Hands-on with the Sony Xperia Z

[Julio Franco]

The Sony Xperia Z needs to be a hit. Sony has been a giant in consumer electronics for decades, but the company's reputation for quality products hasn't translated to success in the Android smartphone race.

Despite CEO Kaz Hirai proclaiming earlier this year that Sony believes it has a realistic shot at being the third most successful smartphone vendor, its Xperia line has failed to provide the breakthrough device to propel the company to a leading sales position. Might the Sony Xperia Z be the device that finally takes Sony's smartphone efforts to the next level?

The Xperia Z has the hallmarks of a Sony product: thoughtful design and solid materials. It has a 1080p, 5-inch display tuned to improve brightness and color saturation. There's a 1.5GHz quad-core processor to ensure power, 2GB of RAM to enable fluidity, and a 13 megapixel camera to capture HDR photos or videos. The Xperia Z even has a waterproof body that's only 7.9mm thick. These are phenomenal features to have, but the total package is what will determine whether Sony has created its best Android smartphone yet.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/52145-hands-on-with-the-sony-xperia-z.html

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

Good specs are great for the enthusiast, but Sony will have a hard time beating Samsung and HTC in that department. The average buyer wants a good usable phone, and they won?t care about whether it?s using a Snapdragon or whatever. The average person, which is where most of the sales are, will care about design and how the phone looks, and I think Sony?s phone looks pretty plain.

Samsung has a very recognizable design that?s spans the S3, S4, Note 1 and 2, and tab 8. The HTC One is by most opinions, nicer looking than the S4. I don?t know much about the Xperia, but for Sony?s sake, I hope it feels great in the hand, because it looks rather standard.

3 cheers for waterproofing though. Being able to float on a pool/lake while using an electronic device sounds pretty cool.

 

[Guest]

I left Sony after owning generations of Sony mobiles since they first sold Sony branded phones through Sony Ericsson and back to Sony again. I owned Android phones - X10 mini pro, X10, Arc S. What Sony does with the Z model does not matter to me anymore. I LEFT SONY BEACUST THEY ADANDON THEIR CUSTOMERS BY NOT UPDATING QUICK ENOUGH (OR AT ALL) to newer versions of Android. (ref Experia Play). I left Sony and went to Samsung and subsequently Google wher updates are plentiful. The Z model could be octa core and have a 4k screen for all I care. I WONT be getting one!

 

[Jad Chaar]

Looks like a quality phone. I have only had a Sony Erricson flip phone, but it was great in the past, so I would be willing to try this. But as the guest above said, Sony is so slow to update its phones.

 

[St1ckM4n]

The water and dust proofing should make this an instant hit. Should. But people are stupid, and HURR DURR IFONE AND SUMSUNG S5 LUL

 

[Guest]

Uhh, Sony passed HTC 4th quarter of last year to be the #3 smartphone manufacturer. Don't confuse botching up US carrier sales with being unsuccessful around the rest of the world.

By all accounts the HTC One is an awesome phone. But now one knows how many they can sell due to supply constraints.

And by all accounts the Galaxy 4 should be awesome too. But there is enough of a difference between the overall look and feel of the phones that you can certainly have a preference for one over the other and not feel shortchanged either way in terms of performance.