Xperia Z appears immediately after the
latest Android version. It's still Android Jelly Bean, but it is the version
4.1.2. Admittedly, the supplements since then are quite small, but Sony has had
bad luck when launching the best phones without the best software. Since last
year’s Xperia models, now we can welcome Google Now’s accedence, while Spotify
and other applications can now access from the lock screen. If you take a
closer look at the Sony's own approach to Android, you will see some adorable
supplements, like the utilities of Rolodex- style gallery or power management
that can be pre-installed with some expansion stuff consuming unnecessary power
capacity, such as the Walkman audio player utility or Sony’s Entertainment
Network.
Sony
Xperia Z screenshots showing some software applications
Yes, you will hardly avoid Sony's media
libraries when first booting up the phone. However, we resisted the urge to
delete them from the beginning and try them. Sony Select provides a gentle
guide for Google Play’s wares, as well as dedicated Xperia music and movies. We
cannot blame it for providing a collection of beginner applications, but you
will see a lot of interference with Google's own introduction. The game options
here are somewhat annoying, though you will have some better games (and
licensed) by Gameloft. We are not sure if anyone who gets used to purchasing
games and applications directly from Google will need the Select service – the
icons even re-navigate to Google Play.
Sony has put your video collection in its
new film icon. It is also a more subtle way to guide you to its Video Unlimited
catalogue of films and television programs. We tried the service out by
downloading a 90-minute movie (1GB) quite fast. The price is slightly higher:
we bought Mass Effect for $18 (it only costs $12 on Google Play of the UK),
while the renting price is $5.25 – which is equivalent to Android's built-in
video service. The payment process is quite fast once you have a Sony
Entertainment Network account - you can even use the same username from
PlayStation. However, it is a pity to see quite a little 1080p content that is
to show full-HD display. Almost everything we did in browsers (even Sony's
movies such as The Amazing Spiderman) had a standard definition option and
nothing else. The Player is at least pretty good; it plays DivX videos and uses
Gracenote to get more details, such as cast lists.
Sony
Xperia Z’s Walkman
Walkman, a copy of its music, contains your
own playlists, a few free tracks from artists such as Tom Odell and there is no
surprise here - Music Unlimited. Signing up for the subscription with fee will
allow you to play offline across the compatible Sony hardware, iPhone and
Android devices. In the UK, it costs $15 and there is a great amount of music
provided - thanks to Sony's power in the music industry. The services have also
recently upgraded transmission quality to 320Kbps on Android, PS3 and PC. But
if you have already had a subscription to Spotify, we cannot find much here to
pull you away from it.
There are a few applications available on
the phone at the beginning - some are good, some are not. These include
Dropbox, File Commander, and Media Remote with Sony's Wi-Fi connection for
compatible TVs, OfficeSuite, Sony car (think about the big icons for use on the
road) and Socialife. The last application is Sony's latest attempt to connect
to your favorite RSS feeds with the updates on Twitter and Facebook. It has
less infringing nature (and resource-consuming) than the utility we remember
from previous Xperia phones, but there is nothing compelling for us to use it,
except for the inspection because of curiosity. At this time, we'll stick to
Flipboard and Pulse.
A more considerable addition is Sony's new
Stamina battery saving mode. Under the power management settings, the focus
here is to prevent the bad applications from accessing data through phone
signals (or Wi-Fi) when the screen is off. We are sure that you are thinking:
"That's reasonable, but how about email?" Do not worry, since the mails
and other applications such as Whatsapp, Twitter and Facebook can be added to
the whitelist, so they can update whenever they like. The power management
section also gives you an optimistic estimate of how many hours left in the
standby mode. Turn off the stamina mode; you will see it reduced, sometimes
halved. We did take a while to find the right way for applications to access
data (hint: you need to type the bar of Stamina mode) but once you know, adding
applications that need data is very easy.
The
Sony Xperia Z will be updated to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean shortly after its
launch in Q1 2013.
However, perhaps it is due to the fact that
we needed to prod the device during the review process, we did not see any
significant extension of battery life via the new stamina mode. The battery
does not only supply power to the vibrant 5-inch screen, but all applications
are also comfortable to use the data as needed. If you are a normal phone user,
the service can add a few hours of use, but we will consider the estimated standby
time of the phone carefully.
We have tried the improvements for Xperia
Z’s camera application, but the highlights including HDR video recorder, smooth
video and camera modes, burst capture and enhanced-auto mode made taking
beautiful photos much easier. For the author of this article, Sony has a more
useful interface than it is found on the old Android camera, which can
sometimes feel reduced too much.
