Sony Xperia S yellow display issues 'limited', says Sony

By Luke Westaway on 2 April 2012, 12:41pm

Sony has owned up to a problem with the Sony Xperia S' display, which causes the smart phone's screen to show an unsightly yellow tint if it gets too warm.

In a statement sent to CNET UK, the Japanese electronics giant acknowledged its newest mobile has a display problem, saying, "Sony Mobile Communications has identified that the display on a limited number of Xperia S smart phones may show a slight yellow tint if exposed to temperatires above 40 degrees Celsius."

That's not a good sign at all, though Sony promises that the fault is limited to a "small number of units" and that its manufacturing process has been corrected.

If you've noticed your Xperia S turning an eye-offending shade of yellow when it gets too warm, Sony's advice is to get in touch with your local customer service centre.

"Sony Mobile Communications will resolve this at no cost to the consumer."

That's good news, though it's a shame to see Sony's first smart phone since its split with long-time partner Ericsson marred by such a glitch.

Yellow-hued screens aside, the display on the Xperia S is probably the phone's best feature. My esteemed colleague Natasha called the 4.3-inch, 1,280x720-pixel panel "undeniably gorgeous" in her review, though the phone isn't so smart in other respects, rocking an old version of Android and a slightly clunky design.

The Xperia S isn't the only gadget under fire for the way it handles heat -- Apple's new iPad was hauled over the coals recently for getting too hot to handle, though CNET's thermal testing suggest this claims of overheating are a non-issue.

Is your Xperia S having display problems? Tell me about it in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.

Comments 12

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MikeBuck_1 2 April, 2012 13:57

All they got to do is fix the GPS issues now! lol

Androider 3 April, 2012 09:02

My Arc S over heats sometimes aswell, what's the excuse for that I wonder?

anonymous 3 April, 2012 14:15

Do they know any batchnumbers?? i'm cool myself so its hard to get my phone above 40 degrees...

zlouk 3 April, 2012 18:47

Except mine does this at 28C just browsing the web and affects 2 of the 2 handsets i bought. I bought an imported one and was told i had to fly overseas to hand it to a service center and wait a few weeks for parts for it to be fixed.

anonymous 3 April, 2012 19:20

Australian here. I've got the Xperia S from Hong Kong, and I noticed there really is a tiny batch of yellow tint on the bottom right corner.
To actually see the yellow tint, you'll actually have to turn on full brightness, full backlight, and on a white background. Even on that the tint is still very vague.

I guess if you're not that picky, it's not really an big issue (who would have their phone constantly on full brightness anyway?)
though it is good to see that Sony offers free repair.
Maybe I'll pop into one of those repair centre if that yellow tint persist.

zlouk 3 April, 2012 21:42

mine also were the HK versions, but i can see it even on low brightness, very apparent on white or grey backgrounds

anonymous 7 April, 2012 11:20

Sony Xperia S is quite similar to Xperia P as well as Xperia U. Most Important feature is 12 mega pixel camera.They have very high-resolution screen, HD touch screen, an high-quality audio and lots of clout, design is also good.For more details refer http://www.techiecop.com/cellphones/sony-ericsson-cellphone/sony-xperia-s-review.html

anonymous 10 April, 2012 11:09

Mine's got the problem and I'll be sending it back next week (need the phone at the moment so can't afford to be without it for a week).
The yellow smudge seems transient, it's not there if the phone is really cool (ie if you've just turned it on from cold), but if I've been using wifi or 3g for a while it becomes really prominent.
As others have stated, it's most noticable on white colours, although strangly not all - it can be easily seen if the facebook app is running as a dirty tobacco stain colour about 30mm long at the bottom of the screen, just off centre. With grey backgrounds it shows up as a lighter grey colour. loading one of the numerous screen checking apps from google play also shows another spot in the top right hand corner.

anonymous 15 April, 2012 20:29

i have the xperia S and have just had this happen to me, it must of heated up at some point but now there is a yellow circle at the bottom of the screen all the time! very annoying only had the phone 2 weeks!

should i just return it to the store i bought it from or get in touch with sony??

anonymous 14 June, 2012 00:25

My Xperia S is with Sony at the moment due to this issue. It seems to be taking them quite a while to sort it out too. My repair is 'awaiting component'. I live on the East Coast of Scotland and there is no chance my phone has got anywhere near 40 degrees!