Official deputy flag officer. Review of the Sony Xperia ZL smartphone

Information about the make, model, and alternative names of the specific device, if available.

Design

Information about the dimensions and weight of the device, presented in different units of measurement. Materials used, colors offered, certificates.

SIM card

The SIM card is used in mobile devices to store data that certifies the authenticity of mobile service subscribers.

Mobile networks

A mobile network is a radio system that allows multiple mobile devices to communicate with each other.

Mobile communication technologies and data transfer speeds

Communication between devices on mobile networks is carried out using technologies that provide different data transfer rates.

Operating system

An operating system is a system software that manages and coordinates the operation of hardware components in a device.

SoC (System on Chip)

A system on a chip (SoC) includes all the most important hardware components of a mobile device on one chip.

Built-in memory

Each mobile device has built-in (non-removable) memory with a fixed capacity.

Memory cards

Memory cards are used in mobile devices to increase the storage capacity for storing data.

Screen

The screen of a mobile device is characterized by its technology, resolution, pixel density, diagonal length, color depth, etc.

Sensors

Different sensors perform different quantitative measurements and convert physical indicators into signals that a mobile device can recognize.

Rear camera

The main camera of a mobile device is usually located on its back panel and may be combined with one or more secondary cameras.

Front camera

Smartphones have one or more front cameras of various designs - a pop-up camera, a rotating camera, a cutout or hole in the display, an under-display camera.

Audio

Information about the type of speakers and audio technologies supported by the device.

Radio

The radio of the mobile device is a built-in FM receiver.

Location determination

Information about the navigation and location technologies supported by your device.

WiFi

Wi-Fi is a technology that provides wireless communication for transmitting data over close distances between various devices.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a standard for secure wireless data transfer between various devices of different types over short distances.

USB

USB (Universal Serial Bus) is an industry standard that allows different electronic devices to exchange data.

HDMI

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a digital audio/video interface that replaces older analog audio/video standards.

Headphone jack

This is an audio connector, also called an audio jack. The most widely used standard in mobile devices is the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Connecting devices

Information about other important connection technologies supported by your device.

Browser

A web browser is a software application for accessing and viewing information on the Internet.

Video file formats/codecs

Mobile devices support different video file formats and codecs, which respectively store and encode/decode digital video data.

Battery

Mobile device batteries differ from each other in their capacity and technology. They provide the electrical charge necessary for their functioning.

Amazingly compact phone with 5-inch display

Is it possible to make the display larger without increasing the size of the phone? Xperia smartphone Sony's ZL is a revolution in design. The largest on at the moment a phone display that fits in your pocket. Having optimized the design of the phone, Sony engineers increased the size of the display, while the phone remained quite compact. The result is a smartphone with an optimal ratio of screen diagonal and the size of the phone itself. And what appeared instead of a wide frame? The largest display. And also an incredible world of entertainment that is about to explode beyond the phone.

Amazing photo and video quality in any lighting
Our smartphone cameras are built with the same technology and components as Sony's best cameras, so you can take the sharpest photos and videos, anytime, anywhere.

One touch to access a world of entertainment
Discover the simple and quick way Transfer music and photos from your smartphone wirelessly. One-touch screen mirroring* with NFC technology lets you easily view everything on your phone on your TV. Just touch your phone to the remote control remote control BRAVIA® and your photos or music playlists will appear on the TV screen. No wires, no buttons - no complications.

Incredibly powerful smartphone
Quad core Snapdragon processor™ S4 Pro delivers ultra-fast performance, unparalleled graphics, and efficient battery life. Get directions using Google Maps. Stream the latest YouTube clips using LTE technology. Or download newly released apps and get started right away. Get everything you need right now.

Longer battery life
STAMINA Battery Mode provides better battery management and increases your phone's standby time by four times or more*. When the screen turns off, your phone automatically closes unused, power-consuming apps and launches them only when the screen turns back on.

Sound for entertainment
Complete with Xperia phone™ ZL you get a high quality stereo headset.
Sony's MH-EX300AP headset features superb sound quality that lets you enjoy sound that's close to the original.
Enjoy music, games and movies to the fullest. A comfortable mini headset with in-ear headphones allows you to enjoy high-quality sound during your entertainment. And if they call you or send you a message, you will know about it immediately.

Sony Xperia Z how and any flagship was doomed to close attention from the press long before it went on sale. And there are reasons for this: besides 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 case, the bonus of which can be considered compactness.

Technical specifications Sony Xperia ZL

What's in the box

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

Case and design

Marketers love the prefix “most.” It was also applied to the Sony Xperia ZL. In the phrase “the world’s smallest smartphone with a five-inch screen.” This is probably true: 132x69x10 millimeters is not much compared to other lucky owners large screens. Although one hesitates to call the ZL “small” when you see smartphones with more modest diagonals next to them.

Together with iPhone 4s

Such 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 this also explains the strange placement 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 peephole on top. In the end, there was a place here for the Sony logo and the voice speaker (well, moving it from here to save space would have been completely strange, really).

The corrugated plastic that protects the rear of the smartphone is not nearly as impressive as the glass surface of the Xperia Z, but it is practical: no slipping, no annoying fingerprints. It contains a camera with flash and a sound speaker. The entire cover is non-removable, but you won’t have to use the “magic key”, like in the iPhone, to install a SIM card or memory card. Sony, in my opinion, acted very wisely by providing the lid with a retractable “hatch”, under which the necessary connectors are hidden.

But you can’t get to the battery yourself, alas. Metal strips 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 side. This is a volume rocker closer to the top, access to the camera is at the bottom, and a round metal button in the center is responsible for turning the power on and off.

Personally, I don't find it very comfortable as I prefer left-handed controls. But it seems to me that this arrangement is not suitable for anyone who is right-handed, but only for those with 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 its size and weight (151 grams) indicate that the Sony Xperia ZL is a smartphone more likely for men. Its design is neutral and pleasant, not too flashy, but extremely neat. Among the cosmetic features, I would like to note the presence of a strip-shaped LED under the screen. It glows green while charging, and when you view photos, this smart light lights up in the dominant color of the current photo. I don’t know why, but it turns out funny. It’s a pity that the light can’t dance to the beat of the music, as is sometimes found in various models.

Screen

The affairs of smartphone manufacturers are wonderful. Honestly, I don’t quite understand why it was necessary to install such a screen in such an expensive and fully equipped model. Moreover, this also applies to the Xperia ZL, and even the flagship Z, the cost of which can cause convulsions in most inhabitants of our latitudes. Of course, the screen has its advantages. This is a large area, high sensitivity, resolution of 1920x1080 pixels with an excellent pixel density of 441 ppi... All this would be just wonderful if it were not for the unnatural color rendition, low brightness and completely non-black black color.

The usually dull screen is somewhat transformed when watching videos or pictures: the mysterious Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 mode is turned on, making life, or rather some objects on the screen, bright to the point of hurting the eyes. In this mode, the inversion of colors when turning is especially noticeable, and in a very specific way. For example, a bright red jacket with minor deviations became acid pink. I don’t want to mislead readers by sharply criticizing the screen: it’s not bad at all, it just doesn’t correspond to the class of the model 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 present graphs with measurements taken using a Datacolor Spyder4 colorimeter.

System

Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean After some time it will be updated to version 4.2. The Sony 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 brought up by hovering your finger over the screen of one, after which you can add widgets and applications to it, as well as choose a background and theme. And, of course, add a new desktop.

Virtual keys are located directly on the screen, the right one, which calls up a list of active programs, also provides access to the so-called “small applications”. A calculator, on-screen notes, sound recorder, timer and remote control are pre-installed. Others can be found on Google Play if desired.

Among branded applications I would like to mention Walkman. The music player has a lot of settings, allows you to create playlists and fine-tune the sound of tracks using an 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 an “improver” to them.

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

Performance

As befits a decent flagship this season, the Sony Xperia ZL has a quad-core one and a half gigahertz Qualcomm S4 Pro APQ8064 processor with an Adreno320 accelerator and 2 gigabytes of RAM. Naturally, the operating system interface flies, like the vast majority of programs. Frankly speaking, I have not come across an application that can fully load this system.

Performance tests agree with me and confirm the leading position of the Sony Xperia ZL. If he is not the fastest, he is certainly among them. 16 gigabytes disk space– not at all an indicator of super-capacity today. But support for memory cards with a capacity of up to 64 GB radically changes things, leaving all sorts of such claims unfounded: there’s enough for photos, games and movies.

Camera

Fashion for 13-megapixel cameras in flagship smartphones It seems to me somewhat unjustified and ridiculous. It would be better if there were 8 of them, but the same as in the iPhone! May Apple haters forgive me for my expressed weakness, but I really don’t understand what’s stopping Android smartphone manufacturers from bringing the quality of built-in optics closer to that of the latest Apple devices. Hardly awe or fear of non-compliance with patents... 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, perform 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. Also, it seemed to me that manual focusing on objects does not always work correctly.

In short, the camera is noticeably inferior to that of Samsung Galaxy S4, and up to 8 megapixel iPhone sensor 4s/5 is a long way off for her.

Sound

Sound was once the strong point of Sony devices, and to some extent it remains so today. I can't say that the Xperia ZL has the best speaker I've heard, but it's definitely not bad. At least because it is loud and clean enough. You will hear the call, you can also watch a movie. True, there is no bass, but hardly anyone seriously considers listening to music through a speaker. There are headphones for these purposes. And with them, complete ones, or even better - some higher class, the smartphone can be used as a full-fledged one music player. It is better to listen to rock and classics as is, without equalizers, but electronics lovers can experiment with sound settings, including the ClearAudio+ function 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 if we're talking about about tests or toys. But even in normal operating mode, life-saving warmth spreads across the back of the smartphone, warming your hands. This is due to the location of the battery closer to the screen, and the main hardware, 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, we should remember: this is a smartphone with insatiable flagship hardware and a large FullHD screen; it’s not easy to feed them. Let's say, in my usual mode of working with a smartphone (20 minutes of calls, SMS, sometimes the Internet, music and shooting with a camera), the Xperia ZL barely survived until the evening. In the settings you can find several modes to save energy. For example, Stamina, which turns off data transfer when the screen goes dark. Moreover, if you want some applications to still implement it, you can add them to the exception list. You can also activate the energy saving mode and set a certain charge level threshold (for example, 20%), after reaching which the smartphone automatically turns off a number of functions. For example, vibration alert, GPS, Wi-Fi. In general, if you put up with it and pay due attention to the device settings, you can make it work a little longer.

Competitors

The competitive environment of a smartphone is quite natural: these are other flagships of famous companies. Comparable in cost HTC One Clad in a metal body, the Galaxy s4, although not a sleek design, has an excellent screen. At the same time, both competitors are somewhat more affordable (not to mention the LG Optimus G), so unless the starting price starts to drop rapidly, it will face a rather difficult fate.

Bottom line

Sony Xperia ZL turned out to be an interesting, albeit controversial smartphone. It seems to me that anyone who is determined to buy a flagship model will not fight for those 500 hryvnia, which is approximately 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 clear competitive advantage as the Xperia Z. Like any flagship, this smartphone is very productive, well-built, and has a large FullHD screen, which, in fact, is its biggest drawback. Otherwise - high-quality body materials, decent design, relatively good camera and good sound– make the Xperia ZL a worthy choice for those who buy flagships and love Sony's style.

4 reasons to buy Sony Xperia ZL

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

3 reasons not to buy Sony Xperia ZL

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

In order not to waste either your or my time, I’ll immediately say the main thing: inside this device and the Sony Xperia Z are twins. The same processors, the same set of applications, the same delivery package - only for the ZL there is no docking station. Accordingly, in this material I will focus on the most important differences, and about performance and a number of other parameters you can read in Sony review Xperia Z.

In the comments I heard many opinions from different people, saying that not everything is so bad and you can live with the Z display. Like, the camera here is better than the iPhone, you just need to shoot in normal conditions, and you can get used to the size, and everything else. It’s an interesting practice, buying a smartphone and then getting used to it - it’s not entirely clear to me. But Sony did the right thing by creating two very different devices, initially I liked the Sony Xperia Z (despite 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 that size still matters. Let's in this material Let's talk about a smartphone that is not a flagship. But it could become Sony’s flagship in terms of sales.

Design, construction

Compared to 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 the ZL is in many ways more interesting than the Z. Ribbed and velvety plastic on the battery cover, a protruding Xperia inscription on the back, a beautiful indicator under the display, no plugs. To insert headphones into a plug or microUSB cable, you don’t need to pry off all these hatches - it’s convenient. There are controversial decisions here; the lid on the back provides access to the slots for a memory card and SIM card, somewhat reminiscent of a trunk. It is attached with some kind of weak rubber band, so do not yank the lid too hard. When it snaps into place, it does not play and does not move from side to side, the entire rear end like a monolith, it is impossible to bend the battery cover. Both Z and ZL are wonderfully assembled, but the ZL also fits very well in the hand. Dimensions are 131.6 x 69.3 x 9.8 mm, weight 151 grams, heavier than the iPhone 4S. It’s a weighty block; I personally like this heaviness. Well, back to the size again, after walking around with the Z for a week, the ZL seems very small, your thumb reaches any corner of the five-inch display. In addition to black, there is also a white option, I like both.

In order to place such a display in such a compact body, engineers had to resort to a number of tricks. For example, the front camera had to be moved down, I already talked about the rear hatch, but its appearance is connected precisely with attempts to make the body smaller. By the way, at the bottom left there is a traditional groove for attaching a strap; Sony can’t do without it.

I won’t talk for a long time about the design of the ZL, it doesn’t look quite traditional for Sony, from the back it generally resembles HTC, but all this is when you look at the pictures. In real life, the device is unique, 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's also a camera button below, which is nice because you can quickly activate it and take a photo (or record a video).

The indicator light is well made, in the traditional Sony style, a sort 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 included headset here is the same as with the Sony Xperia Z, based on the EX-300. For Sony, this does not cost anything, and users will certainly appreciate the concern; listening to music is much more interesting with such a headset, and even better, install a third-party player right away.

The SIM card format is microSIM, so iPhone 5 users will need an adapter if they want to change the device. Another (in fact, the main) difference from the Sony Xperia Z is the lack of protection from 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 main parameters they seem to be the same. This is TFT, 5-inch diagonal, resolution 1920 x 1080 pixels, but here the viewing angles seem to be better, the colors are more saturated, although the black is the same. I don’t know how Sony works with suppliers, but I really want to believe that the company will be able to defeat worthless businessmen - after all, there is so much talk about Bravia and so on, and the displays are from Samsung, HTC and Apple is better a hundred times. So, if compared with the Z, the screen is a little better, but if compared with its competitors, it does not stand up to criticism. When looking at it point-blank, everything is fine; if you change the angle, the image becomes faded.

The display is covered by glass, there is a factory film on the glass, I don’t recommend peeling it off, the Sony inscription may also come off. Widgets, wallpapers, etc. are the same as those on the Sony Xperia Z.

Nuances

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

As for performance, memory and other things, everything is exactly the same as with 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 entirely clear what to load it with. Unless you install various benchmarks and run them around the clock - I want to believe that Sony owners don’t do such nonsense. I would like to remind you that all official descriptions say that the device supports microSD memory cards up to 32 GB, this is not true - apparently, the people from Sony did not have a 64 GB card. I tried it, everything works. Once again I’ll give here a link to the Z review; you should go there for details.

The operating time is the same as that of the Z; when using Chrome, the battery “melts” before your eyes, so it’s better to choose a different browser. If you use ZL only for conversations and SMS, turn on the Stamina mode, you can get two or even three days of work - just don’t forget to turn down the brightness, turn off all automatic synchronization, positioning systems, and so on. Full charging time from USB is about three hours, so it is better to use the included power supply. In normal mode, my device lasted until the evening, but I didn’t deny myself anything and didn’t turn on Stamina.

The speaker here is louder than that of the Z, this applies to both normal and conversational calls. It is also more comfortable to talk, the interlocutors did not complain about the quality of speech transmission, the volume reserve seemed to me greater than that of the Z.

The camera here is the same as the Z, I can safely say that the iPhone 5 takes better pictures and this does not depend on any conditions, settings, or weather. Of all the effects that the ZL has, I most often used only the burst mode; oddly enough, the photos generally turn out better than in normal mode. I’ll give you a few pictures and videos from the ZL here, you can judge for yourself.

Conclusions

The device has a very piercing vibration, I have not seen 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. But when the silent mode is turned on, you simply won’t be able to receive a call; the ZL literally jumps out of your pocket.

I would like a screen like the HTC One, I liked it better than the SGS4, it’s kind of soft and velvety, it doesn’t hurt my eyes. A team of programmers could work here, fix all sorts of small bugs, polish things up, make some things as simple and convenient as branded software for controlling home appliances. This is where the camera needs to be polished. Engineers need to work on the speaker so it's not so shrill. And use a different motor so that the vibration matches the weight and design of the device. This would include thick instructions so that people know how to use a smartphone with Android, and a sticker on the packaging about LTE. And in general, manufacturers build a hell of a lot of different things into smartphones, but don’t bother to convey to consumers possible use cases - there are a lot of functions, many are not used simply because people are not aware.

There are a lot of things that could be improved here in order to get candy at the end. Although the ZL turned out to be more interesting in the main 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 don’t be lazy, hold both of them, weigh them - in the photo Z is more beautiful, in life ZL is preferable. Moreover, there are no plugs.

The smartphone costs approximately 27,500 rubles; with the release of SGS4, Sony will have to reconsider the pricing of its flagships - although this is unlikely to save the Z and ZL from the marketing pressure. Rest assured, Samsung will spend such an advertising budget on the “four” that at every corner and from every crevice they will advise you to buy it. This is neither good nor bad, it’s just a given, whoever has the bigger budget has the truth. Since the announcement of the Z and ZL, I never tire of repeating that the devices themselves turned out to be quite good - moreover, the stars aligned very well for Sony. There were three months to prepare the market, launch, but now we need to quickly sell, sell, sell, before the terrible SGS4 came. Gotta sell and work hard the following models, we must look for the next gap - a few months of life, then months of silence.

It takes a genius to change this situation. A genius capable of sending bad suppliers with bad screens to one place, a genius capable of dispelling all smoke screens in the form of complicated settings, a genius who does not forgive even the slightest mistakes in software. Let's hope that Sony will find one and Z together with ZL will become the last step on the path to something truly outstanding, incomparable, unparalleled. It's time already. We're all tired of waiting.

P.S. Try typing ZL in Russian, the result is interesting.

Sergey Kuzmin ()

In January 2013, at the CES 2013 exhibition in Las Vegas, the Japanese company Sony presented two premium smartphone. The Sony Xperia Z smartphone, enclosed in a thin, glass and waterproof case, received more attention. Another model, called 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 screen phone on earth (at the date of announcement).

Smartphone review

Technical specifications Sony Xperia ZL

• Dimensions: 131.7 x 69.8 x 9.8 mm
• Weight: 151 g
• Available colors: black, white
• Networks: GSM 900/1800/1900, 3G, LTE
• Processor: Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ8064) 1.5 GHz
• GPU: Adreno 320
• RAM: 2 GB
• Built-in memory: 16 GB
• Memory 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 manufacturer itself notes, when creating the Xperia ZL smartphone, engineers tried to remove all unnecessary details in order to concentrate users’ attention on the 5-inch display. Apparently, the engineers succeeded, because the phone stands out with its compact size compared to other 5-inch devices, while the device’s display itself occupies a record 76 percent front panel. True, 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 a 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 to a new design concept. Previously, this was the Iconic Identity concept (NXT series) - many remember those models by the transparent insert at the bottom 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 in Sony Ericsson in the Xperia arc model.

Now on your smartphone Xperia Zeth El a new balanced design was implemented OmniBalance. New concept makes the device symmetrical. Rear panel made of plastic with a corrugated surface. It is noteworthy that the corrugated surface is used only in the black device. In the white version of the device, the back wall is made of soft-touch plastic. The frame around the perimeter 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 there is a “branded” aluminum power button in an ideal place, which fits perfectly right under the thumb of the right hand; slightly higher is the volume rocker, also made of aluminum. It’s nice that the power button was not placed on top, since reaching it while holding the phone in one hand would be very problematic. Below the power button is a mechanical button to start the camera. On the top edge 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 charges and communicates with the computer.

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

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

In the production of the screen we used own technology companies Reality Display without an air gap, due to which touchpad located closer to the display.

1. Glass
2. Removed layer of air
3. Touch 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 when the black phone is turned off are practically invisible.

Other technology Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2, is mainly relevant when viewing photos and videos. It increases contrast, making the image on the screen brighter and clearer.

White here it is bright, and the blacks are deep and almost as rich as Super AMOLED displays. Color saturation changes slightly as the viewing angle changes. But even such a small flaw does not spoil the overall positive impression of the display.

Main Sony camera Xperia ZL has a resolution of 13 megapixels. The smartphone has the world's first sensor for mobile devices Exmor RS, which supports shooting HDR video, thanks to which excellent pictures and videos are obtained in difficult conditions, when the frame contains both very bright areas and, on the contrary, too dark ones. HDR allows you to expand the dynamic range, and when shooting you will not lose details either in the shadows or in the sun.

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

But that’s not all... The camera was also equipped with all sorts of other features. There is shooting of panoramic photos (technology Sweep Panorama), the ability to shoot photo in video mode, as well as a burst mode that allows you to take as many photos as you want at 10 frames per second (photos 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 come out decent, with almost no noise. We can’t say that the ZL’s camera is the best on the phone market (after all, it doesn’t reach the Nokia 808 PureView), but it is undoubtedly one of the best.

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

Xperia ZL/Z are the company's first smartphones that are built on the platform of a still top-end, but already inferior 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 allows you to significantly save battery power. The same processor also has another important function - it has a built-in LTE/4G modem that supports frequencies of Russian operators.

Helping the processor handle 3D graphics is the Adreno 320 GPU.

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