Sony Xperia Z

The Xperia Z is a rectangular slab that marks a departure from Sony's 2012 design.[12] The design is "Omni-Balance", which is focused on creating balance and symmetry in all directions, according to Sony.[13] The Xperia Z has subtly rounded edges and reflective surfaces on all sides, which are held together by a skeleton frame made from glass fiber polyamide. The aluminum power button is placed on the right-hand side of the device, which is said to make one-handed operation easier.[14]

The phone's dimensions are stated to be 139 x 71 x 7.9 mm and its weight is 146 grams (including battery). It comes with a lithium-ion battery, rated at 2330 mAh.

It includes a 13.1-megapixel rear camera with an Exmor RS sensor, flash, image stabiliation, HDR, face detection (with red-eye reduction), Sweep Panorama, scene recognition and 16x digital zoom, and a 2.2-megapixel front camera with an Exmor R sensor. Both cameras record video at 1080p.

The smartphone has a capacitive touchscreen with a size of 5", and its resolution is 1920x1080 pixels (1080p) at 441 ppi, with 16 million colors. The screen uses Sony's Mobile Bravia Engine 2 for picture enhancement. In addition to this, the smartphone has a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset, 2 GB RAM, 16 GB internal storage flash memory (with approx. 11 GB available to the user) and a microSD card slot which accepts cards up to 128 GB.

The smartphone has a built-in 3.5 mm audio jack for headphones, GPS and GLONASS support, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, HDMI (via MHL), MirrorLink 1.0, Miracast and NFC, in addition to being DLNA certified. In Japan, the smartphone features an infrared blaster.

The phone is covered on the front and back by tempered glass, where the front is Dragontrail Glass from Asahi Glass Company resin-bonded to the LCD, and the back is Corning Gorilla Glass.[15][16][17]

NFC is a core feature of the device. The device is certified to IP55 and IP57 standards to be dust protected, low pressure water jet protected and waterproof, allowing immersion under 1 metre of water for up to 30 minutes.[18]

The Xperia Z originally ran Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with Sony's launcher and additional applications, including Sony's media applications (Walkman, Album and Movies), as well as a battery stamina mode.[8] The device received an update on 24 June 2013, to Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.[2] In December 2013, the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean software update rolled out for Xperia Z devices. In May 2014, the Android 4.4.2 KitKat software update rolled out, later followed by Android 4.4.4 in September 2014.

On 16 October 2014, Sony reported that it would be updating the entire Xperia Z lineup of devices, to Android 5.0 Lollipop, beginning in early 2015, for the core Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z2 devices, with others following soon after. Later in CES 2015 at Sony's event, they announced that Android 5.0 Lollipop would be rolled out to the Xperia Z series starting February 2015.[19]

On 29 May 2015, Sony released Android 5.0 Lollipop for the Xperia Z, followed by Android 5.0.2 from 23 May 2015. On 7 September 2015, Sony released Android 5.1 Lollipop for the Xperia Z. This was the final firmware update for the device, as Android 6.0 Marshmallow was released for the Xperia Z2 and later Xperia devices only.[20]

The following table shows which UMTS and LTE bands are supported. See the list of UMTS networks and the list LTE networks to find which bands are required to use a cell phone service provider.

All variants support four 2G GSM bands 850/900/1800/1900.

The Xperia Z has received mostly positive reviews from critics. Damien McFerren of CNET gave the phone 4 and a half stars out of five and said "The Sony Xperia Z combines looks, power and connectivity to supply one of the most impressive Android experiences we've seen in quite some time. The lack of Android 4.2 at launch is unfortunate and that 5-inch screen isn't going to suit everyone, but there's little room for complaint elsewhere. This is easily Sony's best phone yet, and one of the best Android phones ever released".

Android Central gave the phone a positive review, saying "For Android fans, the Sony Xperia Z was one of the highlights of a fairly quiet CES. A 5-inch, 1080p phone with a bold new design language and fancy new camera technology, the Xperia Z was probably the most compelling phone of the show. And just a couple of months later, it's now available to buy in the UK. Without a doubt Sony Mobile's new baby is one of the largest, specciest Android phones around".

Audience reactions to the phone have also been positive. At CES 2013, the Xperia Z won the ‘Best Smartphone' and ‘Best of Show' awards.[23] According to a Sony executive, Mcdougall, early Xperia Z sales have been strong. He states, "It [the Xperia smartphone] sold over 150,000 units in its first week in Japan, taking a 24 percent market share straight away." "It may be a bit too early to say but the first signs are very positive."[24]

• Xperia Z series
• LTE (telecommunication) (3GPP Long Term Evolution)
• LTE Advanced (next version of LTE)
• List of LTE networks
• UMTS frequency bands
• E-UTRA

• Official website