Published On : Sun, May 18th, 2014

Sony Xperia Z2 with Android Kitkat calls for smart upgrade; Camera is its USP

Advertisement

Sony_Xperia

Sony is gradually progressing towards building a fresh connect with the tech savvy customers, giving a tough fight to its counterpart Samsung which has been struggling to retain its position as the most popular smartphone brand. As Samsung drew flak for its sequel of Galaxy Grand Duos – Galaxy Grand 2, Sony has emerged more brightened with its all new Sony Xperia Z2. However both the phones fall in different price segments but both holds similar comparison pattern from their respective previous versions. With a price tag of Rs 49,990, the Z2 will compete with the HTC One M8, Samsung Galaxy S5 and the upcoming LG G3.

Body Built Up

Sony has worked more on design on Z2. Though it looks like Z1 but that’s a good thing as we thought the Z1 was one of Sony’s best efforts. The aluminium chassis makes the handset extremely sturdy and a few knocks won’t really hurt it much. The Z2 also gets the IP 55/58 certification making it amphibious like the Samsung S5. Around the back, we get the same 20.7MP sensor from the Z1 and the single LED flash. Sony has played it safe with the Z2 and stuck to what worked for them in the past.

The biggest and most notable change from the Z1 is the new IPS display. At 5.2-inches, it’s 0.2 inches larger than the Z1’s TFT panel and sports the same Full HD resolution. Naturally, colours and brightness levels are a lot better and the display feels lively and vibrant.

The Kitkat power…

The Z2 runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat along with a slightly tweaked Xperia skin. The functions and features are pretty much the same with a few exceptions and tweaks to the theme.

‘Sounds’ new!

Media playback has always been one of the strong points of Xperia phones and the Z2 is no different. However, they’ve always been lacking when it comes to loud speaker quality and the Z2 manages to plug that gap as well. With stereo speakers mounted on the top and bottom, the Z2 delivers good stereo separation for music and movies.

Connectivity

The Sony Xperia Z2 is a quad-band 3G and 2G device but sadly, the model sold in India does not support 4G. Other connectivity options includes Wi-Fi ‘ac’, USB Host, Bluetooth v4.0, NFC, GLONASS.

Click experience

The camera and the interface is pretty much the same as the Z1, with just a few new apps added. One thing you should note is that in ‘Superior Auto’ mode, the Z2 shoots images in 8MP and records video in 1080p by default. Apparently, the sensor captures the full 20MP image but downscales it to 8MP to increase quality. You can shoot in full 20.7MP in ‘Manual’ mode, the results aren’t as good as in Auto mode. You can’t manually select scene modes as well if the resolution is above 8MP, which we thought was a little odd.

Not really Free

Sony has launched the Xperia Z2 at Rs 49,990. With this, they are also throwing in the SmartBand and a flip cover to sweeten the deal. While this is definitely a much better package than what the others are offering, we feel the price is bloated and here’s why. The Xperia Z1 launched for Rs 42,000 in September last year and is now available for roughly Rs 37,000. The Z2 is only a mild refresh which makes us wonder if Sony has already added the price of the SmartBand and cover to the launch price, while making it out to be a ‘freebie’.

Except for the pricing Xperia Z2 proves to be scoring among its counterparts.