We’re a bit late with this review roundup, but thought it was worth posting regardless. The Sony Xperia ZL (C650X) was only launched in certain regions and is a sibling device to the Xperia Z (C660X). It doesn’t have the water resistant qualities of the latter but it is the most compact 5-inch smartphone out there and offers some features the Xperia Z doesn’t have such as the infra-red sensor and dedicated camera button.
Most of the reviews ultimately end up discussing the ZL’s place in Sony’s line-up, knowing that the flagship device is the Z. However, there are some mixed opinions as to which phone people prefer. The likes of Engadget says they prefer the ZL given the better ergonomics, however others say it is average compared to other flagships out there. Anyway, you can glance over the reviews we’ve gathered below. [read more…]
Sony Mobile Russia has confirmed that the Xperia ZR (C550X) will be heading to the region at the end of this month at a price point of 23,990 Rubles (£479, €559, $749). Given the higher cost of phones in Russia, it’s no surprise to see that the Xperia ZR is significantly more expensive than compared to other regions.
DooMLoRD from xda-developers has been hard at work again and has just released version 11 of his Easy Rooting Toolkit. This allows users on the latest Jelly Bean firmware to root their handsets. However only select models are supported right now including the Xperia Z, Xperia SP and Xperia S.
The exploit used works on handsets with both locked and unlocked handsets, however it is also specific to particular customisations on each model. FTF firmware links are provided in each of the posts linked below, these can be flashed via Flashtool. For users that have a different customisation, they only need to flash the kernel.sin & system.sin and then run the rooting script. [read more…]
It’s official, the Xperia Z is heading to T-Mobile USA exclusively this summer. T-Mobile says that the LTE-enabled version of the Xperia Z will be available in the “coming weeks” in both black and purple (the latter in limited quantities).
T-Mobile plans to offer the device on its Simple Choice Plan with no annual service contract plus unlimited talk, text and Web on its 4G LTE network. However, no pricing information is available for the handset just yet, although interested parties can register their interest on the Xperia Z product page. [read more…]
Sony Mobile may be planning to release a new firmware update for the Xperia S (LT26i), judging by comments on their support forums. The representative suggests a new update will be landing during week 28 (week commencing 8 July 2013) which will fix a bug that people are having with NFC and beaming content to other phones.
However, what we’re not sure at this stage is if this is an entirely new update after 6.2.B.0.211, which only landed in certain regions. Or whether this is indeed a wider launch for the ’211′ firmware. We’ll keep you posted. [read more…]
Around a month ago, we reported on a problem that was affecting select Sony Xperia SP (C530X) users. The issue surrounded the display which stopped registering touch commands when the handset was placed horizontally on a surface. Sony has now responded to people’s concerns on its support forums and says the following:
“This have now been investigated and if you experience this problem I advise you to contact your local support team to have your phone calibrated at a repair center. ” [read more…]
Kazuo Hirai, President and CEO of Sony Corporation, recently took the opportunity to answer some community questions on the Signal by Sony YouTube channel. Of interest to us here at Xperia Blog were questions on product segmentation in the Xperia line-up and how the company plans to clearly define the entry, mid and high-end ranges. Another question was targeted at Sony’s slow firmware updates. Click through to hear his thoughts on these issues. [read more…]
The Xperia ZR (C550X) will only be heading to certain regions globally and the first lucky countries to get availability are India and Taiwan. Only the HSPA+ version (C5502) is on sale in both territories. In India, Infibeam has all three colours in stock (black, white and pink) for INR 29,990 (£331, €389, $516). Flipkart has the black version in stock for INR 29,850.
In Taiwan, both black and white colours are in stock. The mint and pink variants will be available towards the end of the month. The Sony Store Taiwan is selling the phone for NT$ 16,900 (£360, €424, $566). Check out a Taiwanese promotional video for the handset below. [read more…]
The Sony Xperia Z (C660X) is capable of taking some great pictures and the timelapse video below is testament to that. The three minute video was created using 5,749 images shot in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The pictures were taken over five days at various points in the day and at different parts in the city. Impressively the rendering process was completed using an app on the Xperia Z and the clip was rendered at between 15 to 20 fps. It is an impressive video that shows just how good the Xperia Z can take pictures, check out the video below. [read more…]
A number of Sony Xperia handsets with Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo will soon be updated to Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean firmware. A new firmware build with version number 9.1.C.0.464 has been certified by the PTCRB website for three key models including the Xperia AX (SO-01E), Xperia GX (SO-04D) and Xperia SX (SO-05D).
The 9.1.X.X.XXX build has signified Jelly Bean firmware for western handsets, so we have no reason to believe the same won’t apply here. Hopefully, Japanese users won’t have too long to wait. [read more…]
A new firmware build has been certified by the PTCRB for the Sony Xperia T (LT30a) and Xperia V (LT25i). Firmware version 9.1.A.1.142 is likely to be a marginal update over the current update on the Xperia T (9.1.A.1.141) and Xperia V (9.1.A.1.140). Hopefully we’ll see this ’142′ firmware hit handsets shortly. [read more…]
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