Tough Guy - Sony Xperia ZR Security Smartphone Review
Over the past few years, protected phones have ceased to be something exotic, but have turned into full-fledged productive devices with flagship features and a stylish design. Probably, many have heard about Sony Xperia V and Acro S with dust and water protection. Time does not stand still, and for these tough guys a worthy change has appeared. Today we will get acquainted with the new secure smartphone from Sony - Xperia ZR. Meet
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In a small box with a traditional design is the device itself, USB-cable, high-power charger, wired headset MH750 with a set of alternative rubber pads for large and small ears, as well as a clothespin for mounting on the lapel or belt of the bag. It is worth noting that the demo copy was deprived of a docking station, but the Russian market Xperia ZR comes with it.
The case is made of a pleasant soft-touch plastic, has rounded corners and a slightly convex back cover, due to this it fits comfortably in your hand. Xperia ZR does not strive to be the most subtle and light, but it looks solid and reliable.
In general, the ZR feels very similar to last year's Acro S, so if you are a satisfied owner of this model and think what to replace it with, the choice is obvious.
We tested the black version, but models of white, pink and turquoise are also available.
The layout is quite familiar, there is a logo, a speaker and a front camera above the screen, below is a LED strip (can change colors depending on the theme or image on the screen, but does not blink to the beat of the music, like in Xperia SP), on the right side it is typical of This year's models have a round metal power button located in the center (just exactly under the thumb), and under it there is a volume control and a camera button. On the left is the combo USB / HDMI connector, covered with a cap, as well as contacts for installation in the dock. Upstairs - hidden under a 3.5 mm plug. headphone jack. As you can see - the number of connectors is minimal - only two, this trend is good news. On the back panel there is a slightly recessed camera eye (which is good, the glass will not be scratched) and a flash. The surface around the peephole is flat, which allows you to install a magnetic ring for mounting additional lenses. At the very bottom - the speaker, protected from the inside by a membrane. To install MicroSIM and SD card, you must remove the back cover, remove the battery and do not confuse the slots that are located above each other, however, the icon drawn in the same place will not allow to be mistaken: the SIM card is inserted into the bottom slot using a special tray, and the USB stick is in the top . The back cover fits easily and fits snugly, while the rubber seal protects the inside of the smartphone from water and dust.
The display, by today's standards, is small - 4.55-inches and not Full HD, as in the Xperia Z, but simply HD (1280x720). Taking into account the equally powerful hardware platform, ZR performance in some situations, for example in games, is higher, and by ten percent, and it affects the power consumption positively. The screen is quite bright and contrasting with very decent viewing angles - even when viewed at an angle of 85 degrees, the image is perfectly distinguishable, except that the colors dim a little, besides, when making the screen, the anti-glare technology OptiContrast is used, so the screen behaves very well in the sun. The picture can also be improved programmatically - Mobile Bravia Engine 2 enhances the contrast and saturation of photos and videos, and also removes noise when watching videos with low image quality. In addition, if you do not like the default color rendition, you can customize it with a special calibration utility. Like other Sony models, the screen is covered with a protective film that does not interfere at all, does not get dirty and provides excellent sliding of the fingers. By the way, ZR perfectly responds to wet fingers.
It has a 13 megapixel Exmor RS module installed - the same as in the Z and ZL models. In Superior Auto mode, the camera quite correctly recognizes shooting conditions (for example, quickly activates macro mode or increases sensitivity for shooting at dusk), and in normal mode it acquires many settings such as exposure adjustment, focus mode selection, white balance setting and ISO, point selection measurements, as well as image stabilizer, HDR, the possibility of serial and panoramic shooting, real-time filters (including very psychedelic), pre-installed options for shooting, for example, food (hello Instagram and Foursquare), pets or fireworks. Here you can also turn on the recognition of a smile, geo-tag, shutter sound, automatic or manual focusing, etc. Also worth noting is a customizable hardware button, with which you can start the camera and take a snapshot, which is necessary, including for underwater photography, because under water the screen will not respond to touch. The volume control, in this case, can be used to control the zoom. Photos with examples of camera work are located below, although there were unfortunately no coral reefs nearby, so we won’t show you the underwater beauty (but at the end of the review you will find an interesting video).
This is definitely one of the strengths of the current Sony lineup. It’s certainly worth taking a charge with you, but rather for calm and unforeseen situations. With quite intensive daily use (screen brightness around 90%, music, video, 3G, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, etc.), the battery lasts for 12-14 hours, and by turning on the Stamina mode and turning off all energy-intensive services you can force phone live on standby for five to six days. Do not forget that the battery is removable, so going to where there may be difficulties with charging, you can grab a couple of spare.
Traditional Sony smartphones for high-quality clear sound and impressive bass, clear mid and distinct high frequencies. The supplied headset, despite its modest appearance, provides excellent sound quality, and the volume margin is even somewhat redundant. If a certain limit is exceeded, the player honestly warns that listening to excessively loud music is not very useful for ears). The standard Walkman player allows you to improve the sound in automatic mode (ClearAudio + works like a moderate compressor, stereo extender and makes the upper frequencies clearer), besides you can independently adjust the bass boost, use the five-band equalizer, and turn on the volume equalization for all tracks. There are also several options for reverb (club, studio, concert hall), ClearPhase mono-compatibility optimizer for listening to music through an external speaker and the xLoud function to increase its volume. The speaker, by the way, is very sonorous, despite the fact that it is covered with a protective membrane.
The speaker has a good volume margin, the interlocutor also cannot complain that you are not heard well, besides, in the call settings you can turn on the microphone noise reduction, and the speaker has its own equalizer and even the function of slowing down the speech.
The location of the SD card slot inside the device does not allow it to be hot-swapped, so for file operations it is more convenient to connect the phone via USB, first putting it into drive mode - then the phone plays the role of a card reader and allows you to manage files on a flash drive from a computer. In normal mode, Windows defines it as a phone, and for Mac OS you need the Sony Bridge program, through which, by the way, you can also throw music or copy photos.
We turn to the most interesting - to test in the field. We decided that it would not be prudent to pour so seriously protected the device with some water from an office cooler or wash it under a faucet, so the Xperia ZR passed the present severe forest test, which it withstood with dignity. For a start, we left the phone turned on in the rain, for ten minutes nothing bad happened to it. Under the cold water from the spring, he also felt excellent, except that the screen reacted to the water a couple of times, as if pressed, and the camera, after being removed, briefly sweated outside. Diving into a forest stream also turned out to be a guy on the shoulder, as well as underwater shooting and burying in wet sand. The results of all these monstrous experiments you can see in this video:
Officially, the ZR does not have anti-shock properties, but the massive durable case and robust design allows it to withstand falling from a height of human growth on not too hard surfaces, although no one promises that with such treatment it will always remain waterproof.
In terms of hardware, the Xperia ZR is identical to the Z model, and due to the not so big screen, as mentioned above, it even wins in terms of performance. In the standard version of 3DMark, Ice Storm managed to get a record 70+ FPS in normal scenes, and below 20 the counter did not go down even once. During testing, there was a slight heating in the left upper part of the device, but he did not deliver any discomfort and quickly passed. On the Xperia ZR, you can safely run any modern games - there is enough performance with a margin and you will not notice any brakes. The results of integrated testing can be found on the screenshots.
The results of testing the connection speed via 3G and WiFi can be seen in the screenshots. For a week of using, no problems with communication were observed, the network was not lost and the calls did not disappear. The navigation works perfectly - the location is determined accurately, and the recording of the ten-kilometer route passed without errors, despite the rainy weather and water procedures.
By default, the Xperia ZR is running Android 4.1.2, which will soon be updated to 4.2. Smartphone download takes 24 seconds, the lock screen allows you to control the player and start the camera, unlocking is the same as with other models of this year - vertically, with a nice effect of blinds. The shell also seems familiar. The default browsers are Google Chrome and Opera Mini, Socialife client for social networks, McAfee Security antivirus, Evernote online organizer, Office Suite, Adobe Reader, video editing software, file manager, email client, Google Play apps. books and movies, navigator, QR code scanner and other software, which, if required, can be removed without any damage. Car mode allows you to put on the screen several large buttons, for example, to activate the speakerphone and the navigator, which is especially convenient if you install the phone in the appropriate holder.
A powerful smartphone with a great camera and very serious protection that really works, and is not an advertising gimmick. With this device you can not only walk in the rain or lie in the bath, but also take photos and record videos under water or, for example, in an aqua park. Add here a powerful replaceable battery, rich energy optimization, simple functional design and get an excellent machine for fans of hiking in the wild, fishing and traveling on water.
Processor : Qualcomm APQ8064 quad-core, 1500 MHz
Memory : 2 GB of RAM, 8 MB of internal memory, support for SD cards
Video : Adreno 320
Display : 4.55 ”, TFT, 1280x720, 16 mil. colors, scratch protection.
Communications : GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 850/900/2100, LTE 800/850/900/1800/2100/260
Navigation : GPS, GLONASS
Main camera : Exmor RS 13 megapixel
Front camera : 0.3 MP
Battery : 2400 mAh, removable
OS : Android 4.1.2
Protection : IP55 / IP58
Dimensions : 67.4x131x10.4 mm
Weight : 138 g
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Complete set and appearance
In a small box with a traditional design is the device itself, USB-cable, high-power charger, wired headset MH750 with a set of alternative rubber pads for large and small ears, as well as a clothespin for mounting on the lapel or belt of the bag. It is worth noting that the demo copy was deprived of a docking station, but the Russian market Xperia ZR comes with it.
The case is made of a pleasant soft-touch plastic, has rounded corners and a slightly convex back cover, due to this it fits comfortably in your hand. Xperia ZR does not strive to be the most subtle and light, but it looks solid and reliable.
In general, the ZR feels very similar to last year's Acro S, so if you are a satisfied owner of this model and think what to replace it with, the choice is obvious.
We tested the black version, but models of white, pink and turquoise are also available.
The layout is quite familiar, there is a logo, a speaker and a front camera above the screen, below is a LED strip (can change colors depending on the theme or image on the screen, but does not blink to the beat of the music, like in Xperia SP), on the right side it is typical of This year's models have a round metal power button located in the center (just exactly under the thumb), and under it there is a volume control and a camera button. On the left is the combo USB / HDMI connector, covered with a cap, as well as contacts for installation in the dock. Upstairs - hidden under a 3.5 mm plug. headphone jack. As you can see - the number of connectors is minimal - only two, this trend is good news. On the back panel there is a slightly recessed camera eye (which is good, the glass will not be scratched) and a flash. The surface around the peephole is flat, which allows you to install a magnetic ring for mounting additional lenses. At the very bottom - the speaker, protected from the inside by a membrane. To install MicroSIM and SD card, you must remove the back cover, remove the battery and do not confuse the slots that are located above each other, however, the icon drawn in the same place will not allow to be mistaken: the SIM card is inserted into the bottom slot using a special tray, and the USB stick is in the top . The back cover fits easily and fits snugly, while the rubber seal protects the inside of the smartphone from water and dust.
Screen
The display, by today's standards, is small - 4.55-inches and not Full HD, as in the Xperia Z, but simply HD (1280x720). Taking into account the equally powerful hardware platform, ZR performance in some situations, for example in games, is higher, and by ten percent, and it affects the power consumption positively. The screen is quite bright and contrasting with very decent viewing angles - even when viewed at an angle of 85 degrees, the image is perfectly distinguishable, except that the colors dim a little, besides, when making the screen, the anti-glare technology OptiContrast is used, so the screen behaves very well in the sun. The picture can also be improved programmatically - Mobile Bravia Engine 2 enhances the contrast and saturation of photos and videos, and also removes noise when watching videos with low image quality. In addition, if you do not like the default color rendition, you can customize it with a special calibration utility. Like other Sony models, the screen is covered with a protective film that does not interfere at all, does not get dirty and provides excellent sliding of the fingers. By the way, ZR perfectly responds to wet fingers.
Camera
It has a 13 megapixel Exmor RS module installed - the same as in the Z and ZL models. In Superior Auto mode, the camera quite correctly recognizes shooting conditions (for example, quickly activates macro mode or increases sensitivity for shooting at dusk), and in normal mode it acquires many settings such as exposure adjustment, focus mode selection, white balance setting and ISO, point selection measurements, as well as image stabilizer, HDR, the possibility of serial and panoramic shooting, real-time filters (including very psychedelic), pre-installed options for shooting, for example, food (hello Instagram and Foursquare), pets or fireworks. Here you can also turn on the recognition of a smile, geo-tag, shutter sound, automatic or manual focusing, etc. Also worth noting is a customizable hardware button, with which you can start the camera and take a snapshot, which is necessary, including for underwater photography, because under water the screen will not respond to touch. The volume control, in this case, can be used to control the zoom. Photos with examples of camera work are located below, although there were unfortunately no coral reefs nearby, so we won’t show you the underwater beauty (but at the end of the review you will find an interesting video).
Battery
This is definitely one of the strengths of the current Sony lineup. It’s certainly worth taking a charge with you, but rather for calm and unforeseen situations. With quite intensive daily use (screen brightness around 90%, music, video, 3G, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, etc.), the battery lasts for 12-14 hours, and by turning on the Stamina mode and turning off all energy-intensive services you can force phone live on standby for five to six days. Do not forget that the battery is removable, so going to where there may be difficulties with charging, you can grab a couple of spare.
Multimedia
Traditional Sony smartphones for high-quality clear sound and impressive bass, clear mid and distinct high frequencies. The supplied headset, despite its modest appearance, provides excellent sound quality, and the volume margin is even somewhat redundant. If a certain limit is exceeded, the player honestly warns that listening to excessively loud music is not very useful for ears). The standard Walkman player allows you to improve the sound in automatic mode (ClearAudio + works like a moderate compressor, stereo extender and makes the upper frequencies clearer), besides you can independently adjust the bass boost, use the five-band equalizer, and turn on the volume equalization for all tracks. There are also several options for reverb (club, studio, concert hall), ClearPhase mono-compatibility optimizer for listening to music through an external speaker and the xLoud function to increase its volume. The speaker, by the way, is very sonorous, despite the fact that it is covered with a protective membrane.
The speaker has a good volume margin, the interlocutor also cannot complain that you are not heard well, besides, in the call settings you can turn on the microphone noise reduction, and the speaker has its own equalizer and even the function of slowing down the speech.
The location of the SD card slot inside the device does not allow it to be hot-swapped, so for file operations it is more convenient to connect the phone via USB, first putting it into drive mode - then the phone plays the role of a card reader and allows you to manage files on a flash drive from a computer. In normal mode, Windows defines it as a phone, and for Mac OS you need the Sony Bridge program, through which, by the way, you can also throw music or copy photos.
Protection
We turn to the most interesting - to test in the field. We decided that it would not be prudent to pour so seriously protected the device with some water from an office cooler or wash it under a faucet, so the Xperia ZR passed the present severe forest test, which it withstood with dignity. For a start, we left the phone turned on in the rain, for ten minutes nothing bad happened to it. Under the cold water from the spring, he also felt excellent, except that the screen reacted to the water a couple of times, as if pressed, and the camera, after being removed, briefly sweated outside. Diving into a forest stream also turned out to be a guy on the shoulder, as well as underwater shooting and burying in wet sand. The results of all these monstrous experiments you can see in this video:
Officially, the ZR does not have anti-shock properties, but the massive durable case and robust design allows it to withstand falling from a height of human growth on not too hard surfaces, although no one promises that with such treatment it will always remain waterproof.
Iron and performance
In terms of hardware, the Xperia ZR is identical to the Z model, and due to the not so big screen, as mentioned above, it even wins in terms of performance. In the standard version of 3DMark, Ice Storm managed to get a record 70+ FPS in normal scenes, and below 20 the counter did not go down even once. During testing, there was a slight heating in the left upper part of the device, but he did not deliver any discomfort and quickly passed. On the Xperia ZR, you can safely run any modern games - there is enough performance with a margin and you will not notice any brakes. The results of integrated testing can be found on the screenshots.
Connection
The results of testing the connection speed via 3G and WiFi can be seen in the screenshots. For a week of using, no problems with communication were observed, the network was not lost and the calls did not disappear. The navigation works perfectly - the location is determined accurately, and the recording of the ten-kilometer route passed without errors, despite the rainy weather and water procedures.
Software
By default, the Xperia ZR is running Android 4.1.2, which will soon be updated to 4.2. Smartphone download takes 24 seconds, the lock screen allows you to control the player and start the camera, unlocking is the same as with other models of this year - vertically, with a nice effect of blinds. The shell also seems familiar. The default browsers are Google Chrome and Opera Mini, Socialife client for social networks, McAfee Security antivirus, Evernote online organizer, Office Suite, Adobe Reader, video editing software, file manager, email client, Google Play apps. books and movies, navigator, QR code scanner and other software, which, if required, can be removed without any damage. Car mode allows you to put on the screen several large buttons, for example, to activate the speakerphone and the navigator, which is especially convenient if you install the phone in the appropriate holder.
Summary
A powerful smartphone with a great camera and very serious protection that really works, and is not an advertising gimmick. With this device you can not only walk in the rain or lie in the bath, but also take photos and record videos under water or, for example, in an aqua park. Add here a powerful replaceable battery, rich energy optimization, simple functional design and get an excellent machine for fans of hiking in the wild, fishing and traveling on water.
Specifications
Processor : Qualcomm APQ8064 quad-core, 1500 MHz
Memory : 2 GB of RAM, 8 MB of internal memory, support for SD cards
Video : Adreno 320
Display : 4.55 ”, TFT, 1280x720, 16 mil. colors, scratch protection.
Communications : GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 850/900/2100, LTE 800/850/900/1800/2100/260
Navigation : GPS, GLONASS
Main camera : Exmor RS 13 megapixel
Front camera : 0.3 MP
Battery : 2400 mAh, removable
OS : Android 4.1.2
Protection : IP55 / IP58
Dimensions : 67.4x131x10.4 mm
Weight : 138 g
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/187562/
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