Sony Xperia Z review: Zero hour
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- xelo
- Sr6
- 18 Feb 2013
AnonD-113343, 17 Feb 2013Could you check the battery life with LTE on/off, stamina m... moreI had a Xperia Z 6 days in the desk drawer attached to the 3G network: Stll 60% battery left - as long as you don't do anything with the device - battery power is impressive. :)
- u
- uu
- wHr
- 18 Feb 2013
mixa, 18 Feb 2013well it killed S4 before its even born.
I guess thats enou... morer u kiddin? haha
XZ's 13MP ddnt even manage to beat the cameras of s3 and note2's 8MP whch are released last year, for 2013 samsung will launch their 13mp models, and i believe that s4 and note3 will pack maybe the best cam for 2013. well HTC One _with the Ultrapixels thing_ and new nokia models whch will be unveiled are the greatest competitors..
abt processing power is again on dark area bcoz we dont know what s4 will be packing..
screen hmm XZ is certainly better than the 720p SuperAmoled.. we still dont know what SuperAmoled Full Hd will look like,, but in terms of preference, large number of geeks love SuperAmoled..
Battery> No doubt new galaxies will be better than XZ
UI-elegance for Sony
UI-fun, features and capabilities for Touchwiz
design-I bet for XZ but i like to have a removable battery and ergonomic and lightweight smartphone so ill go for plastic, Sammy just need to improve the premium look
Audio, i dont know but androidauthority Galaxy s3 > xperia T bcoz gal s3 features 7band equalizer and crispier and louder sound.
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- Anonymous
- pF7
- 18 Feb 2013
It seems to be a good phone for now, but it will fade away when GS4 will be announced and later released.
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- salsa
- y$H
- 18 Feb 2013
I have seen photo quality comparison Xp Z not sharp enough look at the girl's eyeball
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- tt
- wHr
- 18 Feb 2013
AnonD-86903, 18 Feb 2013hahaha, i didn't even refer my answer to your post. actuall... more"ok, go and buy S4. no one forced you to buy "garbage". instead you can go and buy plastic."
haha if im not mistaken, you are calling XZ as the garbage? haha seems right
anyway kreaninw is correct..
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- Marc Aurel
- pWB
- 18 Feb 2013
Anonymous, 18 Feb 2013The camera and its specs is(unfortunately) one of the bigge... moreYou are basically right about megapixels not being everything, but the 808's results are not overhyped by any means. The 36 MP Nikon D800 with the best possible lens at optimum aperture gets "only" 3200 LPH (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikon-d800-d800e/20), so the 808's results are still quite impressive resolution-wise for a camera phone.
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- AnonD-86903
- Lim
- 18 Feb 2013
AnonD-14560, 18 Feb 2013Then I don't understand you why you think I want DSLR or so... morehahaha, i didn't even refer my answer to your post. actually i didn't see what you said. but you just rushing to say you want to buy S4. ok, go and buy S4. no one forced you to buy "garbage". instead you can go and buy plastic.
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- AnonD-14560
- w4G
- 18 Feb 2013
AnonD-86903, 18 Feb 2013one thing i dont understand about some comments is that peo... moreThen I don't understand you why you think I want DSLR or something in my pocket. I complained because I thought Xperia Z camera should be able to beat all current SMART PHONE cameras with its Exmor sensor like advertised. Seeing its true strength in photo compare tool as well as video compare tool made me disappointed. It seems Sony brought out some garbage from last year advertised like it's a new thing and they called it a day.
I'm waiting to buy Xperia Z. But now I changed my mind. I'm waiting for S4, more power, better camera and all. I really want to have my phone playing with me in the bath though.
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- Marc Aurel
- pWB
- 18 Feb 2013
The camera definitely resolves more detail than 8 MP cameras, including the iPhone 4S/5 and the Galaxy SIII. You can see that in the resolution target (ISO12233 chart) shots quite clearly. You just need to be able to tell the difference between real and false detail. The 8 MP cameras give you plenty of the latter beyond Nyquist frequency.
The difference in real world images is of course much smaller, because 67% more pixels simply is not that much (in pixels per inch terms it's only 27% more), and 8 MP is already "enough" for most subjects.
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- AnonD-52738
- TSQ
- 18 Feb 2013
I can't seen the benchmark part, it was blank.
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- Anonymous
- niy
- 18 Feb 2013
AnonD-86903, 18 Feb 2013one thing i dont understand about some comments is that peo... moreThe camera and its specs is(unfortunately) one of the biggest selling points of smartphones today. Too bad that the technical specs doesn't make anyone a better photographer.
Haven't read all the comments, but I bet the 41 mp Pureview is mentioned there a couple of times. Just for the sake of comparison, here are some absolute resolution numbers I got from the resolution charts here:
Nokia Pureview 808 3100 LPH 12,7 megapixels(33,4%)
Sony Xperia Z 2000 LPH 5,3 megapixels(41,7%)
Samsung GSIII 1500 LPH 3 megapixels(37,5%)
Relatively speaking, both Sony and Samsung did better than the hyped Pureview! But of course smartphone users don't care anything other than megapixels...
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- AnonD-78383
- q{c
- 18 Feb 2013
chizburger, 18 Feb 2013Why i cant see the benchmarks?You wouldn't be saying that if the camera scored an ace. Why carry an extra camera if we have a phone that can take good quality pics? Honestly taking out a DSLR everytime we wanted to take pictures would get pretty tiring.
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- AnonD-36854
- Xup
- 18 Feb 2013
Good fon but didn't got me excited.
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- AnonD-86903
- Lim
- 18 Feb 2013
one thing i dont understand about some comments is that people keep on talking about camera. if you want a camera, go and buy a digital one to fulfill your needs. this is a smart phone and it showed its power in benchmarks, sound quality and different useful apps it features and the camera is among the bests right now.
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- chizburger
- vcA
- 18 Feb 2013
Why i cant see the benchmarks?
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- Robert Tan
- PRG
- 18 Feb 2013
As per the review, it seems that the XZ is neither an over-achiever nor an under-achiever. But while the XZ's camera and contrast ratio may not have met the expectations of many, it is still important to note that it did trump most current high-end smartphones in other important categories.
Personally, I'm not that sold into this whole "great camera" thing. There are many people out there who carry great devices with them, and who tout the wonderful capablities of their smartphone's camera; and yet, the quality of the pictures that their smartphones produce are (egads!) less than average. Why is this? What brought about this discrepancy from the original specs? The answer is... wait for it... wait for it...
The answser is, or rather the truth is, that lots of people don't know how to take pictures. So ouch! I apologize for telling the truth. Smartphones with powerful gadgetry inside them are becoming more and more widespread. Unfortunately, the same could not be said of photographers who know the basics of photography and who know how light can affect pictures.
If you're wondering how such crappy pictures can come from such high-end, powerful smartphones (the likes of the iPhone 4, the GSII and above), then it would perhaps help if we begin to clear out certain misconceptions about current smartphone camera technology. First of all, smartphone cameras are not DSLRs (and even DLSRs have their shortcomings). The current state of smartphone cameras are nowhere near the output of DSLRs. Second, crappy pics may likely (also) be attributed to inept photography rather than the device itself. Any true photographer will tell you that photography is more than just what your wonderful camera can do (although it certainly does help, but that's beside the point). If you think about it, it takes a certain kind of discipline to shoot a great picture. The camera is just a tool. Ultimately, it is the man behind the lens who has the creative output.
Having said that, I think Sony made the right decision to include low light adaptability in the XZ. That is one of the key areas where people and smartphones fail in casual photography. I give Sony kudos for taking the initiative and shifting the direction to where the populace can actually make (more) use of it. If you think about it, this part is actually a step in the right direction and worthy of emulation. Great amounts of pixels are fine, but their usability should be expanded, too. This alone gives the XZ an advantage over the current crop of smartphones, despite what seems like an on-par performance of the 13MP camera.
Btw, I'm not trying to sell the phone. I hope I can be forgiven for the rant above. They are solely my personal opinion. Actually, there is more than one factor which sold me to this phone. I was originally rooting for the Nexus 4. Unfortunately, they don't sell it here where I live. I wanted to experience stock Android; and currently, the XZ is one of few smartphones nearest to the point of origin. I've played with HTC Sense for two years now, and I'm not saying it's bad, as I still love my old and humble Desire HD. It's just that I thought of changing the Android environment to see what the fuss is all about. My curiosity got me to the point where, the more I looked at XZ's videos, the more I liked its classy-techy feel of its environment. I don't get this feeling with Sense and TouchWiz. Somehow, it made me feel that the XZ's UI is a step above the venerable Sense and TouchWiz. I don't know if you peeps also have that impression.
Also, I thought it's time for a washable phone. Ever had the nightmare of icing/grease smudge happen to your phone? Uh-huh.
As for the flaps, I can see that people will either hate it or love it. Personally, I was never a big fan of using the USB cable. I hope the time comes when safe wireless power charging becomes the norm for all smartphones.
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- AnonD-41591
- 2@v
- 18 Feb 2013
Do not forget that nokia is going to unveil their new flagships next week with monster of a camera.....
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- mixa
- 3VQ
- 18 Feb 2013
well it killed S4 before its even born.
I guess thats enough for Sony.And besides most retailers are bursting of preorders.
Overall best mobile of 2013.
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- AnonD-86903
- pTh
- 18 Feb 2013
Anonymous, 18 Feb 2013better than S3? have you read the review? I'll take S3 ... morei think your fanboism wont let you see the reality. the camera is better than S3 but its not what we expect from a 13MP camera. you understand? the screen is not bad at all. if you always look at your screen from angles, then its your problem and why don't you notice the benchmarks? this phone has defeated your S3 in all of them. the problem with you Samboys is that you're always denying a bunch of good aspects while sticking to a few unimportant weaknesses.
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- Gamesarefun83
- 0pg
- 18 Feb 2013
sam sings, 18 Feb 2013sorry. here's the link. i wasn't disputing gsmarena's obser... moreHi all! I am planning to get an Xperia Z as soon as it launches, but after seeing one myself yesterday I can't help but feel somewhat disappointed. The screen contrast is barely better than my Xperia Play from 2 years ago, and basically looks weak and 'greyed out' on all of the menus.
This poor contrast issue has been seen by reviewers of the phone from various websites, but this issue has actually only recently been mentioned (during this week), since the European Xperia Z has started being tested. Since earlier previews/hands on with the device had no mention of this issue, and we're actually extremely positive about the screen in general, I have become suspicious that something has been changed in the phone's 'final' hardware/software (models releasing at the end of February in Europe) from what was shown previously.
I would like to suggest two possible explanations for this mysterious issue with screen contrast, although both will probably be way off the mark, but here goes...
Firstly, perhaps Sony have deliberately reduced/restricted the contrast ratios from the pre-production handsets in order too subtly help the phone conserve battery power. Unfortunately this change has not gone unnoticed by users who instead of getting a bright, vibrant display like they expected, have ended up with a far duller display with opinion dividingly poor contrast ratios.
My second theory is that some reviewers/users have set the phone's brightness to it's maximum setting (why not!?) and for some reason the screen just 'appears' to have a poorer contrast while at this level of brightness. I don't know exactly why this would be the case, although I have noticed this effect before on my television where as the brightness setting increases the contrast setting becomes less noticeable, even if set to maximum. But, when the brightness level is reduced again (to about 65%-75%) the contrast and colour saturation becomes quite obvious once more.
Whatever the reason for this issue, it is a REAL problem that would be best dealt with by people firstly acknowledging it, and then requesting an appropriate solution from Sony. A lot of people seem to be denying that there really is any problem at all (and perhaps with the Xperia Zs shown off at CES last month there actually wasn't). But unfortunately there is a problem with these more recent handsets. So please, Sony, sort it out quick!!