Does the Xperia Z use both Dragontrail and Gorilla Glass?

by XB on 20/02/2013

in Xperia Z and Xperia ZL


Sony Mobile has kept coy over exactly which glass is used in the Xperia Z. The only official word from the company is that the handset “uses durable tempered glass that has equivalent specs to Gorilla/Dragontrail.” It now appears that the handset might in fact be using both suppliers judging by a recent Hong Kong press conference.

One of the alleged slides from the presentation says that the handset uses Asahi Dragontrail glass for the front of the handset and Gorilla Glass on the back. We find it odd if this turns out to be true, after all why not use just one supplier for both front and back? The other interesting piece of information is that the handset is believed to use the NXP PN650 NFC chip which is compatible with both Felicia in Japan and Octopus in Hong Kong.

Does the Xperia Z use both Dragontrail and Gorilla Glass

Does the Xperia Z use both Dragontrail and Gorilla Glass

Via ePrice.

Thanks Kihoon!

Tagged as: Xperia Z

  • Keon Fraites

    Hmmm very interesting indeed!~

  • Lucian

    maybe one is cheaper?

  • saif

    my vaio s :p

  • French Boi

    Sony should rebuild the UI, we want the cool gestures UI.

  • galafix

    They probably aimed for a thinner Z since Gorilla Glass is thinner than Dragontrail, but wanted the front to be really tough so they put Asahi’s in front.

  • reptile64

    Someone do a translation please! Where are my asian friends now??? ^_^

  • ruz

    http://youtu.be/CirztXNESeg?t=2m27s

    This Sony representative said, “not Gorilla Glass”, but, “two different manufacturers”.

  • KL

    i have a simple guess
    Gorilla Glass is difficult for sony to produce sensor-on-lens touch screen.

    and dont forget the Asahi Dragontrail is made (design) in japan, so more easier for sony to use do the sensor-on-lens touch screen considering sony is a japanese company

  • psquba

    A salesman in Sony Center store told me that the Z uses Gorilla Glass actually.

  • Chris

    If it is Gorillaglass it wouldn’t need ugly and scratchy plastic sheet on it. See Nexus 4. Try harder next time, Sony!

  • amsaKANNA C

    Gesture based UI. Rightly said. I achieve it using this combination -> wave launcher, swipe pad and neo launcher gestures (swipe up for call log etc.)

  • http://twitter.com/arrowthefirst Filipp

    GMD gesture control
    especially for tablets

  • http://www.facebook.com/vector.colthart Vector Teh

    It said the front glass is tempered which is thinner, lighter, stronger and shatterproof. Same goes to the glass on the back.=)

  • xperiancer

    These type of comments seriously pisses me off. It’s called shatter proof. Gorilla glass and Dragon Trail are scratch proof, NOT shatter proof. Once you drop it some how and it shatters, it’s still glass we’re talking about. That “plastic” sheet is only used to hold it together. There’s nothing harder to try. They’re already doing what they’re suppose to do for the all glass body.

  • http://twitter.com/dorian_jimi jimi_d

    its just an ad-on if it ever gets broken and with the extra sheet finger prints can be cleaned easier

  • http://twitter.com/dorian_jimi jimi_d

    that sounds right :D

  • annihilatorx

    Actually, they are also shatter proof: See http://www.fastcompany.com/1719138/dragontrail-vs-gorilla-super-tough-glass-game The reason Gorilla glass can shatter is when there are invisible but significant surface defects: http://www.androidauthority.com/corning-video-gorilla-glass-3-145910/

  • xperiancer

    Shatter proof means once it breaks, it holds together without going into different directions. Don’t think they’ve been able to break the Dragon Trail, but it will still shatter (Go in different directions) if for god only know reasons they ever manage to break it. Hope that clarifies what I said earlier.

  • APai

    frustrated with sony not coming out clean. what are they afraid of ? like for the T we do not know for sure whether it is a gorilla glass or not. i hope that sony has a clear policy of letting their customers know what they are getting.

  • APai

    the current UI looks nice – but it is laggy. they’ve got to fix the lag which occasionally is pretty bad.

  • http://twitter.com/owl_order owl

    Maybe they couldn’t make up their minds, so they designed the phone to be identical on the front and on the back. Over the lifespan of the Z, they can easily gather statistics on which glass cracks the most and in the future, select the better manufacturer.

    Or just maybe because Asahi (preferred manufacturer as Sony and Asahi are both Japanese) didn’t have the capacity to meet Sony’s demands so they got Corning in the tow too.

  • annihilatorx

    I see what you mean

  • roeshak

    Well it shouldn’t be too difficult to find out. If you remove the screen protector and it still attracts finger prints which are very hard to clean then it’s definitely not gorilla glass. No oleo phoebic layer means no gorilla glass and it’s would mean it’s probably not dragontrail either.

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  • FlowXT

    If Xperia Z’s MVA display is manufactured by JDI, a Japanese government backed venture, they may be required to use materials from local suppliers, and since the Z’s display is one single unit with the front glass, those requirements could limit them to glass from Asahi.
    Since the back is not manufactured at JDI’s facilities Sony may have opted for cheaper glass from Corning. Another explanation is that the Corning glass was more customizable for different colors (e.g. white and purple colors of the back).

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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1315936629 Tedyeka Setiadi

    Check this…….

    Tokyo, February 21, 2013―AGC (Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.; Head Office: Tokyo; President & CEO: Kazuhiko Ishimura) will newly set up a chemical strengthening facility for Dragontrail™, specialty glass used as cover glass for smart phones and tablet PCs, at its Kansai Plant in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. This new chemical strengthening facility can handle up to sixth-generation (1850mm x 1500mm) glass, enabling the efficient production of thinner next-generation touchscreens. Operation is scheduled to begin in March 2013.

    Conventionally, touchscreens of smart phones and tablet PCs have been triple-layered, consisting of a cover glass, a touch sensor and a display. Recently, however, demand for double-layered touchscreens, which can make the touchscreen even thinner, is expected to grow, and a technology(*1) to attach the touch sensor into the cover glass is drawing attention as a means to manufacture double-layered touchscreens.

    A key to efficient production of double-layered touchscreens is large-size chemically strengthened glass. A large number of cover glass with built-in touch sensor can be manufactured at a time by neatly arranging touch sensors on a large sheet of chemically strengthened glass and cutting the glass into pieces of the intended size. As the touchscreens manufactured based on this method are increasingly adopted for use in smart phones and tablet PCs in 2013 onward, AGC’s high-quality G6-size chemically strengthened Dragontrail manufactured at the new facility will contribute to the creation of even thinner smart phones, tablet PCs, Ultrabook(*2) and other touchscreen devices.

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