Table of Contents
- Layout and Finishing
- Fabric
- speed and performance
- System
- Fingerprint reader
- Camera
- Battery Life
- Price and availability
- Conclusion
- Image gallery
- Technical specifications
About six months ago, the Sony launched the Xperia Z3+, which left a bad impression with overheating, inconsistent camera and a handful of other negatives. THE X came in an attempt to cover that stain. I spent the last few days with the new flagship of Sony and these are my impressions:
Layout and Finishing
O X It is one of the most beautiful handsets on the market, alongside the Galaxy S6, iPhone 6s and Moto X Style. Sony cell phone is elegance, sober and follows the design line of previous models.
The sides are metal and give a firm grip. On the right is the on/off button that houses the fingerprint sensor; below are the volume control buttons and quick access to the camera. Despite not being in a conventional place, there was no difficulty in adapting. On the left, there is the tray to place the nanoSIM chip and the microSD card; it is very easy to remove.
It doesn't look like it, but the rear is from glass. This time the material got a matte finish, avoiding fingerprints on the back. On the front are the camera, the brand Sony and the proximity sensor, in addition to the two speakers. On the side edges, the area was well used, but there was uncomfortable space at the bottom.
Fabric
As tradition dictates, the new top-of-the-line Sony continue with one of the best screens on the market. O display IPS LCD de 5.2 inches with resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels offers balanced colors, sharpness and optimal brightness range. In the settings, there are three image enhancement options: off, X-Reality and Super Vivid Mode.
There is only one problem: the manufacturer has not evolved this specification since the Xperia Z2, launched in 2014. This does not detract from the quality of the screen, but it disappoints for not exploring new technologies and possibilities.
speed and performance
A Sony opted for repeat several specifications do Xperia Z3 +: the same processor Snapdragon 810, the Adreno GPU 430, Os 3 GB of RAM and the 32 GB for internal storage. The similarities are worrying because of the “heated up” reputation of the older model. However, the manufacturer claims to have put in a dual heat dissipation system and optimized the system to solve the issue once and for all.
The problem was solved? Yes. THE X It heats up a lot when put to the test, but within the expected. In normal use, however, it maintained the ideal temperature. The hardware set delivers a positive experience, with smooth animations and transitions. Multitasking works very well, thanks to the large amount of RAM; the device was able to recover the point where I left it even in games.
System
turning the Android Lollipop 5.1.1 (with promise to upgrade to 6.0 Marshmallow), the X has a cleaner system compared to older models. The company continues to use its traditional interface, but it carries fewer pre-installed apps than before. The look is very minimalistic, easy to understand.
Highlight for settings audio. The smartphone has a series of features to offer a complete experience for those who enjoy listening to music. There is automatic optimization for headphones, equalizer, ClearAudio + and other details. The difference became very clear when I alternated the same song from X to another cell phone.
The device is also interesting for those who have a Playstation 4: you can play directly from your cell phone as long as there is a good connection. Unfortunately I couldn't test the feature, but it's still interesting.
Fingerprint reader
A Sony joined the wave of biometric sensors, but claims that it has a differential: the fingerprint sensor is integrated into the on/off button and offers more naturalness at the time of use. Really, the positioning was great.
The software allows the addition of up to 5 fingerprints, which will only serve to unlock the device (that's for now; the payment authentication functions will only come with the update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow).
Fingerprint reader touch recognition is fast and very accurate. I leave here a tip: when registering your biometrics, position your finger in several positions, this will make it easier to take your smartphone from the table and unlock it, regardless of whether it is well adjusted by hand.
Camera
Improvements have been made to the camera sensor. Now the Exmor RS sensor has 23 megapixels, “super fast” hybrid autofocus, 24mm wide-angle lens and better image stabilization. In practice, these specifications translate into high quality images.
It's really quick to take pictures and can handle different lighting conditions well. Noise is inevitable in dark environments, but the results are very close to what the competition offers, sometimes even superior.
Highlight for the camera application that offers automatic options for less demanding users, but also allows manual adjustments for those who want to play around with the ISO, white balance and other parameters.
By default, photos are taken at 8 megapixels. In the settings there is the option of 20 MP. I don't understand the reason for this factory suggestion.
Battery Life
A 2900 mAh battery do X not surprising, but also not disappointing. You can spend a day away from the outlet if you don't demand a lot from your cell phone.
With heavy use, browsing through the 4G, taking pictures, listening to music and checking social media, I had to recharge it at 17:00. On days of moderate use, it managed to get to the end of the night with 20% charge.
Important notice: do 4K recordings drain a lot of battery. If you plan to use this feature often, don't forget to bring a power pack.
Price and availability
Sony announced the X in Spain with the suggested price of R$ 4.299. The absurd amount, however, did not hold up for even a month. In most retail stores it is already possible to find it for about R$ 3.600, as in Submarino and Lojas Americanas.
Conclusion
O X it's stylish, has great performance, a very high quality camera and an outstanding audio experience. And it managed to correct most of the defects of the Xperia Z3. However, it is a very expensive cell phone, mainly because it does not have great additions compared to the previous model; except for the fingerprint reader.
Even with the price of retail stores, the X it's insanely expensive. Some competitors are much more affordable, such as Moto X Style and even the Galaxy S6. Therefore, it is worth looking carefully at the other models or waiting for an even greater price reduction than Z5 this Christmas.
Image gallery
Technical specifications
- Processor: Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 – quad-core de 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 + quad-core de 2 GHz Cortex-A57;
- RAM memory: 3 GB;
- Fabric: 5.2-inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels (428 dpi);
- Camera: 23 megapixels, autofocus, LED flash;
- Frontal camera: 5.1 megapixels;
- Battery: 2900 mAh;
- Connectivity: 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, A-GPS, GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.1, microUSB 2.0, NFC;
- GPU: Adreno 430;
- External memory: microSD card support up to 200GB;
- Internal memory: 32 GB;
- Dimensions: 146 x 72 x 7.3 mm;
- Weight: 154 grams;
- Sensors: accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, infrared, proximity, biometric sensor for fingerprint unlocking;
- Platform: Android 5.1.1 Lollipop (commencing the update for Android 6.0 Marshmallow).
