Performance and battery life
Sony
Xperia ZL
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Quadrant (v2): 8,175
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Vellamo (v2.0 HTML5): 2,214
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AnTuTu: 19,078
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SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms): 1,154
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GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt 1,080p Offscreen (fps): 32
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CF-Bench: 18,053
Sony
Xperia ZL
Sony
Xperia Z
·
Quadrant (v2): 8,019
·
Vellamo (v2.0 HTML5): 2,198
·
AnTuTu: 19,876
·
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms): 1,900
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GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt 1080p Offscreen (fps): 29
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CF-Bench: 16,079
Sony
Xperia Z
HTC
One
·
Quadrant (v2): 12,495
·
Vellamo (v2.0 HTML5): 2,429
·
AnTuTu: 25,140
·
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms): 991
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GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt 1080p Offscreen (fps): 34
·
CF-Bench: 25,267
HTC
One
You thought that having Snapdragon S4 Pro,
2GB RAM and the similar software would lead to the almost identical testing
result. Was that right? Yes and no. most of our scores were consistent to what
we saw before, but the ZL tester has performed much faster webpage in SunSpider,
provided consistent speed with other S4 Pro devices, and brought back a much
higher CF-Bench score.
From the practical view point, there’re a
few differences in general speed. Both phones run smoothly across most of the Android
interface, as well as inside the apps. We don’t have any stutter in
multitasking overview as before, though sometimes we realize a pause throughout
the transition time. A little bit of disappointment focuses around the
unusually lasting camera startup time. Look at the score of HTC One and you
will wish that Sony have waited for Snapdragon 600 so that the Xperia line can
add extra longevity, though the basic performance is good enough.
We care more about battery life. Our
current battery test, repeating an HD video with 50% brightness and Wi-Fi on (but
no connection), can only produce 5 hours 15 minutes of running before the
battery completely shut down. It’s not completely out of tune, depending on
what Xperia Z has done, but it’s not the best number we’ve ever seen. One meant
for AT&T has last 2 more hours under the same pressure and battery
capacity. Other S4 Pro phones such LG Optimus G can last more than 8 hours in a
milder test, which obviously has some issue in terms of power efficiency with
the screen, software of Sony or the combination of both.
We reached 7 hours from a heavy real-time
travel including 120 shots, 4 HDR video, 2 calls and lots of social network.
Strangely, you will do much better in regular use, and we have no problem
lasting over 1 day at the time testing Stamina mode with activated Gmail and
social network connection, light web browsing as well as taking some images and
making calls. We only wish we wouldn’t have to treat the Stamina feature as a
secondary thing instead of a bonus.
We
reached 7 hours from a heavy real-time travel including 120 shots, 4 HDR video,
2 calls and lots of social network.
There’s no shortage of mobile connection on
Xperia ZL we have tested, which will have the same basic hardware all over
North America. It provides, 42Mbps 5-band HSPA+3G with the support for the
carriers based on AWS such as T-Mobile USA and smaller networks of Canada. Better
still, LTE just realized that AWS has both 5-band, dealing with the bi carrier
of Canada, AT&T, T-Mobile USA and some of the carrier all over the world,
such as LG U+ in Korea and SoftBank in Japan. You won’t change the
international zone on LTE at areas such as Europe but you have lots of places
where the data freely overflows.
Performance carried on Rogers is powerful
though barely special. The tests Ottawa provided the average speed of 12.9Mbps for
download and 8.6Mbps for upload while on LTE, with the intentional sink to HSPA+
giving us 6.1Mbps of download and 1.3Mbps of upload. Call quality on 3G is good
for the receiver using home phone, though it sounds a little muffled when
passing through earpiece. Don’t ever expect an improvement in moving the calls
to the built-in speaker on the back – it’s pretty big, but sounds small.
Conclusion
To answer the clearest question: if a
secret kind-hearted person showed us Xperia Z and ZL when we were able to keep
one, we would choose ZL. Safer design and smarter efficiency is just
over-valued to pass, as they create a 5inch phone without the sacrifice in size
or comfort which sometimes accompanies with super-large size. The water-proof
ability is not so important. While Z will be our choice if we usually idle away
our time next to the pool we have some feelings the plastic-made ZL will have
higher possibility for staying in its beauty for the rest of its life. After
all, the glass is quite unfashionable when it’s broken.
To
answer the clearest question: if a secret kind-hearted person showed us Xperia
Z and ZL when we were able to keep one, we would choose ZL.
ZL is also attractive for different
reasons. If you ever wished that an “enormous” screen and one-hand using weren’t
consider as exclusive notion that frequently, Sony stands by you. The 13MP camera
is stable and the processor is still fast. UI of Sony represents one of the most
interested Android implementation we’ve ever seen, as long as you’re ready to
forgive its ecosystem.
However, it’s hard to doubt that the smartphone
land has changed in several weeks since we reviewed Z and no support for ZL.
HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 have already appeared or will do so soon, and
both promise a higher-quality 1,080p screen as well as faster performance. At
least One provides longer battery life under heavy use. One or GS4 will
unnecessarily need to be more expensive. Bell and Rogers is selling Xperia ZL at
the price of 100 USD and 125USd following the contract, while One will cost
more than 150 USD on Rogers. Why not spend more to have innovated tech,
especially when you have to buy microSD card to help ZL surpass the 16GB level
of capacity? The only compromise of the American carrier for ZL up to now
relates to Cincinnati Bell, and the price of 250 USD after discount may not
attracts lots of people to change their network. We’re happy to introduce the
second premium phone of Sony if the price is reasonable, but that price hasn’t
popped out yet.
Info
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Price: $100
Advantages
·
Compact for a 5-inch phone
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Strong camera with HDR video
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Sony UI is largely useful
Disadvantages
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Short battery life
·
Performance inferior to the rivals
·
Narrow viewing angle
Key
point
·
Xperia ZL is an innovation that is superior to Z,
but it can’t shie when sitting besides the current rivals.
Sony Xperia
ZL’s specs
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Size: 131.7x69.8x9.8mm (5.18x2.75x0.39 inches)
·
Weight: 5.33 ounce (151g)
·
Screen size: 5 inch
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Screen res: 1,920x1,080 (443ppi)
·
Screen type: OptiContrast LCD
·
Battery: 2370mAh Li-Polymer (not removable)
·
Internal storage: 16GB
·
External storage: MicroSDHC
·
Rear camera: 13MP, BSI, f/2.4, 1/3inch-sized
sensor, 1.12µm-sized pixel
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Front Camera: 2MP
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Video recording: 1080p, 30fps (front and rear)
·
NFC: Yes
·
Radio: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1,800/1,900), WCDMA
(850/900/1,700/1,900/2,100), LTE (700/850/1,700/1,900/2,100)
·
Bluetooth: V4.0
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SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ8064)
·
CPU: 1.5GHz quad-core
·
GPU: Adreno 320
·
RAM: 2GB
·
Entertainment: MHL, DLNA
·
Wi-Fi: 802.11a/b/g/n 2-band, Wi-Fi Direct
·
Wireless charger: No
·
OS: Android 4.1.2, Sony UI
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