Sunday, 20 January 2013

iPhone 5 vs. Sony Xperia Z - Gotta Be Mobile

At CES 2013, Sony unveiled its latest flagship smartphone, the Sony Xperia Z, a device that the company hopes will take on upcoming devices like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC M7 in 2013. Upcoming phones aren't the only devices that the Xperia Z will have to contend with though as it will be doing battle with current smartphone as well. One of those devices is the iPhone 5, Apple's latest and greatest iPhone, and one that will be competing against the Xperia Z for the attention of consumers.

Read: Samsung Galaxy Note 2 vs. Sony Xperia Z.

In September, Apple debuted its current-generation smartphone, the iPhone 5. The debut came after almost a year of rumors and it produced a smartphone that has gone on to sell millions of units across the world. And while there are already rumors about an iPhone 5S or an iPhone 6, Apple is likely in no rush to get a new smartphone on shelves as the device still is one of the top smartphones on the market and likely will be well into 2013.

Both the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 have faced stiff competition from Samsung and its Galaxy S series, specifically the Samsung S3, an Android powered smartphone that debuted back in May and has gone on to sell over 30 million devices worldwide since. Samsung has emerged as Apple's greatest Android threat, but that doesn't mean other companies are taking that lying down.

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The iPhone 5 is one of Apple's current mobile devices.

In fact, Sony hopes to muscle in on Samsung's rivalry with the iPhone in 2013 with Sony CEO Kaz Hirai planning to ditch low-end models in favor of devices that he hopes will compete against the likes of the iPhone, Galaxy S3 and their successors.

The start of that new direction may have come at CES 2013 when the company announced the new Sony Xperia Z, a device that is high-end, current and perfectly capable of attracting customers.

But just how does the Sony Xperia Z compare to the iPhone 5? Here, we take a look at the Xperia Z versus the iPhone 5 in terms of its release date, features and more.

Release Date

Since September, the iPhone 5 has been one of the featured smartphones on the market as it arrived with some unique iPhone qualities including 4G LTE data speeds for the three biggest U.S. carriers and a larger display. And as expected, the response to the new features was positive.

Apple's iPhone 5 quickly sold out through all avenues and became one of the hardest devices to find over the course of several months. It wasn't until December, right before the holiday shopping season, that Apple was able to get its supply under control and deliver the device to customers in a timely fashion.

Unlike many devices, the iPhone 5 is already available on a number of major and regional carriers and it's possible that this year will bring even more carriers to the surface. We've heard that Virgin Mobile will at some point be getting the iPhone 5 and we expect that T-Mobile will likely carry it for its 4G LTE network as well. Neither has set a release date as of yet.

Read: Sony Xperia Z Release Date Could Be February 18.

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The Xperia Z release date, at least in Europe, could be February 18th.

As for the Sony Xperia Z, its announcement at CES 2013 in Las Vegas did not come as much of a surprise. We knew that Sony was working on a device called the Sony Yuga for 2013 and it was only a matter of time before it was announced. The Yuga turned out to be the Xperia Z, arguably Sony's biggest announcement at the show. We gave it our Best Smartphone Award of CES 2013 though competition was weaker than most years.

In typical Android announcement fashion, Sony relayed all of the Xperia Z's details but left out two important ones. Pricing and release date. It did say that the Xperia Z would see a global launch in the first quarter but it did not say exactly when or where.

So far, leaks indicate that February 18th could be its release date, at least in Europe. No release date has emerged for the United States and we imagine if it is headed to the U.S., we won't hear about a release date for quite sometime.

Those in the United States looking to get this phone right off the bat should be able to order it unlocked when it arrives later on this quarter however.

Design

The first thing that jumps out to those about the iPhone 5 will likely be its design, which is different than most of what's currently on the market. Apple vastly changed the design of the iPhone 5 from the designs of the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 by using a combination of metal, anodized aluminum and glass to create an extremely good-looking industrial design.

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The iPhone 5 features an industrial design made of glass, aluminum and metal.

Due to its larger display, the iPhone is now taller than its predecessors, but also cuts down the weight and thickness. The iPhone 5 is extremely thin, measuring in at a measly 7.6mm in thickness. That's slimmer than most smartphones on the market right now. The iPhone 5 is also lightweight with a weight of only 112 grams. That's much lighter than the iPhone 4S and lighter than just about every high-end smartphone on the market currently.

The slim and lightweight form factor also make the iPhone 5 pocketable and easy to hold.

The iPhone 5?s design puts many others to shame. However, Sony has done an admirable job with the design of the Sony Xperia Z and it too boasts a look that is both appealing and durable.

The design features a rectangular shape that possesses some semblance of roundness around the edges. The Xperia Z also features glass panels in both the front and back that help to give it a very modern look, especially for an Xperia smartphone.

Sony Xperia Z award 2

The Xperia Z won our Best Smartphone award for CES 2013. One reason? Its design.

It does however feature a much larger display than the iPhone 5 which means that it has a larger footprint. But that doesn't come at too much of a cost.

The Sony Xperia Z is very thin, sporting a 7.9mm frame. That's close to the iPhone 5 and much thinner than many smartphones of its size including the Droid DNA. It also weighs a mere 146 grams. That's not as light as the iPhone 5, but it's still light for a smartphone with a large display.

What's more, Sony has also ensured that the design is extremely durable. It's both water resistant and dust proof and Sony proved this in a demo at CES 2013 wherein the device was left submerged underwater for nearly an hour without taking any damage.

Display

Prior to the iPhone 5, the iPhone always came with a 3.5-inch display. Finally though, Apple caved and decide to up the iPhone's display with the new 4-inch Retina Display found on the iPhone 5.

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The iPhone 5 features a 4-inch Retina Display.

The iPhone 5?s display uses 1136 x 640 resolution and 326 pixels-per-inch which make for crisp images, video and text. Another, more subtle feature of the display is its 16:9 aspect ratio which offers widescreen resolution for content like television shows and movies. It also helps for those that might consume a lot of YouTube content on their phone.

Sony on the other hand has followed in the footsteps of its Android ilk and bestowed a large display on its Sony Xperia Z. Like many of the Android smartphones that will arrive in 2013, the Sony Xperia Z features a massive 5-inch Reality display with 1920 x 1080 resolution and 443 pixels-per-inch. It's Sony's first stab at a 1080p display on a smartphone and from our limited time with the Xperia Z, it's a good looking first effort. Text is crisp, colors are rich, videos are vibrant and easy to look at.

Sony Xperia Z

The Xperia Z is the start of Sony's plan for high-end smartphones.

The company also included its Reality Display TV and Mobile Bravia Engine 2, both of which should make the Xperia Z one of the better looking displays on the market in the beginning of 2013 and beyond.

Camera

The iPhone 5 features an 8MP iSight camera that is one of the best cameras found on a smartphone. It handles itself well in most environments and can call up some amazing video quality as well. The iPhone 5 also features an HD front-facing camera that produces high-quality video chats for those that need them.

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