Sony Xperia i1 "Honami" Specification Leaked

Sony's Xperia i1 "Honami" Specs Leaked

 New leakages have emerged from battleship Xperia, with specs beefing out what we previously knew about the forthcoming Xperia i1 phone, also known under the development name Honami. And also known as a 20-Megapixel whopper.

According to Taiwanese site ePrice, the Xperia i1 features a high-end 20.7-Megapixel ExmorRS camera sensor powered by Sony's Bionz image processing tech, which will be combined with a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series chipset and a 5? 1080p display. That'll make it the most impressive smartphone out there by quite a margin, on paper at least.

There's also something called a "Sony G Lens" mentioned on the spec sheet, which may be some sort of optical zoom or image stabilisation system. Or just a pretty new lens. We should see this latest Sony flagship shown off at the beginning of September, when Sony will be demonstrating its new things at the IFA tech show. [ePrice via Engadget]

Sony Xperia Tablet Z Review : one of the best tablet of Sony

Sony Xperia Tablet Z Review: Sony Finally Gets One (Mostly) Right

In a time when tablets are becoming increasing similar, it's rare that you pick up a device and have one of those, ""Whoa!"" moments. You relish them when they come, because it means that creativity and innovation still exist in a world of look-alikes. After years of trying and failing with Android tablets, Sony has finally delivered one of those moments.

What Is It?

It's Sony's latest (and definitely greatest) attempt at making a tablet. The company has had some near-hits, like the Xperia Tablet S, and some colossal, bone-breaking failures, like the Sony Tablet P. But finally, at long last, Sony got it together and built itself one excellent piece of hardware. It's of the 10-inch, Android Jelly Bean (4.1, not 4.2) variety. It's got a 1080p screen, Qualcomm's quad-core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, two 2GB of RAM, a micro SD card slot, an IR blaster, and oh yeah, it's freaking waterproof! It can stay in up to three feet of water for up to half an hour. Movie time and bath time, together at last.

Sony Xperia Tablet Z Review: Sony Finally Gets One (Mostly) Right
Design

Oh, hello, gorgeous. Simply put, when you first pick up Xperia Tablet Z, you'll think, ""There's no way this thing actually turns on or does anything."" It just feels impossibly thin and light. At 0.27 inches (6.9 millimeters), it is the thinnest tablet in the world (the iPad Mini is 7.2 millimeters, for comparison). At 17.46 ounces (495 grams), it's the lightest full-sized tablet we've seen (the current generation iPad is 23.35 ounces). Not only that, it's perfectly balanced. You can comfortably hold it one-handed in landscape mode. It's even thinner than the Samsung Galaxy S4 (see above), which is one of the thinnest phones out there.

Sony Xperia Tablet Z Review: Sony Finally Gets One (Mostly) Right

The tablet is almost a perfect rectangle, with just barely rounded corners. The back is a matte, brushed plastic, that has an excellent grip to it. It's not going to accidentally slide off your lap on the subway. Sony also did something pretty ingenius with the speakers, too. A lot of tablets stick the speaker holes on the bottom-edge of the tablet, where your lap will muffle them if it's resting on your legs, or they stick the holes on the sides, where your hands will muffle them if you're holding it. Sony put the speakers on the two bottom corners (when holding it landscape), but it put the holes for the speakers on the bottom and the sides, so even if you're covering two of the holes the sound can come out through the other two. Smart, though we still definitely prefer the front-facing speakers on Google's Nexus 10.

Sony Xperia Tablet Z Review: Sony Finally Gets One (Mostly) Right

On the side, it shares the same nubby buttons as the Xperia ZL phone, but while they were kind of ugly on the phone, they're perfectly pleasant on the tablet. They're easy to find, and easy to press. Down on the bottom there are two panels behind sealed doors. One is for the micro SD card slot, and the other is for the micro USB / micro HDMI port, which you can use to change your tablet and/or stream HD video to your TV. There's also an 8MP rear facing camera, which we would encourage you to ignore.

Sony Xperia Tablet Z Review: Sony Finally Gets One (Mostly) Right
Using It

The Xperia Tablet Z is running Sony's custom skin on top of Android. On the plus side, the tablet version of this skin is extremely intuitive to use. Dedicated buttons for Google Now, Voice Search, adding apps/widgets, and the remote control are all very easy to understand. Sony also put in some power management tools that gives you standby times to the tune of many days. Essentially, it turns off your data connection when the screen is off, but you can whitelist apps (like Gmail, for example) so you get important notifications. It's very nicely done.

Sony did, however, put more than a dozen of its own apps on the tablet, many of which are either inferior replacements of the standard Android apps (Sony's Album < Android's Gallery), or services you really don't need (Wi-Fi Checker? Consumers were clamoring for that?). It managed to build a remote control app that works better than any we've used, but it failed to integrate a guide to what's on, like HTC and Samsung did. Sony has an app for that, but it's only compatible with networked devices. Not very helpful.

In terms of day to day usage, we generally threw it in a backpack (usually with no protection) and it was light and thin enough that we literally forgot it was there multiple times and tossed our bag around more roughly than we would have. After a week of such abuse the tablet doesn't have a scratch on it, though we'd definitely still recommend getting a case. We also verified the waterproof claims, taking it into the shower with us and then leaving it submerged in a bath while a video played. One of the Tablet Z's slick tricks is that the touchscreen will actually work reasonably well when wet. You couldn't game with it like that, but it was good enough for controlling basic functions.

Sony Xperia Tablet Z Review: Sony Finally Gets One (Mostly) Right
Like

On the hardware side of things, it's really almost all like. The lightness and thinness really are killer features, and the thing just feels amazing to hold. The 1080p screen with Sony's Mobile Bravia Engine 2 produces some of the most vibrant, and yet most accurate colors we've ever seen on a tablet, especially for things like flowers and landscapes. Battery life was fantastic with Stamina Mode enabled. HD games (such as Dead Trigger) played extremely well, without so much as a hitch.

We absolutely love the waterproof element. It's not a gimmick. It actually makes us feel safe using it pretty much anywhere, in virtually any condition. Because it's dust-proof, too, this is the only tablet we'd want to take with us to the beach, a construction site, or, y'know, Burning Man. A micro HDMI port and an IR blaster are features all tablets should have, and what's not to like about a micro SD card slot?
No Like

While Sony's skin looks very good, it really slows things down. There is noticeable jutter when swiping through home screens, and apps are simply slower to launch than they should be. This is clearly bad optimization, because when we installed Nova Launcher everything got silky smooth. The Snapdragon S4 Pro is an excellent processor (though not as good as the more recent Snapdragon 600 and the upcoming 800), and it should tear through your homescreens with no problems at all, especially since the introduction of Project Butter in stock Jelly Bean (Android 4.1). Speaking of Android 4.1, why is this tablet launching with a version of Android that's a year old? 4.2 has been out since November. Totally unacceptable, and Sony doesn't have the best track record with speedy updates, either.

While we liked the colors on the screen, the blacks are more like grays, and the whites can skew a bit orange. It's also not as bright as other high-end Android tablets (though it was good enough for a bright day), and it's not as high-resolution as the Nexus 10 or the latest iPad, though it's by no means bad. While we praised the implementation of the speakers, the sound is really tinny and just generally crappy. Sony should just buy speaker components from a company that knows how to make good speakers. Y'know, like Sony. Oh... that's weird.

Sony Xperia Tablet Z Review: Sony Finally Gets One (Mostly) Right
Should I Buy It?

Gripes aside, this is our favorite tablet we've used in a long time. The $500 price point, gives us a bit of pause, though. It's more expensive than the Nexus 10, but it has better guts and performs better (once you get away from the home screen). It's cheaper than the latest iPad, though, and while it doesn't have quite as many tablet optimized apps, that gap is a lot smaller now, and the Xperia Tablet Z's form factor is more impressive than any other tablet out there. Hands down.

While we've really come to value smaller tablets like the Nexus 7 for their portability, watching movies and reading websites is certainly a more pleasurable experience on a 10-inch tablet, and the waterproof/dustproof specs are very tempting. We wish the guts and the software were a little more current, but for the majority of consumers, this is an excellent tablet, and if you've got 500 bucks to spend, there are certainly worse ways to spend it. [Sony]
Sony Xperia Tablet Z Specs

Network: Wi-Fi
OS: Android 4.1 with Sony's UI
CPU: 1.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro
Screen: 10.1-inch 1920x1200 TFT LCD (224PPI)
RAM: 2GB
Storage: 16GB or 32GB + micro SD up to 64GB
Camera: 8MP rear / 2MP front
Battery: 6000 mAh
Dimensions: 10.47 x 6.77 x 0.27 inches
Weight: 17.46 ounces
Price: $500 for 16GB version / $600 for 32GB

Sony Xperia Z Review: The Manic Pixie Dream Girl of Phones

Sony Xperia Z Review: The Manic Pixie Dream Girl of Phones

At long last, the Xperia Z is coming to the states. It was the most appealing phone at CES back in January, with its good looks and waterproofiness. But that was half a year ago, and since then the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 have made quite an impression. The Z is still pretty and quirky, but it ultimately breaks your heart.
What Is It?

The Xperia Z is one of Sony's two flagship smartphones (the other being the unfortunate Xperia ZL, which we reviewed last month). It has a 5-inch 1080p screen, a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, two gigs of ram, expandable storage, a 13MP camera, NFC, and LTE. It runs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) with Sony's ""Experience Flow UI"" (coughskincough) on top. The biggest selling-point? It's waterproof to three feet for up to half an hour.

 Who's It For?

People who want a thin, good-looking smartphone. People who like Sony. People who are constantly dropping their phones into toilets.
Design

When it's off it essentially looks like a thin, black rectangle. It's actually very slick-looking. The back is glass as well, so the front and back look pretty similar. They are both, as you might suspect, fingerprint magnets. Sony has eschewed capacitive navigation buttons for on-screen buttons, which we generally prefer. On the edge of the device there are four separate panels that open up and seal closed (so water can't get in). At 0.31 inches thick, it's just as thin as the Galaxy S4.

 It will take micro SD cards for expanding your storage. Like the Xperia ZL, the battery isn't user-replaceable. Unlike the Xperia ZL, there is no dedicated physical camera button or IR blaster for controlling your TV. Bummer on both counts.
Using It

The way the Xperia Z functions is actually pretty similar to stock Android in most ways-you get into Google Now by swiping up from the home button, for instance. However, the software's similarities to stock are obscured somewhat by animations and little flourishes (e.g. when you remove an item from your desktop the trashcan's lid opens and closes) that only serve to slow things down. Other additions are genuinely useful, for example shortcuts to mini-apps (notepad, timer, calculator) in the task switcher, and Sony's robust power management solution.

The auto-correct in Sony's built-in keyboard is truly atrocious, replace it with SwiftKey or the stock Android Keyboard for a much, much better experience. If you're on a Wi-Fi network you can make calls over Wi-Fi, however we found that unless you were pretty close to the router, call quality would be really bad. We like the interface on Sony's camera app a lot.
The Best Part

It's waterproof. All gadgets (especially phones) should be waterproof. The phone rings while you're in the shower? Just answer it. Want to watch a video while you take a bath or enjoy a hot tub? Knock yourself out. You could even shoot a little shallow underwater video in a pool if you wanted. It's definitely the phone's standout feature.
Tragic Flaw

The overall user experience just isn't very good. While it certainly isn't ""slow,"" there is definitely more stutter and lag than on the HTC One or Galaxy S4. This is partially due to the slightly older processor in it, and partially due to Sony's skin. There are also tons of bugs. One day I was unable to mute alerts on the phone until I rebooted the whole thing. Another day, the screen would only display at full brightness. Plus, the touchscreen seems to be less accurate than it is on other high-end phones, and pressing the wrong button/key/menu option as a result is a common occurrence. And, really, it's the worst auto-correct of any keyboard we've used in recent years. All of these things add up.

 This Is Weird...

The phone is waterproof because of these little plastic doors that press in over all of the ports (four in total). The micro USB port is especially tricky to A) locate, and B) pry open with your fingernail. Now, add darkness to the equation, and fumbling around with your phone to plug it in at night (every night) without waking up your significant other is kind of a pain in the ass. You can buy a dock cradle that will charge it more easily (for about $30, which is probably worth it if you buy the phone), but if ever a phone begged for built-in wireless charging, this is it.
Test Notes

    Sony's Stamina Mode does a terrific job of boosting standby time. It does this by disabling wireless data for all apps you haven't white-listed (like Gmail, for example). That said, it only helps when the screen is off and when you're not using it. When I was only lightly using the phone I got two full days on a single charge, which is incredible. With heavier usage (lots of reading, web browsing, emailing, and some gaming) I still made it past 10pm almost every day. Very impressive.
    T-Mobile's LTE network has at last begun rolling out in NYC. We averaged around 10Mbps downloads and 8Mbps uploads. That's plenty fast, though it's by no means revolutionary.
    The camera is a bit of a disappointment. We expected the Exmor RS sensor to really shine in low-light, but it produces incredibly noisey images. In daylight reds very much bleed together and images just aren't quite as sharp as you'd want them to be (though they're not bad). HDR mode tends to just make everything gray, and while HDR video is a cool concept, it doesn't do much in practice. To be clear, the camera is by no means bad (except in low light), it's just not what we'd hoped. You can see photo and video samples here.
    The Z's slick back means it'll slide off surfaces more easily if you're not careful.
    Audio quality from the phone's external speaker is tinny and unappealing. This is probably because there's a rubber barrier over it to keep it from flooding when submerged. Up to you if it's worth the trade-off.




 Should I Buy I?

While we certainly like it more than the Xperia ZL, we'd definitely never recommend it over the HTC One or Galaxy S4. Maybe if you constantly find yourself the victim of dunk tanks, but if that's the case, Which phone should I buy? is hardly your biggest problem. It looks great, but it underperforms, and unlike with the Xperia Tablet Z (which we really liked) that under-performance is likely to become a more serious nuisance.

You'll be able to walk into a Sony store as of today and buy the Xperia Z for $0 down and $25 a month for 24 months, or you can just pay $580 for it up front. T-Mobile customers will have to wait another week. They will be able to pre-order the phone on July 16th for $100 upfront followed by $20 a month for 24 months. It'll hit T-Mobile retail stores and begin shipping the next day.

The Xperia Z definitely isn't bad, it just isn't awesome, either. And these days, awesome is what it takes.

    Sony Xperia Z Specs

    Network: T-Mobile
    OS: Android 4.1 with Experience Flow UI
    CPU: 1.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro
    Screen: 5-inch 1920x1080 Bravia Mobile Engine 2 (441PPI)
    RAM: 2GB
    Storage: 16 micro SD up to 32GB
    Camera: 13MP rear / 2MP front
    Battery: 2330mAh Li-Ion
    Dimensions: 5.47 x 2.80 x 0.31 inches
    Weight: 5.15 ounces
    Price: $100 down + 24 payments of $20, or $580