Sony Ericsson Xperia active / ST17i / ST17a

size, price, usability

100% of the reviews on Amazon.co.uk give this product a positive rating.

durability

portability, sound

65% of the reviews on Amazon.com give this product a positive rating.

Practical, hardwearing design ; Excellent performance ; Slick UI & smart bundled apps ; Extra included accessories

Poor call quality ; Short battery life

After a number of years in the wilderness, Sony Ericsson (soon just Sony) is finding its feet again. The Xperia Active is a well-made, carefully thought out, specialist smartphone for those who love the outdoors. It is rugged, portable, comes with an...

Touchscreen works well when wet ; Snappy general operation ; Fast and usable camera ; Survived being dunked under water ; Good battery life

Feels a little light and plasticky ; Low screen resolution ; Plenty of Sony Ericsson spam apps installed ; Poor video format support

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Active is one of those odd phones that can survive underwater, help you lose weight and update your social networks, all in one go. But is it actually a decent mobile too?

Funky looking, water resistant, tough, compact

Small microSD card included, arm holder is bothersome, headphones not ideally suited to running

The Xperia Active is an interesting phone. We took too it pretty quickly, and while it isn't the sort of phone that we would probably buy, if you want something tough, water resistant and designed for workouts, then this is really an ideal phone.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Active is clearly pitched at sporty types looking for a phone that also makes a good running companion (the phone even comes packaged with an arm strap that contains a clear plastic wallet for the handset). If this is what...

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This makes great use of the limited screen space available, and means you can create small app shortcut groups so that similar apps are kept together for quick access. There’s also a range of nice widgets you can spread across the five home screens.

Solid body; dustproof; waterproof; responsive display

Small screen; touchscreen is fiddly; armband is loose and bulky

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Active is aimed at the sporty user, with its fitness apps and rugged body, but even if you’re a bit of a couch potato it still has plenty on offer. The armband isn’t much of a draw and its size does not lend it to being a main...

The solid body is waterproof and dustproof, and can take a pounding too. The tiny screen is sharp and responsive

Armband feels loose and bulky, small display, fiddly touch-screen

The compact handset is both dust proof and water resistant. As well as withstanding 1 meter of water for a whole 30 minutes, it comes with wet finger tracking technology which means that the screen still responds when the users fingers are wet.