This phone has no curves and for some that maybe in vogue, but I am no fashion guru. After Apple and Samsung perhaps the best known brand is Sony and this offering is the latest one from them to come across my desk courtesy of Vodafone.
Buy Now...
click image to enlarge
The Sony Xperia XZ measures 14.5x7.2x.8cm and weighs 159grams.
Top right on the rear is the camera and just below this the LED flash. The right side has a large on/off button in silver grey. Below this in the same colour as its surround is the volume rocker and even lower a dedicated camera button. The bottom has a USB 3.1 port for charging. Towards the top of the left side is a covered slot which takes the Nano SIM and any micro SD card you use this is stated to be up to 256GB. Finally on top towards the left edge is the 3.5mm socket for headphones.
Startup is a rather slow 36 seconds but shutdown is a rapid 2 seconds.
The inbuilt speakers are better than a lot of other phones and they are positioned above and below the screen.
The viewable screen is 11.4x6.4cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 5.2 inches. The screen resolution is 1080x1920 the same as most desktops in portrait mode.
It runs Android 6.0.1 you get a free 3 month subscription to Google Play Music there are Apps I have not noticed on other Android Phones called Movie Creator, two others are News Suite and Stickers these maybe Apps found on all recent Sony Phones. There are also Word Processor, Spreadsheet and Slide Apps all bearing the Google name.
The rear facing camera is a massive 23MP far more than most standalone cameras and it uses ‘Triple Image Sensing Technology’. It can take 2160p video at 30FPS. The front Selfie camera is also large at 13MP so ladies beware it might will show all those wrinkles.
A full charge from exhausted is around 80 minutes, it has a 2900mAh battery good for a long day of heavy use. It comes with 32GB of storage plus whatever micro SD Card you may use.
The processor is a Snapdragon 820, 64bit Quad Core offering – yes its rapid - .
It is described as being water resistant and as the only possible entry points are the 3.5mm port and the USB 3.1 socket this would mean use in the rain should be fine.
The matt dark blue colour I had seems to be the only choice available the screen surround does not show finger marks and the marks shown on the less shiny screen and not great so it looks smart. The screen is very readable in all lighting conditions.
In my recent reviews of the Huawei P9 featured on its camera ability and here this unit also has an excellent camera this may even be a better all round unit.
I did prefer the camera on the P9 but this one is instantly available via the dedicated camera key and certainly will not let you down.
The Sony Xperia XZ is available from Vodafone with various bundle prices from £20-£90 upfront dependant on the amount of data you want which varies from 1GB-3GB all the tariffs have unlimited UK calls and texts and include 500MB of roaming the monthly cost varies from £37-£42. Full details are available on the first link.
http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/contracts-and-deals/sony-xperia-xz/sku89396
http://www.sonymobile.com/gb/products/phones/xperia-xz/#features
!!
