Sony Xperia ZR review: Ready to dare

GSMArena team, 30 July 2013.

Introduction

Squeezing your flagship smartphone in a tinier, sportier shell is the fad in Android these days. Not the one to blindly follow the pack, Sony has chosen to do things differently. The Xperia ZR didn't get as far down as the Galaxy S4 mini and the One mini, and got a 4.55" display rather than a 4.3" diagonal.

However, unlike its HTC and Samsung rivals, the Sony Xperia ZR is keen to match the oomph of its flagship, offering better IP protection at that. Considering how important dust and water resistance were for the Xperia Z' success, some may as well consider this one as an upgrade, rather than a trimmed down version. There's also the proper shutter key - the Xperia ZR comes across as the better photographer too.

Sony Xperia ZR official photos

The battery capacity has been kept the same, and it's even user-removable this time. Together with the smaller screen of slightly lower resolution and stamina mode, you get a smartphone that's not only easier to pocket, but one that will last more than the premium package. Now, how's that not a winning combo? Here goes the complete list of Xperia ZR pros and cons.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support; 3G with HSPA; LTE


• 4.55" 16M-color 720p capacitive touchscreen with 441ppi pixel density; Bravia Mobile Engine 2


• Android OS v4.1.1 Jelly Bean with custom UI


• Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait CPU, 2 GB RAM, Adreno 320 GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset


• 13 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging, HDR


• 1080p video recording @ 30fps with HDR mode, continuous autofocus and stereo sound


• VGA front-facing camera


• IP 58 certification - dust resistant and water resistant


• Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA; Wireless TV out


• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS


• 8GB of built-in storage; microSD card slot


• MHL-enabled microUSB port


• Bluetooth v4.0


• NFC


• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack


• Accelerometer and proximity sensor


• Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic


• Glass front and back panels

Main disadvantage

• Below-par viewing angles of the display


• Feeble loudspeaker


• Low-res front facing camera

So, basically all you'll be losing if you chose the Sony Xperia ZR over the Xperia Z is some screen estate, the 1080p front-facing camera and the Full HD display. We wouldn't call any of those a deal-breaker, though: the smaller screen favors portability and, at this size, 720p is more than adequate. As for the video-call camera, most video-chat apps don't really support much higher resolutions anyway.

Sony Xperia ZR at ours

It seems then that Sony has another potential winner on its hands. The Xperia ZR might just be what the company needed to cruise through the next quarter and allow enough development time for the Honami and Xperia Z Ultra, which look like the kinds of projects they wouldn't want to rush.

We need to see whether the smartphone behaves as promised, getting the most out of an impressive feature set. We start with the full physical right after the break.

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BlackBerry Q5 hits Canada on August 13, USA to follow suit

BlackBerry has just announced its cheaper QWERTY smartphone - the BlackBerry Q5 - will be unleashed across Canada on August 13.

According to the official press release the Q5 messenger will be available through these authorized partners: Bell, Fido, Koodo, Sasktel, TELUS, and Virgin Mobile Canada, as well as retail stores Best Buy Canada, Future Shop, Target, TBooth Wireless, The Mobile Shop, The Source, Walmart, and WIRELESSWAVE.

BlackBerry Q5 will be available through all carriers and retailers in Black, while the Pure Red flavor will be exclusive to Virgin Mobile. Unfortunately the white model won't make it to Canada.

There are still no details on the pricing though.

BlackBerry Q5 is already available in selected European and Asian markets. The smartphone will supposedly hit the USA through AT&T after the Canadian premiere but there is no confirmation on the exact launch date.

We already spend some quality time with the BlackBerry Q5 and you can read all about it right in our review.

Source 1 | Source 2 | Via

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Nokia Lumia 1020 gets internals revealed in first teardown

Nokia and Windows Phone have certainly received their fair share of flak lately. Still, one can't help but marvel at the very impressive hardware package Nokia was able to squeeze into the modest frame of its latest Lumia 1020 flagship.

The Lumia 1020 internals

The Nokia Lumia 1020 is a marked improvement over its predecessor, the Lumia 920, in almost every aspect. Most importantly the new smartphone features the impressive 41MP Pureview camera sensor, double the RAM, and retains all of the connectivity features, while actually reducing the measurements and shedding nearly 30 grams off its waistline.

For more on the Lumia 1020, check out our in-depth preview.

Source (Chinese) | Via

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Moto X camera specs leak, 10MP stills and 1080p@ 60 fps video

Motorola Moto X is going to be announced just two days from now, but the leaks torrent is speeding up. We already know its alleged specs, looks and protection details, but today we got some additional information on the camera.

According to Taylor Wimberly, former editor for Android and Me, the Moto X will feature a 10MP Clear Pixel camera with a pixel size of 1.4 microns. This means the pixels will be larger than those on the Galaxy S4 sensor (1.1µm), but smaller than HTC One's (2µm). The bigger pixels, combined with the Clear Pixel technology should go a long way towards improving the low-light performance.

The Motorola Moto X camera is said to be capable of recording 1080p videos at 60 frames per second - a first for a smartphone. The camcorder will use pixel binning, combining information from 4 pixels to reduce noise and provide clearer videos.

Finally, the Moto X will pack three microphones and will be capable of recording 3D audio.

As we said the Motorola Moto X will be unveiled the day after tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Source | Via

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Motorola Moto X in Neon Green appears in leaked images

The upcoming smartphone from the Google-owned Motorola is one of the worst kept secrets in the tech world. The device has been leaked numerous times ahead of its announcement. We have also seen the official press renders of the Moto X and let's not forget the leaked hands-on video, which guided us through the user interface.

Moto X was seen in public for the first time in the hands of Eric Schmidt, the Google's Executive Chairman. Now, however we get to see the device in its Neon Green paint job at what seems to be a corporate party.

The upcoming Moto X will sport a 4.7-inch 720p display and is powered by a dual-core 1.7 GHz processor. The smartphone also features a 10.5 megapixel rear camera, 2.1 megapixel front camera, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal memory and runs on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

Moto X is also rumored to be available in light blue, red, purple color variant along with the Black, White and the Neon Green paint job, which have already been leaked. We will know more about the device in the two days, when Motorola officially announces it.

Stay tuned to our website as we will be bring you all the latest news from the event live.

Via

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BlackBerry officially issues the BB10.1 OS Maintenance release

Today, BlackBerry starts seeding a new Maintenance release to its BB 10.1 OS. The update has a version number of v10.1.0.4537 and it’s a bug-and-fixes update that only adds a handful of truly new features.

Back in May, we saw BlackBerry announce the official availability of the BlackBerry 10.1 update to the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone (the Q10 already had it at launch). Now, the company has a second go at this one, refining the user experience and adding some minor new features.

Both the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 are able to receive the new update over Wi-Fi. Interestingly, the BlackBerry Q5 smartphone is not mentioned in the changelog.

Of course, availability is region-specific and the 10.1 Maintenance release will initially be available only to customers in the Asia Pacific, Canada, and EMEA.

Latin America users will be able to update in 2-3 weeks, while customers in the US will have to wait even longer, until the end of summer.

The most notable new features include:

• A new next/previous message navigation gesture;


• Two factor authentication for Twitter and LinkedIn;


• A search field in BlackBerry Remember; Support for unlock with simple (numeric) passwords such as a PIN;


• A new IT policy allows work and personal accounts in the BlackBerry Hub to be separated;


• Input support for Simplified and Traditional Chinese;


• Input and UI translation for Korean;


• BlackBerry World app gets several UI enhancements, including a Wishlist;


• Latest versions of the Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn apps.

You can read the full changelog over at BlackBerry’s website as well. Also our fellow tech journalists from CrackBerry.com already have a nice walkthrough of the new stuff on video.

Source

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Sony Honami visits GFXBench, Snapdragon 800 in tow

The Sony Honami, going by the alias C6903, has appeared on GFXbench database, confirming its rumored Snapdragon 800 chipset with four Krait 400 cores, a FullHD display (with on-screen buttons) and the latest Adreno 330 on board.

The scores posted by the potent GPU were pretty impressive, wiping the floor with the devices we have tested so far.

GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Sony Honami
  
  58.5


• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  
  43


• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  
  41


• HTC One
  
  37


• Samsung Galaxy S4 GPE
  
  33


• HTC One GPE
  
  41


• Google Nexus 4
  
  32


• Sony Xperia Z
  
  31


• Sony Xperia ZL
  
  31


• Sony Xperia SP
  
  31


• Apple iPhone 5
  
  30


• LG Optimus G Pro
  
  30


• LG Optimus G
  
  21


• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  
  17


• HTC One X
  
  11

GLBenchmark 2.7 T-Rex (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Sony Honami
  
  20.5


• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  
  17.1


• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  
  17.1


• Apple iPad 4
  
  16.8


• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  
  16


• Samsung Galaxy S4 GPE
  
  15


• HTC One GPE
  
  13.9


• LG Optimus G
  
  13.9


• Sony Xperia Z
  
  13.5


• Sony Xperia Tablet Z
  
  13


• Sony Xperia ZL
  
  12.8


• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  
  4.9

The Sony Honami leaks have been all over the news lately and we're expecting to see it at this year's IFA in Berlin on September 4, rocking that spanking Snapdragon 800 chip to rival the Galaxy S4 LTE-Advanced. We'll be there to cover the unveiling live.

Source | Via

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