Sony seems to have gotten its game together like never before, and that includes shipping its flagship phone on time to steal a march over rivals.
The Xperia Z, possibly the best phone from Sony in a long while, is going on sale in Singapore on March 1, for a rather expensive but not unexpected S$988. Impatient buyers can pre-order from February 15 at Sony stores or telecom operators.
From what we’ve seen so far (read our hands-on test), the Xperia Z is a well-designed and feature-packed gizmo that can take on and possibly beat popular models from HTC and Samsung.
It certainly doesn’t lose out in the hardware department. With a 5-inch screen displaying Full HD resolution, a 1.5GHz quad-core chip and 2GB RAM, it connects to speedy 4G or LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks.
It also betters HTC and Samsung offerings with a 13-meg camera, which promises to bring the Japanese electronics giant’s expertise on digital imaging to the small device.
One more thing that might attract users: a waterproof frame that lets you carry the phone to the pool side without worry. At launch, the Xperia Z will also come in black, white and purple.
Is S$988 a little expensive? The Android phone is certainly not cheap, but the cost is within the range of high-end models from Samsung, for example.
Has Sony pulled a winner out of the hat? Well, this phone will be out for pre-order just as the hype begins with new phones to be launched in the yearly Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in late February. That’s pretty fast, considering that the phone was unveiled only last month.
However, Sony will have to contend with the might of Samsung, now the largest phone maker in the world, in terms of marketing and advertising.
Geeks will no doubt be interested in the Xperia Z, but the bigger market of fashion-conscious “lifestyle” users will have to be convinced Sony is back, amid the Korean wave.
Check out our review of the Xperia Z here.
Id been weighing up getting a Sony Xperia S for some time. I read plenty of reviews and this one was the best http://search4reviews.net/ , I received my delivery last week and am very happy. I Would highly recommend to anyone still unsure
Hola Alfred. Just by chance I came across an Xperia Z earlier today. Sony happens to be a friends client, and they passed him the phone to try it out as a non-techie. I’m pretty much in-love.
It looks awesome. Far better in RL than in pictures. Strangely enough, it feels lighter than my Galaxy Nexus (and my gf felt the same thing too – I didn’t tell her my phone is supposed to be lighter). Build quality is exceptional, and the camera is great.
This friend also has a lumia 920, and in comparing the night shots, my take is that the 920 is more sensitive, but the Z has less noise.
One thing that worries me is the large expanses of glass. I’ve noticed that the bigger the piece of glass, the easier it is to break, and though they don’t advertise it, the glass used is Asahi’s Dragontrail.
Looking forward to your in-depth review!
Hey Noel, thanks for the mini review. It’s great! Actually, my fellow Techgoondu Raymond is doing the review. He’s been trying it out for a few days and should have it up soon. About the glass: yes, that’s worrying!
Oh ok. Could you please ask him to test out the battery hit when recording HDR video? I was so enamoured by the phone I forgot to try the entire function.