Simply...The BEST!!!. Review on Sony Xperia Z

Pricing and availability updated today

I have been putting off writing this for quite some time now. But after seeing some hands on videos of the mobile I’m tempted to write this. Sony released this phone during the recently concluded CES with a budget version called the Sony Xperia ZL along with many other smart devices.  I had written a blog on its speculated specs last year, most of which proved to be true. This is my take on this fantastic device.

Dimensions – This is very slick device. It measures only 7.9 mm in thickness. And at 146 gms it is very light for its size and build, especially when it’s made of glass fibre polyamide with a metal frame along the edges. Impressive isn’t it?

Design, look and Feel – Sony describes it as precision engineering. I would like to call it an engineering marvel. The device is water and dust resistant. Wait, not just resistant, it can play music even when its fully submerged in water and can also resist water jets directly aimed at it. So no worries if you drop the phone in your toilet. Sony has  been very particular about their design from the Speria T to the Xperia SL they have managed to change the design impressively and they have impressed yet again with this device.  This is arguably the most attractive phone in the market.  It is supremely premium to an extent that it might put the iphone’s designers to shame.  The glass used in the design is dual tempered meaning that it is very highly durable and scratch resistant at the same time but it does prove to be a finger print magnet.  The design is called the omni balance design which aims to achieve perfect symmetry and sync with its features which the design has done. The only problem the design has is that the slots for the sim card, the micro sd card and the usb connector are pretty damn hard to open which may be irritating at times. I give 4 out 5 for the design and usability.

Display – The display happens to the devices most impressive yet a disappointing feature. For starters it is a 5 inch Super AMOLED  full HD 1080 Display. The display has the Bravia 2 engine running behind it which gives you a portable 4k TV experience with better contrast, colour enhancement, noise reduction and sharpness .  The resolution of the screen is 1080 x 1920 pixels  with a pixel density of 443 ppi. But the problem with the screen is with its viewing angles. The screen seems washed out when viewing through different angles.

Camera – The device has a 13 MP shooter on its back and a 2 MP front facing camera both capable of shooting 1080p videos with the back camera capable of HDR recording, the only mobile camera capable of doing so. The camera is equipped with Sony’s Exmos RS imaging technology which gives better low light performance than any other phones in the market. This device wins the race just by its imaging technology.

Processor and Chipset –   The device has a quadcore snapdragon S4 processor clocking 1.5 ghz and Adreno 320 gpu which takes its ahead of the Galaxy S3 and other phones in competition. Couple it with 2 gb of RAM this mobile works like a dream. This mobile is a beast in performance, no doubt.

Memory – The device has 16 GB of onboard storage out of which 13.1 is available to the user and has a RAM of 2 GB . Apart from that it has a micro sd card slot for upto 64 GB of expansion.  And might have atleast 50 gb of cloud storage offering, so that you are not short of space.

Battery – The device has a non removable 2330 mah Li-ion battery like most other xperia devices. Looks pretty ordinary by numbers but Sony has introduced the ‘Stamina’ mode which may give upto 6 days of continuous usage. Great by android standards, in general  530 hours on 3g and a talktime of 14 hrs. Great again.

OS & UI – The device has 4.1.2 Jellybean out of the box  but you need not wait for the 4.2 update. Probably by the time it reaches Indian shores we might have the jellybean 4.2 on it. The timescape UI has seen huge upgrades and can now be better than Samsung’s  Touchwiz. Given the amazing specifications the UI need not have any problem and even high memory consuming apps works smoothly on the device.

Pricing and Availability – The phone is said to have an initial pricing of 650 $ which comes to around 35000 INR . We can expect it to be priced around 40k. As for availability , Sony has confirmed that it will on sale by the end of February.

Update - The Device has been launched today at the price of Rs 38990 and ZL released at the Price of Rs 35990. It seems Sony has got its pricing right and it will be a hot seller in the market.

Verdict -  Sony seems to have pulled of its best card with the Xperia Z and given proper marketing the device may make Sony the best OEM in the market. It is simply THE BEST!!!

Thanks and Regards,

SlightlyDrunk