back to article Sony Xperia Z2: 4K vid, great audio, waterproof ... Oh, and you can make a phone call

What do you want in a smartphone? A premium build quality? A high-resolution display that looks the business whether you’re watching a movie or reading a book? Maybe it’s a decent camera so you can ditch your compact snapper. As phones become better at doing all these things, manufacturers struggle to make their products …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Z2 Compact

    This is a nice phone but Im holding out for the Z2 Compact. The same features and internals but in a smaller frame. Personally I cant take these giant phones.

    1. James 51

      Re: Z2 Compact

      I don't know why you felt the need to post as AC. The Z1 compact is the first android phone since the xperia mini pro that made me think about getting an Android handset. Z2 compact should be even better. Now, all Jolla have to do is get their android installer working.

      1. David Paul Morgan

        Re: Z2 Compact

        we've just had a pair of Z1 Compacts. Love the camera, the screen, the Walkman. nice size, fast performance. Are they planning a Z2 compact ?, because that would be really great too!

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Z2 Compact

        "I don't know why you felt the need to post as AC."

        Because I'm an Anonymous Coward

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Z2 Compact

      How is the Z2 compact going to be different.

      The Z1 and Z2 differences are so laughably small you'd be silly not to bag a cheap Z1.

    3. Ken 16 Silver badge
      Coat

      Re: Z2 Compact

      Yes, or how about a Z1 Compact Compact, get the screen down below 3.4 inches. I'm hanging onto my Xperia Ray until I find a replacement which will fit in the coin pocket of my jeans.

    4. N13L5

      Re: Z2 Compact

      I never picked up the Z1, cause it had larger bezels than the Z and so was much bigger than the Z without increasing screen size.

      Gonna have a look at the Z2, to see if the ratio from display to overall size can match the Z.

      In that case, I'll probably pick one up in the next couple of days.

  2. JDX Gold badge

    4k

    Great, so now the shaky terrible videos you take have far more detailed blurriness and take up masses more space.

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: 4k

      Er, I'd have thought that capturing video at 4K allows more scope for removing shakiness in post-production, especially if you're only really looking to output 1080 video. Cropping to 'zoom' is another option that capturing at a high res allows you.

      C'mon JDX, you're normally one of the sensible ones here!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Devil

      Re: 4k

      Envy its a bad thing dear JDX. Go play with your Nokia and you will be fine :-P

      1. JDX Gold badge

        Re: 4k

        If I wanted a decent camera I would buy a Nokia 1020.

        I'm not saying this isn't an amazing phone, I'm saying 4k video recording on a phone is a pointless gimmick which only serves to fuel the demand for faster chips, more storage and greater power use.

  3. Slacker@work

    128GB??

    I thought it was only supposed to take a 64GB SD card?

    Will find out soon - according to the courier tracking, mine will be with me in the next 90 minutes *smug*

    1. Eradicate all BB entrants

      Re: 128GB??

      Git .....Am sat here with my Xperia Z and still another year until upgrade time :(

      If Sony keep up with the quality seen so far with the Z's then it will be a no-brainer when upgrade time rolls around, the performance of my current Z has been outstanding. After using the girlfriends S3 as satnav at the weekend (while mine charged) there is no chance on earth I would touch a Samsung now, they fiddle with it way too much (Take the next left onto a one thousand and seventy nine .... spoken by someone using a phonetic translation device).

      1. Slacker@work

        Re: 128GB??

        OK it's just set itself up, imported all my crap from Google and running - quickly (I was on a Sammy S3 before)!!

        initial response is #geekgasm

        1. Eradicate all BB entrants

          Re: 128GB??

          If you #geekgasm at it booting then I suggest getting a bucket ready for when you play with the camera and walkman.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: 128GB??

        "(Take the next left onto a one thousand and seventy nine .... spoken by someone using a phonetic translation device)."

        Don't think that's much to do with Samsung - just Google Maps and their crappy synthesised voice. The Google maps voice did improve for a while, but they now seem to have gone back to the old clipped and mis-pronounced version. If you're using a locally stored navigation app (eg the free Navmii app) then the sound quality is fine with an S3, and you don't have to rely on poor data connections taking ages to load.

        1. Eradicate all BB entrants

          Re: 128GB??

          Has sod all to do with Google or the sound quality, more to do with pronunciation. Navigation on the Z hasn't been screwed with and works perfectly well with a nice clear voice that says the road names in the same way we do in the UK.

  4. Arctic fox
    Happy

    Very nice piece of kit.

    La Senora has an important birthday coming up and this fella is a definite contender - very nice indeed. A couple of small points: I can't say that I feel that 163 g is over the top weight wise given the size of the phone and as far as the built in speakers are concerned my good lady would (and I suspect this is true for a lot of customers) be using the earphones.

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: Very nice piece of kit.

      I use headphones for music, but I often use my phone's built-in speaker for listening to podcasts when it won't disturb other people.

      That said, small Bluetooth speakers seem pretty cheap these days, for podcast duties. I personally would prioritise waterproofing over speaker volume.

    2. Arctic fox
      Thumb Up

      "Very nice piece of kit." I have in fact just ordered the aforementioned........

      .......and La Senora is well pleased. Our supplier should have them in on the 6th May which is just about perfect for my good lady's birthday. Look forward to setting it up (well I have got to have some chance to play with it.....hmm?).

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "Very nice piece of kit." I have in fact just ordered the aforementioned........

        "Very nice piece of kit." I have in fact just ordered the aforementioned...............and La Senora is well pleased. "

        Wow. Geek bird, you lucky chap. If I bought my wife a phone for her birthday she'd give me a good slap. Although telling your lady wife that she's a "geek bird" might earn you a slap, if you're feeling that's a missed opportunity..

        1. Arctic fox
          Happy

          @Ledswinger "Wow. Geek bird, you lucky chap."

          Actually, so far from giving me a slap, she absolutely roared with laughter when I read your post out to her just now! No, she is in all seriousness absolutely delighted and very much looking forward to getting her mitts on it when it arrives.

  5. Moosh
    Facepalm

    Curse everything

    Why must I always want the newest, shiniest phone?

    I love my Note 3, but now I desire the Z2. It might have to do with the fact that I smashed in my Note 3 screen something fierce and now need to pay £180 to fix it.

  6. Ol' Grumpy

    Very pretty. I'm just not sure about glass front and back. I've smashed the glass on the back of my Nexus 4 twice after accidental drops even though it was in a case and that cost half the price of this. I'd have my heart in my mouth every time I took a Z2 out of my pocket!

    1. Stacy

      From what I have seen in real world tests and from what I have read this should be less of an issue. The glass is laminated, or coated in plastic, or something, to make it more resistant to shattering.

      That said I have not tried to drop my Z1 Compact to see if it works (and neither do I want to try!)

      The one issue that I do have is that the back does scratch easily. Nothing that bothers me per when using the phone, but when looking at the back I can see scratches after only 4 weeks.

      1. an it guy

        I've seen a the compact with a tiny bit of sand in the pocket. scratches really easily. not exactly what you want after going to the beach with your phone...

        that's the reason I'm considering the HTC One (M8)

        1. Eradicate all BB entrants

          Dropped my Z a few times ......

          ...... without a case and it has been fine (only dropped on carpet so far). As for the scratching, I got 2 screen protectors with the phone, one for the front and one for the back so shouldn't be an issue.

    2. Bassey

      Re: smashing glass

      If it really is the same as the Z1 then the front is glass but the back is plastic You wouldn't know to look or feel them but the front glass doesn't scratch while the back picks up very fine scratches quite easily. I find it a much tougher phone than my Nexus 4 though.

    3. SkippyBing

      Inadvertantly dropped my Z1 onto concrete while slightly hungover and handing it to a mate so I could get a hand free. After bouncing from its back onto its front there were a few more scratches on the screen protector it ships with but apart from that it was fine, even took it into the pool later to take some photos with no ill effects.

      I just need to replace the screen protector now, and resist the urge to get a Z2...

  7. poopypants

    This the first phone I have seen that tempts me to upgrade from my Galaxy Nexus. The leap from 5 megapixels to 20.7 megapixels alone is very tempting, not to mention the other features, like being waterproof for example.

  8. James Hughes 1

    Really?

    A slightly not so good screen is a nightmare to use?

    How?

  9. jabuzz

    Not first Sony with IPS screen

    The Z1 Compact has the IPS screen as well and predates the Z2.

  10. Steve Button Silver badge

    What about those headphones?

    I think this is a first for a mainstream moby, to have noise cancelling headphones built in. It would have been nice to have a little more detail on how well they actually perform as I'd have thought this would be a major selling point.

  11. spudmasterflex

    Mine arrived on Tuesday morning to replace my htc one which I loved dearly but the upgrade to the m8 was too small in terms of features so I chose the z2

    So far this is the best phone I have owned,battery life is staggering I managed two days on a full charge using sat nav, three exchange accounts active and that first day fiddling you do when all new phones arrive.

    Camera is way better than I had expected even in low light.

    Memory slot is a godsend coming from the htc with 32Gb to this with 16GB internal.

    It's fast very fast in general use.

    The biggest bonus seems to be the signal reception, on my other previous phones, iPhones,htc one my reception was poor to non existent at home and I had to be in the right spot to make and receive calls, not so with this it's like having a external antenna.

    Maybe the metal back on the htc doesn't help or the fact that the iPhones use the metal band around the side, for any of you in poor signal areas I recommend the phone purely on this.

    Down vote time

    I still don't get why people buy iPhones,the world of android has so many awesome options like miracast, throw to screen, customisation and roms, I would never go back to an iPhone after having used android for a year.

    1. Piro Silver badge

      There's no downvote time.

      The Xperia Z2 is clearly the best Android phone there is. Be nice if they offered it in a 4.7" or 4.8" screen size, though. I feel the Compact at 4.3" is a bit small compared to my current 4.7" phone, but 5.1" with the Xperia Z's waterproof build is a bit enormous.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I still don't get why people buy iPhones

      Three reasons:

      - UI preference. Having used both, I still like the iOS UI and I may not be the only one.

      - security, but not wanting to go Blackberry.

      - sunk investment in time and apps. Once you have a setup that works and where contacts, calendars and email works on all devices you don't want to change it too often. Having said that, Apple stupidly removed iTunes sync for contacts and calendar so you'd have to do it through either iCloud or a groupware setup. For those who do not have a groupware setup, this is a royal PITA.*

      * If you're using client details it's even worse, as a EU company you have to be really careful with what you share with any US entity as you could be breaking Data Protection laws. This makes iCloud as well as Google actually rather dangerous from a corporate perspective..

      1. Joe 35

        "Having said that, Apple stupidly removed iTunes sync for contacts and calendar "

        - agreed, but they are sensibly reinstating it in the next point release.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Wheee!

    You might be able to use it with gloves, but will you be able to hold on to it's sheer glass and metal surface with woollen mitts on?

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The king of smartphones for sure.

    Does it have QI wireless charging, is what I want to know, as that would clearly negate any need to mess around with cover bungs. Bluetooth/NFC/Wireless charging means you never have to plug anything in.

    EDIT: Yes and No (Optional Extra)

    http://www.clove.co.uk/sony-xperia-z2-wcr12-wireless-charging-cover-black

    1. Lutin

      Re: The king of smartphones for sure.

      It actually has dedicated (always exposed) charging pins on the side of the phone, so you don't have to charge via USB. You can get a magnetic cable or dock.

      http://www.sonymobile.com/gb/products/accessories/magnetic-charging-dock-dk36/

      Should be available on ebay too for under a tenner.

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