Sony Xperia Z - One Week On

I made the move from iOS recently and purchased a Sony Xperia Z smartphone to use as my new 'Daily Driver', and after one week I have been using the phone extensively to put it to its paces and get a sense of how the phone will be in the long run.

It took quite a while for me to actually purchase the Xperia Z, as I was in a situation trying to find the perfect phone to me. My original list were the Xperia Z, HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4 (Pre-order) and the iPhone 5, after around 30 minutes of playing with the HTC One and the iPhone 5, I ruled those out. The S4 wasn't available to have a toy with due to it not being released, so I opted for the Sony Xperia Z, after ruling the other three phones out due to the reasons above.

So why did I go for the Xperia Z? I was mainly drawn to the phone as a reason to leave iOS and the iPhone. I know I was going to pick an iPhone 5, but the Xperia Z swung it for me and I left iOS firmly and quickly.

One main feature which pushed me was the Weatherproofing and dustproofing. I have put this feature firmly to the test, and it does work, somehow. When you put the phone under water, it protects the device perfectly, however the speaker shuts off for 3 hours. I must admit I freaked out when the speaker stopped working, but after three hours it worked so I was happy.

The next feature that caught my eye was the camera. The Xperia Z holds a 13.1MP Exmor RS sensor, which I must admit takes astonishing photos. I have a Sony Nex-5 which I use as my day-to-day camera, and that is just 1MP more than my phone, it gives you an idea just how powerful this phone is.

The software side of the phone, Android 4.1.2, is a refreshing surprise when compared to iOS. I last used Android back when it was 2.1 Eclaire, and I found it dreadfully slow and just an all-round dread. I did use Android 3.1 Honeycomb but that was via a tablet and I can't hold comparison to the Phone variant of the OS.

Overall the phone is performing amazingly well so far, and I will be writing up a full review in due course.