Sony Xperia ZL Mini Review - Compared to Note II and One - Video inside

[blairharrington]

Thanks for the review OP. I have no idea why AT&T has decided not to offering this phone. They have offered plenty of Sony smartphones in the past, it runs on AT&T's LTE network. It just blows my mind.

Anyways, from what I've read and seen online, I like the ZL a great deal. I think Vlad over at the Verge was way too critical about its viewing angles. To the point where I think he's a pretty big douche now.

Sadly the Z and ZL will not sell well in America because none of the carriers are offering the device. The Nexus 4 has been a solid seller in America because of its low unlocked pricing. (And T-Mobile offers it.) But I don't envision the Z or ZL making any sort of noise in the States with no official carrier offering it plus such a high price for it unlocked. It's a shame because it can easily go up against the One, S4, iPhone 5, etc.

 

[jacktesterson]

Just thought I'd mention - Sony has released new 4.1.2 firmware which corrects a lot of the Camera/Battery issues, so my OP thoughts are out dated.

 

[kaerflog]

I was in the Sony store just yesterday and I was surprised at how much I liked this phone.
Side by side with the Z, I preferred the ZL.
First thing that caught my eyes was the small footprint of the phone.
Its all screen. Seems more so than the S4 but probably just the same.
My only negative of the ZL is the S4 pro vs the 600 for the other 2.
This phone can be bought for $520 new unlocked so its not a bad deal at all.

 

[jacktesterson]

I was in the Sony store just yesterday and I was surprised at how much I liked this phone.
Side by side with the Z, I preferred the ZL.
First thing that caught my eyes was the small footprint of the phone.
Its all screen. Seems more so than the S4 but probably just the same.
My only negative of the ZL is the S4 pro vs the 600 for the other 2.
This phone can be bought for $520 new unlocked so its not a bad deal at all.

Viewing angles aside, the screen is great - One of best screens on the market IMO.

The footprint is easily the best part of this phone - its smaller than my Nexus 4 and feels better in hand

 

[Aristotelian]

I have been using a Sony Xperia Z for some time now, and honestly find it to be great. There are so few of them in use, that it's quite funny to have so many people ask 'hey what phone is that'. It's a gimmick, I know, but I've bet people that I can drop my phone in their drink and it'll still work - and won a few beers out of that

The phone is solid - well constructed, and I'm glad that the viewing angles are not that great (meaning, when I'm on the bus and people peer over my shoulders they can't see what I'm looking at, hopefully).

I'm still trying to find a good use for the nfc tags that came with it though.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Its sad that buying a new phone should have to make a person think about third party ROM support, but I'm finding myself researching that whenever new phones come out. "Sure, this hardware is outstanding, but is it going to go in the trash in a year when its still on the version of Android it shipped with?"
I will definitely consider this phone, thanks for the review!

If the phone software isn't trash when u first bought it, why would it be trash a year later?

 

[RedRooster]

If the phone software isn't trash when u first bought it, why would it be trash a year later?

The mindset of people on the bleeding edge. Joe Blow will use that phone for four years, no problem.

 

[shortylickens]

http://www.slashgear.com/sony-xperia-zl-review-24283526/

 

[jacktesterson]

http://www.slashgear.com/sony-xperia-zl-review-24283526/

I would buy a ZL over a Z anyday. The footprint and feel in hand in so much better. I could care less about it being water proof.

The ZL prices on ebay are dropping too. A month ago they went for $550.00 - I recently bought a 2nd one (new) for $400.00 + $13 to unlock it online. Much better deal than the $750 HTC One's and S4's. (Plus I hate Samsung's OLED, but that just me) The ZL also has the same Sony 13MP camera in it as the S4. (software and image processing different, of course)

 

[jacktesterson]

I absolutely love the phone. The new firmware update also changed the grey's to Black which looks better on the Sony skin.

It's definitely my favorite device I've owned. (I also have a Nexus 4 and Optimus G in my hands, Nexus 4 is for sale on the bay). I even prefer it over the Note II I sold to buy the ZL. I love the Nexus too, but I can say switching between them, you definitely do see a difference with 1080p over 720p. It's not huge, but it's there.


The screen is gorgeous, and the viewing angles to not concern me at all. The phone is all screen, and is super fast too. MicroSD up to 64GB, this phone should be more popular than it is.

 

[poofyhairguy]

this phone should be more popular than it is.

It would be if we could get them on contract in the states.

 

[lothar]

It would be if we could get them on contract in the states.

And release them on time too, rather than releasing outdated phones and selling them at a premium cost compared to the competition.

 

[jacktesterson]

And release them on time too, rather than releasing outdated phones and selling them at a premium cost compared to the competition.

To be fair, the Z came out quite a while ago, and had the same Specs as the DNA at its time.

The ZL was out before the S4, and it does have the S4 Pro rather thab the S600, but there GPUs are the same and the CPU performance feels identical.

I dont mean to promote the ZL, but I love it. The 1080p screen is awesome and clear with great color , performance is awesome, camera is great, microsd and smallest foot print of any 5 inch screen. Feels good in hand. Not much to complain about. Its available everywhere in Canada. Sucks USA isnt getting access to it much.

Only negative is the locked bootloader. But the Sony skin is great looking while being close to stock.

 

[masou007]

Have had my ZL (c6506) for about a month now, and love it. Flashed a generic US ROM (Bell's has a lot of extra crap in it, plus it's ooold) the day after I got it, without unlocking the boot loader even.

And now, today Sony put out an Android 4.2.2 Firmware for it :

http://www.xperiablog.net/2013/06/2...2-jelly-bean-update-10-3-a-0-423-rolling-out/

 

[shortylickens]

Have had my ZL (c6506) for about a month now, and love it. Flashed a generic US ROM (Bell's has a lot of extra crap in it, plus it's ooold) the day after I got it, without unlocking the boot loader even.

And now, today Sony put out an Android 4.2.2 Firmware for it :

http://www.xperiablog.net/2013/06/2...2-jelly-bean-update-10-3-a-0-423-rolling-out/

 

[jacktesterson]

Yep - updated my phone to the 4.2.2 last night.

Loving it so far. Fludity is now perfect for me - no more occasional stutter in the stock launcher.

Camera quality has improved some, and battery is better I would say so far.

Good work Sony.

 

[jacktesterson]

 

[masou007]

Tried out the Myxperia locator feature, works pretty well even with gps off. It also uses your google account to sign in rather than a separate account you're likely to forget.

 

[jacktesterson]

Tried out the Myxperia locator feature, works pretty well even with gps off. It also uses your google account to sign in rather than a separate account you're likely to forget.

Yeah played around with last night - seems to work well and is very easy to use.