by Paolo Icban Cablay
When I first got this supposedly water-proofed phone, my cousin was having a birthday party, So I thought, well and good, just in time to test out the Sony Xperia ZR. Since there was a pool in the party, in we go along with the Sony Xperia ZR.
The ZR fully lived up to its waterproof capability, as it took clear, crisp, and sharp photos underwater. You’d have to download the ‘Touch Block’ app first, though, which automatically activates when the ZR is exposed to water. The app’s main purpose is to prevent the water messing around with the touchscreen.
Wet, the Sony Xperia ZR can still function well. Tough, it is, because Sony made it dust-proofed and shatter-proofed.
The ZR boasts a 13.1 megapixel camera comes with Exmor RS (up to 16x digital zoom) and can be set to Superior Auto that allows the camera to automatically identify what kind of mode is best to use in a specific environment.
The camera can also be set to normal focus mode where you can play around with particular settings to get the best quality of images.
The sratch-proofed 4.55” TFT touchscreen display is boosted further with 1280×720 pixels.
I tried to rub the screen with coins, keys, and other things that we would normally put in our pockets that can put a scratch on most of the phones we use, but to no avail. A little wipe from any type of cloth, and the screen would be good as new. There is absolutely no need to purchase screen protectors for the ZR.
As for the ZR’s Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro 1.5 quadcore processor, every app I installed on the ZR did not lag even when I played music and games at the same time, or browse the internet while having background applications open such as games, music, camera, etc.
As for the ZR’s battery life, I decided to stress it out by having multiple applications running while playing games. Under normal conditions, and using an average device, you could esily drain your battery dry.
I played games for three hours on the ZR and it’s actually surprising how the battery managed energy as it gave the highest priority to the app that currently being used. Even if you’re running multiple apps in the background, those apps consume less energy as opposed to the app currently being used.
The Xperia ZR has a talktime of up to 13 hours, standby time up to 520 hours, music listening time of up to 45 hours and video playback time of up to 8.5 hours.
The ZR’s design also stands out as well. Sleek, smooth, compact. It is okay to the grip, sized at 131.3×67.3×10.5 mm, and weighs in at just 138 grams.
The ZR is a great phone for people on-the-go, a loyal companion rain or shine. It can withstand up to 1.5 meters underwater, and 29 minutes longer than its user.