In order not to waste either your or my time, I will immediately say about the main thing: inside this device and Sony Xperia Z - twins. The same processors, the same set of applications, the same delivery package - only for the ZL there is no docking station. Accordingly, in this article I will focus on the most important differences, and you can read about performance and a number of other parameters in the Sony Xperia Z review.

In the comments I heard many opinions from different people, saying that not everything is so bad and you can live with the Z display. Like, the camera here is better than the iPhone, you just need to shoot in normal conditions, and you can get used to the size, and everything else. It’s an interesting practice, buying a smartphone and then getting used to it - it’s not entirely clear to me. But Sony did the right thing by creating two very different devices, initially I liked the Sony Xperia Z (despite many “buts”), but in everyday use the ZL turned out to be much more convenient. Friends from Sony told me about this phenomenon back in Las Vegas - they say that size still matters. Let's in this material Let's talk about a smartphone that is not a flagship. But it could become Sony’s flagship in terms of sales.

Design, construction

Compared to its Z-brother, the device does not look so impressive. Yes, the same concept is used here: an aluminum button on the side, interestingly designed ends, but there is no glass at the back. Upon closer examination, it turns out that the ZL is in many ways more interesting than the Z. Ribbed and velvety plastic on the battery cover, a protruding Xperia inscription on the back, a beautiful indicator under the display, no plugs. To insert headphones into a plug or microUSB cable, you don’t need to pry off all these hatches - it’s convenient. There are controversial decisions here; the lid on the back provides access to the slots for a memory card and SIM card, somewhat reminiscent of a trunk. It is attached with some kind of weak rubber band, so do not yank the lid too hard. When it snaps into place, it does not play and does not move from side to side, the entire back part is like a monolith, it is impossible to bend the battery cover. Both Z and ZL are wonderfully assembled, but the ZL also fits very well in the hand. Dimensions are 131.6 x 69.3 x 9.8 mm, weight 151 grams, heavier than the iPhone 4S. It’s a weighty block; I personally like this heaviness. Well, back to the size again, after walking around with the Z for a week, the ZL seems very small, your thumb reaches any corner of the five-inch display. In addition to black, there is also a white option, I like both.

In order to place such a display in such a compact body, engineers had to resort to a number of tricks. For example, the front camera had to be moved down, I already talked about the rear hatch, but its appearance is connected precisely with attempts to make the body smaller. By the way, at the bottom left there is a traditional groove for attaching a strap; Sony can’t do without it.

I won’t talk for a long time about the design of the ZL, it doesn’t look quite traditional for Sony, the rear generally resembles HTC, but all this is when you look at the pictures. In real life, the device is unique, with a number of special solutions. Let me remind you once again about the pleasant velvety plastic on the back; because of the notches, fingerprints are invisible here, but they remain on the film that protects the display. The camera is enclosed in a round bezel, below is a flash, next to it is a speaker slot, strange, but all this is not perceived as a jumble of different elements. On the right side, above the aluminum button, there is a thin volume rocker, which is convenient. There's also a camera button below, which is nice because you can quickly activate it and take a photo (or record a video).

The indicator light is well made, in the traditional Sony style, a sort of strip - it can light up in different colors depending on what is happening with the device. And you immediately notice that there are practically no frames on the left and right; the device resembles an iPad mini.

The included headset here is the same as with the Sony Xperia Z, based on the EX-300. For Sony, this costs nothing, and users will certainly appreciate the concern; listening to music is much more interesting with such a headset, and it’s even better to immediately install a third-party player.

The SIM card format is microSIM, so iPhone 5 users will need an adapter if they want to change the device. Another (in fact, the main) difference from the Sony Xperia Z is the lack of protection from water; I do not recommend swimming with the ZL. But there are no plugs.

Display

It seemed to me that the display here is better than in the Sony Xperia Z, although in all main parameters they seem to be the same. This is TFT, 5-inch diagonal, resolution 1920 x 1080 pixels, but here the viewing angles seem to be better, more rich colors, although black is the same. I don’t know how Sony works with suppliers, but I really want to believe that the company will be able to defeat bad businessmen - after all, there is so much talk about Bravia and so on, and the displays are from Samsung, HTC and Apple is better a hundred times. So, if compared with Z, the screen is a little better, if compared with competitors, it does not stand up to criticism. When looking at it point-blank, everything is fine; if you change the angle, the image becomes faded.

The display is covered by glass, there is a factory film on the glass, I don’t recommend peeling it off, the Sony inscription may also come off. Widgets, wallpapers, etc. are the same as those on the Sony Xperia Z.

Nuances

Sony Xperia ZL, unlike Z, has an infrared port and a program remote control, apparently, the port is located somewhere near the power button. In the settings you can select the device type, brand name, and then the program appears. I tried the system with home appliances, I really liked it, Samsung TV was recognized instantly, you can turn it on and off, select programs, image source, and so on - everything, just like with a regular remote control. The operating range is the same as that of a regular remote control. Among the device types there are even docking stations for Apple technology, stereo systems - tried with music center Pioneer, everything also works quite correctly. The program is well made, the added devices appear in the general menu with the names you choose and quite clear icons.

As for performance, memory and other things, everything is exactly the same as with the Sony Xperia ZL: the same set of programs, the same wallpapers, the operating speed is similar, although for a device with such a processor it is not entirely clear what to load it with. Unless you install various benchmarks and run them around the clock - I want to believe that Sony owners don’t do such nonsense. I would like to remind you that all official descriptions say that the device supports microSD memory cards up to 32 GB, this is not true - apparently, the people from Sony did not have a 64 GB card. I tried it, everything works. Once again I’ll give here a link to the Z review; you should go there for details.

The operating time is the same as that of the Z; when using Chrome, the battery “melts” before your eyes, so it’s better to choose a different browser. If you use ZL only for conversations and SMS, turn on the Stamina mode, you can get two or even three days of work - just don’t forget to turn down the brightness, turn off all automatic synchronization, positioning systems, and so on. Full charging time from USB is about three hours, so it is better to use the included power supply. In normal mode, my device lasted until the evening, but I didn’t deny myself anything and didn’t turn on Stamina.

The speaker here is louder than that of the Z, this applies to both normal and conversational calls. It is also more comfortable to talk, the interlocutors did not complain about the quality of speech transmission, the volume reserve seemed to me greater than that of the Z.

The camera here is the same as the Z, I can safely say that the iPhone 5 takes better pictures and this does not depend on any conditions, settings, or weather. Of all the effects that the ZL has, I most often used only the burst mode; oddly enough, the photos are generally of better quality than in normal mode. I’ll give you a few pictures and videos from the ZL here, you can judge for yourself.

conclusions

The device has a very piercing vibration, I have not seen such a sharp motor for a long time, it looks like a drill. It is especially annoying when it works when you press the keyboard, but you can disable this yourself in the settings. But when the silent mode is turned on, you simply won’t be able to receive a call; the ZL literally jumps out of your pocket.

Here would be a screen like HTC One, I liked it more than SGS4, it’s somehow soft and velvety, it doesn’t hurt the eyes. A team of programmers could work here, fix all sorts of small bugs, polish things up, make some things as simple and convenient as branded software for controlling home appliances. This is where the camera needs to be polished. Engineers need to work on the speaker so it's not so shrill. And use a different motor so that the vibration matches the weight and design of the device. This would include thick instructions so that people know how to use a smartphone with Android, and a sticker on the packaging about LTE. And in general, manufacturers build a hell of a lot of different things into smartphones, but don’t bother to convey to consumers possible use cases - there are a lot of functions, many are not used simply because people are not aware.

There are a lot of things that could be improved here in order to get candy at the end. Although the ZL turned out to be more interesting in the main than the Z - yes, the latter has a better design, it does not sink in water. But for everyday use, the ZL is much more convenient, it fits perfectly in the hand, and the ribbed plastic on the back is certainly more pleasant than the slippery glass under the film. If you want to choose one of these two smartphones, then don’t be lazy, hold both of them, weigh them - in the photo Z is more beautiful, in life ZL is preferable. Moreover, there are no plugs.

The smartphone costs approximately 27,500 rubles; with the release of SGS4, Sony will have to reconsider the pricing of its flagships - although this is unlikely to save the Z and ZL from the marketing pressure. Rest assured, Samsung will spend such an advertising budget on the “four” that at every corner and from every crevice they will advise you to buy it. This is neither good nor bad, it’s just a given, whoever has the bigger budget has the truth. Since the announcement of the Z and ZL, I never tire of repeating that the devices themselves turned out to be quite good - moreover, the stars aligned very well for Sony. There were three months to prepare the market, launch, but now we need to quickly sell, sell, sell, before the terrible SGS4 came. We need to sell and work hard on the next models, we need to look for the next gap - a few months of life, then months of silence.

It takes a genius to change this situation. A genius capable of sending bad suppliers with bad screens to one place, a genius capable of dispelling all smoke screens in the form of complicated settings, a genius who does not forgive even the slightest mistakes in software. Let's hope that Sony will find one and Z together with ZL will become the last step on the path to something truly outstanding, incomparable, unparalleled. It's time. We're all tired of waiting.

P.S. Try typing ZL in Russian, the result is interesting.

Sergey Kuzmin ()

2 years ago

Not a shovel, comfortable, fits perfectly in the hand, with a large screen, bright colors, and the sound is also at the same level. Compared to other five-inch cameras it really looks small!

2 years ago

Ergonomics, screen, factory anti-glare film.

2 years ago

excellent quality assembly, good screen, good set of pre-installed applications (for example, the standard player produces excellent sound quality with Sennheiser headphones 400II is better than JetAudio), excellent proprietary Stamina energy saving mode, good call quality, convenience and ergonomics in everyday use

2 years ago

Fast iron

2 years ago

Design, the battery is quite capacious and a low bow to the STAMINA mode), camera, hardware, type of body material and much more

2 years ago

The quality of the photos is super, only if you don’t do a big zoom, built-in flash, the ability to turn on the backlight when shooting video in the dark, a memory card, I have 16 GB. The charging cord can be used as a wire for transferring information from the phone to the computer.

2 years ago

1. Appearance- the smartphone looks strict, stylish and solid. 2. Screen size and image quality. 5 inches, in my opinion, is the very border that divides at least, by size, smartphones and tablets. In my opinion, this is the optimal size for a smartphone - it’s convenient to browse the web, work with documents, watch videos and type messages on the go. Thanks to the thin frames around the screen, the smartphone looks very compact. The colors on the screen are rich and natural. 3. Support for 4G networks (Megafon operator). 4. The inner shell is from SONY - everything is simple, beautiful and clear. 5. Communication quality. I have never had a smartphone lose contact with a satellite. 6. Built-in 16Gb of memory - enough for all kinds of applications. 7.2 GB random access memory along with 4

2 years ago

Clear, sharp screen, with good color rendition. Design.

2 years ago

5 inches in a 4.7 case (before that there were Nexus 4 and HTC 1HL), practical case materials, excellent hardware, camera - in latest firmware They really improved it, the sound in standard ears is excellent, I generally like the screen, the hardware camera button is very good for me.

2 years ago

High-quality case materials, design, screen size, excellent picture quality

2 years ago

I haven't found it yet.

2 years ago

The battery is dying before our eyes! A very mediocre camera, I would say none at all. Long search for GPS and WI FI. When exiting any application, the screen ripples.

2 years ago

at maximum load(downloading huge files in LTE, simultaneous web surfing on 5-8 tabs, taking photographs, shooting videos with parallel navigation in Google (wi-fi activated)) fully “lives” for 4 hours - while heating is not critical; Average headphones included.

2 years ago

Battery quality, overheating, a lot of defects.

2 years ago

The sound in the headphones is a little weak, but in return it is very high quality and clear.

2 years ago

When zoomed in too close, the photo becomes blurry. The battery lasts a day, although the Internet works almost constantly. Today I almost took it in for repairs due to the fact that the person I was calling couldn’t hear me, I thought the microphone was covered, it turned out that a trash can got into the microphone, I needed a cover because the charging connector was also not closes. The quality of the video is excellent during the day, but it’s too sensitive, you need to shoot with bated breath, otherwise the video will turn out jerky, even though the image stabilizer is turned on. Copied files from the phone’s memory have to be deleted through the device itself, that is, one at a time, it kind of sucks, not really from the memory card, selected and deleted.

2 years ago

1. Wi-Fi reception is weak ( Android version 4.2). I judge by how good the reception is on the smart phones I have (I connect them to the router).
2. BATTERY. With 4G turned on, the smartphone “dies” before our eyes. When working and surfing the Internet via Wi-Fi, the situation is not so sad. In 1.5 hour talk mode, 1 hour online via Wi-Fi + 30 minutes via 3G/4G - without playing games or listening to music, the charge lasts for 2-3 days (provided that Stamina is turned on). The screen brightness can be set to minimum - everything is clearly visible - even in the sun.
3. Although the included headset is branded and not the cheapest, the sound is mediocre and not loud.
4. The screen gets noticeably warm when watching streaming video online for more than 30 minutes.

2 years ago

The battery could have been longer. Screen viewing angles. After reading the reviews on the updates, I’m now wondering whether it’s worth it, although it would be nice to stuff a 64 gig card into it after that. There are still purely Android moments. I haven’t been using it for long, maybe something else will come out in the future.

2 years ago

I would like more viewing angles, it really likes to collect dust, the factory film - I haven’t yet realized this is a minus or how, if it went on sale, it wouldn’t be a minus, the autonomy is not great.

2 years ago

Display... viewing angles, contrast

Xperia ZL could now become a new impetus for the Japanese corporation. The gadget is very similar to the Xperia Z: it has the same design and finish, but does not have IP57 certification.

Main disadvantages:

• non-removable battery;
• weak camera;
• slightly thicker than Xperia Z;
• Questionable rear panel build quality and aesthetics.

The difference between the Xperia Z and Xperia ZL essentially comes down to different sizes, finishes and ruggedness. The plastic case here doesn't look as good as glass, but it has its advantages. Water resistance is, of course, a significant plus, but not everyone needs it.

Sony Xperia ZL comes in a box identical to the Xperia Z smartphone. Note that the kit includes an A/C adapter, microUSB cable and a headset with an additional pair of headphones.

The gadget is a 5-inch smartphone with the smallest footprint. Its dimensions are 131.6x69.3x9.8 mm. The closest competitors have a height of: Xperia Z – 139 mm, Galaxy S4 – 136.6 mm and One – 137.4 mm.

However, the Xperia ZL is the thickest of all the smartphones listed at 9.8mm. But these features do not cause inconvenience. The device is comfortable to use.

One of the significant disadvantages is the low quality of finishing and lack of elegant design. But this, of course, is not a cause for concern, since the plastic looks very good.

The smartphone is one of the most compact gadgets with a 5-inch Full HD screen. Compared to the Xperia Z, the new phone has significantly smaller top and bottom panels on the front side. Perhaps this is the reason for the location front camera in the lower right corner. This is, of course, unusual, but this solution has already been seen before in N9. The bezels around the sides of the display have also been reduced to a minimum.

Hardware buttons are displayed on the screen.

Above the screen you can see the speaker and the company logo. Sony smartphones usually come from the factory with scratch-resistant glass to protect the screen, and the Xperia ZL is no exception.

The back panel is made of plastic, the patterned texture of which makes the phone easier to use, as it fits securely in the hand. But at the same time, we note. That it looks quite sticky. On the back side there is a 13-megapixel camera lens, which protrudes slightly above the surface. Next to it is a speaker grille and an LED flash.

A noise-reducing microphone with the Xperia logo was placed above the lens.

The panel looks like it is removable, but it is not. In order to access the microSIM and card slots, you need to open the flap at the very bottom of the smartphone. This is not only physically inconvenient, but also aesthetically does not look very good.

The build quality of the device is good.

There is a microUSB port on the left side of the phone, which does not have a plug, unlike the Xperia Z.

On the right, you'll find a dual volume rocker at the top, a power/lock button, and a two-stage camera control button.

It is always convenient to have a dedicated camera shutter button on your smartphone.

At the top of the Sony Xperia ZL there is only a 3.5mm headphone jack.

In the lower left corner there is a special eyelet for a lace.

In general, the Sony Xperia ZL is quite comfortable to use: the controls are conveniently located and have a very good response.

Performance and Software

The smartphone uses a Snapdragon APQ8064 S4 Pro chipset with 4 Krait cores clock frequency 1.5 GHz, Adreno 320 graphics accelerator and 2 GB of RAM. As we expected, the gadget scores the same benchmarks as the Xperia Z.

Even despite the more powerful chipsets (for example, Snapdragon 600) on which they are based Galaxy smartphones S4 and Optimus G Pro, our phone still has enough performance to handle even the heaviest applications without any problems.

Sony Xperia ZL came fourth in Benchmark Pi, Linpack and AnTutu tests, and took fifth place in Quadrant.

Interestingly, our smartphone scored lower than the Xperia Z in GeekBench 2.

When testing the gadget in GLBenchmark with a fixed resolution, the Xperia ZL did not disappoint, ending up in the same place with the Xperia Z.

In the important Epic Citadel test, the gadget showed excellent results, comparable to other flagship devices.

Sony Xperia ZL is used as a browser Google Chrome, which became much faster after last update and showed a result of 1290 ms in the Sun Spider test, being faster than the Xperia Z, Optimus G and Nexus 4.

The smartphone took 4th place in BrowserMark 2 and Vellamo.

As a result, the Sony Xperia ZL showed good performance.

The gadget operates under operating room control Android systems 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.

Built-in memory – 16 GB. Eat Wi-Fi support, GPS/A-GPS/GLONASS, FM radio, Bluetooth 4.0, 3G and LTE networks.

Screen

Surprisingly, we found that the Sony Xperia ZL has more best screen than the Xperia Z. Given that they are both identical according to the specifications (5-inch display with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and a density of 441 ppi), they are manufactured by the same manufacturer, but we assumed that this is due to a single deviation, and not with the fact that Sony has developed a separate screen for the Xperia ZL.

The TFT display is powered by Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 technology, which increases contrast and sharpness, reduces noise and saturates colors to make them more pleasing to the eye.

The contrast is really good. However, the screen in this indicator is inferior to HTC One, LG Optimus G Pro, HTC Butterfly, not to mention Super on Samsung Galaxy S4.

The gadget does not have very large viewing angles.

Readability in sunlight is quite good.

Camera

Sony Xperia ZL is equipped with a 13-megapixel camera that can take pictures with a resolution of 4128x3096 pixels. However, if you use the default enhanced auto mode, then you will only get a resolution of 3920x2940 pixels (that is, a 12-megapixel photo).

The difference between the advanced auto mode and the normal one is that the gadget itself tries to determine what kind of scene it is shooting and will set all image parameters accordingly. This includes saturation, contrast, and exposure metering mode. In normal mode, only the exposure is automatically set, and you can experiment with other settings.

The improved automatic mode tells you how the gadget will adjust the camera and you can easily intervene if you think that the picture will not be of very high quality. But our experience shows that the settings were good almost all the time. So unless you're a photography enthusiast, it's best to stick with the enhanced auto mode.

The Xperia ZL smartphone offers all kinds of features including facial recognition, Smile Shutter, geo-tagging, touch capture and mode.

The improved Auto mode produces photos with pleasing, if slightly oversaturated, colors. Fine details are clearly visible, noise levels are average, and dynamic range and contrast are excellent.

Overall, the results are good, although we wouldn't say there's a noticeable advantage over good 8-megapixel cameras.

If you switch to normal mode, you'll get images that look more natural without being oversaturated. This will give you more headroom if you plan to process photos later.

We also took panoramic photos. It turned out to be a very good panorama.

The Sony Xperia ZL is capable of shooting Full HD video at 30 frames per second. The gadget also offers HDR for video shooting.

We were disappointed that the Xperia ZL can capture photos while recording video, but only at 1MP resolution. This, however, is not very significant.

In the video you can see very good detail. The bitrate fluctuates around 17 Mbps.

Below is an example of a recording.

The benefit of HDR footage isn't always as clear as we'd hoped, but it still adds some detail in the highlights.

An example of shooting with HDR.

Battery

The smartphone comes with a non-removable battery with a capacity of 2370 mAh, which is 40 mAh more than the Xperia Z. It is a little surprising that official information The battery is designed for only 13 hours of battery life in talk mode over 3G networks and up to 500 hours of standby time (versus 14 hours and 530 hours for the Xperia Z, respectively). It is possible that different displays may explain the situation. But our dedicated battery test also showed the Xperia ZL to be less durable.

So, the Sony Xperia ZL showed a result of 44 hours of battery life (the gadget is used for 2 hours for calls, an hour for watching videos and an hour for web surfing per day), which is 4 hours shorter than that of the Xperia Z. But this is still decent result.

When tested separately, the following data was obtained: the battery lasts for 15 hours 22 minutes of calls via 3G networks, 6 hours 4 minutes of web surfing and 5 hours 28 minutes of video viewing.

You also need to take into account that the smartphone has a special endurance mode developed by the company and allows you to get much better battery life results.

Price

The cost of Sony Xperia ZL on the Russian market is 27,490 rubles.

Sony Xperia ZL video review:

How long modern smartphones can they remain relevant? Usually, it depends on the manufacturer, who continues to support the smartphone, releasing new firmware and supporting it to the last.

The relevance depends very much on the component base of the phone. Flagship devices receive the best components, which are often ahead of their time, when budget smartphones are content with outdated technologies.

You can use flagship devices from well-known manufacturers (A-brands) that have the latest spare parts and receive updates for as long as possible software for several years. I wanted to tell you about just one such device.

Specifications Sony Xperia ZL C6503/C6502:

• Display - TFT matrix, 5 inches, resolution 1980×1080 pixels, density 441 ppi, screen-to-front ratio 76%
• Chipset - Qualcomm APQ8064 (S4 Pro) 4 cores, frequency 1.5 GHz. Video accelerator Adreno 320, frequency 533 MHz
• Memory - 2 GB RAM, 16 GB ROM, microSD card slot up to 32 GB
• Main camera - 13 MP, Exmor R
• Front camera - 2.1 MP
• Battery - 2370 mAh, STAMINA support
• Dimensions - 131.6 x 69.3 x 9.8 mm with a weight of 151 grams
• Interfaces - micro-USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC
• OS - Android 4.1 with update to Android 5.1 and branded shell Xperia Home
• Colors - white, black and red

Experience using Sony Xperia ZL for 3 years

It so happened that more than three years ago I became the proud owner of a Sony Xperia ZL smartphone, which I continue to use to this day. By the way, I consider it one of the most successful Xperia devices in recent years.

This model was announced in January 2013 at the CES 2013 electronics exhibition along with the first smartphone under the letter Z.

Then, Sony decided to rethink its line by introducing the OmniBalance design concept, some ideas of which are still used today (for example, round button power supply in budget smartphones).

The flagship was the Sony Xperia Z, which had water protection, powerful hardware and an attractive design. Before this, a rugged smartphone was considered to be a simple device in a massive case, but Sony showed that this may not be the case.

Its younger brother was the Xperia ZL - the same “Zetka”, but without moisture protection and in a different case. At the same time, the ZL had at that time the maximum amount of screen space on the front panel - 76% screen/front panel ratio! This made it the smallest smartphone with a 5-inch screen.

3 years in one hand

I’ll start with why there was no desire to replace it with newer ones Sony models Xreria. The fact is that Sony supported this smartphone with new firmware for a very long time. The initial version was Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Subsequently, the phone received Android 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 5.0 and the last official version was Android 5.1 Lollipop.

This allowed us to use the latest applications today. Also, with each firmware, the number of system bugs decreased, and the speed of operation increased.

Wear resistance

The body of the smartphone turned out to be very strong. He survived many falls on the floor (linoleum, tiles, asphalt), was exposed to moisture and dust, low and high temperatures. In my white version of Xperia ZL, after 2 years, the paint on various elements began to peel off. Otherwise, everything is very good: nothing is loose, nothing is wobbly, the camera window and screen are not worn out, it’s still not a shame to hold it in your hand. I would like to note that my friend, the black version of this smartphone does not have such problems with paint.

Camera

The Xperia ZL is equipped with two cameras: a front 2.1 megapixel and a rear 13 megapixel Exmor R. As for the front camera, its capabilities were enough for a long time. When the phone first came out, selfies were not yet so popular, so something better was rare in 2013. Of course, now even budget devices have 5 MP modules, so in this regard the device looks outdated.

However, the quality is enough for video calls through any services. The location of the camera in the lower right corner of the smartphone was not very convenient, as it did not allow talking while holding the phone vertically.

The rear camera of the Xperia ZL has shown its best side over the years. The quality is acceptable even now. In good weather, decent shots are obtained, and video is also taken well. However, due to lack of performance, we had to abandon AR modes, as they work very slowly and heat up the phone a lot.

I bring to your attention a selection of some, in my opinion, successful shots taken over the years:

Screen

The strength of the Xperia ZL when it was launched was its screen. The FHD matrix provides a pixel density of 441 ppi, which gives maximum clarity even now. The screen is made using TFT TN technology, so the picture is inferior to any modern IPS and AMOLED matrices, and has poor viewing angles, which is one of the main disadvantages of the device. I consider the main advantage to be high brightness and readability in direct sunlight.

Performance and battery life

The platform used is Qualcomm APQ8064, 1500 MHz, also known as S4 Pro, Adreno 320 video accelerator and 2 GB of RAM. At the time of its release it was one of the most powerful platforms. The smartphone simply flew on it, and any toys went without problems.

Now the device’s performance is not enough and only thanks to the optimized firmware the device can be used, although many applications, such as 2GIS, take a very long time to load.

What is there to be surprised about, because even budget smartphone The 2016 Xperia XA on the Mediatek P10 platform is more powerful. The device heats up noticeably, and when the phone is used for a long time, it literally begins to burn your hands.

From left to right: Antutu, Geekbench and 3dmark.

Battery life was not the best strong point devices. A 2370 mAh battery coupled with a power-hungry platform and a TFT screen is clearly not enough for long-term operation.

However, the STAMINA mode helped a lot, as it saved precious percentages of charge. I would like to note that after three years of use, with approximately one charge per day, the device does not yet require battery replacement. The capacity, of course, has dropped, but the percentages do not “jump”, although there is a noticeable reduction in battery life.

Software

The latest firmware version runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop, which can already be considered outdated. At the same time, you can bring your phone to a modern look using various programs.

For example, I became a member Xperia programs Home Beta, which made it possible to obtain a new version of the shell. Application icons from Xperia line X can be obtained by installing the appropriate themes from the store. Also, I really liked the new official Sony themes in the spirit of PlayStation.

The system speed is decent, everything works quite quickly.

Communication and sound

There were no complaints about the quality of communication. The sound of the speaker is loud, but it only became so on latest versions firmware. Before this it was much quieter, which was quite annoying. The vibration is strong, but very strange in sound, rattling. The sound in the headphones is decent for its time.

Xperia ZL had two versions with differences in 4G support; there is no dual-SIM version. I got the C6502 model, which differed from the basic one in the absence of 4G. For a long time this did not pose a problem, since 4G coverage in 2013 was worse than it is now.

A very unusual compartment for SIM and MicroSD cards. There is also an insert with information and a forced reboot button.

***

As a result, I can say that the Xperia ZL has faithfully served its intended purpose and continues to function properly.

What advantages can I give to this gadget after such a long use?

Pros:

Stylish design

Powerful platform for its time

Long-term software support for the device from Sony

Not bad cameras

Excellent screen behavior in the sun and its high resolution

Small size for 5″ screen

Minuses:

— Small screen viewing angles

— The phone case in the white version is prone to paint peeling

— Inconvenient placement of the front camera

The Xperia ZL is a worthy representative of the Sony smartphone line, created in an era when the company showed very interesting, competitive and desirable devices. Sony Mobile has tried its best to support this device, which evokes respect and a desire to continue using the products of the Japanese company.

The only logical question arises: what can you take as a replacement? Long Sony time It produced beautiful phones, but inferior in key parameters, which significantly crippled the mobile business.

The Z1, Z2, Z3 and Z3+ (Z4) lines are no longer relevant, since they do not have a fingerprint scanner, the front cameras are weak, some of the models have problems with defects and overheating, and so on.

The Xperia Z5 series costs almost the same as the Xperia X and XZ, but the shell is outdated, the scanner is not the most sensitive and the cameras are worse. The situation was slightly aggravated by the industry's transition to USB-C connector, which seems to me more convenient and modern, which immediately made many good smartphones with old micro-USB.

The situation changed in the spring of 2017, when the stunning and balanced Xperia XZs was presented at MWC. Finally, smartphones have appeared that are more modern in all respects than the old ZL, and this difference is already felt very strongly.

New items do not, at first glance, weaknesses and filled to capacity with the spirit of Sony Style. If their prices are competitive, then good sales are guaranteed.

If you still use old Xperia devices, then tell us about them in the comments. What do you want to change them to and why?

pros

excellent sound, excellent screen, high performance, no lags, fits well in the hand!

Minuses

The battery is not removable and cannot be replaced with a more powerful one. Battery life with average use STAMINA mode lasts 1.5 days - not enough. With a full load on the phone - Internet, movies, games - 1 day. It takes a long time to charge.

Impression

there was a choice between XPERIA Z and XPERIA ZL. Since I am not an active person and the water resistance of the phone is not important to me, I settled on the ZL model. The quality of assembly is excellent, there are no gaps, no creaking, I was pleased with the dimensions of the phone. It is smaller than Z and the screen covers almost the entire surface of the phone. Fits perfectly in the hands. The back cover is corrugated and does not slip. does not collect fingerprints. I just turned on the phone and immediately received a message about an update due to lags (if anyone remembers the XPERIA Z died from lags) Sony fixed this problem almost immediately. The screen is excellent! In the sun everything is very readable. The quality of video playback and photo viewing is simply superb! There is a white banana. I realized that the stock video player does not read avi, but I downloaded the MX player and forgot about this problem. The sound is excellent - Sony. The stock Walkman has so many settings that there is no need to download anything additional. Camera - no complaints at all. Auto mode is enough for your eyes. Giblets are on the level! In terms of performance, it’s not much better, but it beats the XPERIA Z. There are no lags.

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pros

Price / (functional quality), Beauty (especially white) and quality of the case,

Minuses

Speaker sound, little screen

Impression

I use it for 10 days and the flight is normal. A very pretty model (I admit that her appearance had a significant influence on the choice) hid it in an expensive leather case and shed tears... THIS IS UNFAIR. Taking into account the drop in price (this happened in Ukraine), when the Z1 was released, the model became even more interesting in terms of price/quality ratio. For one-handed use the dimensions are borderline but still comfortable. The brightness of the screen is quite enough (anything is better than amoled in the sun), there is a delay with a color change when looking at an angle, but... why should I look at it at an angle ONCE) and it’s still readable TWO) although it’s unclear why they didn’t make the negative sign perfectly shorter a small minus. The plastic on the back is amazingly pleasant to the touch (envy and cry Samsung Galaxy s4). The camera... I don’t shoot weddings with it, I’m fine, perhaps you can find a better one, although again not much shorter - on par. Autonomy is not bad as for an android I live for 2 days and the lifespan primarily depends not on calls but on the time the screen is on and loading the processor (I really opened everyone’s eyes, because no one expected it ;))), and when By properly configuring the bucket (turning off unnecessary functions, properly silencing games, etc.), this indicator can be significantly increased. Comparing it with the Z, which I turned over in my hands before the final choice in favor of the Zl, I will say that, for me, it fits better in the hand and is slightly smaller in size, there are no plugs and the sound is louder (at the same time I don’t call underwater), there is an IR port for f- tions of the remote control, all this taking into account the same hardware platform and lower price influenced my choice. Now I’ll scold you a little for variety, the sound of the speaker is not very... no, it’s loud (again, not very loud, but enough) but after the Nokia N95, which faithfully and truthfully for many years, Sonya doesn’t sound at all. SCHOOL!!! The phone is not for musical recess, please note!!!

Choose this phone because of its appearance and price and you will be pleased. If you want advanced functionality and performance, look at the Galaxy S4, HTC One, or Sonya Z1

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