Sony xperia z l. Official deputy flagship

The Sony Xperia Z, like any flagship, was doomed to receive close attention from the press long before it went on sale. And there are reasons for that: in addition to the powerful filling, the smartphone has a body protected from water and dust. Sony Xperia ZL is, in fact, the same Sony Xperia Z, only dressed in a regular body, the bonus of which can be considered compact.

Specifications Sony Xperia ZL

What is in the box

Just what you see in the picture. Smartphone, charger with microUSB cord, headset with several sizes of attachments and user manual.

Body and design

Marketers love the "most" prefix. It was also applied to Sony Xperia ZL. In the phrase "the world's smallest smartphone with a five-inch screen." This is probably the way it is: 132x69x10 millimeters is a little compared to other happy owners of large screens. Although the language does not dare to call the ZL "small" when you see smartphones with more modest diagonals next to them.

Together with iPhone 4s

This compactness was achieved thanks to the design: the screen occupies almost the entire front panel. There was no place even for the touch buttons (they "went" into the screen), and the same explains the strangest location of the front camera. She, dear readers, is hidden in the lower right corner under the screen. Visually, it seems that it was quite possible to place the camera's peephole from above. In the end, there was also a place for the Sony logo and a voice speaker (well, moving it from here to save space would be really strange at all).

The corrugated plastic that protects the rear of the smartphone is nowhere near as effective as the glass surface of the Xperia Z, but it is practical: no slips or annoying fingerprints. It houses a camera with flash and a sound speaker. The entire cover is non-removable, but you don't have to use the "magic key", as in the iPhone, to install a SIM-card or memory card. Sony, in my opinion, acted very wisely, providing the cover with a sliding "hatch", under which the necessary connectors are hidden.

But, alas, you cannot get to the battery on your own. Metal stripes are built into the sides of the device, which not only decorates the smartphone, but makes it stronger than its all-plastic counterparts.

The main controls are located on the right edge. This is the volume rocker closer to the top, access to the camera at the bottom, and the round metal button in the center is responsible for turning the power on and off.

Personally, I am not very comfortable as I prefer left-handed operation. But it seems to me that such an alignment is not suitable for any right-hander, but only for the owner of large palms.

The left side contains a microUSB connector, the top - a 3.5 mm headphone output. The device lies comfortably in the hand, but still both the size and weight (151 grams) indicate that the Sony Xperia ZL is a smartphone, rather, for men. Its design is neutral and pleasant, not too flashy, but extremely neat. Of the cosmetic features, I note the presence of a strip-shaped LED under the screen. It glows green when recharging, and when you view pictures, this smart light glows with the prevailing color in the current photo. I don’t know why, but it’s funny. It is a pity that the light cannot dance to the beat of the music, as is sometimes found in various models.

Screen

Smartphone manufacturers are wonderful. Honestly, I do not quite understand why such an expensive and equipped model had to be equipped with such a screen. And this also applies to the Xperia ZL, and even the flagship Z, the cost of which is capable of causing convulsions in most of the inhabitants of our latitudes. Of course, the screen has its advantages. This is a large area, high sensitivity, a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels with an excellent pixel density of 441 ppi…. All this would be just wonderful, if not for the unnatural color rendition, low brightness and completely non-black black color.

Usually, a faded screen when watching videos or pictures is somewhat transformed: the mysterious Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 mode is turned on, making life, or rather some objects on the screen, bright to the sharpness of the eyes. In this mode, the inversion of colors when turning is especially noticeable, and a very specific one. For example, a bright red jacket, with minor deviations, became acid pink. I don’t want to mislead readers by harsh criticism of the screen: it’s not bad at all here, it just doesn’t correspond to the model's class at all. In a mid-range device, such a huge display with excellent pixel density would look simply gorgeous. And in order not to be unfounded, I will give graphs with measurements made using the Datacolor Spyder4 colorimeter.

System

Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean will be updated to version 4.2 after a while. Sony's interface is familiar from some of the company's other modern devices; in my opinion, it is quite convenient and functional. As usual, desktops are called up by holding a finger on the screen of one of them, after which you can add widgets and applications to it, as well as select a background and theme. And, of course, add a new desktop.

Virtual keys are located right on the screen, the right one, which brings up the list of active programs, also provides access to the so-called "small applications". A calculator, on-screen notes, sound recording, timer and remote control are preset. Others can be found on Google Play if you wish.

Among the branded applications, I would like to mention the Walkman. The music player has a ton of settings, allows you to create playlists and fine-tune the sound of tracks using the equalizer. In addition, there is a ClearAudio + function, but for my taste, it only distorts the sound. Although, I can assume that in nature there are tracks that will sound better after applying such a "enhancer" to them.

"Album" provides access to all the pictures stored in the smartphone. At the same time, it allows you to change the scale of the pictures on the preview and move them. Here you can also find a simple photo editor, as well as find out where a particular photo was taken (with the geotagging mode turned on). To the delight of many users, there is a radio in the smartphone. And, of course, GPS.

Performance

As befits a decent flagship this season, the Sony Xperia ZL has a Qualcomm S4 Pro APQ8064 quad-core 1.5GHz processor with Adreno320 accelerator and 2GB of RAM. Naturally, the operating system interface flies, like the vast majority of programs. Frankly speaking, I didn’t come across an application capable of loading this system to the fullest.

Performance tests are in solidarity with me, and confirm the leading position of Sony Xperia ZL. He is, if not the fastest, then certainly among them. 16 gigabytes of disk space is not at all an indicator of super-capacity today. But support for memory cards with a capacity of up to 64 GB radically changes the matter, leaving all sorts of such claims unfounded: there will be enough for photos, games and films.

Camera

The fashion for 13-megapixel cameras in flagship smartphones seems to me somewhat unjustified and ridiculous. It would be better if there were 8, but the same as in the iPhone! Yes, Apple haters will forgive me for their weakness, but I really don't understand what prevents manufacturers of Android smartphones from bringing the quality of built-in optics closer to that of the latest Apple devices. Hardly awe or fear of patent infringement ... However, the Exmor RS sensor used in the Xperia ZL is relatively good. Equipped with a variety of software add-ons, the camera can shoot video and photos with HDR, make high-speed burst shooting and apply effects in real time. There is an automatic super-mode here, which, in theory, should understand what is happening around and select the settings according to what is happening. And also, as it seemed to me, manual focusing on objects does not always work correctly.

In short, the camera is noticeably inferior to that of the Samsung Galaxy S4, and it is far from the 8-megapixel sensor of the iPhone 4s / 5.

Sound

Sound was once the hobbyhorse of Sony devices, and in part it remains so today. I can't say the Xperia ZL has the best speaker I've heard, but it's definitely not bad. At least because it is loud and clear enough. You will hear the call, you can watch a movie too. True, there is no bass, but hardly anyone seriously thinks to listen to music through the speaker. There are headphones for these purposes. And with them, complete, or even better - some higher class, the smartphone can be used as a full-fledged music player. It is better to listen to rock and classics as they are, without equalizers, but electronics lovers can experiment with sound settings, including the ClearAudio + function, which I mentioned above.

Heating and autonomy

Due to the design features, the smartphone heats up, and unconventionally - from the back. And it heats up quite noticeably, especially when it comes to tests or toys. But even in normal operating mode, saving warmth warming your hands is poured over the back of the smartphone. This is due to the location of the battery closer to the screen, and the main iron - on the contrary, closer to the lid.

The non-removable battery, closed on all sides, has a capacity of 2370 mAh, which is quite a lot. However, it should be remembered: before us is a smartphone with an insatiable flagship hardware and a large FullHD-screen, it’s not easy to feed them. For example, in my usual mode of working with a smartphone (20 minutes of calls, SMS, sometimes the Internet, music and camera shooting), the Xperia ZL could hardly survive until the evening. In the settings, you can find several modes to save energy. For example, Stamina, which turns off data transmission when the screen is off. Moreover, if you want some applications to do it, you can add them to the list of exclusions. You can also activate the power saving mode and set a certain threshold for the charge level (for example, 20%), after which the smartphone will automatically turn off a number of functions. For example, vibration alert, GPS, Wi-Fi. In general, if you accept and pay due attention to the settings of the device, it can be made to work a little longer.

Competitors

The competitive environment of a smartphone is quite natural: these are other flagships of eminent companies. Comparable in price, the HTC One is clad in a metal body, while the Galaxy s4, although not distinguished by a sleek design, is equipped with an excellent screen. At the same time, both competitors are somewhat more affordable in terms of cost (not to mention the LG Optimus G), so if the starting price does not begin to drop rapidly, it will have a rather difficult fate.

In the dry residue

The Sony Xperia ZL is an interesting, albeit controversial, smartphone. It seems to me that someone who is determined to buy a flagship model will not fight for those 500 hryvnias, which will roughly be the difference in price between the protected Xperia Z in a spectacular glass case and the Xperia ZL, the advantage of which, compared to its brother and other 5-inch models, can be considered compact body dimensions. Thus, the Xperia ZL does not have such a vivid competitive advantage as the Xperia Z. Like any flagship, this smartphone is very productive, well-built, has a large FullHD-screen, which, in fact, is its biggest drawback. Otherwise - high-quality body materials, decent design, a relatively good camera and good sound - make the Xperia ZL a worthy choice for those who buy flagships and love the Sony style.

4 reasons to buy Sony Xperia ZL

• Excellent performance
• Good design and body materials
• Compact body for 5-inch smartphone
• Good sound, high volume

3 reasons not to buy the Sony Xperia ZL

• The screen, by the standards of the flagship, is rather weak
• Not the best camera
• Non-removable battery

In order not to waste either your or my time, I will immediately say about the main thing: inside this device and Sony Xperia Z are twins. The same processors, the same set of applications, the same bundle - only the ZL does not have a docking station. Accordingly, in this material I will focus on the most important differences, and you can read about the performance and a number of other parameters in the Sony Xperia Z review.

In the comments, I heard a lot of opinions from different people, they say, not everything is so bad and you can live with the Z display. Like, the camera is better here than in the iPhone, you just need to shoot in normal conditions, and you can get used to the size, and to everything else. An interesting practice, buying a smartphone, and then getting used to it - for me it is not entirely clear. But Sony did the right thing by creating two very different devices on the same base at once, initially I liked the Sony Xperia Z (despite the many "buts"), but in everyday use the ZL turned out to be much more convenient. Friends from Sony told me about this phenomenon back in Las Vegas - they say, size does matter. Let's talk in this article about a smartphone that is not a flagship. But it is he who can become the flagship for Sony in terms of sales.

Design, construction

Against the background of its Z-brother, the device does not look so impressive. Yes, the same concept is used here: an aluminum button on the side, interestingly designed ends, but there is no glass at the back. Upon closer examination, it turns out that ZL is in many ways more interesting than Z. Ribbed and velvety plastic on the battery cover, protruding Xperia inscription on the back, a beautiful indicator under the display, no plugs. To insert headphones into a plug or a microUSB cable, you do not need to pry all these hatches - it is convenient. There are controversial solutions here, the lid on the back opens access to the slots for the memory card and the SIM-card, somewhat resembles a trunk. It is fastened with some kind of weak rubber band, so do not tear the cover too hard. When it snaps into place, it does not play and does not move from side to side, the whole rear part is like a monolith, it is impossible to bend the battery cover. Both the Z and the ZL are remarkably assembled, but the ZL is also very good in the hand. The dimensions are 131.6 x 69.3 x 9.8 mm and weighs 151 grams, heavier than the iPhone 4S. A weighty block, this weight is pleasant to me personally. Well, back to the dimensions again, after walking around with Z for a week, the ZL seems very small, the thumb reaches any corner of the five-inch display. In addition to black, there is also a white version, I like both.

In order to accommodate such a display in such a compact case, the engineers had to go to a number of tweaks. For example, the front camera had to be moved down, I already talked about the hatch in the back, but its appearance is connected just with attempts to make the body smaller. By the way, at the bottom left there is a traditional groove for attaching a strap, Sony cannot do without it.

I won't talk for a long time about the design of the ZL, it looks not quite traditional for Sony, from the back it generally resembles HTC, but all this is when you look at the pictures. In life, the device is original, with a number of special solutions. Let me remind you once again about the pleasant velvety plastic on the back, because of the notches, fingerprints are invisible here, but they remain on the film that protects the display. The camera is enclosed in a round bezel, below is a flash, next to it is a speaker slot, strange, but all this is not perceived as a jumble of different elements. On the right side, above the aluminum button, there is a thin volume rocker, which is convenient. There is also a camera button below, which is nice, with its help you can quickly activate it and take a picture (or record a video).

The indicator light is well made, in the traditional style of Sony, a kind of strip - it can light up in different colors depending on what is happening with the device. And you immediately notice that there are practically no frames on the left and right, the device resembles an iPad mini.

The set includes the same headset as with the Sony Xperia Z, based on the EX-300. For Sony, it does not cost anything, and users will certainly appreciate the care, listening to music is much more interesting with just such a headset, and even better, immediately install a third-party player.

The SIM card format is microSIM, so iPhone 5 users will need an adapter if they want to switch phones. Another (in fact, the main) difference from the Sony Xperia Z is the lack of protection against water, I do not recommend swimming with the ZL. But there are no plugs.

Display

It seemed to me that the display here is better than in the Sony Xperia Z, although in all the main parameters they seem to be the same. It is TFT, 5 inches diagonal, resolution 1920 x 1080 pixels, but here the viewing angles seem to be better, more saturated colors, although the black is the same. I don't know how they work as suppliers at Sony, but I really want to believe that the company will be able to defeat unprofitable businessmen - after all, there is so much talk about Bravia and so on, and the displays of Samsung, HTC and Apple are a hundred times better. So, if we compare with Z, the screen is slightly better, if we compare with competitors, then it does not stand up to criticism. When you look at close range, everything is fine, it is worth changing the angle - the image becomes faded.

The display is covered by glass, there is a factory film on the glass, I do not advise you to tear it off, the Sony inscription can also peel off. Widgets, wallpapers and more are the same as those of the Sony Xperia Z.

Nuances

The Sony Xperia ZL, unlike the Z, has an IrDA, a remote control program, and apparently there is a port somewhere near the power button. In the settings, you can select the type of device, brand name, and then the program appears. I tried the system with home appliances, I really liked it, the Samsung TV was recognized instantly, you can turn it on and off, select programs, image source, and so on - everything is like with a regular remote control. The operating range is the same as that of a conventional remote control. Among the types of devices there are even docking stations for Apple technology, stereos - I tried it with a Pioneer music center, everything also works quite correctly. The program is done well, the added devices appear in the general menu with the names of your choice and quite understandable icons.

As for performance, memory and other things, everything is exactly the same as in the Sony Xperia ZL: the same set of programs, the same wallpapers, the operating speed is similar, although for a device with such a processor it is not clear how to load it. Unless installing various benchmarks and running them around the clock - I want to believe that the owners of Sony are not doing such nonsense. Let me remind you that all the official descriptions say that the device supports microSD memory cards up to 32 GB, this is not true - apparently, people from Sony did not have a 64 GB card. I tried it, everything works. Once again, I will give here a link to the Z review, for details you should go there.

The battery life is the same as that of the Z, when using Chrome the battery "melts" before our eyes, so it's better to choose another browser. If you use ZL only for conversations and SMS, turn on Stamina mode, then you can achieve two or even three days of work - just do not forget to turn down the brightness, turn off all automatic synchronization, positioning systems, and so on. A full charge from USB takes about three hours, so it's best to use the supplied power adapter. In normal mode, the device survived until the evening, but I didn’t deny myself anything and didn’t turn on Stamina.

The speaker is louder here than on the Z, this applies to both normal and spoken. Talking is also more comfortable, the interlocutors did not complain about the quality of speech transmission, the volume margin seemed to me more than that of Z.

The camera here is the same as in the Z, I can safely say that the iPhone 5 shoots better and does not depend on any conditions, settings, or weather. Of all the effects that the ZL has, I often used only the burst mode, oddly enough, the photos in general are of better quality than in normal mode. I will give here a few pictures and videos from ZL, you can evaluate it yourself.

conclusions

The device has a very piercing vibration, I have not met such a sharp motor for a long time, it looks like a drill. It is especially annoying when it works when you press the keyboard, but you can disable this yourself in the settings. On the other hand, when the silent mode is on, you simply won't be able to get a call, ZL literally jumps out of your pocket.

A screen like the HTC One, I liked it more than the SGS4, is somehow soft and velvety, does not hit the eyes. A team of programmers could work here, fix all sorts of small jambs, put a polish, make some things as simple and convenient as proprietary software for controlling home appliances. Here would be to bring to mind the camera. Engineers have to work with the speaker to make it less shrill. And use a different motor to match the vibration with the weight and design of the device. There would be thick instructions so that people know how to use an Android smartphone, here would be a sticker on the packaging about LTE. And in general, manufacturers build a hell of a lot of different things into smartphones, but they don't bother to convey to consumers the possible use cases - there are a lot of functions, many are not used simply because people do not know.

There are a lot of things that could be improved to get a candy at the end. Although the ZL turned out to be in the main more interesting than the Z - yes, the latter has a better design, it does not sink in water. But for everyday use, the ZL is much more convenient, it fits perfectly in the hand and the ribbed plastic on the back is certainly more pleasant than the slippery glass under the film. If you want to choose one of these two smartphones, then do not be lazy, hold both, weigh - in the photo Z is more beautiful, in life ZL is preferable. Moreover, there are no plugs.

The smartphone costs about 27,500 rubles, with the release of SGS4 Sony will have to revise the pricing of its flagships - although this is unlikely to save Z and ZL from marketing pressure. Rest assured, Samsung will spend such an advertising budget on the “four” that at every corner and from every slot you will be advised to buy it. This is neither good nor bad, it’s just a given, whoever has a bigger budget, that’s true. Since the announcement of Z and ZL, I keep repeating that the devices themselves turned out to be quite good - moreover, the stars have developed very well for Sony. It took three months to prepare the market, launch it, but now it is necessary to sell, sell, sell as soon as possible, until the terrible SGS4 came. We need to sell and work hard on the next models, we need to look for another gap - a few months of life, then months of silence.

It takes a genius to change this situation. A genius who can send bad suppliers with bad screens to one place, a genius who can disperse all smoke screens in the form of complicated settings, a genius who does not forgive even the slightest jambs in software. Let's hope that Sony will find such a thing and Z together with ZL will become the last step on the way to something truly outstanding, incomparable, unparalleled. It's time. We are all tired of waiting.

P.S. Try to type ZL in Russian, you get an interesting result.

Sergey Kuzmin ()

In January 2013, at CES 2013 in Las Vegas, the Japanese company Sony unveiled two premium smartphones. More attention was paid to the Sony Ixperia Z smartphone, enclosed in a thin, glass and waterproof case. Another model, called the Xperia ZL, is very similar to the Xperia Z in terms of technical characteristics, but still different. The Zet El model cannot boast of dust and moisture resistance, but it has the largest ratio of display area to front side area of ​​all existing phones, i.e. it is the smallest 5-inch phone on earth (at the date of announcement).

Smartphone overview

Specifications Sony Xperia ZL

• Dimensions: 131.7 x 69.8 x 9.8mm
• Weight: 151g
• Available colors: black, white
• Networks: GSM 900/1800/1900, 3G, LTE
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ8064) Quad Core 1.5GHz
• GPU: Adreno 320
• RAM: 2 GB
• Built-in memory: 16 GB
• Card slot: microSD up to 32 GB
• Operating system: Google Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
• Display: 5-inch LCD, 1920x1080 pixels, multi-touch up to 10 touches
• Rear camera: 13 MP with Exmor RS sensor
• Front camera: 2 MP with Exmor R sensor
• Battery capacity: 2370 mAh
• Interfaces: IrDA, USB, Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth, TV-out, MHL
• Navigation: GPS (A-GPS) and GLONASS
• Other: accelerometer, proximity sensor, light sensor, gyroscope, magnetometer

As the company itself notes, the manufacturer, creating the Xperia ZL smartphone, the engineers tried to remove all unnecessary details in order to focus the attention of users on the 5-inch display. Apparently, the engineers succeeded, because the phone stands out with its compact size against the background of other 5-inch devices, while the display of the device itself occupies a record 76 percent of the front panel. However, the thickness of the ZL model is almost 2 millimeters thicker than the Z model - 9.8 mm versus 7.9 mm. Although, what is the difference of less than 2 millimeters? The dimensions of the smartphone are as follows: 131.6 x 69.3 x 9.8. Weight 151 grams.

In 2013, the company decided to move on to a new design concept. Previously, it was the Iconic Identity concept (NXT series) - many remember those models for the transparent insert in the lower part of the case. Then there was a series of devices in the "arc" style with a slight bend in the form of an arch, which first appeared at Sony Ericsson in the "Xperia arc" model.

Now in the smartphone Xperia Zeth El a new balanced design was implemented OmniBalance... The new concept makes the apparatus symmetrical. The back panel is made of plastic, which has a corrugated surface. It is noteworthy that the corrugated surface is used only in the black phone. In the white version of the device, the back wall is made of soft-touch plastic. The perimeter frame of the device is made of wear-resistant glass-filled polyamide. The device lies comfortably in the hand and does not slip.

On the right side of the device, in an ideal place, there is a “proprietary” aluminum power button, which fits perfectly right under the thumb of the right hand; a little higher is the volume rocker, also made of aluminum. It's nice that the power button was not placed on top, since it would be very problematic to reach it while holding the phone in one hand. Below the power button is a mechanical button to start the camera. On the top there is a 3.5 mm headphone jack; on the left side there is a place for a microUSB connector (with MHL), with which the smartphone is charged and communicates with the computer.

The device is available in two colors: black and white.

The basis of the bezel of the "ZL" model is a new display with a diagonal of 5 inches and Full HD resolution. The pixel density is 443 ppi, i.e. more than the famous Retina iPhone 4 / 4S / 5. Note that each pixel of this device has 3 subpixels, unlike the PenTile pixels of Samsung, where there are only 2 subpixels. The pixel in Xperia ZL is an independent unit, and a pixel, for example, in the Samsung Galaxy S4, can only work fully together with neighboring pixels, which complement each other (they are different).

The proprietary technology of the company was used in the production of the screen. Reality Display no air gap, which brings the touch panel closer to the display.

1. Glass
2. Removed air layer
3. Sensory layer
4. Display

The OptiContrast panel improves image clarity in bright sunlight and reduces glare. Thanks to such a panel, the borders of the screen are practically invisible when the phone is turned off in black.

Another technology, Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2, mostly relevant when viewing photos and videos. It enhances the contrast, makes the image on the screen brighter and clearer.

The whites are bright and the blacks are deep and almost rivals Super AMOLED displays in saturation. The color saturation changes slightly when the viewing angle is changed. But even such a small flaw does not spoil the overall positive impression of the display.

The main Sony Xperia ZL camera has a resolution of 13 megapixels. The world's first sensor for mobile devices is installed in the smartphone Exmor RS which supports shooting HDR video, thanks to which excellent pictures and videos are obtained in difficult conditions, when there are very bright areas in the frame at the same time and, on the contrary, are too dark. HDR allows you to expand the dynamic range, so you will not lose detail in the shade or in the sun when shooting.

There are many different modes in the camera settings, among which it is worth noting Superior Auto mode... It automatically recognizes shooting conditions, light levels, etc. If necessary, HDR and noise reduction modes can be automatically activated.

But that's not all ... The camera was equipped with all sorts of other features. There is shooting of panoramic photos (technology Sweep panorama), the ability to shoot photo in video mode and a burst mode that allows you to take as many pictures as you want at 10 frames per second (the pictures taken in this mode have a resolution of 9 megapixels).

The camera in this device is one of the main advantages over its competitors. The pictures are decent, there is almost no noise. It cannot be said that the ZL's camera is the best on the phone market (it still falls short of the Nokia 808 PureView), but it is undoubtedly one of the best.

In the lower right corner on the front panel, which is somewhat unusual, there is a front camera with a resolution of 2 megapixels with an Exmor R sensor. The front cameras are mainly installed at the top, although such a “bottom” arrangement has been encountered before. The front camera, just like the rear camera, can record video in Full HD resolution and take pictures in HDR.

Xperia ZL / Z - the first smartphones of the company, which are built on the platform of the top-end, but already inferior to the laurel of the chipset - a quad-core processor Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ8064) with a clock frequency of 1.5 GHz. This processor works asynchronously, i.e. its cores start and shut down depending on the load, which can significantly save battery power. The same processor has another important function - it has a built-in LTE / 4G modem that supports the frequencies of Russian operators.

The Adreno 320 GPU helps the processor handle 3D graphics.

The device has a module with 2 GB of RAM. The fixed amount of built-in flash memory is 16 GB. Fortunately, the smartphone provides support for microSD memory cards (officially up to 32 GB, but the device perfectly recognizes 64 GB flash drives).

Xperia ZL may now be a new impetus for the Japanese corporation. The gadget is very similar to the Xperia Z: it has the same design and finish, but does not have IP57 certification.

Main disadvantages:

• non-removable battery;
• weak camera;
• slightly thicker than the Xperia Z
• questionable rear-panel build quality and aesthetics.

The difference between the Xperia Z and the Xperia ZL essentially boils down to different sizes, finishes, and security. The plastic case here doesn't look as good as glass, but it does have its advantages. Water resistance is, of course, a significant plus, but not everyone needs it.

The Sony Xperia ZL comes in a box identical to the Xperia Z smartphone. Note that it comes with an A / C adapter, microUSB cable and a headset with an extra pair of headphones.

The gadget is a 5-inch smartphone with the smallest footprint. Its dimensions are 131.6x69.3x9.8 mm. The closest competitors are tall: the Xperia Z is 139mm, the Galaxy S4 is 136.6mm and the One is 137.4mm.

However, the Xperia ZL is the thickest of all the listed smartphones at 9.8mm. But these features are not inconvenient. The device is comfortable to use.

One of the significant disadvantages is the low class of finishing, the lack of an elegant design. But this, of course, is not a cause for concern, since the plastic looks quite good.

The smartphone is one of the most compact gadgets with a 5-inch Full HD screen. Compared to the Xperia Z, the new phone has significantly smaller top and bottom bezels on the front. Perhaps this is the reason for the location of the front camera in the lower right corner. This is, of course, unusual, but such a solution has already been seen in N9. The bezels around the display have also been reduced to a minimum.

Hardware buttons are displayed on the screen.

Above the screen, you can see the speaker and the company logo. Sony smartphones are usually shipped from the factory with a scratch-resistant glass screen protector, and the Xperia ZL is no exception.

The back panel is made of plastic, the patterned texture of which makes the phone easier to use, as it grips securely in the hand. But at the same time, we note. What it looks like is quite sticky. On the back there is a 13-megapixel camera lens, which protrudes slightly above the surface. Next to it is the speaker grill and LED flash.

A noise-canceling microphone with the Xperia logo was placed above the lens.

The panel looks like it is removable, but it is not. In order to access the microSIM card slots and, you need to open the flap at the very bottom of the smartphone. This is not only physically uncomfortable, but also aesthetically uncomfortable.

The build quality is good.

There is a microUSB port on the left side of the phone, which does not have a dongle, unlike the Xperia Z.

On the right, you'll find a paired volume rocker at the top, a power / lock button, and a two-step camera control button.

It's always handy to have a separate camera shutter button on your smartphone.

At the top of the Sony Xperia ZL there is only a 3.5mm headphone jack.

In the lower left corner there is a special eyelet for the lace.

All in all, the Sony Xperia ZL is quite comfortable to use, with the controls well laid out and very responsive.

Performance and software

The smartphone uses a Snapdragon APQ8064 S4 Pro chipset with 4 Krait cores clocked at 1.5GHz, an Adreno 320 graphics accelerator and 2GB of RAM. As we expected, the gadget scores the same benchmarks as the Xperia Z.

Even despite the more powerful chipsets (for example, the Snapdragon 600), on which the Galaxy S4 and Optimus G Pro smartphones are based, our phone still has sufficient performance to handle even the most difficult applications without problems.

The Sony Xperia ZL finished fourth in Benchmark Pi, Linpack and AnTutu tests, and in the Quadrant it took fifth place.

Interestingly, in GeekBench 2, our smartphone scored fewer points than the Xperia Z.

When testing the gadget in GLBenchmark with a fixed resolution, the Xperia ZL did not disappoint, being in the same place with the Xperia Z.

In the important Epic Citadel test, the gadget showed excellent results, comparable to other flagship devices.

The Sony Xperia ZL uses Google Chrome as a browser, which has become much faster after the last update and showed a result of 1290 ms in the Sun Spider test, being faster than the Xperia Z, Optimus G and Nexus 4.

In BrowserMark 2 and Vellamo, the smartphone took 4th place.

As a result, the Sony Xperia ZL performed well.

The gadget runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean operating system.

Built-in memory - 16 GB. There is support for Wi-Fi, GPS / A-GPS / GLONASS, FM radio, Bluetooth 4.0, 3G and LTE networks.

Screen

Surprisingly, we found that the Sony Xperia ZL has a better screen than the Xperia Z. Given that they are both identical in spec (5-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and 441 ppi), they are made by the same the manufacturer, but we assumed that this is due to a single deviation, and not because Sony has developed a separate screen for the Xperia ZL.

The TFT display is based on Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 technology, which increases contrast and sharpness, reduces noise and saturates colors for a more pleasing look.

The contrast is really good. Nevertheless, the screen is inferior in this indicator to the HTC One, LG Optimus G Pro, HTC Butterfly, not to mention the Super on the Samsung Galaxy S4.

The gadget has not very large viewing angles.

Sunlight readability is good.

Camera

Sony Xperia ZL is equipped with a 13-megapixel camera that can take pictures with a resolution of 4128x3096 pixels. However, if you use Enhanced Auto by default, you will only get a resolution of 3920x2940 pixels (that is, a 12-megapixel image).

The difference between the improved automatic mode and the normal mode is that the gadget itself tries to determine what kind of scene it is filming and will set all the image parameters accordingly. This includes saturation, contrast, metering mode. In normal mode, only the exposure is automatically set, but you can experiment with other settings.

Improved automatic mode informs about how the gadget will adjust the camera and you can easily intervene if you think that the picture will not be of very high quality. But our experience shows that the settings were good almost all the time. So if you're not a photography enthusiast, it's best to stick with the enhanced auto mode.

The Xperia ZL smartphone offers all kinds of features including face detection, Smile Shutter, geo-tagging, touch capture and mode.

The improved auto mode produces photos with pleasing, albeit slightly oversaturated, colors. Fine details are clearly visible, the noise level is average, and the dynamic range and contrast are excellent.

Overall, the results are good, although we would not say there is a noticeable advantage over the good 8MP cameras.

If you switch to normal mode, you will get images that look more natural, not oversaturated. This will give you more headroom if you plan on processing your photos later.

We also took panoramic shots. It turned out to be a very good panorama.

The Sony Xperia ZL is capable of capturing Full HD video at 30 frames per second. The gadget also offers HDR for video shooting.

We were disappointed that the Xperia ZL can capture photos while recording video, but only at 1MP resolution. This, however, is not very significant.

The video shows very good detail. The bitrate hovers around 17 Mbps.

Below is an example of a recording.

The HDR advantage isn't always as clearly visible as we hoped, but it still adds some detail in the highlights.

An example of shooting with HDR.

Battery

The smartphone comes with a 2370 mAh non-removable battery, which is 40 mAh more than the Xperia Z.It's a bit surprising that according to the official information, the battery is rated for only 13 hours of battery life in 3G talk mode and up to 500 hours of standby time. (versus 14 hours and 530 hours for the Xperia Z, respectively). It is possible that different displays can explain the situation. But our dedicated battery test also showed the Xperia ZL to be less durable.

So, the Sony Xperia ZL showed a result of 44 hours of battery life (while the gadget uses 2 hours for talking, an hour for watching videos and an hour for surfing the web per day), which is 4 hours shorter than the Xperia Z. But it's still decent. result.

When tested separately, the following data was obtained: the battery lasts for 15 hours 22 minutes of talks over 3G networks, for 6 hours 4 minutes of web surfing and for 5 hours 28 minutes of watching videos.

You also need to take into account that the smartphone has a special endurance mode developed by the company and allows you to get much better battery life results.

Price

The cost of Sony Xperia ZL in the Russian market is 27,490 rubles.

Sony Xperia ZL video review:

3G, Android 4.4, 5 ", 1920x1080, 16GB, 151g, 13MP camera, Bluetooth

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