UI and other features
UI is another good point of the device.
Featuring the latest Android 4.1.2 OS, Xperia Z’s interface seems like Xperia
T’s yet has more changes.
It’s seeable that the screen now can be
unlocked by up-swiping plus curtain effect, not through vertical-swiping. Inside,
the home screen shows icons. There’re not many changes in widgets but
Notification bar has been innovated, integrated with shortcuts for
fast-switching between settings.
UI
is another good point of the device
The Small Apps feature that used to appear
in Xperia T or TX is still available on Xperia Z. It allows user to open some
necessary apps such as web browser, note, calculator, recorder… from a small
window on screen without any need to open app screen.
There’re not as many outstanding features
added for Xperia Z as for Xperia T/TX. Like Apple, Sony has been building its
own technological ecosystem for its devices including TV, multimedia, laptops,
tablets, game console… thus many apps Walkman, Movies, Sony Select, Playstation
Mobile, Smart Connect on Xperia Z are similar to those in previous models.
Xperia
Z’s features are powerful, meeting various demands
Some new interesting features are One Touch
(using NFC to connect and share wireless contents to HDTV), mobile speakers,
net drive or other supported devices. Plus, MirrorLink allows for transferring
displaying contents on phone to wider screens via TV or similar audio-visual
devices, resembling Apple Air Play. Not having any HDMI port, Xperia Z still
has quite many contacts: DLNA, MHL…
Music playback is very good. Sony’s Full HD
smartphone can decode most of popular formats, including FLAC. The accompanied
in-ear headphone is MH-EX300AP model which is nice designed, reproducing fine
sound plus thick bass.
Performance and battery life
Benchmark
score and specs
Sony’s smartphone used to be criticized for
having lower specs than rivals. But, this year Sony has been proving a change
when equipping Xperia Z powerful specs, to compete directly with HTC, Samsung
and LG.
Xperia Z owns Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro
processor (1.5GHz), Andreno 320 GPU and 2GB of RAM. Though not as impressive as
HTC One’s specs featuring Snapdragon, such configuration is enough for Sony
fans. In fact, Xperia Z is the Android whose performance is most fluent ever
thanks to the modified TImeScape UI.
However, booting camera takes a
considerable amount of time despite the device’s high specs. Besides, the
unibody plus glass case makes Xperia Z heat fast when running high usage in
hours. The hottest area is in the back near Xperia Z logo.
Not
powerful, Xperia Z’s specs are suitable and sufficient for technologies at
present and in the near future
Despite slim design, wide screen plus high
resolution, Xperia Z’s runtime is quite good, mostly thanks to the proprietary
Stamina Mode feature that Sony equipped with.
In a small test, Xperia Z had Wi-Fi
continuously enabled with GSM/WCDMA/LTE on, pushed mails with Exchange account
logged into Facebook, Gmail and installed communication apps – Viber, Whatsapp,
Zalo, Line… After one full charge, the 2,330mAh battery ran out of energy after
nearly 4h. From 8AM to 2PM, the runtime was reduced by a half. However, when
Stamina Mode was activated, Xperia Z could endure until 9PM.
Using Stamina Mode frequently, Xperia Z
delivers a runtime of 1-1.5 day, quite good for such a smartphone having strong
specs and wide screen.
Technical specs
General info
·
2G network: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 - C6602,
C6603
·
3G network: HSDPA 850/900/2100 - C6603,
HSDPA 850/900/1700/1900/2100 - C6602
·
4G network: LTE 800/850/900/1800/2100/2600 -
C6603
·
SIM: Micro-SIM
·
Release date: 2013 January
Body
·
Dimension: 139x71x7.9mm
·
Weight: 146g
·
Certificate: IP57
Display
·
Type: TFT capacitive , 16M colors
·
Size: 5in, 1080x1920pixel resolution (441ppi
density)
·
Multi-pointing: Yes, 10 points
·
Protection: Anti-scratch glass
·
UI: TimeScape – Mobile Bravia Engine 2 visual
technology
Sound
·
Notification: Vibration; MP3 ringtones
·
Loudspeakers: Yes
·
3.5mm jack: Yes
Memory
·
Card slot: micro-SD (32 GB)
·
Storage: 16GB
·
RAM: 2GB
Data
·
GPRS: up to 107kbps
·
EDGE: up to 296kbps
·
Speed: HSDPA, 42Mbps; HSUPA, 5.8Mbps; LTE,
Cat3, 50Mbps UL, 100Mbps DL
·
WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA,
Wi-Fi hotspot
·
Bluetooth: Yes, v4.0 with A2DP
·
NFC: Yes
·
USB: Yes, micro-USB v2.0 (MHL)
Camera
·
Primary: 13.1MP, 4128x3096 pixels, autofocus,
LED flash
·
Features: Tagging, touch-to-focus, face
detection, anti-shake, HDR, Panorama
·
Video: Yes, 1080p@30fps, AF, image stability,
HDR
·
Secondary: Yes, 2.2MP, 1080p@30fps
Others
·
OS: Android OS, v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) –
upgradable v4.2 (Jelly Bean)
·
Chipset: Qualcomm MDM9215M/APQ8064
·
CPU: Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait
·
GPU: Adreno 320
·
Sensor: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity,
compass
·
Message: SMS, MMS, Email, IM, Push Email
·
Browser: HTML5
·
Radio: Stereo FM radio with RDS
·
GPS: Yes, with A-GPS and GLONASS
·
Java: Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
·
Colors: Black, white and purple
·
Misc.: Social network; TV-out via MHL; A/V
link; anti-noise micro; MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player; MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV/FLAC
player; document viewer; image browser and editor; voice dial; text
prediction
Battery
·
Capacity: Li-Ion 2,330mAh (attached inside)
·
Standby: up to 550h (2G)/ up to 530h (3G)
·
Talk: up to 11h (2G)/up to 14h (3G)
·
Music playback: up to 40h
|
