The Sony Xperia Z is a 5-inch Android-based smartphone made by Sony Mobile
Communications. The phone was first announced at CES in January 2013 and was first released on 9 February 2013 in
Japan.
 |
| Xperia Z Model C6602 |
This phone boasts a design that's as tough as it is elegant, encased in resplendent glass. It's not just a
pretty face; it's certified IP55 and IP57 for water resistance up to one meter, keeping its cool for up to 30 seconds
underwater. Both the front and back panels sport tempered glass with an anti-shatter film coating. It is available in
various models based on locales and
wireless carriers:
- C6602 (worldwide with UMTS only)
- C6603 (worldwide with UMTS and LTE)
- C6606 (T-Mobile U.S. with UMTS and LTE)
- C6616 (Bell Canada with UMTS and LTE)
- SO-02E (NTT Docomo Japan with UMTS and LTE)
I ordered the C6602 in pitch black on March 13, 2013 when it was available for
pre-order in Flipkart India for Rs. 39,190 inclusive of all taxes. The shipping was free, and I had the device in my
hands on March 20.
The box included the handset with the battery built in, a travel charger, a USB cable,
Sony earplugs with extra ear buds and the user manual. Flipkart also shipped a pair of Sony MDR-ZX300
over-the-head stereo headphones in the package.
Setup
Setting up the device is simple. Just pop open the flap on the right to insert
your SIM or USIM card, slide a microSD card into the slot on the left (if you wish), charge the
battery if needed and you are good to start Sony's latest flagship smartphone.
Calling
Making, receiving or rejecting voice and video calls on this phone is a breeze with the
intuitive user
interface. It also allows putting a call on hold, dialing a 2nd number and setting up a multiparty conference call,
call forwarding, call waiting, and muting. It also stores the phone numbers of recent received, dialed and missed
calls.
Performance
Running Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) out of the box and later transitioning to KitKat and
Lollipop on a quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait CPU over a Qualcomm APQ8064 Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset with 2 GB RAM, the phone
handles all tasks smoothly. It also ships with a Qualcomm Adreno 320 GPU to handle all the graphics. The transitions
are smooth and effortless, and apps run flawlessly with no visible lag or crashes.
Display
The device has one of the greatest displays available in the market. The capacitive
touch screen display consists of a 5-inch TFT Full HD screen with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels
(~441 ppi density). Powered by a Qualcomm Adreno 320 GPU, the 16M color screen displays pretty crisp and vivid colors
and is
responsive to all touch and gestures.
Audio Quality
In-call audio quality is nothing short of excellent, and music playback offers
impressive clarity, although the loudspeaker could use a tad more volume.
Camera
Armed with a 13MP auto-focus primary camera and LED flash, the Xperia Z
can shoot 13-megapixel photos and full HD videos at resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 pixels at 30 fps. The image quality
is
excellent. The camera features Sony's Exmor RS CMOS image sensor, face
detection, image stabilizer, red-eye reduction, sweep panorama and geo-tagging. There is also a 2MP front (or selfie)
camera.
Internal Storage
With a generous 16 GB internal memory, there's room for a multitude of apps. Need more
space? A microSD or microSDXC memory card can expand storage up to 32 GB, and it handles the load with ease.
Expandable Storage
The phone accepts a microSD or microSDXC memory card to extend the storage up to 32 GB
for storing multimedia files. Loading a 64 GB microSD
with audio, video, and document files of various formats showed no noticeable lag and the device has been able to
handle the file-load smoothly.
Sensors
The Xperia Z isn't just a pretty face; it's got brains too. Embedded sensors include a
magnetometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope sensor, accelerometer, and proximity sensor.
Battery
As one of the major factors in a mobile computing device, the Xperia Z is fueled
by a non-removable 3.7V Sony LIS1502ERPC 2,330 mAh Li-ion
battery built into the casing. The
battery packs enough juice to last a long time even with heavy use. A full charge from zero takes about 5 hours,
ensuring you're always ready to go.
Connectivity
The Model C6602 supports a single micro-SIM card on GSM 2G and / or HSDPA 3G networks.
If you have the other models (C6603, C6606, C6616 or SO-02E) you would also have support for 4G. On the WLAN
front it supports Wi-Fi 802.11 on the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. It also has Bluetooth v4.0, NFC for contactless
payments and DLNA to wirelessly play media on a DLNA-compliant TV. For wired PC connectivity using USB 2.0, it accepts
a MicroUSB data cable which is provided in the box.
FM Radio
If you're a radio enthusiast, the Xperia Z has you covered. Its stereo FM radio data
system receiver lets you groove to your favorite stations. Just keep the headset connected for optimal signal
reception.
Security
The phone allows various ways to unlock, including the following:
- Pattern unlock
- PIN unlock
- Password unlock
SAR (Specific Absorption Rate)
SAR value for the C6602 phone when tested for use at the ear is 0.48 W/kg.
FCC ID
The FCC ID for the C6602 is PY7PM-0280 and the reports are available here.
Warranty
The product comes with a 1-year manufacturer warranty on the device and 6 months of
warranty on the accessories.
Reviews
Critics and users alike have heaped praise on the Xperia Z. TechRadar awarded it a
stellar 4.5 out of 5, while Engadget gave it an impressive 8.3 out of 10. Google users rated it 4.4 out of 5 based on
their experiences. Best Buy customers gave it a 4.2 rating, with an 81% recommendation rate based on 196 customer
reviews. And over on Amazon, it boasts a 4.2 rating based on feedback from 4,400 customers.
 |
| The Xperia Z on SonyMobile.com India |
Conclusion
The Xperia Z is one of the finest smartphones in the market. The build-quality is good,
and the performanceis stellar. There is some bloatware that ships with the device
which I got rid of immediately to free up resources and everything has been fine. Though the price is on the high end,
it is totally worth it.
August 30, 2017 Update: Through an extensive usage over the last ~4 years in
various geographies, I finally replaced the Xperia Z for a Google Pixel device. The device is still working though it
has gotten terribly slow, and the battery dries up pretty quickly. It has never visited a service center, so you see
that the hardware has been very reliable.
The user manual is available here at
ManualsLib, and here at the FCC ID database.
