Gadgetory

how does Google's pride and joy stack up against the best Sony mobile experience I'm Taylor Martin this is PocketNow and this is the Sony Xperia Z versus a Google Nexus 4 the Nexus 4 a collaboration between Google and LG for the most pure Android experience and the Sony Xperia Z is same for Sony the best of what sony has to offer all packaged into a smart phone two very similar concepts with vastly different outcomes these two devices are true behemoths they are currently two of the most desirable smartphones on the market they have a lot in common and they also have a lot of differences but when these two flagships go toe-to-toe the purest Android experience and the best Sony experience which one comes out on top it all depends on where your priorities lie one area these two devices truly differ is in build quality and design the Xperia Z is a very square device with hard edges that make it feel much more substantial and larger in the hand but it also makes it more difficult to hold and it doesn't feel as comfortable around the edges of the device it has a blue trim which gives it a much more premium feel and look it's distinguishing and it's rather unique but once you get around to the right edge there is a big bright power button that you cannot miss the Nexus 4 on the other hand is a much more comfortable device to hold it's tapered around the edges which gives it the illusion of being smaller in the hand than it actually is it also has a rubberized trim around the backside of the edge which makes it easier to hold on to and doesn't give the feeling that the device could slip through your fingers at any minute the Nexus 4 in the Xperia Z both feature glass panels on the front and back of the devices however the Nexus 4 has Gorilla Glass only on the front the rear is not and the Xperia Z has dragon TRO glass on the front and Gorilla Glass on the rear the Xperia Z is much more resistant to the elements as it has both ip55 and ip57 ratings for dust and waterproofing unfortunately that means that all of the devices ports are under covers if you need to plug your device in even listen to music or change your SD card you're gonna have to lift a cover first before you can access those ports although the buttons are placed rather strangely and the ports aren't nearly as accessible on the Xperia Z as they are on the Nexus 4 the Xperia Z has the upper hand at the end of the day it has waterproofing dust and an overall more premium feel both the Nexus 4 in the Xperia Z have a 1.5 gigahertz quad-core Snapdragon s4 pro chipset 2 gigabytes of RAM and 16 gigabytes of built-in storage although in the Nexus 4 also comes in an 8 gigabyte model and that's where the specification similarities end the Xperia Z has the advantage and pretty much all of the other specifications it has a 5-inch 1080p reality display a 13.1 megapixel camera and microSD card slot and a 2300 million power battery it also has your typical connectivity such as NFC Wi-Fi b/g/n Bluetooth 4.0 etc it also has LTE connectivity depending on where you are and also works on AT&T 3G bands here in the States the Nexus 4 has a 4.7 inch WXGA true HD IPS plus display an 8 megapixel camera a 20 100 million power battery and no option for expandable storage it also has NFC Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi b/g/n a major plus for the Nexus 4 and a big miss for the Xperia Z is wireless charging the Nexus 4 adheres to the Qi wireless standard meaning it's compatible with any of the Qi wireless chargers the Xperia Z however does not have wireless built-in and you instead have to buy a case that uses the metal prongs on the side of the device this means you have to use the Xperia Z in a case if you ever want to charge wirelessly and not have to open the covers over all the ports when you consider those specifications there's only one area where the Xperia Z truly blows the Nexus 4 out of the water and that's the display the Xperia Z has a 5-inch display with a pixel resolution of 1920 by 1080 that's roughly 443 pixels per inch when you compare that to the 4.7 inch 1280 by 768 pixels or rating of 318 pixels per inch on the Nexus 4 the difference is considerable but the comparison between these two displays is not just based on density when you're watching videos or looking at pictures the Xperia Z's display uses the Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 which makes colors pop a little more and it makes it much more vibrant in normal use the Xperia Z's display pops much more than the Nexus 4 however the contrast ratio of Sony's display is not nearly as high as the Nexus 4's contrast blacks are not nearly as darker is inky on the Xperia Z as they are on the Nexus 4 so it's kind of a trade-off do you want extremely high resolution with colors that really pop with Loki trust or do you want to display this relatively vivid high contrast and a much lower density the true Achilles heel of the 1080p display on the Xperia Z is how much power it consumes laying both devices side-by-side on the table with the displays turned at full brightness the Xperia Z drains much more quickly fortunately all those pixels don't come at the expense of performance both the Nexus 4 and the Xperia Z share the same s4 pro chipset at the same clock speed 1.5 gigahertz and the normal use both devices perform quite well and it was quickly evident that the Xperia Z eats benchmarks for breakfast and the quadrant standard benchmark it scored a seven eight eight three versus the 48 36 from the nexus 4 in the SunSpider test it also scored lower which is better than the Nexus 4 and using the antutu benchmark the Xperia C blue the Nexus 4 out of the water once again but time and time again we learned that benchmarks mean very little when real-world performance suffers the Nexus 4 falls victim to very few performance bugs in normal usage whereas the Xperia Z suffered the occasional stuttering on the home screen pulling down the notification shade switching between applications and so on and so forth while there are major differences in the hardware how does the software stack up let's take a look unsurprisingly the area where these two devices have more in common than any other category is software although the Xperia Z runs Sony's customized version of Android the software on both devices is very similar customizations made by Sony and its software is not nearly as overbearing or prevalent as other manufacturers customized interfaces sony's interface allows the user to set a theme those themes apply different accent colors throughout the operating system so if the holo blue on stock Android isn't your thing you could try an amethyst a ruby amber or emerald maybe a sapphire you also have settings toggles in the notification shades which largely differ from the quick settings and Android the icons are very Sony s if you've used a Sony television or even a Playstation 3 you'll notice that these icons look kind of familiar the application drawer is a little different as well the settings application while mostly stock has been changed to adhere to Sony's themes and accent colors and there are other tiny little modifications all throughout the system for instance Sony's customizations comes with its own set of widgets and wallpapers and there is some bloatware the good news is this bloatware can be removed quite easily aside from these many differences in a customized lock screen on the Xperia C the software on both of these devices feels very similar sony has left many cues from the stock Android experience in its own customized software and of all the interfaces out there TouchWiz since UI this one is among the most lightweight in the jellybean update Google introduced a new camera interface when this more user-friendly and quick to use simply tap anywhere in the viewfinder and slide your finger towards the outside of the ring to access your quick settings however the camera experience on the experience II packs more features such as intelligent auto settings and filters for various effects and when you compare the output of those two cameras the 13.1 megapixel camera on the Xperia Z is definitely the clear winner pictures tend to come out more crisp and clear with more vibrant colors whereas the Nexus 4 tends to lack proper detail and color reproduction all in all the Nexus 4 in the Xperia Z are marketed towards two totally different types of consumers the Nexus 4 is geared more towards consumers who want a stable and consistent experience on the cheap the Nexus 4 retails for either $2.99 or 349 depending on capacity and is an absolute bargain but without LTE and a mediocre camera it was never the top in its class the Xperia Z however is as premium as it can get it has an excessively high resolution display a 13.1 megapixel camera waterproofing dust proofing LTE connectivity a microSD card slot but that comes at a rather steep price at upwards of eight hundred US dollars if you're looking for a more modest phone that's easier to manage one-handed and comes with the most pure Android experience Nexus 4 is definitely the device for you but if you're looking for something a little better for watching movies or playing games something with raw power a premium device all around of these two sony's flagship smartphone is probably the one you should be eyeing so that wraps up the comparison between the Xperia Z and the Nexus 4 if you liked the video be sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel you can also find us on your favorite social networks google plus at plus pocket now Twitter at pocket now and facebook at facebook.com/ slash pocket now also be sure to stay tuned for the full Xperia Z review in the coming days I'm Taylor Martin and I will see you next time