Sony Xperia Z1 Review

Introduction
Sony introduced its Xperia Z flagship in the beginning of the year, and while the smartphone had a lot going for it, it was still somewhat rough around the edges. It had fancy front and back panels made of glass, but boring, rubbery sides; the screen was large and had a high resolution, but its gamma and viewing angles were lacking; the camera was 13 MP and featured the promising Exmor RS sensor, but the quality of the pictures was so-so.


With so much to fix, Sony hasn't even waited until next year to introduce its new top model. Instead, the company is already gearing up to release its new flagship – the Xperia Z1. As we can all see right away, the Xperia Z1 is like a heavily upgraded version of its predecessor. It feels quite familiar, yet substantially improved in pretty much every area. By the looks of it, Sony has done more than enough in order to bring those elements where the Z was lacking to the necessary premium level. However, whether this has been enough to actually leapfrog the competition is what we'll seek to answer right here and now!





In the box:

USB cable
Wall-charger
Earphones with handsfree and a clip
Cleaning cloth
Screen protector


Design










The Sony Xperia Z1 has almost the same external design as its predecessor, except... it now features a nice metal frame around the sides, replacing the bland rubber material used by the Z. The phone's design looks much more complete now, and the feeling you get when you have the Xperia Z1 in your hands is that of working with a very high-quality piece of machinery. The front and rear panels are still made of flat, tempered glass, reminiscent of the iPhone 4/4s design language.

The Xperia Z1 is a beautiful phone and we commend Sony for coming up with this design. It beats Samsung's offerings (in the design department) and can go toe to toe with almost any other high-end smartphone in the industry.

As we said, in-hand feel is just the way it should be – awesome, but we do have a relatively big issue in this regard and it has to do with the size of the Z1. With substantial bezels around the display, the Xperia Z1 takes quite a bit of room (5.69 x 2.91 x 0.33 inches) in your palm. It's definitely bulkier than Samsung's Galaxy S4 (which measures 5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 inches), or HTC's One (5.41 x 2.69 x 0.37 inches), or even LG's G2 (5.45 x 2.79 x 0.35 inches), which packs a bigger, 5.2” display in its smaller body. Still, we do like the classy, rectangular shape of the Z1.

Sony's new device is also heavier than most other competitors. It weighs 6.00 oz (170 g), compared to the Samsung Galaxy S4's 4.59 oz (130 g), as well as the HTC One's and LG G2's 5.04 oz (143 g). Wow, the Xperia Z1 is truly one weighty smartphone, but it's OK with us.

You can find a bunch of things around the sides of the Xperia Z1. Of course, we get the new circular power button on the right hand side, which doesn't feel particularly bad, but isn't great either. The volume rocker that's positioned slightly below is a similar affair, as it works fine, but is kind of small to be considered really comfortable to use. Finally, we get the tiny camera shutter key near the lower end of the right hand side, and almost surprisingly, this one is actually great. The button is very easy to press, and its two steps (for autofocus and actual picture taking) are very well defined.

The Micro SIM card slot and microSD card slot, as well as the microUSB port are all hidden under protective flaps, which don't cause any trouble. What's more, they are designed in such a way so as to kind of blend in with the rest of the surface of the sides.

You'll also be delighted to know that the Sony Xperia Z1's glass and metal shell is IP 58-certified, meaning that it's water- and dust-resistant. Something that no other Android flagship can offer at the moment.

official source 

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LG G2 Review

Introduction

Life hasn't been so good for LG recently, at least when it comes to the smartphone market. In the last couple of years, the company has rolled out a number of high-end, flagship phones that haven't really managed to make a dent. Do you remember the Optimus 4X HD? The Optimus G? The G Pro? OK, the manufacturer scored a sweet deal with Google for the Nexus 4, though everyone knows that the Nexus 4 is anything else but a money-maker.

So, where to now? With a competitor that is becoming increasingly unbeatable, LG needs a hero device. It needs an absolute winner in order to at least get noticed by customers drowned in a sea of Galaxies. Interestingly, while HTC has decided to differentiate from Samsung by doing the exact opposite of what the South Koreans are doing, LG has employed a completely different tactic to battle the behemoth. It's mimicking the moves of its neighbor, trying to beat it in its own game.

And this is where the LG G2 comes in. The newest flagship of the company will try to outgrow, outpace and outsmart its rival, the Galaxy S4, by packing an even larger screen, an even faster processor and even more software features that would attempt (or pretend) to make your life easier.

In the box:

• USB cable
• Wall charger
• QuadBeat 2 earphones

Design

It's impossible to not notice the similarities between the G2 and the GS4 with regards to physique. After all, if Samsung can be successful with an uninspired, plastic design, why should LG try to shake things up there? Or at least, that seems to have been the thinking behind the G2's exterior. It's big, slightly bigger than an S4 (5.45 x 2.79 x 0.35 inches for the G2 versus 5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 inches for the GS4), without any fancy appearance characteristics to make it stand out in any positive way. The plastic construction is nothing to write home about, but the occasional creaking sounds made by the back sure are irritating.

The G2's dimensions are still bearable. LG has done a terrific job thinning those bezels, while the nicely-curved back panel makes the handset sit comfortably in the palm of the hand. Even though the G2 is slightly bigger than the S4, we wouldn't say that LG's product is more uncomfortable to hold. In terms of weight, the G2's 5.04 oz doesn't make such a notable difference, compared to the Galaxy S4's 4.59 oz.

The most peculiar thing about the LG G2's design are the rear keys. Instead of positioning the power/lock and volume buttons on the sides of the handset, LG has placed those right on its back. This has been done for a couple of reasons. One, the side bezels have gotten so thin that the can no longer house any keys; and two, LG argues that placing the keys on the back would allow for a more intuitive access to those controls, as a user's index finger almost always defaults to that position upon picking up the phone. While we did not find the new positioning to be significantly worse than the good-old one, we can't say that it benefited our experience with the phone in any way. As a matter of fact, we feel that finding the desired rear key by touch alone is harder than finding it if it was placed somewhere around the sides of the device. Of course, this might simply be a matter of getting used to, which is why we'll continue using the handset during the days ahead and will update this review appropriately.

However, one thing we definitely didn't like about the rear volume keys is how cheap they feel – almost toy-like. Having in mind this is supposed to be a top-shelf product, LG should have tried a bit harder in this respect. Another design feature that we dislike is that the earpiece is concave, which causes a lot of dirt to permanently establish itself there. On a positive note, the manufacturer has wisely put the loudspeaker on the bottom, so that it doesn't get muffled when the device is laid on a table.

official source 

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