So we have been lucky enough to have hands on with the Sony Xperia Z at the weekend (more content coming soon) and there were a number of questions that had been asked so we attempt to answer them here.
Does it support 64GB MicroSDXC memory cards?
No, it takes only 32GB microSDHC. Yes, it does, but you have to format the card in the Z for it to read it. (Updated 21/2/13)
Does the device use Corning Gorilla Glass?
Sony does not specify the brand of toughened glass it uses. However the glass it does use has equivalent specifications to Gorilla Glass or Dragontail.
Does the screen washout?
The screen viewing angle’s were not as good in our opinion as some competing devices however it was certainly better than some screens.
Does it have an LED notification light?
Yes. Seemed to be enabled only for charging. Unless we missed it should be easy to notify for messages etc.
What MHL/HDTV cable does it use?
The same cable as was used on the original Samsung Galaxy S II and Note.
http://www.clove.co.uk/samsung-official-mhl-adaptor-eia1uhunbecstd
Does it have a lanyard strap/connector?
Yes
Does it support USB hosting?
Yes
Can you access the camera from the lock screen without entering a PIN code?
No, you have to enter the PIN unless you use the ‘Slide’ lock screen where there is a shortcut.
Is the device better in Black or White?
We had a black unit only so could not make comparison, but its personal opinion.
These answers are based on hands on with a pre-production Xperia Z and the answers to these questions may alter come launch in the UK.
About Jon
Jon:
Great FAQ on Sony Xperia Z. Just a few ones I can ask are:
1. Is the screen LED or other type?
2. From your experience, do the devices get improved from the ones you have used on pre-production to the ones that are launched? This is mostly on lack of some obvious details like LED notification light and 64GB microSDHC capabilities. The same happened with Ativ S but when the final one was released, it had 64GB microSDHC capability.
3. What is your experience in terms of battery performance on the pre-production device? Kindly give the details of your usage and applications used most for the battery performance experience.
Paul,
In response to your questions:
1. I am not entirely sure – I will need to check on this for you.
2. Absolutely, it is half the reason pre-production devices exist so feedback is given to the manufacturer. For example our device wanted to keep reporting errors etc back to Sony. Our device did have issues so this is why we stress that the content we bring you is from a pre-production model as a final model will likely be better.
LED notification lights could be included on the final model, I think many like notifications more than those who do not but apps like LightFlow could assist with this.
Ambroos commented that the 64GB card may work if formatted from the phone. We did not try this simply because we were using the 64GB card and it had content on it and read fine in a camera and PC. There shouldn’t be the need to format the card. Having said this for some this may be ok and thus a 64GB may work.
3. It isn’t too fair to comment on battery life as we were using the device a lot and it wasn’t really under what I would class as normal usage conditions. Despite this the battery did seem to hold up fairly well and we certainly managed from 10am through to about 6pm without the need to charge it. During this time we had WiFi, Bluetooth on and off, we were connecting accessories and capturing images and video (not too much of this though) as well as testing different applications.
Whilst not conclusive it is fair to say that it looks like the battery could be comparable with the Samsung S3 under normal conditions, whether this includes the use of Battery STAMINA mode to do this we would need more time to test.
Have you actually tried a 64GB SD card? My Xperia T is not supposed to support them but they still work perfectly (after formatting them from the phone). It’d surprise me a lot if they wouldn’t work on the Xperia Z.
We did try a 64GB card in the phone and it came up blank SD when it was being read in a camera and PC fine. It might be that formatting it from the phone will make it work but should users have to do this?
Hi Paul and the team, as you may’ve guessed from my posts on the camera samples, the camera is probably the main selling point of a phone to me. You’ve had a while with it, is it comparable/better/worse than competitors in your opinion?
The Xperia S, my current daily driver, has a generally superb camera but it struggles in low light and in high contrast areas. I note from released picks that the level of noise is considerably lower in the Z but, to my eyes, the detail is a little soft. Your thoughts?
Tim,
Each phone camera seems to have positive and negatives. We didn’t feel it necessarily stood miles above anything else nor did we feel it was inferior. I personally generally prefer the colours on Sony camera images. I think there is scope for slightly sharper images from the Z.Also in places the content of the brown bracken appeared a lot darker than it was in reality as if it struggles with the low light but also over compensated on the colours, in trying to make it richer made an already dark shot darker.
The camera on ours was slightly glitchy so it is bound to improve and I think really only fair to make a judgement on the final production unit.
ıs there a notification LED like S (colorful and includes messaging) or is it just for battery?