Sony Xperia Z vs Samsung Galaxy S4

Which is a better phone – Sony Xperia Z or Galaxy S4 ? In the world of smartphones, Sony has not done much to make people sit up and notice. So does the Sony Xperia Z match up to some of the best smart phones in the industry? Let’s find out by comparing it with the best, the Samsung Galaxy S4.

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1. Size – In terms of size these phones are almost identical. While the Galaxy S4 measures 136.6×69.8×7.9 mm the Xperia Z measures 139x71x7.9 mm. Nothing great to comment about here. But in terms of weight, the Galaxy S4 weighs just 130 grams which is 16 grams lesser than the Xperia Z which weighs in at 146 grams. But considering the fact that this is Sony’s first real smart phone in a long time, we are willing to overlook this excess weight.

2. Display – Here too both devices are pretty similar. Both have huge 5 inch screens with a pixel density of 441 ppi. But while the Galaxy S4 has a Super AMOLED capacitive touch screen the Xperia Z has just a TFT capacitive touch screen. But the Xperia Z makes up for this with its scratch resistant, shatter proof glass. The Xperia Z also boasts of Sony’s Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 which can provide for some real breathtaking images.

3. Memory & Storage – Again, considering this is Sony’s first smart phone worth mentioning we can overlook the fact that the Xperia Z comes only in a 16 GB version as opposed to the Galaxy S4 which comes in 16, 32 and 64 GB variants. But, both phones do support memory expansion through microSD up to 64 GB, so no real problems here. Both phones have 2 GB of RAM as well.

4. Waterproof – This is what really sets the Xperia Z apart from the Galaxy S4 as well as all other smart phones in the market today. The Xperia Z is waterproof up to 1 meter for as long as thirty minutes. Now that’s amazing. This feature does mean the phone’s appearance is hampered a little because of the flaps over every port and this may be the reason it’s heavy as well. But having a waterproof phone is something that nobody would mind although no one really buys a phone to dip it in water.

5. Camera – Both phones have 13MP shooters on the back with pretty much the same features though Sony does offer a sweep panorama feature that Samsung seemed to forget in their latest phone. However, the Samsung Galaxy S4 does offer dual video calling from its 2MP front facing camera whereas the Sony Xperia Z, while offering a larger 2.2MP front facing camera, has not such feature.

6. OS & Performance – Considering the fact that Android has benefited most from it’s tie up with Samsung it isn’t much of a surprise that Jelly Bean 4.2.2 has been reserved for the Galaxy S4. The Xperia Z has been released with Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) and Sony has promised that an update to Android 4.2.2. (Jelly Bean) will be available soon. But if you ask me, the update is not going to be released before the Galaxy S4 which is coming with Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean). In terms of processor too the Galaxy S4 seems to have got the best with it’s 1.6 GHz Quad core and 1.2 GHz Quad core processors. The Xperia Z though isn’t far behind with it’s 1.5 GHz Quad core processor and considering the fact that the S4 can only use one processor at a time, it would be wrong to believe that the S4 offers a superior performance as compared to the Xperia Z.

7. Battery – The Galaxy S4 comes with a huge 2600 mAh battery which is supposed to give you days of standby time while the Xperia Z has a 2330 mAh battery which, rumour has it, drains out very fast. But, this is Sony’s first real Smartphone in a while and hopefully they will learn from their mistakes.

8. Price – The Xperia Z is priced at INR 38,990 while the Galaxy S4 is rumoured to be priced around INR 45,000. Considering that the S4 is indeed a much better phone than the Xperia Z, this price difference comes as no big surprise. But is the Galaxy S4 worth the price, only time will tell.

Verdict

Well, Galaxy S4 seems like the perfect phone but we will only be able to confirm this after its release in April 2013. On the other hand, the Xperia Z’s waterproof feature on its own is enough to convince most users to buy it. But, if you are looking at all out performance from your phone, you won’t be wrong in tilting towards the Galaxy S4 which does give you an amazing experience.