Check out our review of the Sony Xperia Z smartphone.
Though it may have been one of the worst-kept secrets of Sony’s press conference, the Xperia Z was officially announced on stage at CES 2013. The newest flagship phone from Sony earns its stripes with specs truly worthy of the superphone moniker.
Both on stage and in the pictures provided by Sony, the Xperia Z looks like a gorgeous phone. Its specs back that theory with a 5-inch screen and 1080p display, which is held by the blocky frame. Powered by the quad-core Qualcomm APQ8064 Snapdragon S4 Pro, the Xperia Z should have plenty of power for anything you may task it with, including high-quality image and video capture.
The rear-facing camera on the Xperia Z features a 13-megapixel lens with Exmor R sensor. When it comes to capturing pictures, the Xperia should be sure to impress, but it seemed like video is what Sony is more excited about. With that powerful camera, the handset is capable of doing HDR video – a first for mobile phones, Sony claims.
Though it won’t be captured in the specs of the phone, it’s worth noting the handset is waterproof. The reason, according to Phil Molyneux, is so “whether it’s blogging in a bathtub, or downloading in a downpour,” you will be able use the Xperia Z. We would really prefer no one vlog from their bathtub, though.
One of the biggest areas of innovation in mobile is with NFC technology, and Sony seems ready for it. The Xperia Z is One Touch enabled, meaning it will interact with other One Touch devices via NFC. In an on-stage demo, the phone was touched to a speaker, which transferred music playing on the handset to the speaker system.
Sony’s previous handsets have pleased most critics and consumers alike. The Xperia Z looks to continue the trend. Though no price has been set, the handset is expected to appear by the end of the first quarter of 2013.
