The Japanese company has launched a new smartphone Sony Xperia Z on the mobile market, which will be a very serious competitor to the current and future flagship devices. It is the first major manufacturer to use a 5-inch 1080p screen. In our review, we will try to tell you about the features of this smartphone.
So, let's start with the appearance of the Sony Xperia Z. It comes in a compact package that contains the smartphone itself, a USB cable, headphones, network adapter, 2 GB microSD card (availability will vary by region).
The gadget is easily recognizable as a Sony device with its angular design. Glass covers the front and back of the device, blue plastic is used on the sides, and the edges are rubberized. There are several covers that make the machine waterproof (IPX57 standard) and dustproof (IP55 standard).
The choice of materials also has its downsides. So the glass is quickly covered with fingerprints and loses its brightness, but at the same time, you can always wipe it.
The build quality is excellent: it seems that no squeaks, other sounds or backlashes were found during operation. Since both sides are glass, the smartphone is reliably protected from scratches.
Xperia Z has a very standard set functional elements above the screen - a speaker, a front camera, touch sensors and a company logo. Beneath it are touch-sensitive navigation buttons, which are part of the display, and a microphone.
On the right side are located - the volume control key, the power / lock button and the microSIM card slot, which is covered with a plastic cover. Unfortunately, there are no camera controls here. On the bottom right is an external speaker.
A 3.5 mm audio jack is hidden at the top end under a plastic cover.
On the left, you can see a microUSB port and a microSD card slot under the covers, and a docking station connector under it.
The lower end of the gadget is completely devoid of functional elements.
Finally, on the back cover you can see a 13-megapixel camera, an LED flash and a second microphone that serves for noise reduction and for capturing stereo sound.
The dimensions of the device are 139x71x7.9 mm, and the weight is 146 grams.
Performance and software
Sony Xperia Z is based on the Snapdragon APQ8064 S4 Pro chipset with a 1.5 GHz quad-core Krait processor and an Adreno 320 graphics accelerator. The smartphone also has 2 GB random access memory. In general, the gadget will not disappoint in terms of performance and speed, resource-intensive games and applications just fly on it.
The device is running Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean. Built-in memory - 16 GB (there is a slot for microSD cards).
In the BenchMark Pi test, which reflects single-threaded performance, the device under test takes first place. The same results are shown in the LinPack benchmark, which focuses on multi-threaded performance.
Let's move on to the GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt (1080poffscreen) test, which will allow us to check the graphics capabilities of the device. Sony's new product did not disappoint here either, almost catching up with the Oppo Find 5.
But most games will probably run at native resolution, which is why we tested Epic Citadel, which uses Unreal Engine 3, which is hugely popular among mobile game makers. So this is a very important test. It was held at high quality settings and, surprisingly, the gadget was again in first place.
We already thought that all the tests would pass the smartphone perfectly, but the browser tests were not very successful for the Sony Xperia Z.
So in the SunSpider test, the device was at the bottom, overtaking only Nexus 4 and Oppo Find 5. But in BrowserMark 2, the gadget took second place, losing only to Optimus G, which has a similar chipset, but lower resolution. In the Vellamo HTML5 test, the device also came in second, losing only to Samsung. Galaxy Note II.
So, let's move on from the tests to the communication capabilities of the Sony Xperia Z. The gadget has Wi-Fi, GPS / A-GPS / GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.0 modules, supports FM radio, 3G and LTE networks.
There is a rich preset software: browser, mail client, programs for integration with social networks, navigation applications, audio and video players, etc.
Screen
Sony Xperia Z became the owner of a 5-inch TFT display using Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2, with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and 16 million colors.
The pixel density is 441 ppi.
You can really see the advantage over 720p displays with the naked eye, but the difference isn't that big.
The new Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 technology will also improve video and image playback performance, and work better in bright sunlight.
Below is a specialized sunlight sharpness test:
However, the screen is by no means perfect. First of all, the viewing angles are not very large. Of course, a step forward has been made compared to the Sony Xperia T, but a very small one. So in this direction, Sony needs to work more carefully in order to catch up with competitors.
We also note that the display does not have a very good contrast ratio and not very inspiring colors. Below is a test.
Camera
Sony Xperia Z is equipped with a 13.1-megapixel camera that allows you to take pictures with a maximum resolution of 4128x3096 pixels. If you use the default improved automatic mode, then get a photo with a resolution of 3920x2940 pixels.
The difference between advanced auto mode and normal mode with all auto settings is that the machine first tries to guess what scene you are trying to capture and adjusts all image parameters accordingly. This includes and color saturation, contrast, metering mode. In normal auto mode, only the exposure is set, but you can experiment with the rest of the settings.
The Sony Xperia Z offers all sorts of features including face detection, Smile Shutter, geotagging, touch capture and HDR mode.
Smartphone takes photos in improved auto mode good quality, although the colors are a bit oversaturated in our opinion. The noise level is average, the dynamic range is good, and the contrast is just excellent.
In general, we note that the results are quite good, although we did not find any noticeable advantages compared to the flagship 8-megapixel models.
Photo examples:
Xperia Z is capable of shooting video at a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels at 30 frames per second. This model also provides the ability to record video, which distinguishes it from most other smartphones.
The disappointment was that when recording video, the gadget was able to take a photo with a 1-megapixel resolution. So last year's flagships could take full-resolution frames when recording video.
This, of course, is a minor minus, since the device does the basic things very well. The video has amazing detail. The bitrate hovers around 16Mbps, which is a decent compromise between quality and file size.
Video example:
Battery
The Sony Xperia Z uses a non-removable 2330 mAh lithium-ion battery. One charge should be enough, according to the manufacturer, for 11 hours of talk time (GSM) and up to 14 hours via UMTS networks, up to 550 hours of standby time, up to 40 hours of music listening and up to 5.5 hours – in video playback mode.
With an average load of the smartphone, the battery lasted for about a day.
Price
Sony Xperia Z price on Russian market- 29,990 rubles.
We summarize the main disadvantages: low display contrast, non-removable battery, weak speaker.
Sony Xperia Z video review:
Summing up, we note: the moisture resistance of the case is a very important characteristic of the new smartphone, it favorably distinguishes it even among hi-end competitors. Another detail to thank Sony for is maintaining a stylish image. Even if the novelty had no protection, for its appearance and performance could still put a plus.
Display, built-in camera
The display is definitely another strong point smartphone. Its resolution is Full HD, or 1920x1080 pixels. Some will find it necessary to speculate how appropriate a display with such a huge resolution (the same resolution is used in modern monitors and TVs), but from the user's point of view, it brings only positive emotions.
Why? First, the pixel density is incredibly high at just over 440 dpi. Image clarity is excellent. Individual points are hardly distinguishable even under a magnifying glass. Subjectively, we are not upset by the lack of an organic matrix, the shades look natural. Contrast is improved by software technology Mobile BRAVIA Engine. Xperia Z was one of the first models to use the second generation of this technology.
The built-in camera was well done. Back-illuminated sensor, 13 megapixel resolution of an average compact camera and the same number of shooting modes as in compact cameras Sony cameras Cybershot. However, first of all, it is not this that is interesting, but the high-speed shooting mode.
Today we are testing a very desirable device for many - a smartphone Sony Xperia Z, model C6603.
The Sony Xperia Z smartphone was launched on the market at the very beginning of 2013 and then was the flagship of the Sony smartphone line, for the first time having full screen HD resolutions (1920x1080) and 4 nuclear processor. Almost a year has passed since the appearance of the mobile gadget, but it still remains one of the top representatives of the smartphone class, although during this time new products have already been released that surpass it in performance by 1.5 times, both from competitors and from Sony itself. Despite this, the Sony Xperia Z is still well able to satisfy the most demanding customers, providing them with quality, all-weather, reliability and a host of necessary communication and communication functions.
It is the protection of a mobile phone from moisture and dust for many users that is a key parameter that helps them make a choice in favor of a particular model. Sony realized this in time, providing in the new top-end device the conveniences that were previously available only with very simple software. technical level devices. Now you don't have to be afraid of rain, accidental dropping your phone into a bathtub with water and dust storms. In order to implement these protective properties in a conventional-looking smartphone case, it was necessary to provide the holes of the plugs with rubber seals and be certified according to the requirements of IP55 and IP57 standards. By these standards, the Sony Xperia Z can withstand low-pressure water jets for at least 3 minutes, or submersion in fresh water up to 1 meter deep for up to 30 minutes. Quite beneficial features, especially considering the fact that each of us at least once in our lives got soaked to the skin, falling under heavy rain. Now the owner of such a gadget is absolutely not afraid of rain. I must say that Sony has recently been constantly expanding its line of waterproof / dustproof smartphones, of which it now seems even more than unprotected.
But it's time, finally, to find out for yourself what exactly the Sony Xperia Z is, despite great amount reviews and tests already published on the Internet.
Specifications
General characteristics
- Standard: GSM 900/1800/1900, 3G, LTE,
- Band support: LTE 2600, 800, 850, 1800, 2100 MHz,
- Type: smartphone,
- Operating system: Android 4.1.2,
- Body type: classic
- Design: waterproof,
- SIM card type: micro SIM,
- Quantity: SIM cards: 1,
- Weight: 146g
- Dimensions (WxHxD): 71x139x7.9 mm.
Screen
- Screen type: color TFT, 16.78 million colors, touch,
- Touch screen type: multi-touch, capacitive (10 simultaneous clicks),
- Diagonal: 5 inch,
- Image size: 1080x1920 pixels,
- Number of pixels per inch (PPI): 441,
- Automatic screen rotation: yes
- Scratch-resistant glass: yes.
Calls
- Type of ringtones: polyphonic, MP3 ringtones,
- Vibrating alert: yes.
Multimedia features
- Camera: 13.10 megapixels, built-in flash,
- Camera Features: Auto Focus, Digital Zoom 16x,
- Recognition of faces, smiles,
- Video recording: yes
- Max. video resolution: 1920x1080,
- Geo Tagging: Yes
- Front camera: yes, 2.2 million pixels,
- Audio: MP3, AAC, FM radio,
- Headphone Jack: 3.5mm,
- Video output: MHL.
Connection
- Interfaces: USB, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0,
- USB charging: yes
- USB host: yes
- Satellite navigation: GPS/GLONASS,
- A-GPS system: yes,
- Internet access: WAP, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, email POP/SMTP, email IMAP4, HTML,
- Modem: yes
- Synchronization with a computer: yes,
- DLNA support: yes.
Memory and processor
- Processor: Qualcomm APQ8064, 1500 MHz,
- Number of processor cores: 4,
- Video processor: Adreno 320,
- Built-in memory: 16 GB,
- RAM: 2 GB,
- Memory card support: micro SD, up to 32 GB.
Messages
- Additional SMS functions: text entry with dictionary,
- MMS: yes.
Food
- Battery capacity: 2330 mAh,
- Talk time: 11h,
- Standby time: 550 h,
- Music listening time: 40 hours
Other features
- A2DP profile: yes,
- Sensors: light, proximity, gyroscope, compass.
Notebook and organizer
- Book search: yes,
- Organizer: alarm clock, calculator, task planner.
Peculiarities: waterproof (IP55 and IP57 standard), dustproof (IP5X standard); HDR technology for photo and video shooting; HDMI over MHL.
As you can see, the smartphone has everything that a sophisticated user can wish for. The Qualcomm APQ8064 processor contains four ARMv7 Krait cores running on maximum frequency 1500 MHz, which, together with the improved Adreno 320 graphics accelerator and two gigabytes of RAM, should provide excellent smartphone screen interface performance on a screen of this resolution. The permanent memory of the Sony Xperia Z is 16 GB, of which only 11.7 GB are actually available to the user. To increase volume permanent memory There is a slot for a micro SD card. It can store the user's media files, photo album and applications that can be placed on an additional card.
Packaging and equipment
In the Russian version of delivery Sony smartphone Xperia Z must have the following equipment: phone, docking station, Sony MH EX-300AP headset, charger, USB cable and quick documentation. We also received a demo sample for testing, which does not have a docking station, so to recharge it, we constantly have to open the USB port cover.
Sony Xperia Z arrived in such a black and white cardboard box with a color image on the smartphone screen. Nothing special, modest and tasteful. Obviously, the main idea of the packaging designers was to make a clear distinction between the black and white reality and the color holiday that the purchase of this smartphone will bring to life.
On the back, in the form of easy-to-remember logos and pictograms, are the most important technologies and technical details that characterize the advanced features of the product from the point of view of Sony marketers. There is an Exmor RS camera sensor, and Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 technology to improve the quality of the image on the screen, and a 5-inch Full HD screen, protected from scratches, and a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, and an operating android system and waterproof...
On one of the sides of the box is a label with the inscription that this is a demonstration sample, not for sale. The exact name of the model is C6603, the color is black. Place of production - China.
Inside the box, the smartphone is in a thick plastic case.
Under the cardboard cover inside the package is the entire kit, except for the docking station. Looks like it won't fit in this package.
USB cable Sony EC801 1 meter long - almost standard, with a microUSB connector, suitable for both Sony cameras and mobile phones from other companies. It is designed to connect a smartphone to a charger or to USB port system block, providing in this case simultaneous charging and data exchange.
The Sony MH EX-300AP high-quality mini headset is equipped with a four-pin mini-Jack 3.5 mm plug. It is specially designed for use in mobile phones and smartphones, as when an incoming call or message arrives, music playback is paused. To answer a call, you need to press the corresponding key on the mini-remote located here on the cord. When the call ends, music playback will resume.
The cable length is 120 cm, it is very soft and thin.
Neodymium magnets are used in the emitters of the mini-headset, which should improve the quality of low-frequency reproduction. Frequency response: 5 to 24,000 Hz, nominal impedance: 16 ohms at 1 kHz, sensitivity: 105 dB/mW.
The emitters are already equipped with one set of ambichurs made of soft thin rubber, two more sets of different diameters are in a separate bag.
The Sony EP880 charger operates on AC voltage of 100-240 V and produces a constant voltage of 5 V at a current of up to 1.5 A. Miniaturization of power circuit circuit solutions has reached great heights, in fact, the charger is made in the form of a plug plugged into a socket.
From the documentation in the box, there were information about radio frequency compatibility and a quick setup guide for the smartphone, both documents in English.
It seems hard to imagine quick guide on such a complex gadget as a smartphone, but Sony engineers managed to do it. The most important information is given on paper, and for a full description you will have to go to the official website. How to insert a micro SIM card, turning on, controls, navigating the screen, making calls, and most importantly, how to restart if the device fails to work normally (by simultaneously pressing the power button and volume up).
The phone, despite the fact that it is in a plastic case, is pasted over with a protective film in front and behind. The film on the back also has an informative function, it shows the procedure for installing a micro SIM card and important information that it must be recharged for at least 30 minutes before turning on the phone, since the battery is only partially charged. We received a black phone for review, but in general, varieties of white and purple colors are also on sale.
Appearance and controls
To begin with, it will be useful to list the controls of the Sony Xperia Z smartphone.
An interesting feature of the smartphone is that almost the entire body, excluding the edges, is covered with a special mineral glass that is resistant to shocks and scratches. Glass covers not only the front, but also the back and sides. The edges are made of soft black (soft-touch) plastic, they are rounded at the corners of the smartphone. Despite the seemingly large dimensions of the case and the use of glass, the weight of the smartphone is not at all large, only 145 grams. Case thickness - 7.9 mm. It is practically not felt by its weight in a jacket pocket, but it is still advisable to purchase a special case to protect it.
On the front side of the device is a large, five-inch screen, speaker, main microphone, front 2-megapixel camera lens, light sensor and notification indicator. Despite the presence of holes in the microphone and speaker, you should not be afraid of water getting into them, the manufacturer has provided a membrane structure there that does not allow water molecules to pass through.
On the back of the phone, you can see the windows of the main 13 MP camera, a backlight LED, a small hole of the second microphone, which plays an important role in filtering out ambient noise when telephone conversation(the processor subtracts the noise from the useful signal by comparing sound signal coming from two microphones). Also on this side is a square with the NFC logo, which serves to indicate the coverage area of the sensor of this data transfer technology between mobile devices. It is with the help of NFC that you can use mobile devices as payment cards, for example, when entering public transport. The required amount will simply be withdrawn from your electronic wallet. In Japan, this is already a mass phenomenon, but for now we are up to Japan, as far as the moon ... There is also a very interesting icon on the case that prohibits throwing a smartphone into a trash can. I hope that in Russia none of the buyers who can afford to purchase this electronic miracle will be able to do this.
On the right side of the smartphone, a large shiny metal button attracts attention. This is not a camera shutter release, as one might assume. This is the on/off button for the machine. Next to it is a plastic rocker for adjusting the volume of the speaker or headphones. Just above the power button is a stub for a micro SIM card. Before using the device, it must be inserted first.
At the bottom of the right side, you can see a speaker strip that produces sound in games or media applications. Even lower there is a through hole on the underside of the smartphone case for threading a strap into it.
Underside of the body. In addition to the hole for the strap, it has another pinhole, but its purpose is not known.
The left side of the smartphone. Two gold-plated contacts for the docking station are noticeable on it, the smartphone is placed on it with its left side and voltage is applied to these contacts for recharging battery. Just above the contacts is a slot cover for a micro SD memory card, the volume of which can be up to 32 GB. I do not rule out that cards of a larger volume will also work, but the manufacturer guarantees only 32. The plug of the micro USB connector is even higher, it is not signed in any way. If you have a docking station, then you will not have to open this stub to recharge the device, although you will still need to do this to transfer files between your computer and smartphone. In general, the side faces of the smartphone seem to be black, but cast blue. Due to the glass coating, fingerprints are easily removed from them, but on the soft-touch plastic in the photo there are traces of talcum powder from medical gloves that the smartphone was taken during photography.
Upper side of the smartphone case. It has only one plug that hides the headphone or headset jack. By the way, all plugs after opening remain attached to the body thanks to elastic plastic leashes. This will prevent them from being accidentally lost.
The case of the smartphone looks expensive in the truest sense of the word.
The plastic tray for micro SIM is not held by anything, it can be removed completely, and given its microscopic size, it can easily be lost. Without it, you will not be able to insert a micro SIM card, so it is better not to engage in frequent replacement of cards on the Sony Xperia Z, which was previously practiced by many on cell phones.
Having opened the slot for a memory card, we find there an installed demo micro SD card with a capacity of 2 GB. For everyday use this, of course, is a ridiculous value, but it will do for a phone test. By the way, this card did not take part in testing, as it was replaced by Transcend card 8 GB, which is also quite a bit by today's standards.
Micro USB slot. Through a special adapter, the smartphone supports MHL technology, which allows you to output an image via the Sony IM750 MHL / HDMI ™ adapter directly to a TV via an HDMI port.
Inclusion
Without waiting for the prescribed 30 minutes of charging, we turn on the smartphone, I really want to see it at work, and the charging process continues.
The first launch was the longest, the smartphone entertained us at that time with very beautiful colored plasma jets running across the screen, but now the process is completed and the user is offered a short four-step setup wizard that allows you to connect to a wireless network, as well as enter Accounts Google, Facebook and Twitter.
In the beginning, it is better to do without data transfer over a mobile communication channel, and leave only the Wi-Fi connection active, because you will have a lot of updates that will entail a lot of data traffic. Initially, the operating system was installed in the smartphone android version 4.1.2, when turned on, an update to version 4.2.2 with a volume of 272 MB was automatically found, along the way 2.4.2.
Updating the operating system will fail until the battery level reaches a certain level, so I had to wait a bit. This is done so that in case of an accidental shutdown charger the update process completed successfully, without bringing the gadget into Out of Service. After a while, when we started the update process, we got a warning that the update would take about 28 minutes, then the phone rebooted and the update process started. At that time, a funny android robot was on the screen, with a door open on its stomach, and plasma discharges sparkling inside. Under the android there was a strip showing at what stage of the operating system update the process was. Unfortunately, it was not possible to capture this moment qualitatively.
Finally, the update process was completed and the phone booted up fairly quickly. On the left side is a photo of the initial screen of a “clean” Sony Xperia Z without icons of any additional applications installed, and on the right is a part of the initial screen located to the left of the main window, where the city of Moscow first appeared in the weather data, then changed to Rostov-on- Don, where we conducted the test
Right from the home screen, you can turn on or off the desired data transfer protocol or “flight mode”, which disables all wireless interfaces of the smartphone so as not to interfere with the electronics of the airliner.
You can put shortcuts to widgets and applications on the home screen, if there is not enough space on the main desktop, you can use 4 more windows located on the sides of the main one. In these screenshots, some applications are already additionally installed that are not included in official firmware smartphone, such as tests and a TV viewer via the Internet.
In general, the interface and home screen themes of the Sony Xperia Z are very beautiful. It is felt that the company approached their development not for the so-called “tick”, but in order to please the buyer of this expensive device. As a result, for any mood or favorite color scheme you can pick something up, and if the preset backgrounds are not enough, use photos from the Internet or from a memory card for them.
As a result of our experiments, the interface acquired the following form:
And to get to the home screen, you need to make a scrolling movement up or down on the splash screen. By the way, if you notice, at the top of the desktop there is a gray horizontal bar with the inscription Google and a stylized image of a microphone. If you touch the microphone icon with your finger, voice recognition and Google search will start. It is worth noting that voice recognition is very good.
However, the purpose of this review is not to compile an illustrated encyclopedia on the Android 4.2.2 operating system, nor do we set ourselves the goal of making a practical guide to smartphone functions, however, I would still like to touch on some points of interest to the consumer, at least in the form of screenshots and a brief explanations. Who is familiar with the possibilities and Android interface, will understand, and who is just going to buy Sony Xperia Z, will easily figure it out after the purchase. The smartphone interface is as user-friendly as possible, everything is Russified and integrated with Google and Facebook as much as possible.
The Android system settings themselves are very extensive, and Sony has added something else to them in order to ensure the use of their proprietary technologies and useful features. Here are some screenshots of the settings.
The following settings are very useful for users who want to maximize the battery life of their smartphone. According to the manufacturer's recommendation, it is desirable to enable the STAMINA mode, which turns off wireless data transmission when the screen is off. As soon as the screen turns on, communication will continue immediately until the next time the screen turns off. This mode is very convenient for cases when the device is simply in standby mode in a pocket or bag. Theoretically, when you turn on the STAMINA mode, the duration of work increases exactly 2 times. It will also be useful to turn off the geolocation function and turn on the battery saver when the battery is low. In this case, the brightness of the screen that is on will decrease slightly.
In our test, a smartphone with the STAMINA option enabled quietly lasted more than a day when actively working with the menu, capturing screenshots, taking photos and briefly watching videos, and determining the location via satellites. According to statistics, the Wi-Fi connection was turned on almost all the time, even when the smartphone was not working, although in theory it should have worked only while the screen was on. Approximately 26 hours after full charge We still had 18% of the battery left.
Memory allocation between applications, including running ones.
The My Xperia application allows you to find your phone if it is lost, or remotely block or delete data on it. Using the same application, you can connect a game controller to your smartphone and configure various settings, for example, for wireless transmission content on various media devices.
Here you can also set the option to install the PC Companion software on a computer connected to a smartphone via USB port. In this case, the computer sees a portion of the device's permanent memory as boot disk with the installation package.
There are also various kinds of settings, of which the most important are security settings.
In addition to the widget (application) icons on the home screen, most of them are on the application window screen, which opens when you click on the icon that looks like a Rubik's cube. Initially, there are only three scrollable screen pages, but their number will increase as applications are installed, the page number is displayed at the top of the screen with a small circle highlighted in white.
It makes sense to briefly go over the applications to show the possibilities that the Sony Xperia Z provides.
Successful internet browser Google Chrome, Google site Play market to download verified content for Android, SMS and MMS messaging center. Due to the fact that many Internet services are collected under the auspices of Google, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Mail and other features become automatically available to a user who logs into Google under his account.
In Chrom, you can browse sites in a simplified form, designed for mobile devices, and in full. Image scaling is very smooth and without delay.
Through the Phone application, a number is dialed and a call is made to the subscriber if he is given an image, for example, taken by the camera, it will be displayed on the screen. When dialing numbers manually, the upper part displays phone numbers, containing the dialed set of digits. If the Skype communication application is installed, you will be asked whether to use the phone connection or Skype for the call.
We even managed to successfully import a phone contacts file saved to disk from an old Sony Ericsson K790i phone into the smartphone. That's what brand continuity means.
Sony would not be a Sony company if it did not pay much attention to the organization of listening to music in its device. To do this, the smartphone has a special application under the patented brand name WALKMAN. There are several preset music tracks, and the player program itself has a visualizer that allows you to display relaxing moving patterns on the screen, conveniently manage playlists, search for music on the Internet and over the network, and adjust the frequency range using a graphic equalizer. It also contains many advanced settings sound that really transforms the listening sound signal. Even the sound of various rooms, such as a studio, a club and a concert hall, is incorporated.
Applications Album, Movies, Sony Select. The first one displays and organizes all the image files in the smartphone's memory, the second allows you to view movies and play them on external devices through wireless connection. This applies not only to video, but also to music. Sony Select has selected recommended applications for gadgets manufactured by Sony.
The possibilities for setting the parameters of photo and video shooting are impressive and are almost in no way inferior to the capabilities of Sony compact digital cameras, only you cannot change the recording format of video files and its bitrate. Video from the camera is always written to the MP4 container, and in low resolution for MMS - to the 3GP format.
It will be easy for a person representing the process of setting camera parameters to understand, and for a beginner in photography there is a so-called "intelligent" mode.
You can apply exposure compensation, change flash modes, although it can be called a flash with great difficulty. It's actually a backlight LED.
Not only the resolution of the photo, but also the video is regulated, you can also use the HDR mode and various presets (scenes).
There are 9 different processing effects for photos. The benefits of them are doubtful, but suddenly someone will be suitable for experiments. The HDR mode does not give any drastic change in the picture, but it becomes a little juicier.
YouTube account becomes available after signing in with Google password, and here in social network Facebook needs to be logged in separately.
E-mail, calendar organizer, notes and contacts (phone book).
Alarm clock and clock, a very convenient implementation of these functions, including a stopwatch. The alarm clock has a lot of settings.
The Maps app essentially overlaps with several other apps such as Navigation and Cars. You can view a map, you can view the area in the form of satellite images, you can plot a route. Information about public transport routes and traffic jams is available. The approximate time of movement from one point to another is calculated, depending on the chosen method of movement - by car, by public transport or on foot. If you don't have unlimited mobile traffic Internet, satellite photos are best viewed via Wi-Fi. This will help you avoid spending a lot of money.
The FM radio application works only when a headset or headphones are connected, in this case they are used as an antenna. A search for radio stations is available, and their selection in the future is carried out by scrolling horizontally across the screen. There is support for the radio bands of several countries and the RDS information transmission system. The screen renderer can also be turned on, just like in the WALKMAN app. The sensitivity of the radio receiver cannot be called high, for many cell phones things are better with this.
The Tools widget includes a calculator, a copy and restore application, a product barcode reader application, and an Internet download viewer.
The Movie Studio application allows you to combine several video files into one, overlay music on it, and export the file. In general, this is the simplest video editor.
The TrackID application is designed to identify the artist playing on the radio or outside the smartphone. 100% identification of compositions is not guaranteed, the program simply does not recognize rare tracks, but you can try. The Smart Connect app allows you to connect to your smartphone wireless headphones or a headset, as well as a charger.
The Car application combines applications that make life easier for the smartphone owner when driving a car. These are Maps, Phone, WALKMAN, FM radio. The application interface in this mode is somewhat different from normal use, displaying large light numbers on a dark background. When driving, the Navigator announces commands in a female voice, similar to this function in specialized navigators for a car. In addition to traffic jams, information is also available on catering establishments, hotels... The Google Earth application is not yet available for mobile devices in Russia.
You can connect other mobile devices to your smartphone using Bluetooth or NFC.
Setting Google account, access to Google+, such as your personal photo album on Panoramio.com.
Applications News & Weather, Play Movies and Play Books. The last two are subsections of the Play Market, focused specifically on these categories of content.
File Commander, Adobe Reader and the powerful EVERNOTE app, which even allows you to recognize text from a photo taken with your phone's camera and convert it into editable text. EVERNOTE has a lot of possibilities, there is also synchronization with a computer, for which you need to download the Windows version of EVERNOTE from the link that will be sent to your email address.
Play Now Store - application for downloading and purchasing games, MacAfee Security - antivirus with monthly trial period. Until you activate it, it will not work, but after activation it wants you to purchase it (about 1400 rubles for 1 year). A separate application is support for the Sony product. Here you can get documentation, visit the forum and the company store. Opera Mini is a popular internet browser.
The Sony Xperia Z smartphone has a convenient OfficeSuite 7 office suite that allows you to work with all the main file formats commonly used in offices and when sending business emails. The Update Center application informs you in time when updates are available on the Sony website. Xperia app Link allows you to quickly connect a smartphone and a tablet computer, as well as distribute mobile Internet to a tablet or desktop computer.
It should be mentioned that when any connector is disconnected from the smartphone, a warning message is displayed on the screen about the need to close the caps on the case in order to maintain water resistance. This warning can be disabled. The Skitch app allows you to draw on PDF documents, and use Xperia Lounge to receive media content.
When you click on the weather bar on the main screen, quite detailed information is displayed, although the information provider is foreign and it is not known how accurately he can predict the weather in Russia. In our case, the forecast for rain was confirmed and even more than.
Testing and general impressions of the work
Immediately, what catches your eye when you turn on the Sony Xperia Z smartphone is the complete absence of slowdown in the on-screen menu and interface. Smooth scrolling of the windows of the main screen and the application screen, instant launch of widgets. To be honest, you can’t even dream of such a thing even on many laptops and stationary computers. Installing downloaded applications is also lightning fast.
The screen quality is very good, but still not perfect, because according to our information, the Xperia Z version distributed in Japan has a brighter screen. The screen of our test sample fades a little when the viewing angle is changed, and in bright daylight it looks dark, although the information on it is readable.
We could not get past the water resistance testing. The smartphone was immersed in a bowl filled with water, and then under running water, under a tap. The smartphone even played music while under the jet. But it's impossible to use the touch screen underwater, and the jet of water caused false positives, leading to the spontaneous opening of application windows. Nevertheless, water tests were successful - the smartphone proved its resistance to the aquatic environment.
A multifunctional indicator is a very useful thing in the operation of a smartphone, which, unfortunately, many manufacturers forget about in their models. If there are no events requiring the attention of the owner of the smartphone, the indicator does not glow. During charging, the indicator glows red when the battery has a low charge level, orange when the battery is about half charged or more, glows green when the battery is charged above 90%. When there is a missed phone call, the indicator blinks white occasionally and flashes blue if there is a missed message, for example in the Skype application.
Listening to the standard micro-headset showed its good sound, although there was a slight lack of low frequencies, which can be compensated for by a graphic equalizer. Testing of software sound simulations in the studio, club and concert hall showed that the best sound is obtained in the studio. In a club, a kind of deaf "bum" is added to the sound, and in a concert hall - an echo, which is completely absent in good concert halls. Turning on the Clear Stereo mode slightly improves the separation of stereo channels, while ClearAudio + gives the sound more detail and clarity. As mentioned earlier, the smartphone's radio does not shine with high sensitivity and is inferior in these parameters to mobile phones.
The smartphone speaker does not sound very loud, so phone call, if the device is not in your pocket, but there is noise in the room, it is quite possible to miss it. At the same time, a light indicator helps out, on which you can immediately see that someone called. During a telephone conversation, the speech of the interlocutor is transmitted qualitatively, with the presence of low frequencies, in fact, all the features of speech are clearly audible. Music playback through the built-in speaker showed a lack of bass, but the mids and highs are clear.
Unfortunately, initially the smartphone does not support many video file formats, for example, MKV containers with the H.264 codec and AVI with the DivX codec, it refused to read in the Movies application and from File Commander. The problem with viewing was solved by installing a third-party free application MX Player, but even after that, the smartphone completely refused to play such files via wireless wifi connection on the WD TV Live media player.
When copying video files that are not standard for a smartphone from a computer, it is proposed to do a format conversion (recommended by the program), or simply copy them without modification. If you select the conversion option, the mfpmp.exe process starts on the computer, which heavily loads the processor (the i7-2600K processor was loaded at 75-80% during the test), and the conversion time for a 1920x1080 TS file with a resolution of 1 GB and a length of 27 minutes was approximately 14 minutes 30 seconds. The file was eventually converted to MP4 format with a resolution of 1280x720 and a size of 230 MB. It was simply impossible to watch it because of the terrible pixelation with squares, although this problem is not a smartphone, but a conversion software. A simple copy of this 1 GB file without loss of video quality took only 1 minute 45 seconds, that is, with a speed of about 9.5 MB / s, but when watching the video, the image got a low frame rate, perhaps the video processor could not cope with the data stream. The picture has not changed even when changing the hardware decoder to the software one, only the brakes from the video have increased. The audio track played normally only with software decoding. I do not exclude that these flaws were due to a specific video and codecs, but the fact took place. Non-Full HD files played fine, with no stuttering.
Copying data between a smartphone and a computer via USB is only one stream through software driver, the copy speed is not reflected in Windows Explorer. If you press the power button on your smartphone while copying files, the copying process ends immediately, the files will not be copied.
The 2-megapixel front camera gives good quality for video calls, but the main camera caused ambivalent feelings. On the one hand, realistic color reproduction, on the other hand, strong noise in low light and plasticity of the picture in bright daylight. Although even when shooting in bright sunlight, noise is visible in dark details, even at the lowest ISO of 40. With a lack of light and not very high ISO, noise is more visible at the edges, in the form of red-green areas. It is quite possible that this is due to vignetting of the image on the matrix and software amplification signal in these areas.
Here are examples of shots taken in daylight. It can be seen how the amount of noise in the image increases with increasing sensitivity:
12 MP, 40 ISO
12 MP, 40 ISO
12 MP, 40 ISO
12 MP, 40 ISO with HDR enabled
9 MP, 40 ISO with HDR enabled
5 MP, 40 ISO with HDR enabled
2 MP, 40 ISO with HDR enabled
VGA resolution, 40 ISO with HDR enabled
With backlight (the rays of the sun hit the lens), the image fades and loses contrast.
12 MP, 40 ISO
Image processing effects available when taking a photo:
2500 ISO
The smartphone stitches the panoramas quite well, but only in one resolution, and fills the uneven horizontal movement from above and below with a dark gray fill.
Sample shots of 2 megapixel front camera:
In VGA resolution, the quality is quite good, the camera is definitely suitable for video communication.
The smartphone shoots video quite well, especially in Full HD quality, although the presence of a digital zoom (scaling) cannot be considered justified. The image quality when using it does not lend itself to any criticism, so it’s better to forget about the existence of zoom altogether. The quality of the image stabilizer cannot be called good either, it even seems that it works on the front camera, but not on the main one.
An example of a video taken with the main camera, at a resolution of 1920x1080:
An example of a video taken with the main camera at 1280x720:
An example of a video taken with the main camera at 640x480:
An example of a video taken with the front camera for MMS:
The Wi-Fi connection works properly and stably, the smartphone connected to the D-Link access point at a speed of 78 Mbps. GPS positioning is quite accurate due to the simultaneous use of two GPS and GLONASS standards, but for this you need to be in an open area. The battery when determining the location sits down much faster than when watching a video. Installed application Skype made it possible to conduct high-quality video calls, though it was used for this wifi network and fixed internet. Also, an application for watching TV via the Internet was successfully tested on a smartphone.
Several games have been installed and tested, such as Asphalt 8 and gta vice city. The quality of the graphics on the screen is very good and the movements are very smooth. True, when viewing the screenshots in detail, it turned out that the quality of mobile graphics is still very far from stationary, computer, but when viewed on a small smartphone screen, this is not noticeable.
Test results in 3DMark13, AnTuTu Benchmark (together with stability test). After testing for stability, the upper part of the smartphone warmed up decently, but it was easy to hold it in your hands.
The AnTuTu 3DRating Benchmark on the Sony Xperia Z only worked with OpenGL ES2.0 (the graphics chip does not support ES3.0) and gave 4119 points.
The NenaMark 2.4 test produced 60 frames per second.
The CPU-Z utility gave us all the information on the type of smartphone processor and some additional information, such as battery status, memory size, screen resolution.
The VELLAMO test gave 2173 points in HTML test 5, 576 points in the METAL test and 1551 points in video playback. MultiTouchTester has registered the ability of the touch screen to process 10 simultaneous touches. More is not needed, a person usually has only ten fingers on both hands.
The consumption of battery power by a smartphone, which, by the way, is not very capacious in its face value, should be recognized as not very large and corresponding to the level of other smartphones with a “stuffing” of similar power, turning on the STAMINA mode and disable wifi allow you to dramatically increase the smartphone's standby time with a rare inclusion of the display. The smartphone is definitely enough for a day of quite active use, and if you use it only for telephone communication, then for three or four days.
When playing video with speaker sound at volume level 11, the smartphone battery lasted 5 hours
After activating the MacAfee Security antivirus, I began to get annoyed by the periodic screen lock with the requirement to enter the PIN code created during activation. Thankfully we kept it. After running synthetic tests or locking the screen, for some reason the SIM card was disconnected with the corresponding disappearance mobile communications, it is not clear whether this is a software glitch or how the developers intended it.
Outcome
Having briefly tested the Sony Xperia Z smartphone in work, we can say that Sony turned out to be successful. Despite the small negative points listed below, positive sides clearly outweigh. The quad-core Qualcomm APQ8064 processor and the Adreno 320 graphics accelerator were not the most productive solutions even at the time the Xperia Z appeared on the market, but they still satisfy the requirements of most games and applications for the Android operating system today. Water resistance, processor performance, a large high-quality screen and the workmanship of a smartphone clearly indicate that it is recommended for purchase by those users who need to have all the functions for business communication and entertainment in one device. But in the mode of active use of the smartphone, you need to take care of charging it at least once a day.
Positive sides:
- high-quality screen 5 "of Full HD resolution;
- productive hardware;
- excellent workmanship;
- the presence of a colored multifunctional indicator on the case;
- good photo and video quality in daylight;
- wide integration with Google services, in connection with which many sites become available from one account;
- body protected from dust and water;
- the presence of the power saving mode Stamina, prolonging the operation of the smartphone;
- Sony's sophisticated update system and extensive warranty support network;
- excellent sound quality in a micro-headset, especially when using Sony's proprietary ClearAudio + technology;
- advanced security and search system in case of theft or loss.
Flaws:
- poor image display in the sun;
- lack of support for some video formats by default, poor performance when playing videos in Full HD resolution;
- when working, especially in the horizontal mode of the screen, or in the usual position when scrolling radio stations, the side speaker is often accidentally closed with a finger;
- there is no separate button for taking pictures;
- poor photo quality in low light;
- support for only one SIM card.
Smartphone Sony Xperia Z - overview
In general, I almost never used smartphones from Sony as my main phone. But played with them, yes. They made a good impression, but I usually liked them less than the then flagships. True, Sony was one of the first (if not the very first) to start producing really waterproof devices like the Sony Xperia acro S, which I used for a while, but I don’t have to shower or bathe with my phone so often, so this property of these smartphones is for me was not fundamental. However, the new Sony Xperia Z, which began to move at about the same time with the rest of the flagships of the smartphone fraternity in samsung Galaxy S 4 (review is coming, I'm studying) and HTC One(the review is coming, but the phone itself has not arrived yet), I was very interested when I looked at its parameters. Large display, but not Super AMOLED (which is valuable to me), good performance, while again - real moisture protection (maybe I should start reading books with it in the bathroom right?). In general, I definitely wanted to study this model, and here, as usual, friends from the Yulmart online store supported my craving for knowledge ", who brought this apparatus for scientific preparation, for which many thanks to them. That's it, no more fiction, let's move on to field tests. The flagship from Sony is the Sony Xperia Z smartphone.
Sony Xperia Z
Display: 5", 1920×1080, 16 million colors, 443 PPI, tempered glass, waterproof
CPU: 1.5GHz Qualcomm APQ8064+MDM9215M Quad Core
RAM: 2 GB
Flash memory: 16 GB
Memory card: microSD up to 64 GB
Net: UMTS HSPA+ 850 (Band V), 900 (Band VIII), 2100 (Band I) MHz
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz, LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20)
Wireless connection: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, BT 4.0
Camera: 13.1 megapixels, video - 1080p, autofocus, flash
Front-camera: 2.2 MP
Ports: microUSB, 3.5 mm headphone output
GPS: A-GPS, GLONASS
SIM card: micro SIM
Battery: 2400 mAh
Dimensions: 139×71×7.9mm
The weight: 146 g
Moscow prices: from 18 to 28 thousand rubles As I said, the characteristics are very attractive. Large five-inch display (Galaxy S4 - 4.99", HTC One - 4.7"), 16 GB of internal memory and expandable memory card up to 64 GB (which can be obtained under 80 GB of storage), support for mobile LTE standard (including Russian), an interesting camera, a fairly capacious battery. And you can already buy it in Moscow in many stores for 18 thousand (although the upper ceiling is still kept at 28 thousand). However, let's not immediately be tempted, let's see how it all works. Contents of delivery Comes in a traditional white box.
Package contents: smartphone, USB cable, power adapter, cradle, in-ear headphones with nozzles, brochures. 
By the way, the phone is available in three colors: black, white and purple (which I got). At the same time, the cradle included in the kit (by the way, it is not included in the kit in all countries) is painted in the color of the device. Sony has remained true to its traditional smartphone style: the corners of the phone are almost not rounded, it is a strict parallelepiped. The build quality is excellent: the materials are very high quality, all the elements fit together without the slightest backlash and gaps. 
The left-right frame around the display is small, and if it is smaller, it will become inconvenient to control the display. The phone is, of course, a "shovel" in size - still 5 inches, but this size does not cause discomfort for me, unlike, for example, Samsung Galaxy Note II (5.55"), which I refused precisely because of 5" seems to be the best option, at least for me. The ends are slightly raised above the display and form almost imperceptible sides, which is felt by the fingers. This is done to protect the display in case of a fall. Some of the users are annoyed by this decision, but I, on the contrary, like it when the finger touches the side, so the borders of the display are felt more clearly. The back cover of the smartphone is covered with a uniform glossy plastic to match the color of the end finish.
The phone is really protected from water (standards IP55 and IP57) and from dust (standard IP5X). You can really take a shower with it and even immerse it in water: I checked that after immersion in water, the speaker creaks slightly at first, but this soon disappears after the water layer dries. And, of course, before the phone can get into the water, you need to carefully close all the plugs. Let's run through the ends. Left side: microUSB port with a cover, microSD card slot with a cover, charging contacts for the cradle. (By the way, the Xperia arco S did almost the same thing.) The top end is a headphone/headset output with a plug. 
Right side: microSIM slot with a cover, original power button, volume control, speaker output and an eyelet for a hand loop. By the way, when the phone is held horizontally by hands (for example, when shooting), the speaker can be easily closed with a finger and then the sound will hardly be heard. I really liked the location of the power button: it is conveniently pressed with the index finger. There is nothing on the lower end, except for the other side of the eyelet for the loop. 
The kit here, as I already wrote, includes a charging cradle, which is also convenient to use as a stand for, for example, watching movies. Also, the smartphone can track the mode of being in the cradle and at the same time can automatically start, for example, the operation of a photo frame or a clock display. 
Phone in the cradle - side view. 
Phone in the cradle - front view. 
Well, let's compare this model with the Samsung Galaxy S III (left) and Galaxy S 4 (right). 
Display
What type of matrix is installed in the display is not known for certain, as far as I understand. In Sony, it is modestly called a TFT-matrix. The opinions of the experts were divided. Some claim that *VA-matrix is used here, judging by the classic drop in quality for such a matrix when viewing angles change. Others argue that IPS is still here, while giving a strange argument that *VA also changes colors when viewing angles change, but this does not happen here. For some reason, they are silent about the fact that IPS-matrices almost do not change the quality when changing viewing angles. were not a fountain and they even managed to put such a display on their flagship, which, compared to Super AMOLED, does not even lie next to it. The colors, they say, are faded, there is no brightness, and the viewing angles are to hang yourself and not get out. And here's what I'll tell you about this, children, as well as their parents. I do not understand the reasons for such screams about the "terrible" quality of the display of this phone. Apparently, I, as a person exhausted by Super AMOLED narzan, am very calm about slightly muted, and not "acidic" like Super AMOLED colors. The brightness margin of Xperia Z, in my opinion, is quite normal. I would not say that the brightness is not enough here. Yes, the viewing angles are rather weak, there is such a moment: when the phone is tilted vertically, the colors become slightly whitish. But with a horizontal deviation, this effect is almost not noticeable. Well, a slight deterioration in quality here is not at all total, as with some Chinese tablets, and I generally noticed only after reading the relevant reviews. And for a couple of weeks of testing, I didn’t pay attention to this effect. But in terms of behavior in the sun, this display freely does Super AMOLED, which, as you know, goes into complete trash in the sun. On the same phone, at least something is still visible in the sun - about the same as on the iPhone. So, in my opinion, this display is even better than Super AMOLED - in aggregate. Now I don’t need this Super AMOLED for nothing with its solar problems. In Moscow, of course, it does not play such a role, but in sunny Spain it still plays. In full growth. And one more thing. Whatever one may say, in some applications this display quite objectively looks better than, for example, the Galaxy S 4 display. Look at the same windows of the same browser - even the photo shows the difference (the shadows on the display are me reflected on the glass ). At the same time, both phones have the brightness set to full without auto-adjustment. (Clickable.)
Second desktop.
Third desktop.
The list of applications is placed on three desktops that scroll horizontally. Here are all of them.
This is what the folders look like here.
Standard notification area. Only five icons go from above: sound (turn off, vibro, turn on), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, mobile data, call settings. For comparison, Samsung Galaxy S 4 has 20 of them. However, happiness is not in quantity, of course.
When you call up the list of recently launched tasks, a panel of so-called mini-applications appears at the bottom. These are utilities that pop up on top of the running application, and when you dismiss the mini-application, you return to the current one - this is convenient.
Here, for example, is a calculator on top of a browser.
Here is the timer.
There are only four mini-applications in the default list: calculator, timer, notes and voice recorder. (By the way, for some reason there is no voice recorder as a separate application.) New mini-applications can be installed from the Play Store.
Here is a list of mini-applications from the market.
The lock screen here without any frills. With the help of special icons, you can immediately call the music player or camera.
If music is playing in the player, the playback control widget is displayed on the lock screen.
A similar widget, by the way, appears in the notification area during playback.
Missed SMS and calls on the lock screen are not displayed here. It's a pity. When a smartphone is inserted into the cradle for charging, the Smart Connect application automatically appears, in which you can set actions for finding a smartphone in the cradle, connecting a headset, and so on in a wide range, including time ranges. It is very comfortable. For example, for a smartphone in a cradle during the day, you can set the photo frame mode, and at night - the clock mode with an alarm clock.
You can also choose the option of an extended full keyboard, where additional characters and numbers will be on the regular keys, available with a long press.
Optionally, on the keyboard, you can add a button with a dot and a comma, add an emoticons button and make it so that when the language switch key is pressed, a voice call is called Google service- for recognition. In general, a very nice keyboard, I didn’t change it to my usual one. Messages When writing messages, you can attach an image, take a photo with your camera and attach it, take handwritten notes, and publish your location as coordinates and a piece of a map. (It is understood that multimedia messages will be sent as MMS.)
Conveniently sorts and selects music.
It is possible to edit which objects to display in the player.
In the settings, you can turn on the ClearAudio + option - it really noticeably improves the sound quality. You can also customize the equalizer for yourself.
Through the Throw function, you can play multimedia from your smartphone on various wireless devices (such as speakers).
Start the device pairing function.
When listening, you can turn on a variety of visualizers.
Ability to make slideshows various formats, including music. Movies Video player, TV streaming and media playback from LAN devices.
The player is not universal at all - it does not understand many formats.
There is a multiple selection of contacts - for example, to send the same message to all of them. Subscriber call.
During a call, you can keep the subscriber on the line, call other subscribers, turn off the speaker and microphone. If you run the voice recorder mini-application, you can record the conversation: however, the caller will be heard quite badly.
The list of various cities also shows the weather.
Called navigator.
In the phone application, you can set icons for specific contacts.
You can also add radio, TrackID, and more to media.
Connected Google Reader.
The phone has interesting settings. Noise cancellation works well - really improves the voice when talking on the street or in a noisy room.
There are also interesting options like increasing the volume level.
Proprietary technology Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 seems to promise to improve the quality of photos and videos. But in practice, her work is somewhat ambiguous: at least good photos And it does not improve the video, but slightly distorts it. But the bad ones - yes, it improves.
Special Xperia settings.
Here is a comparison chart.
I ran the same test on my Samsung Galaxy S 4. It turned out 26,377. But I would not say that the Galaxy S 4 is faster in my feelings. Both are very nimble. Sound As for the sound, it makes sense to talk separately. Here, the playback quality is excellent, and, which is also pleasing, the headphones included in the kit demonstrate the same quality - they sound very cool. The volume of the smartphone itself is enough for comfortable listening to music on the plane. Camera The camera is of good quality and very comfortable. The photo and video buttons are on the screen at the same time, no need to switch anything.
The settings are varied and easy to call.
Shooting modes are configured, as in a good camera.
I liked the way this camera shoots. It starts up quickly, is flexibly configured, in the intelligent machine mode it clearly defines the mode (scenes) and sets it itself. With autofocus, it sometimes misses, but not so often. In general, in the pocket "soap box" mode, this is exactly what you need. The camera also has a high-speed shooting mode, when you can take as many frames as you like - at least a thousand, a card would be enough. Now let's see examples of photos. They were not processed at all, only reduced for publication. All photos are clickable. Relatively cloudy day. 
A couple of panoramas. 
Sunny day. 
Apartment during the day. 
The video shoots in FullHD, the quality, in my opinion, is quite sufficient for a home version. There, in the options, there is the possibility of shooting video in HDR mode (I still don’t understand how this is done purely technically at all), but this mode doesn’t really do anything affects - below the first video was shot with HDR, the second without it.
Communication with a computer Used to synchronize with a computer. Sony program PC companion. In it, you can update the software, download all sorts of multimedia, backup and restore data (including contacts).
And these modes, I must tell you, save the battery very well. At least until the end of a full day, the phone survives quite normally, unlike the Galaxy S 4, which demonstrates this only after careful tuning. Also, the Xperia Z normally spent several days on the table in standby mode and its battery did not go to zero at all .Now about natural tests. The display was set to a brightness level of 70% without auto-tuning, the power savers were turned off. Internet. In the browser, the page is reloaded every minute, Wi-Fi, of course, is turned on. 6 hours 25 minutes. Reading. Automatic paging of the book in the reader, wireless networks are turned off. 8 hours 50 minutes. Video. Movie playback, wireless networks off. 6 hours 15 minutes. Video over the web. Playing a video on Youtube with Wi-Fi turned on. 5 hours 55 minutes. The game. Graphics heavy game, wireless networks off. 2 hours 25 minutes. Well, in general, the indicators are quite normal. But in this case, it was important for me how exactly the smartphone will show itself during normal use. He showed himself well: even better than I expected. Observations and Conclusions I did not even expect, but I really liked this smartphone. And noticeably more than the Samsung Galaxy S 4. I wore it as a second phone for a couple of weeks (but at the same time I seriously tested it), now I made it the main one. Over the past time of testing, no “jambs” have come out here (unlike, by the way, the Galaxy S 4, which looks damp, and it’s better not to talk about wild camera glitches at all). The device did not freeze, did not reboot, plowed, in short, like a clock. Well, that is, like a smartphone. Even under heavy load, the upper part of the phone did not heat up very much (again, unlike ...). As I already wrote, I have no particular complaints about the display - on the contrary, I like it more than Super AMOLED. Well, if you consider that this device can already be bought in Moscow for 18-20 thousand rubles - in my opinion, there is nothing to think about. For 30 thousand - here it was necessary to think long and painfully, and 20 it costs absolutely unambiguously!
Information about the make, model, and alternative names of a particular device, if any.
Design
Information about the dimensions and weight of the device, presented in different units of measurement. Used materials, suggested colors, certificates.
| Width Width information refers to the horizontal side of the device in its standard orientation during use. | 71 mm (millimeters) 7.1 cm (centimeters) 0.23 ft 2.8in |
| Height Height information refers to the vertical side of the device in its standard orientation during use. | 139 mm (millimeters) 13.9 cm (centimeters) 0.46 ft 5.47in |
| Thickness Information about the thickness of the device in different units of measurement. | 7.9 mm (millimeters) 0.79 cm (centimeters) 0.03 ft 0.31in |
| The weight Information about the weight of the device in different units of measurement. | 146 g (grams) 0.32 lbs 5.15oz |
| Volume Approximate volume of the device, calculated from dimensions provided by the manufacturer. Refers to devices with the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped. | 77.97 cm³ (cubic centimeters) 4.73 in³ (cubic inches) |
| Colors Information about the colors in which this device is offered for sale. | The black White Purple |
| Housing materials The materials used to make the body of the device. | Glass |
| Certification Information about the standards to which this device is certified. | IP55 IP57 |
SIM card
The SIM card is used in mobile devices to store data that certifies the authenticity of mobile service subscribers.
Mobile networks
A mobile network is a radio system that allows multiple mobile devices to communicate with each other.
| GSM GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) is designed to replace the analogue mobile network (1G). For this reason, GSM is often referred to as a 2G mobile network. It is enhanced by the addition of GPRS (General Packet Radio Services) and later EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) technologies. | GSM 850 MHz GSM 900 MHz GSM 1800 MHz GSM 1900 MHz |
| UMTS UMTS is short for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System. It is based on the GSM standard and belongs to 3G mobile networks. Developed by 3GPP and its biggest advantage is to provide more speed and spectral efficiency with W-CDMA technology. | UMTS 850 MHz UMTS 900 MHz UMTS 1700/2100 MHz UMTS 1900 MHz UMTS 2100 MHz |
| LTE LTE (Long Term Evolution) is defined as a technology fourth generation(4G). It is developed by 3GPP based on GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA to increase the capacity and speed of wireless mobile networks. The subsequent development of technologies is called LTE Advanced. | LTE 800 MHz LTE 850 MHz LTE 900 MHz LTE 1800 MHz LTE 2100 MHz LTE 2600 MHz |
Mobile technologies and data rates
Communication between devices in mobile networks is carried out through technologies that provide different data transfer rates.
Operating system
The operating system is the system software that manages and coordinates the operation of the hardware components in the device.
SoC (System on a Chip)
System on a chip (SoC) includes all the most important hardware components of a mobile device in one chip.
| SoC (System on a Chip) System on a chip (SoC) integrates various hardware components such as processor, graphics processor, memory, peripherals, interfaces, etc., as well as the software necessary for their operation. | Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 |
| Technological process Information about the technological process by which the chip is made. The value in nanometers measures half the distance between the elements in the processor. | 28 nm (nanometers) |
| Processor (CPU) The main function of the processor (CPU) of a mobile device is the interpretation and execution of instructions contained in software applications. | Krait |
| Processor bit depth The bit depth (bits) of a processor is determined by the size (in bits) of registers, address buses, and data buses. 64-bit processors have higher performance than 32-bit processors, which, in turn, are more productive than 16-bit processors. | 32 bit |
| Instruction Set Architecture Instructions are commands by which the software sets/controls the operation of the processor. Information about the instruction set (ISA) that the processor can execute. | ARMv7 |
| Level 0 Cache (L0) Some processors have an L0 (level 0) cache that is faster to access than L1, L2, L3, etc. The advantage of having such a memory is not only higher performance, but also reduced power consumption. | 4 kB + 4 kB (kilobytes) |
| First level cache (L1) Cache memory is used by the processor to reduce access time to more frequently accessed data and instructions. L1 (level 1) cache is small and much faster than system memory, and other cache levels. If the processor does not find the requested data in L1, it continues to look for them in the L2 cache. With some processors, this search is performed simultaneously in L1 and L2. | 16 kB + 16 kB (kilobytes) |
| Second level cache (L2) L2 (level 2) cache is slower than L1, but in return it has a larger capacity, allowing more data to be cached. It, like L1, is much faster than system memory (RAM). If the processor does not find the requested data in L2, it continues to look for it in the L3 cache (if available) or RAM. | 2048 KB (kilobytes) 2 MB (megabytes) |
| Number of processor cores The processor core executes program instructions. There are processors with one, two or more cores. Having more cores increases performance by allowing many instructions to be executed in parallel. | 4 |
| Processor clock speed The clock speed of a processor describes its speed in terms of cycles per second. It is measured in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz). | 1500 MHz (megahertz) |
| Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) The graphics processing unit (GPU) handles calculations for various 2D/3D graphics applications. AT mobile devices it is used most often by games, consumer interface, video applications, etc. | Qualcomm Adreno 320 |
| Number of GPU cores Like the CPU, the GPU is made up of several working parts called cores. They handle the graphical calculations of different applications. | 4 |
| GPU clock speed Speed is the clock speed of the GPU and is measured in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz). | 400 MHz (megahertz) |
| The amount of random access memory (RAM) Random access memory (RAM) used operating system and all installed applications. Data stored in RAM is lost when the device is turned off or restarted. | 2 GB (gigabytes) |
| Type of random access memory (RAM) Information about the type of random access memory (RAM) used by the device. | LPDDR2 |
| Number of RAM channels Information about the number of RAM channels that are integrated into the SoC. More channels means more high speeds data transmission. | dual channel |
| RAM frequency The frequency of RAM determines its speed, more specifically, the speed of reading / writing data. | 533 MHz (megahertz) |
| Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 + MDM9215M |
Built-in memory
Each mobile device has a built-in (non-removable) memory with a fixed amount.
Memory cards
Memory cards are used in mobile devices to increase the storage capacity for storing data.
Screen
The screen of a mobile device is characterized by its technology, resolution, pixel density, diagonal length, color depth, etc.
| Type/technology One of the main characteristics of the screen is the technology by which it is made and on which the image quality of information directly depends. | TFT |
| Diagonal For mobile devices, the screen size is expressed in terms of its diagonal length, measured in inches. | 5 in 127 mm (millimeters) 12.7 cm (centimeters) |
| Width Approximate Screen Width | 2.45in 62.26 mm (millimeters) 6.23 cm (centimeters) |
| Height Approximate Screen Height | 4.36in 110.69 mm (millimeters) 11.07 cm (centimeters) |
| Aspect Ratio The ratio of the dimensions of the long side of the screen to its short side | 1.778:1 16:9 |
| Permission Screen resolution indicates the number of pixels vertically and horizontally on the screen. More a high resolution means sharper image detail. | 1080 x 1920 pixels |
| Pixel Density Information about the number of pixels per centimeter or inch of the screen. Higher density allows information to be shown on the screen in clearer detail. | 441ppi (pixels per inch) 173ppm (pixels per centimeter) |
| Color depth Screen color depth reflects the total number of bits used for the color components in a single pixel. Information about the maximum number of colors the screen can display. | 24 bit 16777216 flowers |
| Screen area Approximate percentage of screen space on the front of the device. | 70.06% (percentage) |
| Other characteristics Information about other functions and features of the screen. | capacitive Multitouch Scratch resistance |
| Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 Reality display dragon trail glass Shatter-proof sheet on scratch-resistant glass |
Sensors
Different sensors perform different quantitative measurements and convert physical indicators into signals that are recognized by the mobile device.
Main camera
The main camera of a mobile device is usually located on the back of the case and is used for taking photos and videos.
| Sensor Model Information about the manufacturer and model of the photo sensor used in the device's camera. | Sony IMX135 Exmor RS |
| Sensor type Digital cameras use photo sensors to take pictures. The sensor, as well as the optics, is one of the main factors in the quality of a camera in a mobile device. | CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) |
| Sensor size Information about the size of the photosensor used in the device. Typically, cameras with a larger sensor and lower pixel density offer better image quality despite lower resolution. | 4.69 x 3.52 mm (millimeters) 0.23in |
| Pixel size The smaller pixel size of the photosensor allows more pixels to be used per unit area, thus increasing resolution. On the other hand, a smaller pixel size can have a negative impact on image quality at high light sensitivity (ISO) levels. | 1.136 µm (micrometers) 0.001136 mm (millimeters) |
| crop factor The crop factor is the ratio between the size of a full-frame sensor (36 x 24mm, equivalent to a frame of standard 35mm film) and the size of the device's photosensor. The number shown is the diagonal ratio of the full-frame sensor (43.3 mm) and the photosensor specific device. | 7.38 |
| ISO (light sensitivity) ISO values determine the light sensitivity level of the photosensor. A lower value means a weaker photosensitivity and vice versa - more high performance means higher light sensitivity, i.e. better ability of the sensor to work in low light conditions. | 100 - 1600 |
| Diaphragm Aperture (f-number) is the size of the aperture opening that controls the amount of light reaching the photosensor. A lower f-number means the aperture is larger. | f/2.4 |
| Focal length Focal length is the distance in millimeters from the photosensor to the optical center of the lens. There is also an equivalent focal length that provides the same field of view with a full frame camera. | 3.79 mm (millimeters) 27.99 mm (millimeters) *(35 mm / full frame) |
| Flash type The most common types of flashes in mobile devices cameras are LED and xenon flashes. LED flashes give a softer light and, unlike brighter xenon flashes, are also used for video shooting. | LED |
| Image resolution One of the main characteristics of mobile device cameras is their resolution, which indicates the number of pixels in the horizontal and vertical direction of an image. | 4128 x 3096 pixels 12.78 MP (megapixels) |
| Video resolution Information about the maximum supported resolution for video recording by the device. | 1920 x 1080 pixels 2.07 MP (megapixels) |
| Video - frame rate/frames per second. Information about the maximum number of frames per second (fps) supported by the device when shooting video at the maximum resolution. Some of the main standard shooting and video playback speeds are 24p, 25p, 30p, 60p. | 30 fps (frames per second) |
| Characteristics Information about other software and hardware features related to the main camera and improving its functionality. | autofocus Burst shooting digital zoom Digital Image Stabilization geo tags panoramic shooting HDR shooting Touch focus Face recognition ISO setting Self-timer Scene Selection Mode Macro mode |
| 4-element lens |
Additional camera
Additional cameras are usually mounted above the screen of the device and are mainly used for video calls, gesture recognition, etc.
Audio
Information about the type of speakers and audio technologies supported by the device.
Radio
The radio of the mobile device is a built-in FM receiver.
Location determination
Information about navigation and location technologies supported by the device.
WiFi
Wi-Fi is a technology that provides wireless communication for short distance data transmission between different devices.
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a standard for secure wireless data transfer between different types of devices over short distances.
| Version There are several Bluetooth versions, with each subsequent one improving communication speed, coverage, making it easier to discover and connect devices. Information about the Bluetooth version of the device. | 4.0 |
| Characteristics Bluetooth uses different profiles and protocols for faster data transfer, power savings, better device discovery, and more. Some of these profiles and protocols that the device supports are shown here. | A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) AVCTP (Audio/Video Control Transport Protocol) GATT (Generic Attribute Profile) HDP (Health Device Profile) HFP (Hands Free Profile) HID (Human Interface Profile) MAP (Message Access Profile) OPP (Object Push Profile) PAN (Personal Area Networking Profile) PBAP/PAB (Phone Book Access Profile) |
USB
USB (Universal Serial Bus) is an industry standard that allows different electronic devices to communicate.
HDMI
HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a digital audio/video interface that replaces older analog audio/video standards.
Headphone jack
This is an audio connector, which is also called an audio jack. The most widely used standard in mobile devices is the 3.5mm headphone jack.
Connecting devices
Information about other important connection technologies supported by the device.
Browser
A web browser is a software application for accessing and viewing information on the Internet.
| Browser Information about some of the key features and standards supported by the device's browser. | HTML HTML5 |
Audio file formats/codecs
Mobile devices support various audio file formats and codecs that store and encode/decode digital audio data, respectively.
Video file formats/codecs
Mobile devices support various video file formats and codecs, which store and encode/decode digital video data, respectively.
Battery
Mobile device batteries differ from each other in their capacity and technology. They provide the electrical charge they need to function.
| Capacity The capacity of a battery indicates the maximum charge it can store, measured in milliamp-hours. | 2330 mAh (milliamp-hours) |
| Type of The type of battery is determined by its structure and, more specifically, by the chemicals used. Exist different types batteries, with lithium-ion and lithium-ion polymer batteries most commonly used in mobile devices. | Li-Ion (Li-Ion) |
| Talk time 2G Talk time in 2G is the period of time during which the battery charge is completely discharged during a continuous conversation in a 2G network. | 11 o'clock (hours) 660 min (minutes) 0.5 days |
| 2G standby time The 2G standby time is the amount of time it takes for the battery to fully discharge when the device is in stand-by mode and connected to a 2G network. | 550 h (hours) 33000 min (minutes) 22.9 days |
| 3G talk time Talk time in 3G is the period of time during which the battery is completely discharged during a continuous conversation in a 3G network. | 14 h (hours) 840 min (minutes) 0.6 days |
| 3G standby time The 3G standby time is the amount of time it takes for the battery to fully discharge when the device is in stand-by mode and connected to a 3G network. | 530 h (hours) 31800 min (minutes) 22.1 days |
| Characteristics Information about some additional features of the device's battery. | Fixed |