Gadgetory

on my desk today as the late 2016 flagship from Sony the Xperia XZ with an IP 68 water resistance rating dual front firing stereo speakers and a headphone jack it has the initial characteristics of a spectacular smartphone some people have complained that the phone is too much of a rectangle these are the same people who haven't noticed that every phone is a rectangle the only other Sony phone that I have tested on my channel is the Sony z5 premium while it did not catastrophic Li snap in half the metal rails on the sides were broken and the camera lens was actually made out of plastic instead of glass so it was definitely not one of the most durable phones from last year hopefully the new XZ phone fares better for this year the most hardness test always comes first this helps us tell what material the screen is made out of shatterproof screens like the galaxy s7 active or the droid turbo 2 typically have a plastic screen which scratches at a level 3 the average smartphone has tempered glass and will scratch it a 5 or 6 and if any company decides to roll out a sapphire screen in the future they will be scratching at a level 8 or 9 this sony xperia XZ screen scratches at a level 6 so it should be safe around keys and coins but it is still always a good idea to keep a screen protector on it for those harder minerals and dust specks in the environment the 13 megapixel front facing camera is protected by the same screen glass so it is also scratch resistant a unique thing about the XC is that the NFC chip is actually located right here next to the front camera instead of the back of the device like most other smartphones this little sticker marks its location the top earpiece speaker grille appears to be made out a thin layer of plastic it is definitely more sturdy than the cloth speaker cover over the Google pixel but either way it is still pretty secure and won't be sliding out on its own but it is unfortunate that it's not a thicker metal grille like on the Samsung or the newer iPhone the bottom speaker is made out of the same material it won't get punctured unless something is deliberately stuck into the slot but sometimes that will accidentally happen in your pocket or purse on the back of the phone that thin little bar along the bottom is made out of plastic you can tell it's plastic by the way it is which is pretty neat the larger portion of the back panel is definitely metal then you can add a little body to the wild hair and look it's Donald Trump the single colored LED flash is covered with plastic which is pretty standard across all the smart phones it is the camera lens that we don't want to be plastic and lucky for us Sony did decide to change their lens to a more durable and scratch resistant glass definitely deserves a thumbs up for that you won't have to worry about your 23 megapixel camera lens getting scratched or damaged easily last year's Sony z5 premium camera lens was made from the more easily damaged plastic so I'm definitely glad they changed materials I wonder if Sony watches my videos the SIM card and SD card tray is made out of plastic and surprisingly the side bars of the phone are made from plastic as well so if you're looking for a device that has a premium metal or glass feel from every surface of the phone this is not the device for you you can see the color difference between the painted exterior plastic and the unpainted interior plastic scratches or drops would expose the color difference between the plastic layers as well over time the plastic paint tends to wear down up here by the beautiful and incredible useful headphone jack the top edge of the phone is made from plastic and if we flip the phone around to look at the USB type-c charging port we find another plastic panel at the bottom unfortunately the fingerprint scanner slash power button is also made out of plastic the volume rocker and camera button are both metal though so that part is at least good the fingerprint scanner is not available in the US version of this phone unfortunately which is strange considering their high price point it should be included but you aren't missing out on too much though after superficially scratching the fragile fingerprint scanner with my razor blade it was unable to read my fingerprint just remember that both the pixel and LG v 20 fingerprint scanners were unfazed by my scratches onto the burn test the Xperia XZ is using a 1080p IPS display that can last 13 seconds under direct flame before the pixels go black and turn off the screen does fully recover though the display is cool to the touch within seconds and the pixels slowly come back to life after the flame is removed the flame test is useful to us because we can tell it's time to move on to the bin test if you haven't subscribed yet now is the time to do so it is completely free and you stay up to date on the latest flagship smartphone durability I flex the phone to check the internal build quality and the overall structural integrity of the phone you can hear the plastic sidebars snap in two separate places near the SD card slot and right there in the center but the phone does not catastrophic ly snap in half and still functions completely I'll bend the phone from the other direction we get one more small snap in the center of the side bar right there next to the power button but yet the phone does still not snap in half altogether it maintains its rectangular integrity and passes the bin test this phone is definitely not a contender for the most durable smartphone of 2016 but it is still alive so as long as you don't mind the plastic sidebars and the weaker scratch Abul fingerprint scanner this phone is worth considering from a durability perspective my Instagram followers got the results in real time before this video was edited and posted to YouTube so follow me over there if you want to be one of the first to watch my durability test I'm all about reviewing tech from the inside so thanks a ton for watching I'll see you around