CODE EXCEPTIONS

It is awards time again and here we take a look at The Sony Xperia Z which has been nominated for a 2013 top phone award.

The Sony Xperia Z is the newest super slim flagship phone from Sony. Recent handsets from Sony have demonstrated promise; the Sony Xperia S and the Sony Xperia T were attractive and performed well. The company is looking to make a huge impact on the smartphone market. They have been advertising here, there, and everywhere. They’ve got themselves into the latest Bond film, and they have apparently “re-invented the phone”.

Sony have broken free from Erickson from a design and manufacture point of view, and their phones since the breakup have provided far more creativity, innovation, and improved technical specifications.

The positives

One of the most innovative features about this phone is that it is water resistant. It can last even if dropped in water, perhaps even up to several minutes or more. The video camera on the phone is excellent without being exceptional; and the music quality is exceptional. This makes it a really good entertainment device. Perhaps, the greatest strength of the phone is its looks. It is striking to say the least. It looks and feels and premium, and Sony have done some real magic to make a rectangular slab into something so beautiful.

The negatives

The phone is certainly pricey, coming in at a minimum of £37 a month on contract for two years. There is no possibility to remove the battery, which is always a bugbear with users who like to carry a spare. The phone also has no Mac capability and there are some bugs that reviewers noticed in trial versions. Not serious, but annoying.

The conclusion

This phone certainly is a brilliant smartphone. It is, however, pricey at over £500, and the camera at 13 megapixels does not do a 13 megapixel job. The price, for me, is a little high. However, this is certainly the best Sony phone produced to date, and represents an amazing opportunity for Sony to go into marketing overdrive as they seem to want to do.

On appearance, the phone has few competitors. On performance, it is not top-notch. There is so much competition in the smartphone market these days. It is important to get both the performance and the appearance right. No doubt a lot of people will be attracted to this phone because of the aesthetics, and most will not be disappointed by the performance.

Business users looking for the best of the best though, are better off going for an HTC One or the up-coming Samsung Galaxy S4.

All in all though, well done to Sony for stepping up their game. Sony have really entered the room with this phone and it looks like they will be able to carve out a niche through people looking for Bondesque phones that look flash and have real sex appeal.