap in a text box and a blue arrow appears with which you can move the cursor on-screen. It was much easier than trying to guess where to tap.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc costs £400 on pay-as-you-go, which is good value for a powerful large-screen smartphone. We also found it available on a two-year £25-a-month contract with no up-front cost for the handset, which is also reasonable.

Other phones are cheaper, but with a good screen, lightweight design, powerful processor and good camera the Xperia Arc is a good smartphone indeed.