Sony is once again bigging up its own technologies in the Z2, just as it
did with the Z1. The "best of Sony in a smartphone" tagline was again
used in the press conference at MWC.
Compare Sony's product cycle to the likes of Samsung or Apple - where we
see an annual reboot of flagships such as the Galaxy S4
</reviews/phones/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-s4-1137602/review> and
iPhone 5S </reviews/phones/mobile-phones/iphone-5s-1179315/review> and,
while the cadence is quicker, you can start to see what the company is
doing. After all, Sony knows it has some catching up to do in the market.
* Check out our Hands on: Sony Xperia Z2 review
</reviews/phones/mobile-phones/sony-xperia-z2-1226987/review>
*Cut to the chase*
*What is it?* Sony's next flagship, the follow up to the Xperia Z1
*When is it out?* 1st April 2014
*What will it cost?* £545
In the UK the Xperia Z2 is up for pre-order for a whopping £599 SIM free
on Sony's site, while in Australia it's about AU$899.95 and the in the
US you're looking at around $600.
The Xperia Z2's global release date is April 2014 and the handset has
been announced on UK networks O2, Three, Vodafone and EE as well as by
retailers such as Carphone Warehouse.
Xperia Z2 specifications
The Sony Xperia Z2 includes Sony Digital Noise Cancelling -- a first in
a phone -- and as is becoming the norm for Sony, it's waterproof as well.
The handset is one of the first to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon
801 processor and it boasts four 2.3GHz Krait CPUs in addition to 4G
LTE, 3GB of RAM and a high capacity 3,200mAh battery, which in
combination with Sony's Battery STAMINA mode should keep it going for
quite some time.
Sony Z2
On the storage front there's 16GB built in along with a microSD card
slot which supports cards of up to 64GB.
As you might expect from any worthwhile new flagship phone, it's also
running Android KitKat
</reviews/pc-mac/software/operating-systems/android-4-4-kitkat-1214798/review>.
That all makes it a moderate upgrade over the Sony Xperia Z1, which has
a 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB of RAM.
Xperia Z2 camera and audio
The Z2's key technology sell is the ability to shoot 4K video, so that's
four times the pixels of HD and twice the resolution at - 3,840 x 2,160
pixels at 30fps.
The camera is a 20.7MP unit, with the mobile version of the proven Exmor
RS image sensor and Bionz processing engine alongside Sony's G Lens.
Using built in apps, you can also shoot Timeshift video, while there's
also an AR app, too.
The Timeshift video mode lets you shoot in 120 frames per second and
select individual scenes to slow playback.
Xperia Z2 camera
Another new app enables you to defocus the background and adapt a
shallow depth of field -- you can capture two photos at different focus
settings and blend them together.
Backing up the main camera there's a 2.2MP snapper on the front which
can shoot 1080p video at 30fps.
Sadly there's no optical image stabilization, but the Xperia Z2 does
have SteadyShot digital image stabilization, which similarly aims to
counter camera shake.
You can also buy an additional STM10 stereo microphone should you need
enhanced sound quality for shooting 4K video.
Sony Xperia Z2
Speaking of sound, Sony's put the speakers on the front of the handset
this time around, aiming to muscle in on the HTC One
</reviews/phones/mobile-phones/htc-one-1131862/review>'s territory with
what it's calling S-Force Front Surround.
Sony's MDR NC31EM noise cancelling headset comes bundled with the
handset and unfortunately you have to use this specific headset if you
want to take advantage of the fancy noise cancelling features of the phone.
Xperia Z2 display
The 5.2-inch IPS LCD Triluminos display is Full HD 1080 x 1920 with a
pixel density of 424 pixels per inch. The Xperia Z2 uses Sony's
X-Reality technology, to optimize colors, contrast and sharpness while
reducing noise.
Sony is also claiming it has the best color reproduction of any
smartphone on the market with its Live Color LED tech.
Xperia Z2 screen
Our full review will put that claim to the test, but it's certainly an
impressive display, particularly in comparison to the Z1, which looks
washed out and lacking in detail when put side by side with this.
Xperia Z2 design
At 8.2mm thick and 163g, the Z2 is 0.3mm thinner than the Sony Xperia Z1
and 7g lighter, despite having a larger screen and more powerful innards.
It's an evolution of the same aluminum design, which Sony calls
OmniBalance.
Xperia Z2
In fact it looks almost identical to the Xperia Z1, with the same metal
edging, glass back and large bezels above and below the screen.
Like the Z1 it's also dust resistant and waterproof to IP55 & IP58
standards, allowing it to be submerged for up to 30 minutes in water 1
meter deep.
Xperia Z2 interface and features
The Xperia Z2's interface is similar to that of the Z1, though it comes
with Android 4.4.2 KitKat so it's bang up to date.
The handset also has a few new features hidden away in its menus.
There's 'Smart Backlight Control' for one, which will keep the screen on
while you're looking at it, just like Samsung does with Smart Stay.
Then there's the ability to double tap the screen to wake it up, much
like LG's KnockON feature and it's also possible to answer or reject
calls with hand gestures.
The Sony Xperia Z2 has also inherited Glove Mode from the Xperia Z1
Compact
</reviews/phones/mobile-phones/sony-xperia-z1-compact-1206859/review>,
allowing you to operate it while wearing gloves and there's a Simple
Home option, which, well, simplifies the home screen and uses bigger
icons, making it ideal for smartphone virgins and visually impaired users.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL:
<http://accessindia.org.in/pipermail/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in/attachments/20140310/00e3e4e8/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Z2_family-580-100.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 60221 bytes
Desc: not available
URL:
<http://accessindia.org.in/pipermail/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in/attachments/20140310/00e3e4e8/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: SonyXperiaZ2 (25)-580-90.JPG
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 28722 bytes
Desc: not available
URL:
<http://accessindia.org.in/pipermail/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in/attachments/20140310/00e3e4e8/attachment.jpe>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: SonyXperiaZ2 (11)-580-90.JPG
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 22027 bytes
Desc: not available
URL:
<http://accessindia.org.in/pipermail/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in/attachments/20140310/00e3e4e8/attachment-0001.jpe>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: SonyXperiaZ2 (28)-580-90.JPG
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 36510 bytes
Desc: not available
URL:
<http://accessindia.org.in/pipermail/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in/attachments/20140310/00e3e4e8/attachment-0002.jpe>
Search for previous postings at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/mobile.accessindia@accessindia.org.in
_______________________________________________
Mobile.accessindia mailing list
Mobile.accessindia@accessindia.org.in
http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in
to post send mail to: mobile.accessindia@accessindia.org.in
Disclaimer:
1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the
person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity;
2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent
through this mailing list..
