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Sony Xperia Z2 review – better than ever

By Andrei Girbea , updated on October 13, 2022
Tested: Sony Xperia Z2
Rating: 4/5     Price Range: $650 / 600€ off contract
Summary: The Xperia Z2 is an incremental upgrade from the Z1. With it, Sony delivers their best smartphone to date and fixes most of the Z1's issues. Not all of them, but nearly. And that proves that they listen and work on delivering us, the buyers, better and better devices. Chapeau!

The good

sturdy, premium design, good screen, fast hardware, snappy and clean OS, lasts long on a charge, stereo front-facing speakers

The bad

camera still needs work, earpiece muffled and not very loud

This is my full review of the Sony Xperia Z2, Sony’s latest flagship smartphone and successor to the Xperia Z1.

The first Z was launched about a year ago and set out a few solid principles (a foundation for what was to come next, if you want to): premium feel and looks, waterproof case, powerful hardware, leading edge camera. On paper it was astonishing, in real-life, not that much. The Z1 followed a few months after (in September, 2013), addressing some of the Z’s issues.

And now (February, 2014) Sony have released the Xperia Z2, a more refined version of the same recipe, and spoiler alert, their best smartphone to date.

Sony Xperia Z2 Video Review

Design and looks

In fact, the Z2 and the Z1 are close in many ways. On a first look, it’s almost impossible to actually set them apart, as the Z2 inherits the same design lines of its predecessor, with the glass covered front and rear faces, the subtly curved metallic sides and the lean, monolithic shape. As a result, the Z2 feels just as premium as the Z1 did.

There is a price for all these though: the Z2 is not a compact or light device, although it has lost some weight over the Z1, tipping the scales at just over 160 grams. It’s also milimmetrically longer than the Z1, and that’s because it houses a larger screen. But it’s not wider or thicker. In fact, Sony worked on reducing the bezels in order to keep this device as compact as possible. Even so, the Z2 is large when compared to other premium Android handsets, and that alone might steer some of you away from it.

The Z2 keeps the same design elements we've seen on the Z1

The Z2 keeps the same design elements we’ve seen on the Z1

In Sony’s tradition, the Z2 is still IP certified, dust and waterproof. That’s why the glass surfaces are still covered by a thin plastic film out of the box, but one that’s hardly intrusive. And that’s why the main ports are still protected by plastic caps, which feel somewhat better made than on the Z1 though.

The element-proofness has been a differentiator for the Zs from the beginning, although I for one was never a big fan of it. It has a negative effect on the speakers, call-quality and even on the everyday use experience, without any real benefit. I mean, WHY would I really want a waterproof phone? It’s not like I’m taking showers with my phone or spend all my time at the pool or something. A more practical approach or perhaps a more ruggedized body would have certainly made the Z2 more appealing for me. All covered in glass as it is today, I found myself continuously worried I might drop and shatter it. Not to mention about always having to wipe it clean, as smudges and fingerprints are a complete pain with this one.

Glass coevers the back of the Sony Xperia Z2

Glass coevers the back of the Sony Xperia Z2

But enough ranting, Sony stick to this design lines and I’m sure plenty of you like it. So let’s move on to what’s actually changed on the Z2.

On the front face, you’ll notice two very narrow cuts towards the top and bottom edges of the glass. They’re not only hiding the earpiece, main microphone and the redesigned notification LED, now longer and brighter than before, but there’s also a set of stereo front-facing speakers behind them. As a result, the sound coming out of the Z2 is not bad at all, although still not very punchy.

On the back, the main shooter and the Flash are the only elements piercing the Glass. Even the secondary microphone cut, that was found here on the Z1, has been now moved on the phone’ upper lip. Having a quick look around the Z2’s sides, you’ll find the same buttons as on the previous Z and the same ports. However, they have been slightly switched around, and on the right edge, instead of having two separate plastic caps covering these connectors, there’s a single one now.

The screen

All these subtle tweaks are meant to improve your everyday experience with the Z2. But there are other things that have a much greater impact. One of those is the new screen. As i mentioned before, Sony squeezed a larger, 5.2 inch screen on the Z2, as opposed to the 5 incher on the Z1. Aside from that, the Japanese still went with their Triluminos TFT IPS panel and did not up the resolution, but stuck with 1920 x 1080 px instead, which is just fine with me.

Now, actually using this screen is a sheer pleasure. It’s bright, sharp and vibrant, and more importantly, it doesn’t suffer from the same poor viewing angles that crippled the Z1. But there’s still room for improvement here…

All in all though, Sony listened and addressed another one of the Z1’s main issues, although they can do better, as proven by the Xperia Z Ultra’s astonishing display.

Sony worked on the screen, but there's still room for improvement

Sony worked on the screen, but there’s still room for improvement

Sony Xperia Z2 specs sheet

 Sony Xperia Z2
Screen5.2 inch, 1920 x 1080 px, TFT IPS Triluminos panel
HardwareQualcomm Snapdragon 801, 2.3 GHz + Adreno 330 graphics
Memory3 GB RAM
Storage16 GB
Connectivity
4G/LTE, Wireless AC, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, NFC
PortsmicroUSB, microSD
Cameras20.7 MPx back camera, 2.1 MPx front camera
Battery3200 mAh
OSAndroid 4.4 KitKat
Size147 x 74 x 8.4 mm
Weight162 g
Othersavailable in several different colors, stereo speakers, 4K video recording

Software, hardware and everyday performance

Moving on, you probably noticed by now that there’s a slightly changed version of Android on the Xperia Z2. And that’s because it comes with Android 4.4 KitKat and all its graphic and functional tweaks. Aesthetically, most UI elements are simpler and cleaner and of course, the wallpapers do stretch under the Main Navigation buttons and system tray on the Homescreens.

Looks aside, KitKat also runs smoother than JellyBean, and as a result, the Xperia Z2 is blazing fast, even when compared to the Z1, with whom it shares nearly th e same hardware. In fact, both devices run on Snapdragon 800 platforms, with a slight frequency bump for the Z2 and an extra 1 GB of RAM, for a total of 3. And since we are talking about hardware, I should mention that there are still only 16 GB of storage space on the Z2, and just under 12 GBs of those are usable for your apps and content. Of course, that can be expanded with microSD cards, if needed.

Let’s get back to the software for a little bit. The Xperia Z2 runs a lightly skinned Android version and bundles a few proprietary apps and services. Looking back at Sony’s JellyBean implementation, the themes have been slightly changed, the multitasking pane has received the option to close all apps at once, while the notification pane has been split in two tabs, one for actual updates, and one with a set of Quick Toggles. You can tweak the toggles displayed in here from the settings.

The Android 4.4 KitKat implementation looks beautiful on the Xperia Z2

The Android 4.4 KitKat implementation looks beautiful on the Xperia Z2

In fact, if you’ll dig through the settings, you’ll find some of the Z2’s new extra features. For instance, the screen now offers a Gloves On mode and can be tapped twice if you want to wake up the device without having to press the Power Button. Then, the Z2 supports motion gestures for answering, rejecting or muting calls, which if I’m not mistaken, were not available on the Z1. Last but not least, the audiophiles among you will be happy to know that the Z2 can push high-quality audio towards an external sound-system, via USB compatible DAC amplifiers.

Aside from these and those extras brought by KitKat, like the smarter Dialer, Google Now integration and so on, all the other classic Sony tweaks and services are still available on the Z2. Apps like WalkMan, PlayStation or Album and features like the Small Apps or the easily customizable App Drawer are present on this new Xperia.

Since I mentioned the dialer, I do have to tell you that Sony slightly addressed the muffled ear-piece issue as well, which is now somewhat louder and clearer. Even so, the Z2 is not the ideal smartphone for taking or receiving calls, so if you plan on using it for that, I suggest looking at a Bluetooth headset as well.

The cameras

Anyway, let’s move on and turn our attention onto the cameras. On a first look, not much has changed here either. There’s the same 2 Mpx front shooter and the same 20.7 MPx main-camera on the back.

The 20.7 Mpx camera is present on the back of the Xperia Z2

The 20.7 Mpx camera is present on the back of the Xperia Z2

The camera interface was inherited from the Z1 as well, with all its modes and tweaks. Unfortunately though, something else was inherited from the Z1: the buggy Superior Auto mode, which mushes-out plenty of details from pictures. On top of that, the camera really struggles to focus in dim light, both with the Flash ON or OFF. Switching to the Manual Mode solves some of the problems, but requires tweaking each time you want to take a pic. And that’s not good enough for me, I want a fast and reliable all-round camera on my phone. And unfortunately for Sony, the Z2 does not entirely deliver here.

I’ve included a few pics below for you to analyze, coming straight out of the camera; they haven’t been resized or edited in any way.

And here’s a quick comparison with other devices.

Edit Post ‹ — WordPress.htm

Indoor test – low light – no flash

Indoors - low light - Flash

Indoors – low light – Flash

Macro Shot

Macro Shot

When it comes to taking videos though, the Z2 is a lot better. It can take regular 1080p clips, 4K recordings and even slow-motions, with the easy to use TimeShift Video Mode. So nothing to complain about in here.

Battery life

Before we wrap this out, I should also mention a few things about the battery. On paper, the Z2’s battery is only slightly larger than the one on the previous Z. In practice, the Z2 lasts longer on a charge. I haven’t conducted thorough battery tests, but the Z2 was able to go through the day with some serious use and over 4 hours of active screen time, with Cellular Data On all of the time and a few email and social media accounts constantly updating in the back. And that’s not bad at all.

Wrap up

So at the end of the day, the Xperia Z2 is no-doubt the best Smartphone Sony has delivered to-date. And it proves one thing: Sony listens and acts. Many complained about the speakers, the screen and the battery life of the Z1. And here they are, addressing those. They also bumped up the specs, brought the OS to date, squeezed a larger screen inside pretty much the same body and even worked on camera performance, although that still requires further tweaking. I truly respect them for this and I wish more companies would do it.

The Sony Xperia Z2 fixes many of the Z1's issues

The Sony Xperia Z2 fixes many of the Z1’s issues

But is the Xperia Z2 worth buying? Well, if you like Sony’s design elements and particularities, then yes, for sure.

However, keep one thing in mind: the Z2 is only the first flagship to be released this year. The Samsung Galaxy S5, the new HTC One or the LG G3 are around the corner though, and I for one would like to know how all these fare against each other before putting my money on any of them.

Of course, I will cover all of them here on the site and on the Youtube channel, so stay close. But in the meantime, the comments section is open, so let me know what do you think about this Sony Xperia Z2 down below.

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Andrei Girbea, Editor-in-Chief at TLBHD.com. This project was born as part of my search for capable mini-laptops that I could easily lug around to work, and still provide the performance that I'd need on a daily basis. I'm primarily using such ultracompact devices and have been testing them since 2006.

6 Comments

  1. Sem

    March 3, 2014 at 8:58 pm

    very disappointed of Z2 it’s again is not cameraphone

  2. Chris

    March 12, 2014 at 6:28 pm

    What’s wrong with the camera? Am I missing something? I was informed that the camera is a 20 megapixel camera but in comparison, the 5S seems to take better shots. All in all, quite a solid phone, but the phone should try to downsize and get rid of some bezels. The phone is really huge compared to other 5 inch phones.

  3. ovi

    March 12, 2014 at 10:06 pm

    It’s Snapdragon 801.

  4. Kin

    March 14, 2014 at 10:25 am

    Biased camera test.
    Why testing the camera only in low-light condition? It skews the result in favor of the camera with lower mega pixels (iphone).

    If you test normal day light results may be significantly different.

  5. Ogee

    April 3, 2014 at 12:54 pm

    Biased review, how can the author criticise the speakers and sound when we ve all seen you tube tests that show the only smart phone that rivals the Z2 is the new HTC one, how can u say u ve done a review when the phone isn’t out yet. There’ll always be software improvement and updates so I’ll take anything said here bout the camera with a pinch of salt. The Z1 camera was the best on any Android phone so I really don’t know how Sony wont improve with the Z2. When they ve improved the Sensor plus added alot more features software n hardware.

  6. Steve

    April 5, 2014 at 8:32 pm

    Hi, Andrei…i have an unusual request for you…could you please give me the dimensions and weight of the Xperia Z1 compact phone? With everything inside?

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