JOE got our hands on Sony’s latest, and very impressive, smartphone
Sony hasven’t always produced top quality smartphones, but with their latest handset they’ve pushed the boat out and really set a standard.
Design
The first thing you’ll notice is the feel of this phone. We have a Samsung S3, and we’ve also had a go with the Samsung S4, but both of them feel decidedly cheap thanks to the plastic back. Not so here, where the brushed steel casing on the sides and glass back gives the phone that feel of a properly premium handset that is befitting of what is the company’s flagship model.
That’s a small point, but it definitely makes the whole thing feel more secure and you’re that bit more reassured about the quality of what you have in your grubby mitts. However, it is that little bit square and not as ergonomic as it could be, and it is slightly heavier than other models, but not by too much at 169 grams. Another point that should be mentioned is that the device is waterproof, once you make sure that you’ve closed all the protective flaps over the SD card and SIM card. It’s also dust resistant, which is another very nice touch.
Processor Power
Inside that impressive casing is housed a very powerful processor that is going to handle pretty much anything, while also managing battery life impressively we have to say. The 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB of RAM are more than enough for almost any task you can throw at it.
When it comes to charging it, we would get through a full day without having to charge and still had between 30-40% of the battery left. We used it as our main media player so that would have also but it under a decent bit of strain, but it performed well.
Display
The picture and clarity is great thanks to the TRILUMINOS™ technology used, but it’s difficult enough to make out from a variety of angles. Realistically that’s not a huge problem, of course, but we have to be a little bit nit picky here.
Notable however is the fact that this display is full HD 1920 x 1080p, and it does look really good when streaming your Netflix on the bus journey home. JOE mostly cycles, so we also have to say that you should definitely not watch Netflix on the cycle home. THe 5 inch display is plenty big for all your watching needs, not to mention that because this is Sony and we know they’re experts at sound, there were a few settings available on the music player that made this enjoyable to listen to.
It’s pictured here with the Sony BTV-5, a quality speaker in a small package, and the sound was a one of the phone’s big selling points for us. We also liked that the player amalgamated our collection with what we had saved in our favourite albums on Music Unlimited, so it made browsing your library pretty effortless, a major plus in our books. We’re terrible music snobs, don’t you know…
Camera
One big selling point for the device is the camera, and they have made that a main feature. There’s a camera button when you turn the phone on its side to take a quick snap and to help stabilise your grip and get a better image. This is where that slightly square design of the device comes in handy.
It falls down on zoom, as do most phones since they have digital rather than optical zoom, and it’s not the best in low light conditions, but if you’re using it as a phone that has a camera and you just want to take a quick shot, it will do the job nicely.
It excels on colour reproduction (in particular on the device’s very nice display), and at 20.7 MP it will render a very nice daytime shot. Here’s JOE’s Sunday League team getting the job done.
We really like the timeburst feature which allows you to pick the best shot from a selection that are all taken in quick succession, and the AR effects were incredible fun, if not slightly pointless. Still, you can put dinosaurs in a picture with you, that’s got to be worth something.
It will certainly improve the quality of your Vine/Instagram videos, and perhaps that is the major point to concentrate on. This is a good quality camera that produces good shots crisp for sharing online. If you’re looking for a portable camera, then get a camera, but if you want a phone with a the ability to take decent snaps, then this is the ticket.
Sony have also released the very cool smart watch, which will be great to use in conjunction with this. While the phone is not big in the same way that a phablet like the Z Ultra is, it can still come in handy to have the smartwatch to answer calls and check notifications. That, and it makes us feel like we’re in hit ’80s TV show Knight Rider.
Overall, we really liked this device, and it is a definite challenger to the other big handsets out there, be they the iPhone, Samsung or HTC devices. We like the interface (even if it is just a small bit different to standard Android), the feel of the phone could be slightly improved in the hand, but from the music player to the camera to the very colourful display, this phone had enough difference makers to have it stand out from the crowd.
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