Sony did something weird this year. They announced not one, but two flagship phones. Both have the exact same specifications, except the Xperia Z is waterproof and made out of glass, while the Xperia ZL is made out of plastic and likely won’t survive a drop in the toilet. Now I had a chance to play with the Z during my travels through Asia, but I never got to play with a live Xperia ZL. I manhandled a dummy unit, but that’s not the same.
If someone asked me which of the the two models I prefer, I’d pick the ZL, with zero hesitation. It doesn’t have flaps covering the USB and audio ports. It’s significantly smaller. And it even has a camera button. But does the device have any serious flaws?
The guys at Pocketnow just uploaded an eight minute video review that’s worth a watch. They admit that while Sony decided to put a subpar screen inside the ZL, the phone itself is still an outstanding piece of hardware. So much so that the guy doing the review, Jaime Rivera, has decided to make it his full time phone.
