Key difference: The Sony Xperia ZR is essentially a smaller version of the flagship Xperia Z that offers much of the same features. Like the Xperia Z, the new Xperia ZR is water and dust resistant. However, the phone can also be used underwater and can sustain being submerged under water for up to 30 minutes, unlike the Z. The Xperia ZR runs on Android OS, v4.1 Jelly Bean, which is powered by a Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064 processor with 2 GB of RAM. The Sony Xperia ZL is very similar to its counterpart the Xperia Z; however, it differs in some aspects and is also believed that it will be offered for a lower price compared to the Z. Sony has managed to make the ZL even smaller and more compact compared to the Z.

Sony is a prominent technology company and is known best for its electronics such as phones, TVs, gaming systems, etc. Xperia is a well known brand of smartphones that are a part of the Sony Mobile. The Xperia brand was initially a collaboration with Ericsson but has since then been dissolved. Now, Sony has single handedly taken it upon itself to ship out new phones, while maintaining the level of quality and design of the older versions.

One of the most popular phones recently has been the Xperia Z, which is a dust-proof and water-proof phone. It was the flagship phone for Sony. Sony has since announced smaller and cheaper variants of the phone: the Sony Xperia ZL and the Sony Xperia ZR. The Sony Xperia ZR is essentially a smaller version of the flagship Xperia Z that offers much of the same features.

Like the Xperia Z, the new Xperia ZR is water and dust resistant. However, the phone can also be used underwater and can sustain being submerged under water for up to 30 minutes, unlike the Z. Nonetheless, the ZR cannot be submerged under salt water, fresh water only! The device has a dedicated camera key which allows the user to shoot images and HD video underwater.

The Xperia ZR runs on Android OS, v4.1 Jelly Bean, which is powered by a Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064 processor with 2 GB of RAM. The phone has 8 GB of internal memory which is expandable by up to 32 GB via a microSD card.

The phone features a 4.55 inches TFT screen which is “as impressive as HDTV – HD Reality Display,’ according to Xperia ZR’s website. The screen is enhanced by the Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 and has a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. The phone also has a 13 megapixel fast-capture camera with Exmor RS, which enhances low lighting images. The device also has a secondary front-facing VGA camera.

Xperia Z and Xperia ZL are two phones that Sony has launched in competition to Samsung Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5. The Sony Xperia ZL is very similar to its counterpart the Xperia Z; however, it differs in some aspects and is also believed that it will be offered for a lower price compared to the Z. Sony has managed to make the ZL even smaller and more compact compared to the Z. The ZL maintains the 5-inch display in the dimensions 131.6 x 69.3 x 9.8 mm. The ZL offers the same processor, internal storage capacity, RAM and software. The ZL is also available with 4.1 Jelly upgradeable to v4.2.  The ZL is also slightly heavier than the Z but it does not make that big of a dent on the design.

The major difference is ZL does not offer the dust and water resistance that is boasted by the Z. However, it does offer shatter-proof sheet and scratch-resistance glass on the front.  The back isn’t the glass that is available in the Z but has a matte or textured finish, making it easier and more comfortable to hold. The ZL also has slight differences in button and SIM slow placement. The SIM and microSD card slots are placed on the bottom lower of the back panel, while in the Z the slots are placed above the power button on the right hand side. The ZL also offers a dedicated camera button which is not available in its big brother. The ZL also lacks contact points which are available with the Z. The contact points allow the phone to be connected to a charging dock that is sold separately. The placement of the front camera also differs. The front camera in the Z was located on left-hand corner, while in the ZL it is located in the right-hand corner. However, this does not make a difference when using the phone for video conferencing. Two new features that the ZL boasts is infrared/IrDA functionality and one-touch mirroring. The IR feature allows the phone to be used as a remote with any device that supports IR and one-touch mirroring allows the phone to send, receive and play audio and video files by touching another device that supports the feature. The ZL has yet to be launched and the price has also not been fixed for the device.

The information for the detailed table about the two phones has been taken from the Sony Xperia website and GSMArena.com.

Image Courtesy: sonymobile.com