[Sony Xperia ZR] rhythmyun:
Mini Review

Got my ZR last Wednesday. Overall, I am satisfied with it so far. Here is my mini review for all the potential buyer out there.

Phone: Xperia ZR C5502

OS: JB 4.1.2 stock

Performance:

Let's start with the performance of this phone. Navigation is buttery smooth and multi-tasking is good. Switching between apps like messenger, whatsapp and facebook has always been instantaneous. And of course I did some 'stress test' of mine, run a few game simultaneously with antutu running and the apps switching is still good, although not instantaneous - the wait is very minimal (about 1 second+ of blank white screen and you are good to go.) PS: running on Nova prime.

Loading pages with Chrome is fine too, double tapping to zoom in and out, pinch zoom etc works flawlessly. Tried to stress it with loading up 10 tabs of desktop pages - at this stage, tab switching still works good (good as in, the wait is minimal). On the other hand, if you are just up to handling a few tab of webpages, everything is gonna be buttery smooth.

Screen:

I've got my ZR sticked with a matte based screen protector, so do expect a better performance if you are going to use no SP or a clear type one.

With a matte based SP, I still find ZR to have very good viewing legibility, even under sunlight.

The black are not very very deep, but it still fares very well for normal usage. I find no problem with the color reproduction (as a web/multimedia designer, I am quite sceptical when it comes to bad color and quality), while it can't match the amoled pure black - it is still decent enough for daily usage and multimedia consumption.

The white is not pure white too, but it might really just be my matte screen protector. So I will let other to judge on this.

Colours from direct angle are natural and vivid enough for media consumption.

I have no problem with the viewing angle as well. For those who complains about viewing angle, will you be watching a movie from a slanted angle? Most probably no. So while the viewing angle is only average, it is still good enough for you to let's say read an incoming message or check your phone's status. In short, font reading from a side angle is not a problem at all. For those who thinks he will love to enjoy a movie from a side angle, you might wanna consider some other screen though.

Hands on feeling/Size:

I came from an Galaxy Ace, ZR is a very huge leap in terms of size for me. I was kinda struggling at first, but eventually I got used of it. One hand handling is very possible if you have an average or above average palm size. I have a kinda below average size palm, but still find myself handling it one hand occasionally. So I'm pretty sure one hand handling is gonna be a good experience with Xperia ZR.

The weight and height is something I will need to get used to, considering that I came from a very small phone. But on overall, I never find it too bulky or straining to use. As comparison, lying down on bed and using any other 5 inch display phone for like 5 minutes plus can really sore my hands. So another plus point for ZR.

Battery Life

When it comes to battery life, this is one hella amazing device. 46 hours of battery life with 5 hours screen on time ?! This is totally impossible on my previous phone. Some other real life example are:

1. Playing half hour+ of minion rush drains only 3% of battery.

2. With moderate use, I woke up at 9am with 97% and have 80% left when I left my office at 7pm.

3. Browsing and downloading apps over wifi for half hour+, almost no impact.

4. Antutu benchmark my ZR for 3 rounds, drop 2%.

In one word, ZR is excellent when it comes to Battery life, at least on 4.1.2 (Hopefully it remains the same after the 4.2.2 update)

In call volume and loudspeaker

Was very worried over these 2 after reading through all the comments on the internet. But to my surprise, I found no problem with them at all.

I am able to communicate very well in a phone call and while the loudspeaker is not that rich and loud, it is good enough to serve its main purpose - to notify you of an event.

Plus, I have no reason to enjoy my music over a phone when I got a full fledged desktop?

(Anyway, headphone jack quality is very good.)

Camera

Not exactly good on 4.1.2, not a shutter bug though, so it is decent enough for me. And I rarely snap, really have not much to comment here. Anyway I find the other reviews to be true, the quality doesn't feel like a proper 13mp in 4.1.2. Gonna wait for 4.2.2 and have a test drive again.

Water proof

Never tried =x

Conclusion

Overall, ZR is an awesome device for those who are looking for a performer but doesn't want to hurt its wallet.

The Galaxies are so mainstream, you probably looks cooler with a ZR =]

The HTC One was what I was aiming for before the ZR, but the price is always so steep. But all in all, I never regret choosing ZR over HTC One.

For those who are still unsure over this device, just leave your question here, I am sure some of us can give you some insights that you need.

Afterall, I would love to have more ZR users out there and eventually improve the DEV activity ;)

My english might not be perfect, is not my native tongue so.... please bear with my grammatical mistakes. :D