Shoot and Score

The Z2 is a camera phone, and has an extra camera button to prove it. There is a groove on the side which is used to link to the magnetic charging dock that is being sold as an accessory with this. There is an LED on top that keeps blinking to alert you of notifications or missed calls.

Display & Sound
The 5.2 Full HD Triluminous display makes watching movies on this phone as good as on any large screen. But one needs to have the temperament to be able to watch long videos on the phone. There are noise cancelling headphones to facilitate the same on a noisy flight or for a metro ride. The audio quality of the two front-facing speakers is also good for personal use.

Performance
This phone is powered by a 2.3-GHz Qualcomm Quad-core processor. On benchmark tests, it was just a notch below the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Multi-tasking is effortless and you can go anywhere on the phone in a couple of easy moves. Everything is smooth and easy. No matter which app you use on the phone, there is no time lag.

Software
The Android OS has been heavily tweaked by Sony. Right from the set-up, Sony does a lot of handholding to ensure that you do things the right way. Do this and you get the full, rich, experience that Android can offer you. The interface has a lot of widgets already, like the Walkman widget for music and the video widget that lets you access the player easily. The keyboard is noteworthy, there is an option to make it more intuitive and intelligent by letting it learn from your Gmail or social networks.

Camera
This is the best part of the phone. Along with the dedicated camera button, there is a camera widget on the homescreen that lets you access the camera as well as the many inbuilt apps on it. The pictures can get a bit grainy in low light, but it is still better than a lot of other phone cameras and gives you several options.

However, the camera could use a faster auto-focus, like in the Samsung Galaxy S5, to unleash its true potential. Also, the camera does not shoot in 20MP as default and most of the features are limited to 8MP. Plus, in full resolution, photos are shot in a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is strange.

But the USP of this 20.7MP camera has to be its ability to shoot a 4K video. For this, you will need a good quality, large and fast Class 10 SD card in the phone.

Battery
As my primary phone, it would have about 25 per cent juice left after 24 hours. Use the battery more judiciously and switch to stamina mode once in a while to stretch the life to around 36 hours.

Should You Buy It?
If you are buying this phone, it will be for its superior build quality, top-end performance, and above average camera capabilities.

Price: Rs 49,990 n
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