The Sony Xperia Z

[Aristotelian]

There isn't much excitement about Sony handhelds on this forum, but after having taken a peek here and there regarding the new Xperia Z I was wondering if anyone else's ears perked up.

I have an iPhone 5 on the way (it was a Christmas present), but there is something tempting about a 5 inch, full 1080p phone. The Xperia Z also appears to be water resistant, and I have known too many people from many camps who have had phones die (dropped in a sink from their jacket, a freak tide rise zapping their phone on the beach, etc) that it seems to be more than a gimmick to add water resistance to the phone. It reminds me of Sony's 'sport' line of walkmans and discmans back in the old days.

The price (indicative) on Amazon.de is 649 euros, making it about 150 euros cheaper than an iPhone 5 (in Belgium).

Thoughts? I'd love to try one out.

 

[you2]

It has a small battery; probably similar performance as the htc dna. The 'big' selling point is the water resistance but I wonder how it impacts other aspect of the phone (volume and such).

 

[BenSkywalker]

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[KB]

"Sony describes the Xperia Z as "waterproof." Its IP55 and IP57 ratings mean that it can be soaked in three feet (0.91 meters) of water for 30 minutes, and come out as good as new."

If thats true, that is awesome. The Xperia could be a real contender.

I don't like non-removable batteries, particularly when they aren't very big, but I guess that does affect how waterproof it is so it may be necessary.

 

[s44]

More excited by the ZL. No messing with port plugs, and bezels have been impressively cut down.

The fact that the S4pro is *already* old news doesn't help.

 

[Red Storm]

Have any of their phones ever come out on carriers here in the US? I mean subsidized and advertised in stores.

 

[s44]

Have any of their phones ever come out on carriers here in the US? I mean subsidized and advertised in stores.

Advertised? Don't think so. But AT&T had the X10 and the TL (LTE version of the T), though both a few months after international release.

edit: oh yeah, Verizon had/has the Xperia Play. Not that anyone cared.

 

[BenSkywalker]

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[s44]

From the LTE bands, it looks like the US will get the C6506 variant of the ZL and not the Z.

Both Z and ZL apparently support the AWS bands on HSPA, though. And both are heavier than the DNA, though not near Note 2/920 weights.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Xperia Z looks very square and kinda boring. I like the looks of the Droid DNA with similar specs more.

 

[BenSkywalker]

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[s44]

The ZL doesn't do much for me. Take away the water/dust proofing and it is just a DNA with a much better camera and slightly better battery.

Better camera, better battery, microSD slot, and smaller.

The DNA is 1cm taller and 1mm wider, though I suppose if you want hard buttons instead of on-screen you get that tradeoff with HTC. The ZL is awfully close to being the first true bezel-less phone.

 

[Aristotelian]

Hoping that we get the Z.

I have read (think it was guardian.co.uk, but I'm at work and can't load many sites at the moment) that only Japan will get the ZL, and the Z will be the international variant. The Z is already available for preorder on amazon.de, and I don't recall seeing a ZL there.

Regarding 'square and boring', I find the super rounded edges of other phones to be not so special, in the sense that the aesthetic of the Z is quite nice, however I'm known to be fond of Sony's designs in general - I own a Vaio Z series, and prefer it's style/aesthetic much, much, much more than say a MBP, however this is a personal taste issue I suppose.

There is a really great showcasing advert on Youtube, but again I can't link it at present - I'll do so from home later.

 

[BenSkywalker]

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[Ravynmagi]

Better camera, better battery, microSD slot, and smaller.

The DNA is 1cm taller and 1mm wider, though I suppose if you want hard buttons instead of on-screen you get that tradeoff with HTC. The ZL is awfully close to being the first true bezel-less phone.

Doh, I didn't realize that the DNA was a budget oriented phone, didn't look at the specs that close I guess. OK, well the Xperia Z isn't going after the Straight Talk crowd, so I guess there won't be a lot of overlap with the DNA, heh.

The Droid DNA has capacitive buttons, so it makes it slightly larger. But I think Google or third party app developers have done a poor job managing the on screen buttons. I find they stay on the screen too often when I wish they were hidden. Capacitive buttons are a slight pro in my opinion right now.

Someone's custom UI (HTC Sense I think) has a pretty cool feature that lets you swipe up and down from the bottom of the screen to bring the on screen buttons on and off. I wish something like this could get added to stock Google.

Shame there is no micro SD in the Droid DNA. I didn't notice it was missing that too. This seems like an odd thing for HTC to keep leaving out of their phones. And they wonder why they aren't selling as many phones.

Not sure I'd toss the Droid DNA into the "budget" category just because of the 8MP camera and no micro SD slot though.

 

[dagamer34]

Meh, I think there's little excitement for the Xperia Z simply because every high-end phone this year is going to be a 5" 1080p slab with a quad-core A15-class SoC.

Hardware is great, but it's the software that actually matters, and when Google eventually announced Android 5.0 at Google I/O and it takes 6 months to get it on your phone, the Nexus 4 will still look more appealing in my opinion.

 

[BenSkywalker]

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[ChronoReverse]

Superior camera and obviously *vastly* superior build quality to the cheapy Samsung/Apples of the world can help them out if they can get it out before everyone else's 5" quad A15 phones hit this year.

This is the crux of it. You have to time it well AND get it right. Otherwise you'll just get a bad reputation.

Marketing is important too. You see the Samsung Galaxy ads all over but I don't even remember a Sony Xperia ad.

 

[Aristotelian]

This is the crux of it. You have to time it well AND get it right. Otherwise you'll just get a bad reputation.

Marketing is important too. You see the Samsung Galaxy ads all over but I don't even remember a Sony Xperia ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWysHOjl95E

You're right about marketing, of course. I think the kind of marketing we're used to from big marketing players requires a budget that builds up a brand to an extreme level; I doubt Sony has anywhere near that budget for their marketing, but having said that I think I saw one Xperia Z advertisement before a movie. That's about it.

 

[Insomniator]

For 150 euro less, I would take the Sony over an iPhone 5 without even thinking about it.

iPhone prices are hilarious...

 

[Ravynmagi]

Puts it in the same class as the Nexus 4 which is a budget phone. It isn't an insult, it simply reflects where they are positioning it. Entry level, dirt cheap smartphone territory. If we try and pretend it is anything other then that it is simply going to get destroyed in comparison to the higher end phones.

You are calling the Droid DNA and the Nexus 4 budget phones? I'm not even sure I can respond to that, I feel like I'm being trolled now. Haha.

 

[deputc26]

By far the best looking phones Sony has ever produced imo, I think we are finally approaching the optimal form factor for a smartphone, get rid of that useless bezel!

 

[jacktesterson]

I owned an Xperia S for a while, loved the phone except for the Screen which seemed sunked in a tad.

My sister has an Xperia U and its snappy for a budget phone.

Sony seems to be coming out with more updates more often now too. I like the looks, and am a fan of on screen buttons

 

[dagamer34]

Puts it in the same class as the Nexus 4 which is a budget phone. It isn't an insult, it simply reflects where they are positioning it. Entry level, dirt cheap smartphone territory. If we try and pretend it is anything other then that it is simply going to get destroyed in comparison to the higher end phones.



Superior camera and obviously *vastly* superior build quality to the cheapy Samsung/Apples of the world can help them out if they can get it out before everyone else's 5" quad A15 phones hit this year.

Did you just state that Apple has "cheap" build quality?

 

[Roland00Address]

Does this phone have white magic (besides rgb the LCD matrix has a white sub pixel for increased brightness)