Zillions of zany zithering Zapotecs! as Captain Haddock might have cursed, were he presented with these apparently leaked press pics of the Sony Xperia Z and ZL.
Spotted by Xperia Blog and Unwired View, the shots are our first proper look at Sony's flagship phone for 2013. The Xperia Z is the official name for the phone we've previously heard about codenamed Yuga, a 5-inch 1080p behemoth with a quad-core processor.
The ZL is a slightly smaller variant, but it looks to have the same size screen. It's likely to be the mobile codenamed Odin we heard about a few months back. It may be a cheaper version with lesser specs, or 4G, or be waterproof, and it's possible it may not come to the UK. Details are thin on the ground.
As Engadget points out, the ZL's front-facing camera is at the bottom right, so your Skype chums will get a good look up your right nostril, unless you turn it sideways.
The two phones will almost certainly be unveiled next Monday at the gargantuan tech extravaganza that is CES in Las Vegas. Sony's press conference is scheduled for Monday night, so expect to read all about it early Tuesday morning UK time.
I've previously pointed out the plethora of 5-inch 1080p Android phones heading our way -- 2013 will be a high-definition avalanche. If every manufacturer's flagship phone is the same size, with very similar specs, it'll be tough for any of them to make an impression. The upside is for Android app developers, who should find it much easier to support the most popular phones of the year.
Sony will be hoping the Z and ZL continue its upwards curve, however -- while Samsung dominates among Android makers, Sony was the best of the rest last year, overtaking HTC in UK sales.
What do you make of the new Xperias? Zingers or zzzers? Zap a comment down below, or over on our zippily zygotic Facebook page.
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Comments 9
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MikeBuck_1 2 January, 2013 12:22
Problem with sony is that they aren't as good with android as Samsung and HTC, especially from a corporate point of view, they have some issues that could be easily resolved but just don't seem to want to fix them.
They are so obsessed with getting market share they completely ignore supporting current customers.
anonymous 2 January, 2013 12:28
I think they both look great. I'm looking for a new phone to replace my iPhone 4 and if either of these are reasonably priced I definitely think I'll be getting one!
anonymous 2 January, 2013 12:55
lol. who wants to guess the battery? I guess 2400 mah
anonymous 2 January, 2013 13:09
I really like Sony and what they make, but as a user above said, they're aren't as good with android as Samsung or HTC. I've got an Xperia Arc S and it's about 1 year old running ICS. It's got a lot of bugs, and makes the phone really annoying to use at times. Otherwise, I love the design and the feel of the phone, and when it runs well, it's near enough perfect.
I don't know if the newer range of Sony phones have similar problems, but if these models are anything like mine, I won't be buying either of them.
JohnsonDion1 2 January, 2013 15:03
The sad thing is I really like Playstation and I really want to love Sony but there tablets and phones while not bad they just haven't been a scratch on the bigger ones like the S3 or iPhone 5 or Nexus 7 tablet. If Sony make a bigger push spec wise this year then I may switch back to my once favourite company (Sony), but looking at Sonys current line-up of phones and tablets I'm sticking with my iPad 4 and iPhone 4.
Jonathan Aze 2 January, 2013 16:04
well it looks like sony's stupid little bit of transparent plastic at the bottom has gone for good, thank God.
A Non Mouse 2 January, 2013 19:52
@ Jonathan Aze. I disagree i liked that strip, it was different and made the phones standout even from a distance. I do however reckon they should have made the touchscreen buttons accessible from the strip rather than the dots below.
It does look like from the Z'Ls pic that the notifcatiton strip has been shrunk down to a small dot that resembles a home button, or is that a Home button with a notification 'blink'??
anonymous 2 January, 2013 23:17
I think ít's a huge battery in the ZL modell. above 3000mAh.
CaptainPicard 3 January, 2013 01:59
My first ever phone, and first Android phone was made by Sony (or Sony Ericsson), and I was going to get the Xperia S earlier this year, but Sony has really fallen behind in terms of hardware and software, it's 2012 Xperia range are all 2011 phones repackaged.
And the reason why it surpassed HTC in the UK is because of really good marketing-its adverts are better than HTC and of course the Bond film.
The Xperia Z and ZL, even the rumoured HTC M7 have nothing to make them stand out from the Samsung Galaxy S4-Samsung is like Apple now, there are people that will buy Samsung products even if they are crap. Sony needs to offer something unique and innovative for me to come back in 2 years time.