The Sony Xperia Z has been out in public for about a week and a half, and the reviews for the new flagship smartphone have poured in.
So far, the Xperia Z has seen mostly positive but guarded critiques. Reviewers generally cite the smartphone's classy design and sleek feel as positives, saying the Xperia Z is easily the finest Sony effort to date.
The most positive review out there by the big tech sites seems to be CNET's, which seemed especially impressed by the Xperia Z's design, processing and waterproof powers. In fact, one of the only things the site complained is the lack of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out of the box, which will potentially be fixed by the end of March.
"With the Xperia Z, Sony has fired the first shot in the smart phone war of 2013, and while we're sure that Samsung's reply — which should come in the shape of the hugely-anticipated Galaxy S4 — will be equally impressive, this is one of the best Android devices money can buy right now," Damien McFerran wrote.
If CNET was downright giddy, then The Verge was somewhere on the opposite end of the spectrum. The site still gave the phone a 7.2 out of 10, but said that even as Sony's best phone, it doesn't do much to stand out in the crowded Android market.
"The Xperia Z suffers from the unfortunate duality of being both Sony's best phone to date and a merely average Android handset. There's just no getting around the fact that Sony remains one step behind the competition," Vlad Savov wrote. "It stacks up a heaving spec sheet just as specs begin to matter least, it introduces an all-glass design just as others start to move away from it, and, most importantly, it fails to provide a compelling argument for purchasing it ahead of HTC, Samsung, or even LG's alternatives."
Engadget, meanwhile, was positive while acknowledging what it saw as flaws. The phone is beautiful and powerful, it said, but the Xperia Z's battery life is disappointing and needs to be fixed.
"It's a relief to see the company now making a concerted effort to make a premium phone — and that's what this is," Mat Smith wrote. "If you weren't sold on the older polycarbonate look, perhaps Sony's new beauty will be more to your tastes."
"Exactly how much rough and tumble the Xperia Z's glossy sides will stomach remains a mystery, but after our testing period the phone is still free of scratches. We also applaud Sony for bringing water resistance to its new phone. Protection from an early watery grave often meant settling for less when it came to design or performance, but that's certainly not the case with the Xperia Z."
