We were fortunate enough to be invited to the launch event of the all new Sony Xperia Z. Sony decided to do a road trip around South Africa to their most important markets and held launch events in Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.
We gathered at the Grand Daddy Hotel in Long Street with a very warm welcome. The event was much more intimate and inviting than some of the other extravagant launches we have been to, and in most ways we actually prefer it that way. There was much more time to talk to the relevant parties about the device, the company and the strategies surrounding marketing and sales.
This is Sony‘s answer to devices like the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4, which is to be announced tomorrow, 14th of March, as well as the LG Optimus Pro G. Here are some of its specifications:
- Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support; 3G with HSPA; LTE
- 5″ 16M-color 1080p capacitive touchscreen with 441ppi pixel density; Bravia Mobile Engine 2
- Android OS v4.1.1 Jelly Bean with custom UI
- Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait CPU, 2 GB RAM, Adreno 320 GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset
- 13 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geo-tagging, HDR
- 1080p video recording @ 30fps with HDR mode, continuous autofocus and stereo sound
- 2.2 MP front-facing camera, 1080p video recording
- IP 57 certification – dust resistant and water resistant
- 16GB of built-in storage; microSD card slot
- MHL-enabled microUSB port
- NFC
Our first impressions of the device are extremely good, and we can‘t wait to get our hands on it for an extended period of time when it lands in SA in late March or early April. One thing that is truly impressive is the ruggedness and durability of the device. It is fully water resistant, dust resistant and is made of a special blend of carbon fibre and polycarbonate plastics that make the device extremely difficult to damage. In the presentation they threw the phone into the air and let it drop without damage or scratches. We even gave it a couple of hard bangs against the table, without effect.
Fortunately, we also had a chance to interview one of the big guns running the show, and we had a chance to ask him some important questions regarding the SA market and the Xperia Z. For our first hands-on look at the Xperia Z as well as the interview, check it out below.
Is this a device you are looking forward to? Would you buy it? Let us know in the comments below.
