Features & Specifications
The 5-inch display on the Xperia Z is what Sony calls the “Reality Display”, and boasts of 443ppi. The HTC Butterfly’s SLCD-3 display has the same resolution, but falls slightly short at 441ppi. In terms of real world usage, the Xperia Z’s display is rather good. It is vivid, and brightness levels are fairly adequate. It is slightly reflective, but we are happy to see that Sony has implemented the automatic brightness setting in the Xperia Z, something that was missing in most of the high end Xperia phones from last year. Where the Butterfly’s display has an advantage is in terms of text crispness, and readability of the written word on the display.
The 5-inch display on the Xperia Z is what Sony calls the “Reality Display”, and boasts of 443ppi. The HTC Butterfly’s SLCD-3 display has the same resolution, but falls slightly short at 441ppi. In terms of real world usage, the Xperia Z’s display is rather good. It is vivid, and brightness levels are fairly adequate. It is slightly reflective, but we are happy to see that Sony has implemented the automatic brightness setting in the Xperia Z, something that was missing in most of the high end Xperia phones from last year. Where the Butterfly’s display has an advantage is in terms of text crispness, and readability of the written word on the display.
Better late than never, and that is the perfect way to describe Sony’s journey to the doorstep of a quad-core phone. It took them some time, but they are here in style. The 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor onboard the Xperia Z is the same quad-core chip as seen on the HTC Butterfly and the LG Optimus G. There is 2GB of RAM to help it along. The Butterfly, with this power package, is at the moment, the fastest Android smartphone to have been officially launched in India.
The Xperia Z comes with Android 4.1.2 on board, and Sony says that the 4.2 update will roll out soon. This is slightly disappointing, considering the price you pay for this phone, and expecting the very latest OS build is surely not asking for too much. The redesigned UI is rather neat though. The boxy design of the previous generation has given way to one that has rounded icons, at least for most of Sony’s own apps. A new range of wallpapers and themes is welcome, but the widget range still is not up to the variety offered by HTC with the Sense UI on the Butterfly. The swipe up to unlock gesture on the lock screen is reminiscent of running your fingers through a window blind! Quick access to the camera from the lock screen, but it is a tad weird that most settings are unavailable in the camera when accessed from the lock screen.