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Sony Xperia Z (Black) Review

Pickles
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Firstly I'd like to thank @Toby for giving me the opportunity for being selected on the Try The Tech Scheme.  Although an older phone, but I thought I would take it to test and compare with other phones I have used etc.

 

My first impressions were great, I was very impressed with the look and feel of the phone.  It seemed a good strong, and very nice looking phone.  I loved the size of the phone too.  It just looked great.  When I managed to find the sim slot, to put sim card into it, I was amazed at how nice the screen was. I say, "managed to find the sim slot" as the phone is waterproof and has little covers that are hard to see for the sim card, memory slot etc.  Those were abit fiddly, but kept the nice smooth look of the phone.  Some would possibly find annoying especially the charging one which will have to be removed possibly the most.  

 

The apps on the phone were usual standard android apps, but with sony ones for music, video etc.  They looked really good on the phone and blendid onto the android phone very easily.  The apps looked very clear and screen was very good for viewing all of the apps I tested.  The apps I downloaded were apps I used regularly, BBC News, Facebook etc.  They all worked very well, and showed very clear on the phone.  The touch screen responded fast and was very responsive for all the apps I used.  The downside was it had lots of system pop ups constantly, reminding you to shut the slots etc.  This could be turned off no doubt, but just seemed to get lots of them.

 

The sound on the phone was very good.  Whether you were watching YouTube, listening to music, or simply making calls.  The sound was very clear, which is what I would have expected coming from Sony.

 

The Camera on the phone was very good.  I found it quite fiddly getting out of the app, but might just have been me.  I tested taking same photo with the Xperia Z and iPhone 5.  Although I never put them onto the computer to check full quality.  On the screens the sony one looked enhanced and really bright.  The iPhone one looked more natural.  I wiped the phone before realising I should have kept them to post them here.

 

The signal on the phone seemed very good.  I don't get a very good signal at home, but it seemed as good as I can get at my house. 

 

The battery life on the phone was one of the biggest issues I had with it.  It could just be the handset itself,  but the battery didnt last very long at all, and the back of the phone seemed to heat up while charging.  I never noticed this on the Samsung I have or the iPhone.  So not sure if it is a common problem with the Xperia or was it the handsets issue.

 

The wifi was also another issue.  I have a dual band router at home, and everything connects very well to the G part of the wifi.  However the Xperia stayed connected much better to the N part, wheas it would cut off and not find the G.  Seemed strange when other phones connected seemlessly.  However, it worked well when connected and seemed to be be fast and responsive to all requests. 

 

In conclusion, I would recommend a Sony phone to people, although not sure I would purchase one myself.  My main reason would be the battery life and wifi issues.  They seemed to frustrate me more than I realised.  (Although, could possibly be rectified in an upgrade). However it was a lovely looking smart phone, with great sound and camera.

 

Pros would be                                                                       Cons would be

Look and feel of the phone                                                     Fiddly slots

Waterproof (although I never tested that)                              Battery Life

Great sound                                                                             Wifi constantly disconnecting

Good camera                                                                          Fingerprints (the black showed them up really bad)

 

 

 

 

 

16 Comments
Anonymous
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Hi @Pickles

Very nice review mate. slight_smile

aldaweb
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Nice review @Pickles , thanks for your thoughts. Thanks!

Cleoriff
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Enjoyed reading this @Pickles  Thank you

MI5
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Good job Pickles.
Nice review of a decent phone slight_smile
Pickles
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Thank you! slight_smile

Anonymous
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Credit where credit is due. slight_smile
MI5
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The WiFi and battery life issues were addressed in the Z1 but when you look at the price of the Z now it makes it very attractive. The 4.4.4 upgrade should fix the WiFi issue with the Z too, so it's only the small ish capacity battery to contend with.
jonsie
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Good balanced review slight_smile

Pickles
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@MI5 wrote:
The WiFi and battery life issues were addressed in the Z1 but when you look at the price of the Z now it makes it very attractive. The 4.4.4 upgrade should fix the WiFi issue with the Z too, so it's only the small ish capacity battery to contend with.

That is great.  I had not had a sony phone ever.  So was glad to have a try of it.  Glad these issues were addressed. 

MI5
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I actually bought a Z1 on the back of this test programme as I was so impressed with it.
I'd always had Samsung's previously but it's nice to open your eyes to something new sometimes slight_smile
Anonymous
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MI5 said "I'd always had Samsung's previously but it's nice to open your eyes to something new sometimes "

Really wink
jonsie
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Yes NEW wink

Anonymous
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the z3 looks amazing just watched some reviews starting to lure me away from the iphone 6... 

MI5
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@jonsie wrote:

Yes NEW wink


As in ideas wink

Toby
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Lovely review Pickles! I hope you enjoyed being a part of Try the Tech slight_smile
Pickles
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Thanks! Yes, loved it.