Sony Xperia S hands on review

The Xperia S is the first smartphone to scrap the Sony Ericsson branding, paving the way for the Sony name to go it alone under the officially rebranded Sony Mobile Communications moniker.

And with "Sony" sitting proud at the top of the phone in big block letters, we can't say we'll miss seeing "Ericsson" crammed into the next generation of Sony smarties.

The Xperia S is gorgeous slab of matt black tech, complemented rather nicely by a mahoosive 4.3in 1280 x 720 BRAVIA Reality Display. The screen monopolises the majority of the handset, alongside the transparent button bar at the bottom – home to those familiar home, menu and back Android keys.

Speaking of Android, the Xperia S packs Gingerbread 2.3 – but will get the Ice Cream Sandwich update during Q2 of 2012, alongside a slew of Xperia extras like the optional Timescape widget we're used to seeing on smartphones like the Xperia Arc S and Xperia Play.

The Xperia S also marks Sony's first steps into NFC. Using what it calls Xperia Smart Tags, which work with dedicated NFC accessory tags, you can customise tags to pull up different features like the alarm clock, your work calendar or turning the Wi-Fi on.