News
Marin Perez
18:24, Jul 20 2013
The Sony Xperia Z is water-resistant and laughs at dust but is it any good?
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Typical Price:
$579.99
Pros:
Great screen, high-end specs, fantastic camera, water resistant
Cons:
Polarizing design with hardware and software
Verdict:
The Sony Xperia Z delivers on its promise of being a premium device but I just couldn't fall in love with it
We review the Sony Xperia Z for T-Mobile and this Android-powered phone is jam-packed with the latest hardware, and it's water-resistant and dust proof. We've seen some other smartphones try to market the water-proof features but does the Sony Xperia Z do enough to distinguish itself enough to get your money? Let's find out.
Sony Xperia Z for T-Mobile first impressions
Sony Xperia Z tips and tricks
Hardware
The hardware on the Sony Xperia Z for T-Mobile is interesting for me to judge because I know that many of the individual elemetns are great but I just don't like it. It's not bad by any means but I don't love this form factor.
The Sony Xperia Z for T-Mobile is a slab and I wouldn't be surprised to discover that it was modeled after the monolith in 2001. It's a sleek slate on both sides, it's incredibly thin and you can make it stand up on a desk by itself quite easily (good for photo shoots).
It looks like a premium device and some little details really give you hope for what Sony can do with future devices. The Sony Xperia Z looks like it's all black but the trimming is actually a slightly different color and you get glimpses of a purplish-grey tint when the light hits it in certain ways. That's cool.
The 5-inch 1080p HD screen is stunningly gorgeous. Sony is utilizing the knowledge it has from its Bravia line of televisions and makes watching videos, zooming in on pictures and reading text on the Sony Xperia Z an absolute joy. Sadly, you quickly assimilate to this and just expect it but I suggest bumping up the brightness all the way and watching the HD demonstration video as one of the first things you do when you take it out of the box.
It could make your jaw drop.
You also get a ton of power inside the Sony Xperia Z including a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB of RAM, NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI-out capabilities, 4G LTE, a 13-megapixel camera and a 2330mAh battery. That's pretty much every single thing you'd want in a smartphone and, oh yeah, you can take the Sony Xperia Z with you in the bath tub and it will be fine.
That's right, the Sony Xperia Z is water resistant and it laughs at dust too. I don't recommend showering with this but you can use it in rain without worry and - as icky as it can be to admit - some people have lost their phone to the dreaded toilet. You won't have to worry about that with the Sony Xperia Z.
It's a sleek device packed with power, so why aren't I swooning over the Sony Xperia Z? It's the little things.
I don't think the Sony Xperia Z is comfortable to hold. It's so angular that the bottom corner can kind of stick into your palms in an uncomfortable way and it is designed to be held in an awkward way. The power/unlock button is in the middle of the right spine with the volume rocker underneath and that ndicates that your thumb should rest on the middle of the right spine.
This isn't fun. It makes trying to tap something in the far right corner a chore and I don't like how it impacts my palm. Sure, the Sony Xperia Z is a long phone with its 5-inch screen but I still think people can hold it in a more natural way.
In order to be water resistant, the Sony Xperia Z has the headphone jack and microUSB port hidden under plastic flaps and these just look and feel cheap when they're opened. Seriously, I feel like the headphone jack port will get caught on something in my pocket and tear off. I have similar concerns about the microUSB port when I'm charging it.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is also water resistant and dust proof but I think it pulls off the design in a more elegant way, particularly with its port cover. The Sony Xperia Z is much thinner and eye-catching from afar but I'm not sure that is worth the trade offs.
Oh yeah, the Sony Xperia Z is also a magnet for fingerprints on its face and back. It will quickly go from "oooh" to "oily." Go ahead and get yourself a case or cover.
There appears to only be one speaker on the bottom right of the device and it's not loud enough for my liking. Maybe I'm spoiled by the HTC One BoomSound but I want something which can deliver better audio.
I also dislike that the back, Home and multitasking buttons are pure software buttons. I know that's the way that Android is going and other handsets have that too but I prefer either dedicated capacitive buttons or at least an area set aside for these.
The Sony Xperia Z should appeal to a lot of you out there who want a tough phone in a sleek package. It has an incredible display and it's tough to argue that the specs aren't best in class. I'm just not moved by this design: it's too angular for me, the button placement irks me and the port flaps feel too flimsy for my liking.
Software
The Sony Xperia Z launches with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and a custom Sony interface. Android is a powerful and flexible mobile platform which is mature enough to smartly handle your apps, messaging and browsing needs.
I still think Android is at its best when you're a heavy Google services user. Gmail, Google Maps, Google Now and others really shine on the Sony Xperia Z. It will still work with other services and Android is flexible enough to let you pipe in other types of apps and services.
Google Now is one of my favorite things about Android, particularly if you're deep in the Google-verse. This service will take everything it knows about you (with your permission) and give you information just as you need it. For example, it will know when you have a flight scheduled, when you arrive at the airport and it can pop up a mobile boarding pass for you.
I'm not really a fan of the Sony cusotm interface on the Xperia Z. I'm not one of these guys who hates Android skins and pines for the stock version, as I think that handset makers can add a lot to Android. For example, I really like the Zoes on the HTC One and think that Samsung is doing some amazing stuff with its camera software on the Galaxy S4.
I'm just not in love with what Sony does with its software - I also have a PlayStation 3. The design of the icons bug me, it annoys me that the home screens can't loop around and some of the preloaded apps just don't work or make much sense.
In an ideal world, the Xperia Z would hook in well with Sony's existing services and be a nice extension of the Sony ecosystem. The problem is that Sony's services are also a bit of a mess.
The Music Unlimited service is a Spotify competitor and it just didn't work for me the first few times I tried it. Clicking on the app kicked me to a website with a download link, that link then brought me to the Play Store link and hitting "Open" would bring me back to the web site. After updating the app, I was finally able to get it working but I'm not ready to pay $10 a month for Sony's music service.
Likewise, when I click on the Video Unlimited preloaded app icon, it kicks me to the front page of the Google Play Store. The PlayStation Mobile app also requires you to allow app installs from unknown sources, which may throw some of you off. I'm fine with that because I trust Sony but the selection of stuff in there isn't really that good.
To be fair to Sony, the Walkman music-playing app is pretty nice and I think that PlayMemories Online is a cool added feature. This free service will back up all your photos to the cloud and it makes it simple to create albums, postcards and photo books.
I also really like what Sony did with the multitasking button, as the running apps show up as a column on the right side and there's a customizable icon tray on the bottom. It's smart, elegant and good for how I use my phone.
Smart Connect is an interesting concept which could lead to some interesting things down the road. This lets you set up triggers which will adjust your phone depending on if you have a charger or headphones connected. So, you can set it to automatically mute the ringer between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. when the charger is plugged it. You can also have it launch your favorite music app whenever you connect your headphones.
This reminds me a bit of the Smart Actions on the Motorola RAZR HD MAXX and like that, I think it's something that not too many people will actually bother to dive in to. It's a really good idea though and I hope Sony continues to evolve this.
It's also Android, so if you don't like the Sony interface or apps, you don't have to use it. You can throw on a new home launcher which will change the icons and you can make your favorite services the default option with a few clicks. I didn't like the Sony Music or Video services but it didn't matter that much because Spotify, Pandora and Netflix were just a few clicks away.
The Sony Xperia Z also runs the Android software extremely well. Switching between apps is lightning quick and games run extremely well on this thing. Sony has done a good job of optimizing the software to ensure that lagging and slowdown is kept to a minimum.
Camera, Battery Life, Coverage
The Sony Xperia Z has a fantastic camera with some really nice software.
The Sony Xperia Z comes with a 13-megapixel camera with Xmor RS for its mobile image sensor. It's really good. The default camera is set at 9 megapixels and the 16:9 resolution and those are pretty good, too. Do yourself a favor though and pump it up to 13 megapixels because you'll be able to get some stunning shots.
The camera app seems relatively bare bones but there's so much going on in the background. The default mode is called "Superior auto" and it's extremely good at quickly judging what's the best mode for your phone and adjusting for that. You can manually switch to Normal, video, burst, effect, sweep panorama or other specific scene modes but I've found that Superior auto is great for most situations.
The Superior auto mode means that you can pull out your phone and almost be guaranteed you'll get a good shot. Of course, composition, lighting and subject matter will play a huge role but the detail, clarity and color reproduction are fantastic.
The one downside with the Superior auto is that it's not quite as quick on the shutter speed compared to the iPhone 5 or Galaxy S4 but it's by no means slow. Low-light photos are also not the greatest, even with the flash. Most camera phones do a poor job in that situation.
The Sony Xperia Z also has all the other things you'd want in a camera including a timer, geotagging, a smile shutter and more. It's Android, so it's very simple to share your photos to various social networks or through e-mail. You can also record HDR videos and 1080p HD videos.
The battery life on the Sony Xperia Z seems pretty solid so far, as it's enough to get you through a full day with moderate usage. As always, streaming music and videos will eat into your battery life at a quicker pace. We noticed that the Xperia Z also charges at a pretty rapid rate.
The Sony Xperia Z can utilize the ever-growing T-Mobile 4G LTE network, which is getting better all the time. T-Mobile used to be extremely iffy in the San Francisco Bay Area but the 4G LTE network now has really good coverage and delivers super speeds.
I can routinely get more than 20Mbps down and that speed difference really makes a difference when you're using the Sony Xperia Z on the go. Voice calls (remember those?) do sound solid on the Sony Xperia Z but some callers said I sounded a tad tinny. As always, check out the T-Mobile coverage map before you jump in.
The Final Take
I'm a bit coflicted on the Sony Xperia Z because the specs and overall performance should have me raving about it. It's packed to the gills with nearly everything you'd ever want in a smartphone, it has an amazing camera and the software is smooth, powerful and flexible.
The Sony Xperia Z is a good smartphone and I could see some people calling it great. I just don't resonate with the hardware or launch software as much as I would want to and would much rather use the T-Mobile Galaxy S4 or the HTC One. That's just my two cents, though.
The Sony Xperia Z for T-Mobile is available now and it can be purchased for a $99 down payment and then $20 monthly payments over 24 months.
Specifications
Length
5.5 inches
Weight
5.15 ounces
Thickness
0.3 inches
Width
2.8 inches
Screen Size
4.97 inches
Network
T-Mobile
Operating System
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
High-speed Data
4G LTE
Battery Standby
2330mAh
Additional Memory
microUSB slot up to 32GB
Built-in Memory
16GB
Camera Resolution
13 megapixels
Video Resolution
1080p HD
Sony
Android
Sony Xperia Z