Gadgetory

you might have seen the Sony Xperia Z in a previous review but did you know that it has a smaller twin it may not have all of the abilities of its finger brother but the good news is it is still a great little device tone hey Josh of agar from Android authority what's going on everybody and this is the Sony Xperia Z L for the most part the Xperia Z L is every bit the same phone as the Xperia Z just a little smaller and missing a couple of the flagship phones unique features design is the first thing you'll see with this phone it isn't the completely glass encased body of the Z though the front is still in keeping with a rectangular shape with angular corners the very same 5-inch display makes a return here but the body around it has been shrunken down and that's a very good thing the front is completely black with nothing but the sony logo and the front-facing camera down on the lower right corner but one that in a bit the button layout is different here but retains that large sturdy silver power button it feels really nice and is a good centerpiece for both of Sony's flagship devices the volume rockers are above the silver this time but there is also the addition of a dedicated camera button the sides are about the same as found on the Z completely flat making the grip on the sides just as easy coming around the back the zeal does away with the glass and instead has a textured plastic there is a little give if you really press down on the material but it shouldn't really pose any problems it looks nice and actually helps the feel of the phone glass phones sometimes slip about in the hand but that is not an issue here at the bottom is the only real eyesore in the form of a small flappy cover it is important in that it houses the micro sim and microSD slots and while I don't really think it's very particularly ugly it is held by just one piece of elastic now you shouldn't be opening it up too often anyway but some care might still be needed to ensure it doesn't break off as far as the feel in the hand it is really pretty brilliant 5-inch displays are awesome as I have been convinced of recently but as the phone's get bigger they get harder to handle in one hand Note 2 or Optimus G pro might not be much bigger than the Xperia Z but it still makes a difference and honestly I'm just not used to it but to take a five inch screen and make the body as slim as possible benefits the handling greatly the smaller the bezels get the more attractive these larger screens will be because they won't take as long to get used to the Xperia Z L and mind you the upcoming Samsung Galaxy s4 is a great example of this I personally think that it's a perfect middle ground and is a strong suit for this phone as I mentioned before you get mostly the same bits with the Xperia Z L as its slightly bigger brother this is true for the screen you get the same TFT capacitive screen that is five inches large and displays 1080p resolution with 441 PPI the sharpness is still great while the Bravia Engine built-in makes this display look like a tiny Sony TV but it does suffer from the same problems as the Xperia Z all of that glory is hindered by bad viewing angles put the phone at an angle and the display loses a lot of clarity and fidelity the best way to view the screen is dead-on and when you do so I'll admit that it is still a great experience performance should be the same in the Z L as in the Z and that is pretty much the story here the xperia z ll packs the same 1.5 gigahertz Snapdragon s4 pro processor backed by the adrenal 320 GPU and 2 gigabytes of RAM as far as benchmarks go the scores are quite literally the same with the zo also scoring just over 20,000 nm - to benchmark like the Z did the performance is great as a result even if this processor package is getting on a little bit however the Xperia Z and ZL are great examples of how the s4 pro is still a great performance option and should still stand the test of time as was the case with the Xperia Z there are a few different versions available that are capable of LTE and then some that are only for HSDPA networks take care when ordering in your region so that you don't get a version that won't work on your network mine works just fine on the t-mobile HSPA+ network now I was unhappy with the speaker found on the Xperia Z with its very tinny and shallow sound profile but at least the now rear-facing speaker is a little bit of an improvement even if not by too much battery life does have a small difference in the ZL in that it has a 23 70 milliamp power unit inside 40 milliamp hours over that found in the Xperia Z don't get your hopes up though that minimal increase doesn't seem to really increase the general lifespan looping a video gave me the same five and a half hours and if the reports on the Xperia Z are any indication this phone will have a good amount of talktime otherwise and a lot of standby time so it is still the same kind of mixed bag that the battery in the Z was there are power savings options like stamina mode which turns off mobile data when the screen is off so that can all help you extend your time the Xperia UI is a melting pot of design elements and functionality but I think it works very well sony included the slightly outdated jellybean 4.1.2 but opted for design elements that look a lot like Ice Cream Sandwich it is simple but elegant and doesn't sacrifice features like Google now and Sony's own Walkman application which is a neat music player lastly there are the small apps that overlay a small application over what you're doing for further multitasking the Xperia U I impressed by being easy on the eyes but is still very usable and finally there are the cameras so that two megapixel front-facing camera on the lower right corner might seem a little weird but apparently there is a reason for it when video chatting sony found that people tend to look lower on the screen well below where typical front-facing cameras are located so the camera placement will make you seem like you're actually looking at your caller and thus make things feel a little bit more natural I have yet to test it but let's be honest do you ever really care where the other person on the line is looking on the other hand the rear camera is the same 13 megapixel Exmor RS shooter that produces very nice shots picture quality is more than adequate though the typical issues with low light situations continue here the flash diode does a good job however of filling the scene without blowing out the details the app shows Sonia's experience with cameras with the inclusion of superior Auto which automatically sets the appropriate scene for what is in the frame after that you have the Full HD video camera burst and sweeping panorama modes for some extra fun and so there you have it it might set you back at least 700 American dollars unlocked but the Xperia Z L takes the already pretty beloved Xperia Z and puts it into a smaller more accessible package which is in my opinion its strongest suit sure you might not have water resistance in this different body but if that isn't a big deal to you then you have a great alternative to the slightly larger Xperia Z it feels very nice in the hand while being one of the fastest current phones that brings the increasingly popular 5-inch 1080p display viewing angles aside which I in a number of people honestly don't care as much about there was a lot to love about the Xperia Z and with the ZL I think I might have found my favorite phone so far of 2013 let us know what you think in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe to our channel because Android authority is your source for all things Android