I know plenty of people are asking moving to smartphones as the sheer number of them on the store shelves continues to grow, but how satisfying the experience is across the range can be a very different thing.

I’ve had the pleasure of testing and using many many smartphones, the majority of course have been Android.  This is because TIM and Apple are only making a limited number of their Blackberry and iPhone devices respectively – and by that I mean number of devices in their range.

Android however has the benefit of a large number of manufacturers pushing out product with it’s Operating System on them.

Click continue reading for some more thoughts, and a video review of what I think is the best Android phone to date.

The Android handset market seems from face value to be dominated by HTC who I class as the ’90’s Nokia of today – they are churning out products in every category, every price point and with various featuresets.  This is a good strategy.

Sony Ericsson recently told me they wanted to lead the Android space, and their Sony XPERIA Play – the Playstation Phone – was a good start to a path to that goal.

However, when I got my hands on the Sony XPERIA arc – I was blown away.

It’s a super light, large screen, thin feeling phone, and it’s performance is great.

Android ‘fan boys’ will note most likely there are faster, thinner, better ‘devices’ – but what I am looking at is the general user experience.  Without doubt this phone has made more people stop in their tracks when they pick it up off my desk than most phones before it.

Here’s my look at the Sony XPERIA arc: