Available
now 8th January 2013
Sony's Xperia NXP range has been around for a year now, and although
it has been pretty successful, there have been some criticisms
that Sony have lacked a truly high-end handset in their range.
Sony have responded to this by producing the powerful, big screen
Sony Xperia Z, a multimedia monster that looks certain to
attract the right kind of attention.
The Xperia Z is a big slab of a phone available in black, white
or purple colour schemes. On the front is a very large 5" 1920
x 1080 pixel full HD display, enhanced with Sony's BRAVIA technology
with a scratch-resistant coating.
There's also a 2.1 megapixel front-facing camera, capable of
1080p HD video recording, but the impressive one is on the back
- a 13 megapixel camera with an Exmor RS sensor and also 1080p HD
video recording with High Dynamic Range support lifted straight
from Sony's digital camcorder range. There's a LED flash plus a
whole load of imaging enhancements that make the Xperia Z look like
a very interesting digital imaging platform.
Inside
is a 1.5GHz quad core Qualcomm processor coupled with a very useful
2GB of RAM and 16GB of flash storage, expandable with a microSD
card. There's a relatively large 2330 mAh battery which Sony says
gives up to 14 hours talktime and 22 days standby time, and the
whole Xperia Z package measures 139 x 71 x 7.9mm and weighs 146
grams.
One unusual feature of the Xperia Z is that it is dust and water
resistant to IP55 and IP57 standards, and it can even survive being
immersed in water for up to 30 minutes (assuming all the ports are
closed). Another unusual enhancement is STAMINA mode, which can
improve the battery life through more aggressive application management
when the display is off.
Something that Sony has and most rivals don't is
a massive library of multimedia content. Movies and music can be
downloaded directly from Sony, and of course the Xperia Z has the
usual WALKMAN enhancements. It can also interact with certain other
Sony devices through the Xperia Z's built-in NFC capabilities, although
getting the very best experience might involve going out and buying
a more up-to-date Sony TV. On top of this, the Xperia Z has an FM
radio plus of course all the multimedia capabilities of any other
modern Android phone, including DLNA support.
Out
of the box, the Xperia Z will run Android 4.1 with an upgrade to
4.2 promised. The Xperia Z supports WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS plus
GLONASS positioning systems and HDMI output via an MHL port. The
only significant feature that seems to be missing is wireless charging.
There will also be an Xperia ZL variant which offers similar
features, but will be a bit more compact when it comes to size.
We don't know if the Xperia ZL is waterproof though.
The Xperia Z is LTE capable, and will also support HSPA+ which
means that you should be able to get some sort of high-speed connection
on most carriers. Sony say that the Xperia Z should be available
during Q1 2013, with Phones4U in the UK saying that it will be available
from 1st March. No guidance was given on price, but we would
expect the Xperia Z to retail for about €500 when it hits the market.
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