Gadgetory

Sonia's been taking the Sony Xperia Z and putting it through its paces with a bunch of different variations most recently we saw the blown up version the Xperia Z ultra that huge device but now Sony has decided to take things just a little bit simpler and a little bit smaller hey it's Josh magar from Android auto what's going on everybody and this is the Sony Xperia Z R this can be somewhat considered the mini edition of the Sony Xperia Z and Z ultra but only InDesign in all other respects this is a phone that can certainly stand on its own falling under the 5 inch screen measurement the Zr comes in at four and a half inches and is all around an easier phone to handle than its bigger brethren the design is pretty classic Xperia with white plastic wrapping around the screen on the front below the screen is a notification light in the shape of a nice futuristic looking line that was first seen in the Xperia Z L around the sides we have an accented gray color with the same button layout we've come to expect from any Xperia the silver power button and volume rocker above a small but still welcome addition of a dedicated camera button all of the buttons are small but manageable though there is a bit of a squishiness and a lack of tactile feel to them that honestly I didn't really like an expected IP certification means that the headphone jack up top and the microUSB port on the side gets small plastic covers around the back we actually get a removable cover which includes everything that entails the sim and SD card slots along with a removable battery I do have to admit that it is a little odd to see these two important features available consistently in the mid-range and not the top-tier nonetheless the cover is made of a simple plastic with no texture or design all you get is the Experian and the camera optics above the flash diode obviously the four and a half inch form factor makes this feel easy in the head everything is easily reachable from a neutral grip but the button layout does seem a little low considering the size of this phone which is a minor but noticeable gripe while this isn't a super light phone there is a lack of heft that is accompanied by a somewhat hollow feeling all of this leads to simultaneously a phone that is very light but also tows that quality line I wouldn't go as far as to say that there is a low quality build or feel to this but the smooth simple plastic and the hollow feeling within some would detract from it the TFT capacitive display is 4.55 inches large and packs a decent amount of power which puts the experience er above many of its mini counterparts capable of 720p and packing 323 pixels per inch the Bravia Engine also helps with the color reproduction overall this is much like a smaller version of the screen found on the Xperia Z with some improvements brightness is adequate though you're going to have to crank it up in broad daylight colours do have a good level of contrast and thankfully sony has at least gotten somewhat better at viewing angles since the original Xperia Z it brings the same experience play quality in a smaller size which honestly is kind of a nice feat while we thought the Xperia Z kind of missed the mark by packing a then somewhat aging Snapdragon s4 pro it makes perfect sense for this later mid-range offering the quad core processor comes in at 1.5 gigahertz and is backed by the adrenal 320 and two gigabytes of RAM as expected users get good and reliable performance from a chipset that has had over the last year to prove itself the somewhat simpler Xperia UI does also help in this regard so moving around the OS and is er is a smooth experience general users will remain quite happy with their experience on the Xperia Z R which is outfitted with just enough power to handle just about anything today's demands throw at it IP 58 certification helps keep all of the hardware on the Xperia Z are dust free and protected in up to one meter of water and you'd want to protect all the all important features of removable battery and microSD card slot all found underneath that removable back cover the rest of the story is pretty familiar with GPS Bluetooth NFC but there is no IR blaster included given the lackluster performance of the experience these speakers I did expect the CR to really surpass it that was about right as is the case with all Experian's these days a couple different versions are available for HSDPA and LTE connectivity so be sure what you're getting for your network being able to have a spare battery handy is often an important feature to users but with the smaller specifications the 2300 milliamp power unit included with the Xperia Z R is able to go the distance straight video playback is able to crack close to the 7 hour mark and moderate to slightly heavy usage will still take you from waking up to sleeping without truly tapping out at the end of one long day I still had 20% battery life left and was pretty pleasantly surprised that this 4.5 inch screen device wasn't really breaking a sweat this comes as little surprise however considering there is less screen to display less pixel density to process and a less demanding processing package to power and even in the camera Sony didn't want to compromise high quality and power for a smaller phone by today's standards having a 13 megapixel camera is a little unheard of nonetheless the Xperia Z R comes with a camera that can actually rival some of the top two devices available now in the app you get the usual experience like superior auto a mode that finds the right scene mode for your shot it is probably my favorite auto mode on a smartphone camera because it's not too intrusive and it just tells you what it thinks would work so if you need to change it you certainly can otherwise you get HDR sweeping panorama and a myriad of filters picture quality is quite decent and is very reminiscent of the good performing Xperia Z details are captured quite well and dullness and color reproduction is kept to a minimum without a full comparison it's hard to see if the Z are really rivals or surpasses current top smartphone cameras but from this cursory glance it's easy to like what comes out of these optics low-light shots obviously get more noise but the flash dial helps with that the Zr is also capable of 1080p video capture effectively translating picture quality to movies HDR can also be turned on in video mode too ultimately you get a great performing camera in a phone that is supposed to take a step back from the cutting edge when it comes to software Sony doesn't really stray from what we've already seen from them the Xperia U is back in this Android 4.1 version that includes Google now on top of its own additions the Xperia app staples of the Walkman movies and album bring very Sony esque media players to the fray all of these make for a good media consumption experience and since they can play a myriad of file types you should have little problems the only other additions are the small apps little overlays that go on top of what you're already doing these are just simple tools like calculators and timers and notes but they do help with quick multitasking honestly I've always liked the Xperia UI with its darker overall tones because it's like Sonia's own take on a mostly stock looking Android it's simple its elegant and it doesn't try too hard the Sony Xperia Z R isn't currently available for any carriers in the States but you can find it unlocked for just under $500 we don't know where and we don't know when it will get put on any carriers but I really hope that it does eventually and so there you have it I actually wasn't expecting a whole lot from the Sony Xperia Z R and that could possibly be because of the many different mid to low range phones that Samsung and let's say LG consistently put out with Sony looking to get into that sort of game I was expecting it to be a lot more of the same thankfully that was not the case even if the build and the feel might leave a little bit to be desired everything underneath is purely viable and deserves ample attention the tried and true Snapdragon s4 pro continues to flaunt its abilities and features like expandable memory and 720p resolution for a smaller display help make the Xperia Z R an easily recommended device while the Moto X remains quite similar to the Zr in its specs what is great about the Zr is that you now have choices for smaller and more easily accessible devices that provide as close to a top-tier experience as they can if you want a powerful experience without getting too crazy the Xperia Z R is your bang for buck phone it might not be on the cutting edge but it gets close enough that you might not even be able to tell the difference as always thank you very much for watching and if you liked what you saw make sure you drop us a like down below if you want to keep up with all that Android Authority has to offer make sure you subscribe to our Channel and 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