Sony Xperia ZR review....READY TO DARE!!!

Introduction

Squeezing your flagship smartphone in a tinier, sportier shell is the fad in Android these days. Not the one to blindly follow the pack, Sony has chosen to do things differently. The Xperia ZR didn't get as far down as the Galaxy S4 mini and the One mini, and got a 4.55" display rather than a 4.3" diagonal.

However, unlike its HTC and Samsung rivals, the Sony Xperia ZR is keen to match the oomph of its flagship, offering better IP protection at that. Considering how important dust and water resistance were for the Xperia Z' success, some may as well consider this one as an upgrade, rather than a trimmed down version. There's also the proper shutter key - the Xperia ZR comes across as the better photographer too.

Key features
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support; 3G with HSPA; LTE4.55" 16M-color 720p capacitive touchscreen with 323ppi pixel density; Bravia Mobile Engine 2Android OS v4.1.1 Jelly Bean with custom UIQuad-core 1.5 GHz Krait CPU, 2 GB RAM, Adreno 320 GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset13 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging, HDR1080p video recording @ 30fps with HDR mode, continuous autofocus and stereo soundVGA front-facing cameraIP 58 certification - dust resistant and water resistantWi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA; Wireless TV outGPS with A-GPS, GLONASS8GB of built-in storage; microSD card slotMHL-enabled microUSB portBluetooth v4.0NFCStandard 3.5 mm audio jackAccelerometer and proximity sensorActive noise cancellation with dedicated mic

Main disadvantage
Below-par viewing angles of the display
Feeble loudspeaker
Low-res front facing camera

So, basically all you'll be losing if you chose the Sony Xperia ZR over the Xperia Z is some screen estate, the 1080p front-facing camera and the Full HD display. We wouldn't call any of those a deal-breaker, though: the smaller screen favors portability and, at this size, 720p is more than adequate. As for the video-call camera, most video-chat apps don't really support much higher resolutions anyway.

GSM ARENA