Should I purchase the ZL?

[Sinabu]

Hey everyone.

I am a current Lumia 920 Owner and was looking at trying andriod. The Xperia Z had caught my eye originally and I've been scouring the web for reviews and news and such when I saw the Z1 pop up. (I'm in the US on AT&T Currently) I also saw the ZL. Now I'm kind of torn on waiting for the Z1 or just picking up the ZL even though it's a little later in its life cycle.

This would be my first android phone as well. Here are a couple things I like between the two and wanted to hear what you guys thought about the ZL.

Overall Its an upgrade from my 920 Specs wise from what I can tell in pretty much all aspects.

I like the Red Color, The LED notification and IR sensor the ZL offers. I like that you still get a nice big screen in a smaller package. Also Sony has the unlocked version on sale and with my Sony Reward points I can knock that down a good bit . I'm assuming the Z1 is going to be $700+ if and when they ever release an unlocked one.

For the IR sensor. Is it a feature worth having? How customizable is it and is there a limit to how many devices. I'm assuming it works like a universal remote?

I did a compare at phone arena against on the 920 to the ZL and at the end of the day I'm just wandering if it's really worth waiting for the Z1

Thanks guys

Nokia Lumia 920 vs Sony Xperia ZL - Phone specs comparison

 

[Haalcyon]

Hey everyone.

I am a current Lumia 920 Owner and was looking at trying andriod. The Xperia Z had caught my eye originally and I've been scouring the web for reviews and news and such when I saw the Z1 pop up. (I'm in the US on AT&T Currently) I also saw the ZL. Now I'm kind of torn on waiting for the Z1 or just picking up the ZL even though it's a little later in its life cycle.

This would be my first android phone as well. Here are a couple things I like between the two and wanted to hear what you guys thought about the ZL.

Overall Its an upgrade from my 920 Specs wise from what I can tell in pretty much all aspects.

I like the Red Color, The LED notification and IR sensor the ZL offers. I like that you still get a nice big screen in a smaller package. Also Sony has the unlocked version on sale and with my Sony Reward points I can knock that down a good bit . I'm assuming the Z1 is going to be $700+ if and when they ever release an unlocked one.

For the IR sensor. Is it a feature worth having? How customizable is it and is there a limit to how many devices. I'm assuming it works like a universal remote?

I did a compare at phone arena against on the 920 to the ZL and at the end of the day I'm just wandering if it's really worth waiting for the Z1

Thanks guys

Nokia Lumia 920 vs Sony Xperia ZL - Phone specs comparison

Well, my .02 cents is that in 6 months, if looking back, the phone you'll want and wish you had is the Z1. It may be worth holding off a bit for that. Sony has stepped up its game. I recently got a Sony Xperia Tablet Z and it's quite the nice tablet indeed. As far as the remote software, this is an area where Sony is said to really shine. Their universal remote software is generally reviewed to be much better than that offered by the competition and certainly better than the Peel-based software we often see. $700 is a lot...how much is the ZL gonna set you back...if its w/in $150 I'd hold out for the Z1.

 

[Sinabu]

With my discount and reward points the ZL is Just south of $400 including some accessories.

 

[Haalcyon]

Well, that's not an insignificant amount. How long do you think you'll keep the phone? If, you're like me, and like to flip phones you may want to spend less but I do think you'd like the Z1 better in the long run.

 

[Sinabu]

Well lets see I've had the 920 since launch so around 10 months now. Typically I run a year and a half or so before upgrading. I'm just not very happy with the windows OS and looking for something new.

Did the z1 have IR? I didn't see anything that said it did and that's kind of what's drawing me to The ZL. I wish Sony would just announce a price and release date for the z1 for the US.

It seems like just from these forums there's not much love for the Sony compared to other brands. The forums are kind of bare for these anyway.

 

[Haalcyon]

Yeah, I don't know why there's no real Sony love here...I'm gonna see if I an work on that one as I'm really impressed by what I've seen from them as of late. The Z1 doesn't have an IR blaster and I wonder why that chose to leave that out at their remote capabilities have been said to be good in the past.

 

[Sinabu]

I'm still torn on which one I want. I might give it a few days to see what Sony decides to do on the z1 then make a choice.

 

[Sinabu]

I decided to go ahead and order a ZL. Just reading all the blogs and hearing about Sonys past history a proper Z1 may not even happen for the US until some time later that is unlocked and with LTE.. With the Z and Ultra being out months later I don't see the trend changing for Sony. If they surprise me then so be it.

Some key factors I liked about the ZL

Red Color, IR Blaster, Smaller size but still a great 5" screen I think it will suit me just fine. My current phone is a Dual 1.5ghz so it's still a huge step up and I'm very eager to play around with android some. I figure this would be a great way to step into the OS without plunking down a large sum of money. With the Sony Education discount and my reward points I got the ZL home at a great price and bought some of the NFC tags to play with as well

I'll be sure to post up picture and thoughts once I get it. Hopefully next week sometime.

 

[Haalcyon]

Congrats!! Welcome to the bright side of the Force.

from my Sony Xperia Tablet Z or XTZ or "Ecstasy"

 

[Sinabu]

hehe Thanks

 

[Sean473]

I decided to go ahead and order a ZL. Just reading all the blogs and hearing about Sonys past history a proper Z1 may not even happen for the US until some time later that is unlocked and with LTE.. With the Z and Ultra being out months later I don't see the trend changing for Sony. If they surprise me then so be it.

Some key factors I liked about the ZL

Red Color, IR Blaster, Smaller size but still a great 5" screen I think it will suit me just fine. My current phone is a Dual 1.5ghz so it's still a huge step up and I'm very eager to play around with android some. I figure this would be a great way to step into the OS without plunking down a large sum of money. With the Sony Education discount and my reward points I got the ZL home at a great price and bought some of the NFC tags to play with as well

I'll be sure to post up picture and thoughts once I get it. Hopefully next week sometime.

You could have bought the Europe Z1.. It works with T-mobile Hsdpa+ and LTE from what I heard!

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Sinabu]

I'm using ATT here. Tmobile has bad coverage where I live.

 

[paul-c]

Excellent choice, OP. The ZL is the best phone nobody knows about. Don't think you'll be disappointed.

Sent from my Sony Xperia ZL

 

[Sinabu]

Ugghh I can't wait.. My Red ZL shipped out and was picked up yesterday by Fedex...

 

[Cale M]

For the IR sensor. Is it a feature worth having? How customizable is it and is there a limit to how many devices. I'm assuming it works like a universal remote?

The IR blaster is very well integrated. I've yet to find a device that it couldn't control natively. I do have a very low-end RCA reciever that won't accept power on/off signals from anything but its own remote. Fortunately, the Xperia has a very simple way of programming functions into it.

Just follow some intuitive steps for putting a 'button' into reprogramming mode and point the original remote at it while pressing the button that's missing from the Xperia. The phone will record the signal and then mimic it from that point out.

Truly universal, even with devices that were not compatible out of the factory.

 

[Sinabu]

That's really good to hear.

I was over at the official Sony forums and I am reading nightmare after nightmare with the program feature on the IR blaster. Basically that it doesn't work and Sony isn't doing anything about it. That forum is scary to read with all the user complaints and issues on the Z,ZL,Z1 etc. I'm sure it's minority but still a lot of issues..

One thing though I think with getting an older released model new is I hope any hardware kinks have been ironed out along with all the software updates that have come for it I will be sure to report when i receive it and make sure to test it all

 

[Cale M]

That's really good to hear.

I was over at the official Sony forums and I am reading nightmare after nightmare with the program feature on the IR blaster. Basically that it doesn't work and Sony isn't doing anything about it. That forum is scary to read with all the user complaints and issues on the Z,ZL,Z1 etc. I'm sure it's minority but still a lot of issues..

One thing though I think with getting an older released model new is I hope any hardware kinks have been ironed out along with all the software updates that have come for it I will be sure to report when i receive it and make sure to test it all

I can only assume this is correct. I've had my phone for a few weeks, and stumbled across the complaints after getting it. The screen seems quite sharp, the battery life is far above what I'm used to... but then I'm coming off of a BBRY Z10, so I've probably set a very low bar for myself. My wife's Moto X seems to have better colors, but not by much. It's only really noticeable when comparing the two side by side.