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GSMArena team, 11 September 2017

XZibit one


Sony Xperia XZ1 review: XZibit one

  • Comments (282)
  • User reviews
  • Xperia XZ1
  • 4.1

6. Telephony, text input, messaging, assorted apps
  1. 1. Introduction
  2. 2. Unboxing, 360-degree spin, hardware overview
  3. 3. Display, connectivity, battery life
  4. 4. User interface
  5. 5. Performance
  6. 6. Telephony, text input, messaging, assorted apps
  7. 7. Multimedia apps
  8. 8. Camera
  9. 9. Key findings, alternatives, final verdict
  10.  
  11. Sony Xperia XZ1 specification
  12. User opinions and reviews
  13. Review comments (282)

Sony Android

Phone

The Xperia XZ1 has its call log separated from the contacts, but there are shortcuts from one to the other in the upper right corner. It can be filtered by missed, incoming and outgoing calls. Smart dial is supported too.

Dialer with smart dial - Sony Xperia XZ1 review Call log - Sony Xperia XZ1 review Phonebook - Sony Xperia XZ1 review Favorites - Sony Xperia XZ1 review
Dialer with smart dial • Call log • Phonebook • Favorites

Messaging

Messaging is equally straightforward. Sony's default app organizes communication into chats. It also has a nice collection of stickers and supports all sorts of attachments. These will force you to convert to MMS though.

Messaging - Sony Xperia XZ1 review Messaging - Sony Xperia XZ1 review Messaging - Sony Xperia XZ1 review
Messaging

Since Sony shops the XZ1 with a Google app package pre-installed, Gmail is probably the most obvious choice for email. Then again, Sony also has its own app. It has some pretty nice extra features to offer, like integration with Sony's calendar for event management and reminders, plus weather info.

Two email apps - Sony Xperia XZ1 review Two email apps - Sony Xperia XZ1 review Two email apps - Sony Xperia XZ1 review Two email apps - Sony Xperia XZ1 review
Two email apps

If you plan on jumping into Sony's own ecosystem, you could give it a try.

Text input

SwiftKey has been Sony's bundled keyboard of choice for some time now. It is a truly powerful solution. You can customize pretty much every aspect of your typing experience, including custom layouts, themes, size adjustment, dictionaries and more.

SwiftKey - Sony Xperia XZ1 review SwiftKey - Sony Xperia XZ1 review SwiftKey - Sony Xperia XZ1 review SwiftKey - Sony Xperia XZ1 review
SwiftKey

Loudspeaker

We would take a stereo setup over a mono one any day of the week. However, there are certain drawbacks that come with most dual-speaker phones these days, primarily in the loudness department. Just like most of its siblings, the Xperia XZ1 just doesn't have enough volume to impress.

Speakerphone testVoice, dB Pink noise/ Music, dB Ringing phone, dB Overall score
Sony Xperia XZ 61.6 65.5 67.6 Below Average
Sony Xperia XZ1 (S-Force Front Surround) 63.8 68.0 67.4 Below Average
Sony Xperia XZ Premium 62.9 65.2 71.6 Below Average
Sony Xperia XZ1 (ClearAudio+) 64.5 67.6 67.7 Below Average
Sony Xperia XZs 62.4 65.5 73.3 Average
Sony Xperia XZ1 65.4 68.0 69.1 Average
Samsung Galaxy S8 66.2 70.5 72.5 Good
Samsung Galaxy S8+ 68.5 69.4 71.6 Good
LG G6 66.8 68.8 74.5 Good
Huawei P10 Plus 64.8 69.8 82.5 Good
Xiaomi Mi 6 66.1 69.0 84.1 Very Good
OnePlus 5 69.2 72.9 77.5 Very Good
HTC U11 (Theater) 69.2 72.7 78.4 Very Good
HTC U11 (Music) 68.7 73.0 79.1 Very Good
Huawei P10 67.7 70.0 83.6 Very Good
LG V30 66.9 72.3 84.5 Very Good
Lenovo Moto Z2 Force 68.2 70.2 86.1 Very Good
Google Pixel XL 73.4 72.1 84.1 Excellent
Nokia 8 88.0 77.1 81.4 Excellent

In its default mode, the XZ1 barely pushes an "Average" mark. Fiddling around with ClearAudio+ or the S-Force Front Surround toggles nets you a decrease in volume either way. (You can't have both turned on at the same time). ClearAudio+ does seem to improve sound a bit, but S-Force Front Surround is just weird. We guess it's an acquired taste, and we do hear some of Sony's efforts to give some more sense of depth to the sound, but it just seems off - especially for voices.

Another thing to appreciate here is that unlike many of its competitors, Sony opted for a symmetrical setup, making for a much better stereo experience than blasting the earpiece on high.

Other apps

Besides email, Sony has some other app basics covered with its own solutions as well. The News app is a news aggregator, pulling stories from sources on topics of your choice. It can also issue two daily bulletins for you at a time you specify, so you don't miss out on current events. There is also a simple weather app, complete with nice animations.

News - Sony Xperia XZ1 review Weather - Sony Xperia XZ1 review
News • Weather

Xperia lounge is Sony's own entertainment app, feeding you exclusive content and competitions related to music, movies and games. What's new is a similar concept, but it act like more of a guide into Android applications, themes, games and more. It is a curated catalog of links to various other platforms, like the Google Play store, Audible, Amazon and others.

Xperia Lounge - Sony Xperia XZ1 review Xperia Lounge - Sony Xperia XZ1 review Xperia Lounge - Sony Xperia XZ1 review Xperia Lounge - Sony Xperia XZ1 review
Xperia Lounge

Sony's health-tracking app Lifelog doesn't come pre-installed, though all it takes to download it is a trip to the Play Store. However, there is no shortage of third-party apps that do come pre-loaded on the XZ1. AVG Protection Pro is a particularly annoying one, since its usefulness is questionable to begin with, and it is also just a trial.

Amazon apps - Sony Xperia XZ1 review AVG Protection Pro - Sony Xperia XZ1 review AVG Protection Pro - Sony Xperia XZ1 review AVG Protection Pro - Sony Xperia XZ1 review
Amazon apps • AVR Protection Pro

Then there are the Amazon Shopping and Kindle apps. It is a fair bet that these would come in handy to at least some of the XZ1 users, but it is still a bit annoying to find them pre-loaded. If nothing else, we suggest you replace the Amazon app with the Underground one that has the application store intact.

Sony did finally include a simple file manager in its ROM, which gets the job done. There is a basic calculator as well. The default Google app package should have you covered for most everything else.

File manager - Sony Xperia XZ1 review File manager - Sony Xperia XZ1 review Calculator - Sony Xperia XZ1 review Google app package - Sony Xperia XZ1 review
File manager • File manager • Calculator • Google app package

Next Page » 7. Multimedia apps
6. Telephony, text input, messaging, assorted apps
  1. 1. Introduction
  2. 2. Unboxing, 360-degree spin, hardware overview
  3. 3. Display, connectivity, battery life
  4. 4. User interface
  5. 5. Performance
  6. 6. Telephony, text input, messaging, assorted apps
  7. 7. Multimedia apps
  8. 8. Camera
  9. 9. Key findings, alternatives, final verdict
  10.  
  11. Sony Xperia XZ1 specification
  12. User opinions and reviews
  13. Review comments (282)

Reviews Sony Xperia XZ1 reviewPage 6
  • Comments (282)
  • User reviews
  • Xperia XZ1

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