Sony Xperia Z Review

Sony has launched Xperia Z, its new smartphone in India in the starting of March; it can also be a game changer for Sony. Sony is now trying its best to make its place better in the market by frequent launches and also launching its products in the trendy campaigning through stars. Sony Xperia Z is one of the high end devices available in the market and of Sony too. After HTC Butterfly, it is the second one to have full HD display. Let us find out, whether it will be able to stand out among other devices in the market or not.

Design

It has very appealing looks with a 5 inch large screen with rectangular edges. There is no metallic frame around the edges, it has very clean edges or lines which gives sophisticated and superior looks. Sony claims that they have brought the touch panel closer to the display. The bezel is very thin and there are no hardware controls. The front camera lens, sensors are placed at the top above the screen along with Sony name.

The smartphone is water and dust resistant, also all the ports are covered with a flap to protect them from dust. There is a 3.5 mm head jack at the top which is also covered with a flap. The left side carries microSD card slot and a micro USB port. On the right side there is a round aluminum power/screen lock button in the middle part and a volume rocker also made of metal.

Display

Sony Xperia Z is the second one, after HTC Butterfly to sport full HD display with resolution of 1080p. Display has TFT technology with resolution of 1080×920 pixels and pixel density of 441 ppi (pixels per inch). The screen is bright texts and pictures look crisp and fine sharp, even it’s a pleasure to see videos on it. Viewing angles could have been even better than present. To view the screen under sunlight is fine at maximum brightness.

Camera

It supports 13 megapixel rear camera with auto focus, burst mode and LED flash. The combination of the wide angle lens f/2.2 aperture and maximum ISO speed of 1600 makes it well suited for low light photography. Resolution 3920×2940 is capable of clicking sharp, fine, brilliant images with beautiful colors. Camera includes image and video stabilization. Face recognition and smile shutter functionality are also there which works as good as other high end devices. Smile detector offers three different modes Big, average and small. The face detection function automatically adjusts the focus and balances the picture.

It also offers an HDR mode for video recording which is a new thing in it and normally not seen. While video recording, 1 megapixel resolution shots can be also taken. Front camera of 2 megapixels is capable of 1080p video recording and to click good quality images.

Software/UI

It is featured with the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, which will receive the Android 4.2 update soon, as Sony has promised. They have included their own UI skin on the top of the software. Sony has included their own Xperia keyboard on the phone which is different from the stock Android keyboard and we cannot switch over to the stock keyboard. So, whether you like it or not but you have to use Xperia keyboard. There are many apps available as it is an Android based smartphone but Sony has included some of its own widgets for social networking service updates, power toggles and many more.

In addition to the gallery app they’ve included their own Walkman music player app. This app allows user to move on to the services like Facebook, Picasa to see their online pictures also. It includes a built-in photo editor. The smartphone also includes apps like Back Up and restore aap, Mc Afee security, NeoReader for reading QR codes, TrackID, Play Now, Smart Connect and more.

It includes Chrome browser for surfing internet instead of Android stock browser. It brings one disadvantage because Chrome does not support Flash Player, so phone will not be able to play flash videos.

Processor

It is loaded with 1.5 GHz Qualcomm S4 quad core processor for smooth functioning of the device. With 2 GB RAM and Adreno 320 chip for graphics, it gives a smooth and brilliant experience with all the functions. It has internal memory of 16 GB which is expandable upto 32 GB with microSD card slot. This configuration combined with Android operating system makes the device functioning seamless. There is no lagging between switching over to other aaps from one, playing games or simultaneous running apps. The call quality is also good even in low network areas.

Battery

It comes with a large 2330 mAh battery with a talk time of approx. 4-5 hours and standby 0f 12-13 hours. Sony also offers STAMINA mode for power saving, which can automatically shut down the apps which are running, if the screen is off.

Discussion

Sony Xperia Z is one of the best Android based smartphones available. It supports great features full HD display, great reliable performance. But it has come into the market almost at the same time as HTC Butterfly and Samsung Galaxy S4 is there in the market. Both these phones supports great features too, so it will be interesting to see the battle between these high brands or may be its better to say ‘Clash of Titans’.