First impressions of the Sony Yuga C6603 - flagship 2013
In today's market to create devices at the intersection of mobile phones and tablets with screen sizes of more than 5 inches - this is a new trend, established products such as the Samsung Galaxy Note and the Note II, which had a huge impact on manufacturers. Sony also want to get their piece of the pie of this segment, and so were born model line C660x. This unit will be available in different versions for different networks with different air interfaces, and some differences in the software. Their names will be different to the last digit number C660x, this seemingly written based on C6603.
Contents:
Design, size, controls
Design C6603 is very different from today's devices and Sony should be the new philosophy. The phone has sharp corners, clean lines, slim profile, and the almost complete absence of conspicuous elements of the case on both the front and the back. Simplicity is perceived as an advantage or disadvantage, depending on personal taste, but it creates a unique perception of the machine. With a screen diagonal of this phone HEMA in size, but the body thinness and light weight give the impression of comfort, but to put the phone into most pockets still difficult (there is no difference from the Galaxy Note II, that is, both devices appear in the same category.)
The design of the phone used expensive materials, which is not lacking in recent years call from Sony - both sides of the machine, use plastic with a glossy finish that looks like glass and the machine gives a chic, makes you feel that the price is high. Build quality is perfect, all the parts fit tightly, which gives extra points this unit compared to other brands.
The front of the phone has a large screen. It does not find touch or hardware keys, as in the Xperia T, using on-screen buttons Android. Grate the earpiece above the screen is the only visible element, while the proximity sensor, light is hidden behind the black plastic. Below the screen you can find one of the microphones, in fact, that's all.
The back of the phone is decorated simply, module 12-megapixel camera at the top, he did not speak, and merges with the surface. Immediately - LED flash and second microphone hole.
On the left side of the phone is microHDMI-jack and microUSB, they are covered with plastic plugs attached to the hull and quite good looking. Remain uncovered several contacts, apparently, they can be used with a desktop stand, or other accessories.
Unfortunately, on the right side of the phone has flaws, so on / off button gray and distracting from the overall design, and its size is such that it is appropriate to compare with podzavodnoy head in normal hours. Volume control buttons are located below the same location in the Xperia T, but because of the size of this machine are easier to use. Jack microSIM-cards is above the power switch.
Display
Screen - this is the main reason for the emergence of the smartphone, the 5-inch screen is the main reason for buying the unit. This screen has a resolution of 1080p (1920x1080 pixels), which so far only a few can boast of models on a small number of markets. The actual resolution is slightly smaller because in most applications the lower part of the screen is given a button. The point density is amazing and detailed pictures is different. Given that the screen provides a density of 440 pixels per inch, absolutely impossible to make out the individual points, no matter how you peer. Despite the fact that the screens with a resolution of 720p is excellent for displaying graphics, icons, it looks even better on screen with 1080p. View video or pictures on a screen with high resolution is really pleasant and make your experience unique.
But at Sony could not do everything perfectly, and added to those of a fly screen. Color reproduction is perfect for all multimedia applications that use Sony Bravia Engine, in all other applications the picture is much worse.Reflections backlight perfectly visible in the black areas of pictures and it's annoying. Viewing angles are small, because the fall colors, and the reverse side of Bravia Engine.
As before, the benefits of the screen as the flagship model offset deficiencies that can not be found in competing solutions. But despite this, C660x - this is one of those phones that will amaze you with the quality of the screen and its resolution.
Battery
The phone has an internal battery until the company officially announced its capacity. Given the earlier version of the prototype, the big screen and platform used here (described in detail below), to draw conclusions about the time of the device can not. I note only that at this point the device can run for most of the daylight hours, which at this stage is to be expected.
Communications
Like any flagship, this unit has all the possible methods of communication.
Bluetooth . Version 4.0, all profiles. The maximum data rate is an impressive 2 Mbps, achieved when connecting to other phone that supports this version of Bluetooth.
USB . Connector on the body is used to connect PCs and other devices, but also supports USB Host, it can be connected to the USB flash drive, mouse or keyboard.
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Given that the machine is on Jelly Bean, it was expected that the memory access is via MTP, but Sony added support for USB Mass Storage, but only for memory cards microSD (built-in memory is not so visible).
Supported mode USB Tethering, you can connect the phone to the PC and use the network connection. On the PC side is a transparent connection, the phone works as an emulator NDIS, causing the PC to think that this is a standard network cable. The huge advantage of this trick is that no drivers required, it works on the fly.
Wi-Fi . The device supports all the frequencies and modes for 802.11, which means that it works in the networks a / b / g / n, as well as in the 2.4 and 5 GHz. Certainly, there is support for a wireless hotspot, the C660x can connect up to 10 devices, while previously the maximum number was 5 simultaneously connected devices.
Wireless transfer of media files supported by proprietary interface from Sony, it is very easy to use. Surprisingly, this unit is capable of transmitting 1080p without any problems to compatible devices (we tested this Playstation 3). In this mode, power consumption is maximum, and to watch a movie one full charge lasts only with difficulty. Transfer music and pictures works as simple, but the load on the battery is not so serious.
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microSD . Not quite right to speak of the memory cards in the "Communications", but this card offers another way to transfer and store files on the device. In C660x supported format SDXC cards, which means the maximum map size of 128 GB.
It was mentioned that the card access protocol has USB Mass Storage, but also Sony added in the settings option copy the entire contents of the internal memory to the card, it is more than a convenient feature that is welcome in the standard software.
LTE . At the moment, LTE is used for data transfer. In S660x used modem Qualcomm MDM9615, which theoretically allows the phone to work on all the available LTE-frequency, on any network. In the real world, no one device is not set to all frequencies, because this setting will be too expensive, so the version of LTE-phones are different for different networks and countries, and that various modifications of the machine. For C660x is important to note that this is not the case and this is the first truly global LTE-phone, it will work around the world. For many people, this trip will be a pleasant feature of the device.
Platform
Platform used in this unit is relatively new to the market and different in some ways from the existing solutions. This means that this section of the review will be a little more than usual, but also to discuss also more.
Model C660x - one of the few devices that work on the chipset Qualcomm APQ8064, which contains four core Krait, with its updated and improved GPU Adreno 320. Besides using four cores Krait and updated GPU, this solution is different in that it does not have the radio part, which was MSM8260A and MSM8960 dual-core built into the chipset. This means that the radio module must be installed separately, to add networking capabilities to the tablet or phone, it's not a single-chip solution. This means that the phones that use a solution more difficult to design, they cost more and consume more energy. At this point in the market there are only two widely available device with the chipset - LG Optimus G and Nexus 4. We can recall HTC Droid DNA and its analogue for Japan Butterfly J, they use the same platform, but has not yet widely distributed.
Like the two models of HTC, in C660x combine this platform with 5 inch 1080p display, creating an interesting device in terms of both performance and multimedia capabilities. Increase the resolution of the screen means that the GPU and the four cores more work, and not only in the media, but at a sufficiently routine tasks.
Thanks Adreno 320 phone safely cope with all tasks at a screen resolution, graphics rendering takes place without any problems. Power quad-core enough for every conceivable task, and in most cases it is even excessive. In games, there are no delays, on the other hand, at the moment there are no games for this screen resolution or to harness the graphics accelerator.
User interface redesigned for greater resolution, and all the icons, labels look very good. Stream media files also occurs without delay, opening web pages is one of the fastest among all mobile devices.
AnTuTu
Geekbench
GLBenchmark
Nenamark
Vellamo
Linpack
Quadrant
You can also download the archives with all the tests, and to compare performance with the HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy S3:
- Sony Yuga C6603 Benchmarks (ZIP, 7,8 MB) >>>
- Samsung Galaxy S3 Benchmarks (ZIP, 4,5 MB) >>>
- HTC One X (ZIP, 4,9 MB) >>>
Unfortunately, the benefits of this platform coming to an end and begin disadvantages. First, your platform and screen consume a lot of energy. The use of multimedia functions on C660x fabulous way and very quickly drain the battery. Even surfing the Web makes the batteries run down quickly, it is very difficult to expect in this case, the phone worked all day. Improved power consumption in standby mode, on the other hand, it is hoped that during the day the phone will not sit down (if you're not actively using it.)
The second flaw is even more noticeable. The use of this platform in the small of the phone, such as C666x, makes this body warm. When a user uses the active functions of the device, the heating is such that to hold the phone in your hand or talk on it is unpleasant. We use the device in this family for over a month and during that time were constantly confronted with overheating. Even goes so far as to refuse to photograph phones, the application "Camera" reported that the phone overheated and have to wait for it to cool down! Despite the fact that the "Camera" - is the only application fails to run due to overheating, the overall performance is also affected by it. In APQ8064 developers have tried to reduce the frequency of each core to prevent overheating. This is also true for other platforms, for example, NVIDIA Tegra 3, Exynis 4412 from Samsung, but APQ8064 frequency drop and as a result, productivity is very easy to spot. For example, when watching 1080p video phone so quick heat that hold it in your hands it becomes impossible.
As a conclusion, the C660x - amazingly fast device that has its limitations. Most of us do not treat their phones as computers and hardly ready to ensure that the phone does not overheat, as is sometimes the case with the PC. Despite the fact that the C660x - not the first phone on the platform, it is the first device, where all the shortcomings of this approach are clearly visible.
Camera
In comparison with the Xperia T, step back, it uses a 12-megapixel, not 13-megapixel module. The reason for this change is not very clear, especially as the possibility of the sensor installed in the Xperia T, completely and have not been disclosed. At the same time, the pictures are much more advantageous to the C660x those of Xperia T - both in the quality of detail, and by color (even with the readiness of the product). Backlit sensor in theory should shoot well in the dark, but the detail suffers. Using the new platform will allow Sony to add new pieces to the camera. First, the phone uses the entire sensor for recording HD-video, stereo audio is also recorded. HDR option is now available not only for the photos, but also for the video (a first for a mobile phone!). Another major change - a mode Photo Burst, you can do an unlimited number of series of images. The only limitation may be overheating the phone, but out of curiosity, we tried to keep the shutter button and get 999 shots (on the counter stopped). The last significant change - a mode Superior Auto, phone it can simultaneously capture video and photos, while the screen shows the controls for both video and for photos. Also in this mode, automatic detects the scene, including the macro includes the approach to the subject or night mode in low light conditions.Function is well thought out and implemented.
Software
This is the flagship of the company, which will be available in early 2013 (estimated in late February or early March). This means that it should work on the latest version of Android, now it uses Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.Apparently, the update to version 4.2 will be available by the time the device or later. But it is not so important, as most of the features available in the current 4.2 version of the customization by Sony.
Sony have taken root long tradition in new devices to add features that are not available for older models, this phone is no exception. Most of the changes relate to the interface, it makes the device a pleasure to use. A new screen unlock when you spend on it with your finger, and your image shatters into pieces. Themes have different options for unlocking the screen. In lock mode, you can quickly start the camera application or Walkman, which replaces the standard player Android. By the way, the application Walkman has got new features, such as, "Clear Audio +", then the phone determines the type of music and automatically changes as the equalizer and play volume. There is an option "Surround Sound", there you choose the type of room (lounge, club, and so on). Option "Clear Stereo" improves the sound and does not allow the sound in channels overlap in practice sound changes for the better, and it's very noticeable. Unfortunately, the device has only one speaker, but some of the options available when playing music through it: "Clear Phase" automatically adjusts the volume to reduce the noise, "XLoud" increases the volume of the speaker, which directly negates what makes the previous option. Option "Dynamic normalizer" reduces the difference in the level of sound the jumping from music to video or vice versa.
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Application "Gallery" was renamed to "Album" and coincides with the fact that there Xperia T. Despite the fact that the videos are available in the "Album", there is a separate application Movies, in which the other interface will show the stored video is preview for last played file. In this application, you can also try to recover the tags for the video service uses Gracenote.
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Change the program to launch applications, you can choose how many screens in the standby mode, you want to see more refined application menu. In the dialer and messages now use a white background, but the functions they have not changed, even though they look nicer.
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App "Smart Connect" is responsible for both wired and wireless connections, including NFC, and it can also control labels SmartTag NFC. All other features are derived from Xperia T and described in the corresponding material.
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Conclusion
After a long period when the company was trying to catch-up, today, fully managed Sony, it goes in the right direction and trying to produce interesting devices. The first example is the Xperia T, which is not ideal, but it shows this approach. And C660x continues the same strategy, and more successfully. Time integration of mobile units within Sony, apparently, is coming to an end, and we can already see the first results of this. Model C660x - a truly unique device in terms of design and functionality. And, besides, it has the potential to become a significant segment of phones with 5-inch screens. Here at Sony have done a great job, and the rest depends on the price, which will be installed on the device. History Sony says that the price is unlikely to be adequate in the past did not.
From the time I was a phone Sony without any major flaws, a lot of water under the bridge, and I was pleased that this unit again some fun to be working. Xperia S model came too late, Xperia P was good, but it eclipsed the older brother, Xperia T, like, had all but something was missing. In C660x has everything that you could wish for, and the disadvantages associated with the apparatus used technologies, that is, those that do not have a solution at the moment. For example, overheating housing or small time work, which is not a consequence of defects Sony, or at least not only their problem. For these reasons, I am finally satisfied with the phone from Sony and would be happy if this device will be commercially successful.
http://www.mobile-review.com/review/sony-yuga-c6603.shtml
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