Sony Xperia Z User Reviews

I was choosing between the Xperia Z, HTC One and the galaxy S4. Eventually I picked the Xperia Z, beacause it was cheaper. When I was waiting for my phone to arrive I was a bit worried that i was going to regret my choice beacuase I read a lot of negative reviews about the Xperia Z (e.g. bad screen, slow etc.)
But when I turned on the screen for the first time I was really impressed. The screen is very sharp and colors are reproduced very well. The viewing angles are indeed not the best out there, but as long as you don't shift the phone too much, it doesn't matter. Overall I was very satisfied with the screen. I only don't like the big softkeys, so the screen looks more like a 4,7" one. (But of course you can do something about that.)
Internet works great, google chrome works really well and it loads pages fast. At least noticeably faster than my old galaxy s2. Everything is going very fluently.

The 13MP camera is good, but indeed, not the best. You can take great pictures with it in auto-mode, but it catches less deatail than the galaxy s4 with the same sensor. This is also because Sony uses agressive noise reduction. I hope this will be fixed in 4.2.2 or other updates. But picture quality is still amazing for a phone, and the camera catches still more detail than the HTC one.

The UI is nice and clean, and it works fluently. It switches fast through the homescreens. Typing is also easy, thanks to the big and effective keys.
It also has a good music player (the walkman app). The original headphones deliver very good music quality. The gallery is also nice, and viewing images or playing movies is really noce thanks to the wonderful 5" display.
The battery however is so so. It can last a day, but with pain. When the phone is used heavily it can barely do five hours on a charge. But when you're a less heavy user, the battery will last much longer because it is very power efficient when the screen is turned off.
The phone is also IP57 rated.
I've washed my phone a few times, which is very handy. And you can also take it with you in the shower. But when I put my Xperia Z COMPLETELY underwater for five minutes at 2 feet, I saw moist behind the front and rear camera. I dried it for a few hours and it disappaered. I read that more people had this and it was 'normal'.
I was curious and tried it another time, and again, moist behind te lens. But this time it was worse; the phone started rebooting itself all the time and when it didn't, it did not recognize my earphones and the loudspeaker didn't work anymore. It died whithin the following days. I am very sure that I closed all the ports as tight as possible, and I didn't exceed its IP57 rating. So that was a big setback for me. Especially beacause Sony told me it was my own fault. (I know the manuals says so, but I still think that it's unfair because Sony advertizes a lot with the waterproofness.) I was lucky enough to get a new one from my retailer, and I still didn't regret my cho

The best phone in the world. Even with all the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC ONE. Great speedy internet with a wonderful screen and very beautiful beautiful exterior. Packed with a very powerful CPU and GPU. Camera? Flawless. Despite the imperfections others have stated, they are only visible when zoomed to max. You won't be doing that, would you? Imperfections are very minor, not as serious as Phonearena stated. Photos match up with high-tier digital cameras ( Without lens zoom, of course) and colors are extremely real and attracting. Gaming? Not in question. Beast CPU and GPU packed with 2GB of RAM. Cannot be smoother. NO lag or whatsoever even when playing games like Frontline Commando. The UI is so smooth, not at all laggy as Phonearena stated. Maybe Phonearena guys aren't up to date with the latest Sony software. The smoothness and color contrast increased by a lot since the first firmware was out. (When everyone stated that the Xperia Z's screen is washed-out) Now it is completely fixed. If you're interested totally go for the dock. The home screen goes horizontal too! The dock is extremely helpful in watching videos or movies. UI is excellent. The wallpapers, the details, the nice look... The best UI for me. Samsung's UI is laggy and wallpapers look too 'blueish' and always related to water or sky. Believe me, you would NEVER want to change to a wallpaper that is not provided! Mobile Bravia Engine is just excellent. It makes a TFT screen beat AMOLED and LCD completely. I'm not saying that TFT screens are bad, they are excellent. It just doesn't have quite the latest updates in screen tech. Walkman is the most powerful and pro music player in the smartphone industry. Sound effects, theme settings, enchantments... If you're a pro there's settings like there's in studios to customize the sound! A whole new lockscreen that just catches your eyes. This is a phone that is perfect both in the inside and the outside. Power button is responsive and very comfortable to press on.

awesome phone best camera then all its rivals and i have in love with this phone this phone has high battery life and its awesome i should recommend all of you to buy this phone for best use .............

great device and best i ever used so far, after used Samsung, i know that i west my time with bad brand..... Sony have a good finishing, good quality and soo soo soo classy phone. I cant stop looking to the screen, coz it had a high definition screen I ever seen

if you learn its camera options, you will take best smart phone pictures.. with last updates, its screen is better now, it has not contrast problem anymore.. sound quality is so good, so clear and quality. battery is quite good if you have xperia z at least 2 weeks. i dont need to tell its design.

awesome should buy it.its really best of sony in smart phones ..this phone have classic looks and awesome camera .... I love the simple yet stunning design of the Xperia Z...Xperia™ Z comes with a high quality stereo headset.

very good. This is really good.Sony is a well-made Sony's come so far, is the best model. will be a good choice if you choose the htc one or Sony Xperia z,Android trend is now Sony and HTC.Unless Android Blackberry is a good choice.

Amazing phone with amazing features. A Sony lover must have. I have been following this phone since it was announced and used to watch videos of it on youtube everyday to get to see its features. I have been in love with the phone even before I had it and knew most of its features just at the tip of my tongue. Absolutely no disappointment at all. You couldn't ask for more in a phone.

this phone is bad in style and it does not look good its camera is good but the phone is very badand its same like lumia 920 its bad samsung galaxy s2 will be much more better than this phone i would definately not recommend this phone

This phone is phenomenal. first the phone itself is a rugged phone but in a handsome looks and super light despite its a 5inch screen. it feels premium in hand, the glass is a stunner looker. Display is So-So but in viewing media files, so far its the best handset youll ever had.

Incredibly fast ui. Clean skin, better then any other phone currently the market. Personally the galaxy s3 is an overrated price of junk. Well that is my opinion, I preferred my xperia s over the s3.

a really good camera with a full hd display and waterproof its one of the best phones out there, the only problem is that its still on android 4.1.2 other than that its really good, sony is really doing a great job !

The Sony XZ is a very good Full HD phone, the physical dimensions about the same as the Nexus 4 which is what suckered me in. In Australia can get the 16gb version outright with Telstra firmware for around $590 (best price) so certainly in a good range considering an equivalent 16gb iphone 5 is in the $700+ range. It’s IP57 dust and water proof which benefits me on site and on a motor bike to and from work and on wet days my bag usually ends up soaked thru.

The internal hardware CPU (Qualcomm S4 Pro 8064 quad), RAM (2Gb) is the same as the Nexus 4, but the Z has MicroSD expandability (supports 64gb SDXC cards) and has a spectacular 13MP cam. I find the screen much brighter overall than the Nexus 4 (I have the Sharp LCD in my Z), and the battery seems to last much longer than the N4, getting more than a day even with my constant Hotmail and FB push. On speedtest.net the XZ was as fast as the N4 over H+ (between 10-16mbits/sec on Voda HSDPA), but was much faster over a 5G wifi connect topping out at about 65Mbits/sec - my N4 does about 35-40Mbits/sec – both phones were tested at the same location and same time with full bars

For me as a techie, its a shame that Sony didnt equip the XZ with the latest Qualcomm 600 CPU (The 600 is similar to the S4 Pro but optimised to 15% quicker) however it still seems to handle everything generally lag free and easy - I found that even with the better 1080 FHD, the Z seems slightly quicker than the N4 at times too.

The only real drawback (or risk of dire "frustration") with the Sony XZ is of course the firmware updates. Sony has a prudent reputation for being less than acceptable on timely Android updates, but they have promised to do much better, so I'm willing to give them a chance (1 last one) – only time will tell – but I really hope they do as this phone is a real winner.

I doubt I’ll be getting the Samsung Galaxy 4 this time round as I hated the plastic feel of the SGS3 – and of course with the SGS4 its more of the same plastic. My only other consideration before purchasing the XZ was waiting for the HTC One, as it looks vividly stunning but it leaves me wondering how good the 4MP shooter really is (even with a larger sensor to enhance quality), especially when the XZ’s 13MP shooter is actually very bl00dy good – best I’ve used in a phone for a long time!

Is the best smartphone .The desing is the best and the specs are amazing.The camera is exellent and the screen is amazing.The battery is very good.The speaker is good but not exellent.The processor is super fast without lag and problems.

i think this review can help those who have some dilemmas for buying this phone.
first i must say that right now i have three flagship phones. S3, IP5 and XZ. to begin with, i will choose XZ as the best of this pack and as its a 2013 flagship and those two are 2012, it can't be weird. the display gives you rich and most real colors. viewing angle is not an issue for me and i found it pretty good in it although its not as good as S3 and IP5. the UI is gorgeous and it never lags. the screen is very smooth, the camera is perfect (better than S3 and IP5) specially when its at Superior auto mode, design is gorgeous, it not heavy and the grip is good. the only thing that somehow disappointed me was loud speaker. if you listen to music with head set the quality is perfect but without it, the story changes. the battery lasts pretty good and i have no problem with it. it has rich multimedia, great Wi-Fi speed and Walkman is a great music player.
the hardware performs very well and never let you down in any game or high tasks but it gets hot and i think its natural for Qualcomm chips.
overall i must say that Sony enchanted me with its design and great engineering.
this phone will never let you down and if you want to experience the best of one of greatest mobile manufacturer, you must go for this beauty.

i think it is better than galaxy s4 and s3.i lved it very much.it is a brilliant performence.its a awesome phone.The Snapdragon™ S4 Pro quad-core processor gives you super-fast performance, unparalleled graphics and efficient battery use.Amazing phone thou prone to finger prints, Display is good

man this is just perfect. its about a week that i have this phone and it didn't let me down in any aspect. the UI is damn beautiful and smooth. with Sony's new engineering which omits an air layer from the screen, the smoothness becomes perfect. hardware is perfect. display is the best i have seen so far and i didn't notice any problem with viewing angles. the battery lasts about 30 hours with above average usage which is satisfactory. the camera is excellent and sound quality is good specially with headphones.
overall, i think this is the best phone so far.

Bought that beauty weeks ago and i must say it...i didn't expect that the display would be so wonderful...i would consider that over the HTC One...very fast CPU...no lags...even at games like(wild-blood,deadtrigger at high, Bladeslinger,God of Blades...overall very good performance...Camera is better than i though...even the apple-fanboys said that its better than the one on the iphone 5!!!!
just buy it...i think u won't be disappointet with that phone...
p.s i held the device abouth 30times under water to show my friends that...they were said: WOOWWW

Amazing phone thou prone to finger prints, Display is good, Battery sucks i had Note 2 with best battery backup but here Battery sucks.
Camera is just way too good
Hope there is updates sent to this soon for battery improvement

Smart, sleek & durable
No one knows how to best pack durability into a beautiful design like Sony. The slim 7.9 mm body, with its reflective glass surface, looks and feels slick, but Xperia Z is crafted to be water-resistant, dust-resistant and tough enough to handle whatever life has planned.
The Snapdragon™ S4 Pro quad-core processor gives you super-fast performance, unparalleled graphics and efficient battery use. Find your way on Google maps. Stream the latest YouTube clips with LTE. Or download the newest apps and run them without a hitch
Xperia™ Z comes with a high quality stereo headset.
Sony MH-EX300AP headset has superior acoustic performance which helps realise sound true to the original recorded sound.

I have owned the Xperia Z for the past few days. Before I purchased the device I spent 2 weeks reading every single review and watching every single video that appeared online. I simply wanted to get the best phone that is available out there. I reckon that Xperia Z is better than HTC One for my needs. Even though though the one has better processor and better speakers, I love the simple yet stunning design of the Xperia Z. The fact that it is waterproof and much more durable than other phones in this class only makes it stand out even more. First thing I noticed when I switched the device on was a beautiful screen. It really is something you would not have seen anywhere else. I have to mention here that I don't like the skin that Sony implemented on the device. A grey notification and navigation bar just make it look as if the blacks on the device where that poor. The black however are beautiful. I have previously owned 2 devices with an Amoled screen and even though there is a difference it is not very big and Sony did a great job in this area. This screen makes up for the blacks when you use it in direct sunlight as the screen brightness allows for the display to be easily read. When you go to your gallery or video and see how Bravia Engine 2 performs you wish you could have it switched on at all times.
The internet speeds are very good and the browser performs well.
Call quality is good, but the speaker could be not loud enough in busy places. This is probably due to an extra membrane on it that makes it waterproof.
The sound quality that you get from the device when you listen to music on your headphones is exceptional. In the audio settings there is something called ClearAudio+, which makes every song that you listen to a different experience. The video player on the other hand could support more formats, as I have already found myself being unable to play a few files.
The camera on the device takes amazing shots and the HDR funtion allows for good shots in low light. The UI is nice once you get used to it. I really like the widgets that Sony provided. I think that the launcher is as close to stock as it can get. Although I have previously used Nova Launcher Prime on all of my other devices I have found to really enjoy the stock launcher on Sony and am gonna stick with it for the time being. I have been testing XZ's battery life for the past few days and I am satisfied with it. I keep the Stamina mode on most of the time. Last night I charged the phone to full and left it on overnight with all connections switched off. I have found that it still had 99% battery remaining in the morning. During the day the screen is the major culprit. I am always connected to either wifi or mobile networks and have found that I get just above 3hrs 30 min of screen on time. For me it's sufficient and I am sure it would be a lot longer if I decreased brightness. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P32rdsmgNqU