Sunday, March 31, 2013

Review: Sony Xperia Z

Key Specs

Processor: Qualcomm MDM9215M / APQ8064, Quad-core @ 1.5 GHz
Storage - Internal: 16Gb
Storage - External: Up to 32Gb via MicroSD
RAM: 2Gb
Battery: 1800 mAh
Camera: 13 Megapixels
Camera - Front: 2.2 Megapixels

First Impressions

The Sony Xperia Z looks incredible in photos. The specs that look awesome on paper. The phone, itself, is less fabulous than the combination of its looks and specs would lead you to believe, though. As is often the case with Sony products, there are one or two sore points so egregious that they end up holding the entire product back, almost unfairly.

I was very excited when I received my review unit of the Xperia Z, having slobbered over press photos, and read the stories about how this was Sony going "all in" to rescue their position as a premium handset maker. This time, the story goes, Sony was going to get it all right, and really impress us with their combination of top-tier internals and stunning hardware design.

Having been personally burned by last generation's Xperia S and the cute but egregiously underpowered Xperia Sola I wanted to believe that the Z was the comeback story that Sony has needed. However, I don't think the truth is as generous as that.

First of all, this much ballyhooed waterproof design is a major annoyance. There may have been some double-digit number of marine life experts loudly demanding a top-end waterproof phone, but I have doubts that this feature was actually requested or wanted by many members of the general public. Sure, it'd be a fine assurance to have if there weren't such a steep cost to the convenience of the device, but due to the phone being waterproof, all of the ports (including your most-used ports such as headphones and USB port) are covered by fiddly little rubber plugs with precariously attached glass facades on top to make them blend with the rest of the phone's all-glass design. They are beyond annoying, and I have no doubt that the glass top layer on these plugs will eventually fall off with repeated use. The glass layer also makes them difficult to get a finger under, when you want access. It's just not worth it, when you realize you'll need to do this multiple times a day.

Secondly, the fact that the entire phone is covered in glass goes beyond stylish to obnoxious. I can deal with a LG Nexus 4 because A) The glass is only on the front and back, B) The sides are comfortable to grip and C) The glass on the Nexus 4 is very smooth and smudge-resistant. On the Xperia Z, the phone is very wide, very tall, very thin, and covered by glass back, front, top, bottom, left, and right edges. It feels just awful to hold. Almost unfinished. The glass on the sides is particularly uncomfortable as it cuts into the hand. It doesn't look so good outside of glossy human-free product photos, because it smudges up and gets grimy almost instantly. Do you really want to be wiping down all six surfaces of your giant glass-encased phone on a regular basis?

Interface

The interface of Sony's current-generation phones is something I'm starting to take issue with. As far as customized versions of Android go, I have always found Sony's flavor to be tasteful, though not particularly superior to stock. However, the looks of Sony's UI have not changed significantly since it was targeting ~480x840 pixel devices, with a PPI of ~250. Taking those same elements and simply increasing the image fidelity of them to suite a screen that is 1080x1920 at 441 PPI -- it doesn't work so well. You can tell these elements were designed to look good at significantly smaller size and pixel density. Mind you, I'm not saying the UI is up-sampled or pixelated. It has been refreshed to take advantage of the new monster screen, but the fact remains that it was designed for something smaller and less detailed, so looking at it on a Z, there's a strange impression that the interface has yawning chasms of blank space and an overall lack of detail.

Battery Life

Also, battery life isn't good. I'm not sure what kinds of tests people ran to achieve the quoted, "11 hours" of talk time, but I don't use my phones for talking very often. Mostly I use them for gaming, web browsing, email, and checking my calendar. With that combination of activities, I was only able to get about 4 hours out of the Xperia Z before it was demanding to be charged again. I can't imagine that working out well for anyone's schedule. I believe that device makers need to embrace the fact that users are increasingly using their phones for screen-on activities -- we need bigger batteries built in, even if it means going back to thicker phones. Nobody has been demanding extremely thin phones, but we have all been begging for more potent batteries for years.

What about the Camera?

The camera in the Xperia Z takes big 13 Megapixel photos, like most members of the upcoming generation. But unfortunately, the quality of them is only on par with the photos I have taken with my 8 Megapixel Galaxy S3, and the customized camera software is not very user-friendly or accessible. I much prefer the interface inovations that Google's stock camera on the Nexus 4 provides, over the larger size of the Xperia Z's photos.

Specs-wise, with the Z hitting benchmarks at about the same place as the much-cheaper Nexus 4 (and in light of the other issues I've listed) I continue to admire the design goals of the Xperia Z, and I applaud Sony's efforts to up the build quality of their already-attractive devices, I don't think it's a good choice for comfortable daily use.

Though I'm noticing the reviews seem to favor the Z elsewhere on the 'net, I would actually recommend the slightly cheaper ZL over the Z if you're dead-set on a new Sony Xperia phone. It has the same specs, the same great screen, no waterproof-necessary port covers to contend with, and a textured back that at least removes some of the discomfort of holding the device.

Rating

Build Quality: 6/10
Screen: 9/10
Camera: 9/10
Processor Power: 9/10
Battery: 4/10
OS / Software: 7/10

Overall: 7.3/10

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