Sony launched the Xperia Z and the Xperia ZL at the International CES earlier in January this year. The Xperia Z is available via a number of carriers in the country but Cincinnati Bell has become the first U.S. carrier to announce the Xperia ZL.
The carrier will start selling the smartphone from May 1 onward with a price tag of $249.99 after mail-in rebate on a two-year contract.
"We're excited to add the Sony Xperia ZL to our line of premium smartphones. With this extraordinary device, customers can connect with each other using the best technology Sony has to offer," Mike Vanderwoude, senior vice president/general manager at Consumer Markets, said. "The Xperia ZL on Cincinnati Bell's 4G wireless network creates an unbeatable combination."
The Xperia Z and Xperia ZL are very similar to each other, apart from a few differences. Both the smartphones sport the 5-inch full HD Reality Display (1920 x 1080 pixels) with Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 and have a pixel density of 443 pixels per inch (ppi). The display is made of shatter-proof sheet on scratch-resistant glass. Both the Xperia Z and Xperia ZL feature a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor with Adreno 320GPU.
The handsets have 16GB of on-board storage, 2GB of RAM, 13.1-megapixel primary camera, 2.2-megapixel secondary camera, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
The Xperia Z measures 5.47 x 2.79 x 0.31 inches vis-à-vis the 5.18 x 2.7 x 0.39 inches dimensions of the Xperia ZL, making the former taller, almost the same width, and slightly thinner than the latter. At 5.15 ounces the Xperia Z is slightly lighter than the Xperia ZL which weighs 5.33 ounces.
The Xperia Z has a shiny glass back when compared to the matte finish and textured back of the Xperia ZL. Moreover, the Xperia ZL seems to have virtually no bezels when compared to the Xperia Z.
The Micro USB, microSD and SIM card slots are hidden for the Xperia Z unlike in the case of Xperia ZL. Sony had to hide the ports since the Xperia Z is water- and dust-resistant.
The front-facing camera on the Xperia ZL is located at the bottom right of the smartphone, unlike the top-middle of other smartphones.
The Xperia Z is the flagship smartphone for the company but the Xperia ZL still has impressive features to attract customers looking for a top-end smartphone. With the Xperia Z around, we'll have to wait and see if the Xperia ZL is able to appeal to more customers.
