The Sony Xperia Z is a touchscreen enabled Android high-end smartphone designed, developed, and marketed by Sony Mobile.
The phone was announced by Sony at CES 2013 and was released on 9 February 2013 in Japan and 1 March 2013 in the UK. The Xperia Z runs the Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) operating system. The smartphone has Ingress Protection Ratings of IP55 and IP57, making it dust protected, low pressure water jet protected, and waterproof, allowing immersion under 1 metre of water for up to 30 minutes, and features a 13.1 MP Exmor RS camera sensor as well as a full HD (1080p) display, encompassed in Sony's 'Omni-Balance' Design.
A cheaper variant called the Sony Xperia ZL uses the same hardware as the Xperia Z, but sacrifices water resistance for a smaller frame. Another cheaper variant, the Sony Xperia ZR, was announced on 13 May 2013 and is slated to release in "Q2 2013".
In June 2013 images and specifications of a larger phone-tablet hybrid ("phablet") version of Sony Xperia Z, called the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, officially being unveiled on 25 June 2013[9] and is slated to release in "Q3 2013".
On 24 June 2013 the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean software update started rolling out for the Sony Xperia Z.
The phone's dimensions are stated to be 139 x 71 x 7.9 mm and its weight is 146 grams (including battery). It comes with a Lithium-ion battery, rated at 2330 mAh.
The Xperia Z features a 13.1-megapixel rear camera with an Exmor RS sensor, flash, image stabilisation, HDR, face detection (with red-eye reduction), Sweep Panorama, scene recognition and 16x digital zoom, and a 2.2-megapixel front camera with an Exmor R sensor. Both cameras can record video at 1080p.[4]
The smartphone has a capacitive touchscreen with a 5" size, and its resolution is 1920x1080 pixels (1080p) at 443 ppi, with 16 million colors. The screen uses Sony's Mobile Bravia Engine 2 to enhance the picture.
In addition to this, the Xperia Z has a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset, 2 GB RAM memory, 16 GB internal storage flash memory (with approx. 11 GB available to the user) and a microSD card slot which accepts cards up to 64 GB.
| Model | GSM GRPS/EDGE | UMTS (bands) | LTE (bands) | Carrier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6602 | Quad | 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 | None[14] | Unlocked |
| 6603 | Quad | 1, 5, 8 | 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20[15] | Unlocked |
| 6606 | Quad | 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 | 4 | T-Mobile USA |
| 6616 | Quad | Unknown | 4? | Bell-Canada? |
| SO-02E | Quad | 1, 5, 6, 19 | 1, 19, 21 | NTT DoCoMo |
The phone is able to connect to UMTS HSPA+ (bands 1, 3, 5, 8 or bands 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 depending on model), GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz and 4G LTE (bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20 or bands 4, 17 depending on model) networks.
The Xperia Z has a built-in 3.5 mm audio jack for headphones, GPS and GLONASS support, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, HDMI (via MHL),Miracast and NFC, in addition to being DLNA certified. In Japan, it also features an infrared blaster.
The phone is covered on the front and back by tempered glass, where the front is Dragontrail Glass from Asahi Glass Company resin-bonded to the LCD, and the back is Corning Gorilla Glass.
The Xperia Z runs Android 4.2.2, with Sony's custom skin laid on top. Other notable additions to the software include Sony's Media applications - Walkman, Album and Videos. NFC is also a core feature of the device, allowing 'one touch' to mirror what is on the smartphone to compatible TVs or play music on a NFC wireless speaker. Additionally, Xperia Z includes a battery stamina mode[5] which is believed to increase its standby time up to 4 times.
The body is made from a glass-fibre polyamide . It is certified to IP55 and IP57 standards and is dust protected, low pressure water jet protected, and waterproof, allowing immersion under 1 metre of water for up to 30 minutes.
Several Google applications (such as Google Chrome, Google Play, Google search (with voice), Google Maps and Google Talk) already come pre-loaded.