Sony Xperia Z Formally Unveiled

Sony Mobile has formally announced the Xperia Z. The handset has been well leaked, therefore there were few surprises for us to digest. In terms of specifications, the Xperia Z will come with a 5-inch 1080p OptiContrast Display (443 PPI) with Bravia Engine 2, 1.5GHz quad-core chipset (APQ8064 + MDM9215M) with Adreno 320 graphics, 2GB RAM, 13MP Exmor RS rear camera, 2.1MP Exmor R front-facing camera NFC, MHL, LTE, 16GB internal storage, microSD memory card slot and a water and dust resistant (IP55 and IP57) chassis. 

As expected, the Xperia Z has tempered glass on the front and back. We can’t confirm whether Dragontrail or Gorilla Glass is being used, although we’ll update this post if we find out. The handset also has an anti-shatter film on the front and back. The frame of the handset is made from glass fibre polyamide (the same metal substitute used in car parts).

Sony is using a new OmniBalance design for the handset, whose focus is to “create balance and symmetry in all directions”. It has an enhanced reflection coating on the top, bottom and sides, which Sony says mirrors the world around you.

On the camera side of things, Sony has finally introduced Burst Mode into its Xperia line-up. Sony says that you will be able to shoot an unlimited number of images at 10 frames per second and 9 MP resolution. In addition, the rear camera supports HDR videos and both front and rear cameras support HDR photos. There is no dedicated camera button on the Xperia Z. Located in its place is the phone’s speaker. We imagine the lack of a camera button relates to an engineering issue with keeping the phone water resistant. Saying that, Sony has had water resistant phones with dedicated camera buttons in the past.

The Sony Xperia Z will launch with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and will get updated to Android 4.2 “after launch”. The Sony Xperia Z will weigh 146 grams and has dimensions of 139 x 71 x 7.9 mm. In terms of battery, the Xperia Z should come with a 2,330mAh capacity battery (although we haven’t seen Sony confirm this in their own spec sheets so far). The handset will arrive in Q1 2013 in three colours: black, white and purple.