Sony Xperia Z
The basics
With the Sony Xperia Z, Sony’s gone all out to catch up with rivals like Samsung and Apple. On paper at least, it’s pulled it off: this Android phone is a beast. It’s packing a huge thirteen megapixel sensor and a five-inch, full HD screen, and underneath beats a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, support for 4G downloads speeds and a beefy 2GB of memory. Oh, and it’s entirely waterproof. Is that an extra plus point or just a bit pointless? Let’s find out.
The good
We’ve always had a soft spot for Sony’s design - that obsession with black plastic and solid straight lines that somehow has come to embody design from the Japanese gadget giant.
And while last year’s flagship Xperia S was just a bit too thick to compete, there’s no such problem here: this slick slab is just 7.9mm deep. Its large size isn’t for everyone - iPhone owners especially will struggle to adjust - but if you’ve been using one of the new breed of giant smartphones we’ve seen emerge over the last year, you’ll be fine.
(Oh, and just in case you were wondering, Sony’s claims that the Xperia Z is waterproof hold true: we completely submerged ours in a bowl of water for 20 minutes, and it came out the other end just fine.)
The screen meanwhile is a sight to behold: the first full HD smartphone display to reach the UK, it’s nothing short of stunning. You simply can’t see the pixels: websites, text and video all look beyond gorgeous.
Smartly, Sony has worked the Android navigation buttons (home, back and multi-tasking) right into the screen, as Google does on the Nexus devices. It works well and makes the phone seem even more monolithic when turned off. That top notch screen is helped by the superb shots the 13MP camera is capable of. They’re packed with detail - particularly impressive given how thin the Xperia Z is.
On the software front, Sony’s tweaked Android 4.1, but for once, we actually like the changes that have been made to Google’s open source operating system. It’s blindingly fast, easy to use and stuffed full of handy extras - we particularly like the widgets you can pop on the screen (and not just the homescreen either), like a one touch voice recorder.
Sony also seems to have finally figured out that fans don’t enjoy turning on their phone to find it full of spammy apps you can’t delete: there’s just pointless satnav app Wisepilot here and you can remove it straight away (Do so, and use Google Maps instead).
The bad
Fair warning: while we like it, you might hate the design. If you prefer the sleek curves of the HTC One X’ chassis, the boxy look of the Xperia Z may be the very opposite of what you’re after.
The waterproof doors also add some unnecessary clutter: if you don’t think you’re likely to take your phone swimming anytime soon, you might hate the extra fuss of having to prise open a flap every time you need to put it on to charge.
Other than that, there really is little to complain about - the Sony Xperia Z is a beefy, future-proofed phone - we just don’t know if its rivals from HTC and Samsung this spring will prove even more so.
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The bottom line
The Sony Xperia Z is a coming of age for Sony Mobile. For the first time, the company’s proved it can truly kick it with the big boys, with top notch specs and a top quality camera. The size will be a bit on the excessive side for some, especially without the stylus skills of the Samsung Galaxy Note, and the lack of Android 4.2 at launch will be a blow for those who like to live on the cutting edge of tech. If you’re a longtime Sony fan with a passion for its black box design, you’ll love it. The only question: will Samsung’s Galaxy S4 blow this out of the water in the next few weeks?
User comments (8)
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Geddy7619 February 2013
Finally! A review that barely mentions Apple products! Yay!
Report as inappropriategrahamangel1806 March 2013
I have had the phone 2weeks and it does everything and it's so smooth it just rocks and I can watch films in the bathtub voodoo thumbs up from me g-man
Report as inappropriateJames Ward18 March 2013
I have had HTC for years but poor battery life on all of them has finally forced me to start looking elsewhere. Its either this phone or the Galaxy S4 for me. Looking forward to the full review of the S4 and then Ill decide :)
Report as inappropriateLinker300020 March 2013
I've had mine for about 2 weeks: I have to agree about the flaps over the sockets - they're fiddly. I appreciate why they are there, but they're still a pain. Viewing angle on the screen is not great (it's OK - just not great) Fingerprints - OHMYGOD - carry some cleaning wipes with you everywhere unless you want to look like you're using a grease-trap charcoal filter. Battery life: Pretty good, especially with stamina mode enabled. Some apps don't like the hi-res screen - for example, CoPilot Satnav (as of 20th March 2013) is all over the place and needs an update (not yet available) to work properly. Speaker - it's on the bottom of the right side and easily covered by your hand if ou're holding the phone and listening to music - a really stupid design Power button - it's on the middle of the right side and not easy to get to when the phone's in a car dock, so if the phone locks (say, after you've taken a call) and you want to get back to your satnav app (when it works properly!), you have to take the phone out of the dock to press the button - or install an app that wakes up the phone when you wave near the proximity sensor - there's a few on the Play store. Overall: Meh - it's a large phone. I really prefer my Samsung Galaxy Note.
Report as inappropriatepatriciamalik31 March 2013
I love this Xperia Z, this phone is big, i like small phone but this is so good, hand up to sony for this phone. by the away guys this comment is from a women, if i was you, go and get it and you will not be disappointed forget the iphone and the Xperia Z got NFC. love it.
Report as inappropriateIpman199005 May 2013
Thankyou SONY for giving this........................ I love this and i think it is better than iPhone5....
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koko10 May 2013
Sony Acro S is much better and not so big and bulky you need a bag to carry Z around Shame they do so big mobiles now I've got my laptop for watching movies..
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