Sony Xperia ZL (Unlocked)

The unlocked Xperia ZL is Sony's best smartphone?yet. It's also the best-size big-screen phone we've tested. It has a 5-inch screen, which means that it technically meets our definition for phablet (which is a phone the size of a small tablet). But unlike every other phablet out there, the Xperia ZL doesn't?feel?huge.?It has a beautiful 1080p display, an ultra-fast quad-core processor, and a good 13-megapixel camera. But the Xperia ZL costs $759.99, which puts it out of reach for even the most dedicated Sony smartphone fans. So while the Xperia ZL is a very good phone, it's just too expensive.

Size, Design, and Call Quality
Before I focus on what the Xperia ZL is, it's important to mention what it isn't. And this isn't the water-submersible, dust-resistant, all-glass Xperia Z we saw back at CES. While both phones are running the same hardware and software, the Xperia ZL isn't ruggedized, and with its textured, rubberized back panel, it doesn't have quite the same luxury look and feel as the upcoming Xperia Z. There's still an all-glass front panel, and thin glass inserts on each side of the phone, so it's still attractive, but what Sony really gets right here is size.

Sony has nearly managed to stretch the display to the phone's edges, with very little bezel on the top and bottom. It still measures 5.18 by 2.73 by 0.39 inches and weighs 5.33 ounces, which means it's a good deal larger than most phones in the 4-inch range, but it's actually more compact than the 4.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S III, which measures 5.38 by 2.78 by 0.34 inches. So if you're looking for the most comfortable big-screen smartphone out there, the Xperia ZL is it.

Powered by Sony's Mobile Bravia 2 engine, the ZL's 5-inch, 1080p display is a thing of beauty. With a resolution of 1920-by-1080 pixels, Sony has packed 441 pixels into each inch of the display, and the results are lovely. Fonts, images, and video all look razor sharp, and brighter colors fare particularly well. I would've liked to see a little more saturation or inkiness in the darker shades, and the viewing angles could be wider, but these are minor complaints about a very nice display.

Typing on the onscreen keyboard feels fine, which makes sense, given its large size. Of course, 5 inches is still 5 inches, so you may need to break out your other hand from time to time when you can't quite reach all the way across the display.

As for the rest of the phone, I really like the status light right below the display that lets you know how much charge you've got left. All of the physical controls are located on the right side. There's a circular aluminum Power button in the middle, a volume rocker at the top, and a Camera button on the bottom. A standard 3.5mm headphone jack sits on the top right edge, and the power port is on the left. I reviewed the all-black model, but the ZL also comes in white, or black and red.

The back of the phone doesn't come off, which means the 2,370mAh battery is nonremovable. Sony includes a suite of power management software, but on its own, the battery lasted for 7 hours and 40 minutes of talk time, which isn't bad, but we've seen better results on most new phones. A flap on the back panel opens up to reveal the SIM and microSD card slots.

The Xperia ZL is unlocked, so you can use it on either AT&T or T-Mobile's network. It supports both HSPA+ 42 and LTE on the 850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz bands. It also supports 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.?For this review we tested it on AT&T.

Reception is excellent on AT&T's network, but call quality is only average. Voices sound fuzzy and reedy in the phone's earpiece. Calls made with the phone have a sense of fullness, but a lot of background fuzz made its way through whenever someone spoke. The speakerphone sounds fine but is not loud enough to use outdoors. The phone had no trouble pairing with a?Jawbone Era?Bluetooth headset and standard Android voice dialing worked fine.

Hardware, Android, and Apps
The Xperia ZL is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 processor. In other words, it's crazy fast. Sony has laid a pretty thick skin over Google's Android operating system, but it doesn't seem to affect performance. The ZL turned in excellent benchmark scores across the board, and deserves a top spot among the most powerful Android phones available today. Using the phone felt silky smooth, and you definitely won't have trouble running any of the 800,000+ apps in the Google Play store.

(Next page: Camera, Multimedia, and Conclusions)

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