[caption id="attachment_1427" align="alignleft" width="270"]Sony Xperia ZL Sony Xperia ZL[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1428" align="alignleft" width="270"]Sony Xperia ZL Review Sony Xperia ZL Review[/caption]

Introduction:

Making a radical impact on today's smartphone market is no easy task, but Sony is hoping to succeed by taking a slightly different approach than its rivals. While most manufacturers have their time and resources focused on a single high-end device, the Japanese tech giant is delivering its one-two punch in the form of the slim and shiny Sony Xperia Z and its less fabulous and non-water-resistant, but (presumably) less expensiveSony Xperia ZL.

On paper, the Sony Xperia ZL is very similar to its fashionable cousin. It is equipped with a 5-inch, 1080p screen, powerful quad-core processor, 13MP camera, and LTE connectivity – factors that land it right into the high-end category. The Sony Xperia ZL, however, is being advertised as more compact than its competitors while its battery has a slightly bigger capacity than the one inside the Xperia Z.

But the competition on the smartphone battlefield is nothing short of fierce. It usually takes far more than just specs to turn a flagship into a bestseller – outstanding features, well-executed software, and attractive design are pretty much mandatory traits. Does the Sony Xperia ZL have any of that? Well, it is time to take it for a spin and find out!

[caption id="attachment_1430" align="alignleft" width="223"]Sony Xperia ZL Battery Sony Xperia ZL Battery[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1429" align="alignleft" width="223"]Sony Xperia ZL Box Sony Xperia ZL Box[/caption]

In the box:

  • Wall charger.
  • microUSB cable
  • MH-EX300AP wired headset with extra ear gels
  • User guide and other papers

Sony Xperia ZL Unboxing:

Design:
If we had to describe the Sony Xperia ZL using one single word, that would be “boring”. Sure, the smartphone has adopted some visual cues from its sleeker cousin – the Xperia Z, but it is thicker and far less appealing with all that matte plastic used in its construction. As a result, the Xperia ZL simply lacks that “wow” factor we've come to expect from top-of-the-line smartphones nowadays.

Something that the Sony Xperia ZL is supposed to stand out with is its small footprint. Looking at numbers alone, it should be one of the most compact 5-inch smartphones in existence, with over three quarters of its front side occupied by its large screen – an impressive technical achievement that must be noted. But in reality, the difference between holding the ZL and one of its 5-inch rivals is not as striking as Sony wants you to think. Actually, using the Sony Xperia ZL would have been much more enjoyable if its corners weren't so pointy. And yes, it is still uncomfortable to operate using one hand only, but that's a common trait for all phones of that size.
On the bright side of things, we're extremely pleased with how much grip the textured, soft touch back plate provides. What's more is that absolutely no fingerprints stick to the back so it looks clean and pristine pretty much all of the time. The physical buttons are another detail executed flawlessly – they are all exposed well and easy to access, while the camera shutter key isn't prone to accidental presses.

Display:

The 5-inch screen occupies more than three quarters of the phones face
Just like many other high-end Androids, the Sony Xperia ZL comes with a 5-inch display offering an outstanding resolution of 1080 by 1920 pixels. The high pixel count is undoubtedly the most awesome thing about the smartphone's screen as the level of detail it provides is superb – even the finest lines of text are always sharp, while graphics are extremely smooth and pleasant to look at.

Using the Sony Xperia ZL on a bright, sunny day isn't much of a problem once the screen sets its brightness up to the maximum. The device's outdoor visibility is comparable to that of other high-end handsets available today.

Sadly, the display's viewing angles are far from impressive. Tilting the phone to the side results in a drastic color degradation and loss of contrast. Speaking of contrast, that's another thing that the screen could have had more of. Well, actually the Mobile BRAVIA 2 engine improves image quality a bit, but the feature is active only when viewing photos and videos in the gallery or the video player.

Buy it now:

Available in Black and White at the price of ₹ 26,990

Specification:
General

Size 131.7 x 69.8 x 9.8 mm
Weight 151g
Screen 1920 x 1080 pixels / 16 million colours 5.0 (12.7 cms) TFT
Memory (*Actual free memory may vary due to phone pre-configuration) Flash Memory: up to 16GB* / Expansion slot: microSD™ card, up to 32 GB / RAM: 2GB
Networks UMTS HSPA+ 850 (Band V), 900 (Band VIII), 2100 (Band I) MHz, GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
Platform Google™ Android™ 4.1 (Jelly Bean), 1.5 GHz Qualcomm APQ8064+MDM9215M Quad Core

Performance

GSM / GPRS / EDGE: (Talk time / Standby time / Video call) Up to 11 hours*** / Up to 550 hours*** /
UMTS / HSPA: (Talk time / Standby time / Video call) Up to 14 hours*** / Up to 530 hours***

Features

Camera 13.1 megapixel camera, 16x digital zoom, Auto focus, Burst Mode, HDR for both picture/movie, Face detection, Flash/Pulsed LED, Flash/Photo light, Front-facing camera (2.2 MP 1080p), Geotagging, HD video recording (1080p), Image stabiliser, Object tracking, Picture Effect, Quick Launch,
Red-eye reduction, Scene recognition, Self-timer, Send to web, Smile detection, Sony Exmor RS® for mobile, Image sensor, Superior Auto, Sweep Panorama, Touch capture, Touch focus, White balance
Music 3D Surround Sound (VPT), Album art, Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP), ClearAudio+, Clear bass, Clear Phase™m Clear stereo, Dynamic Normalizer, Music tones (MP3/AAC), PlayNow™ service*, SensMe™, TrackID™ music recognition*, “WALKMAN” application, xLoud™ Experience
Internet Bookmarks, Google Chrome™, Google Play™, Google™ search*, Google Voice™ Search*, Google Maps™ for Mobile with Street view and Latitude™*, NeoReader™ barcode scanner, Pan & Zoom
Entertainment 3D games, Media browser, Motion gaming, PlayStation® Certified, Radio (FM radio with RDS), SensMe™ slideshow, Sony Entertainment Network*, TV launcher, Video streaming, YouTube™*
Input/Output 3.5 mm audio jack (CTIA), aGPS*, Bluetooth™ 4.0 wireless technology, DLNA Certified®, GLONASS*, Media Go™, Media Transfer Protocol support, HDMI via MHL support, Micro USB support, Native USB tethering, NFC
Synchronization PC Companion, Screen mirroring, Synchronisation via Exchange ActiveSync®, Synchronisation via Facebook™, Synchronisation via Google™, Synchronisation via SyncML™
Connectivity USB charging, USB High speed 2.0 support, Xperia™ Link, Wi-Fi®, Wi-Fi® Hotspot functionality
Messaging Conversations, Email, Google Mail™*, Handwriting recognition, Instant messaging, Multimedia messaging (MMS), Predictive text input, Sound recorder, Text messaging (SMS), Voice input
Communication Call list, Facebook™ application*, Google Talk™ application*, Noise suppression, Polyphonic ringtones, Speakerphone, Twitter™*,
Design Auto rotation, Battery STAMINA Mode, Direct touch, Face Unlock, Gesture input, On-screen QWERTY keyboard, Sony Mobile BRAVIA® Engine 2, Screenshot capturing, Throw, Touch screen, Wallpaper, Wide color gamut
Organizer Airplane mode, Alarm clock, Calculator, Calendar, Contacts, Document readers, eCompass™, Infinite button, Notes, Setup guide, Stopwatch, Tasks, Timer