Sony Xperia ZR

I have to complain about the loss in faith I have had in this company I once trusted, considered reliable. I own a Sony Television, a PS3, Music System, POS Camera and now a Smartphone, the Xperia ZR. But the business policy and Service to Consumers have changed over the years, and this has caused a great emotional and economic distress to me.n nI had bought an XPERIA ZR(C5502) on the 11th of September, 2013. After a month of use, suddenly the screen of the phone would not turn on. Other functions were working perfectly as far as my knowledge goes, (i.e. camera button, volume keys etc). A few days ago, it stopped booting altogether.nnOn contacting the Sony Service centre- Accel Frontline Ltd., 601-604, 6th Floor, Ashok Bhavan, 95, Nehru Place, he informed me that I have done water damage to my phone, and therefore void my warranty. I repeatedly asked him to open(unscrew) the phone and check for any damages, but he told me that he wont open it, because some litmus paper inside the phone had turned red, indicating water damage. I persistently said that the phone has undergone no water damage, and is not turning on, so to please check for any damage inside and fix it as it was just a month old and was under warranty. I repeatedly told him that I have not brought the phone under water contact in any manner, to which he replied that then it was my fault during purchase, that I didnt check the water indicator strip, thereby asserting that I AS A CONSUMER AM NOT ASSURED A DEFECT FREE PIECE UPON PURCHASE. WHY DIDNT YOU PUT A CLAUSE FOR THE CONSUMER, THAT "PLEASE CHECK THE WATER INDICATOR UPON PURCHASE" ? THAT INDICATOR HAS BEEN RED AS FAR AS I KNOW.n nADDITIONALLY, THIS PHONE IS IDENTIFIED AS "WATERPROOF" BY SONY. But he said I had to pay 80% of the phone's actual cost, to get a replacement, and he will NOT REPAIR IT UNDER WARRANTY. ALSO, HE ADDED, THAT HE WILL ONLY OPEN IT TO INSPECT IF HE GETS A SPECIAL EMAIL FROM SONY INDIA AUTHORITIES, INSTRUCTING HIM TO DO SO.This entire routine has aggravated my grievance to such an extent that I decided to go public with it.

I have used Samsung Galaxy S, S Duos and S advance...and my friends have Grand Duos, S3 and Nexus...So I have a fair idea about all these models as well...nI have been using this phone for almost 3 weeks...and now I feel I am in a good stage to give a comprehensive review of this phone and help others who are contemplating of buying this phone...nThis phone is AWESOME with its fair share of cons...and the thing which surprised me most was - people who have not used the phone are talking about the cons of this beauty...nSo let me do one thing and start with the cons and point out what is misconception and what con you might actually feel -:n1) Front camera is VGA - seriously front cam is used for video calling and no video calling app supports HD quality...so its camera is gud enuf to make video calls and that won't be a big problem..also it works pretty good for face detection..n2) Call volume is low - This con posted by some users of this phone really surprised me...as either they are using the smartphone for the first time or they are pretty DUMB...Actually sony has provided an equalizer setting within call setting and if you do not feel the voice is loud enuf then change it to "bright' mode and call volume will increase and everything will be crystal clear...n3) Camera quality is not as per expected by 13 MP - If you leave the setting in default (superior) mode you may get average indoor pics but outdoor pics are awesome...you will have to flirt with the camera settings to get good indoor and low light pics...I did it and am pretty satisfied...and its far better than Nexus...n4) Heating problem - If you play heavy games and do multi-tasking then any android phone will heat up...I personally checked and it heats pretty less in comparison to Galaxy S3/ Nexus 4/ Xperia Z...and you guys know that its water proof so when its over-heated put it inside water for sometime and you would be good to go again...n5) Internal memory - hmmm...being an avid game player and a techie I felt that this is a little con of this device...you wud get only 4.5 GB available...but you have the option to have external micro sd card and after that 4.5 GB is enuf for android apps or even big games...and you can root the device and change settings so that the apps will install on memory card..n6) Its not water proof - literally I was completely shocked to see this con...well guys let me tell you when I received the phone from flipkart, the first thing I did was to start it and then put it in the water and check...and me & my friends were shocked to see that its really water-proof...BUT sony says that its flaps (audio and usb) should be closed properly and the back cover also fitted properly then only it will work in water and sony do not give LIQUID-WARRANTY...so do use the phone in water but be very careful...nnI think that's all the cons I came up with and hope I cleared some confusions here...nSo let me not go into specs but give you perfect idea what are the practical pros of this beauty..n1) Battery Life - its far better than Xperia Z, Galaxy S3 and Nexus 4...easily lasts a day and more with the normal usage of gaming, surfing, whatsapping and calling...n2) 2GB RAM - that's one of the best thing about this android phone...anytime you will check, you will find more than 800-900 MB RAM is free...that leads to multitasking and not worrying to kill any app to launch another app...I have played lot of heavy games and it works like breeze....n3) Processor - well you are getting the hardware of Xperia Z in this phone...so you should know that this phone works like charm...it has lot of power and you would love it...no hang or lags....n4) Display - its better than Super Amoled display of S3 as its very natural and rich in colour depth...and it doesn't hurt your eyes even after watching it for 4-5 hours continuously which is the case with super amoled...and full marks to Bravia Engine 2 as it really enhances the picture and video quality...you would find videos or picture quality better on this phone than you laptop!!!!!!!n5) Build quality - though back cover is of plastic but it doesn't feel cheap as of samsung phones....its sturdy and feels pretty good in hand...and so you do not have put it inside any other non-sense cover to protect it...But anyways I would suggest to use a Screen Guard for extra protection...even though it has gorilla glass and the Best Part - shatter-proof film...n6) Music quality is far better than samsung or nexus phones...and you get a sony headset which does not feel premium but still its a lot better than samsung...nAnd seriously it looks pretty good...and thanks to sony that they did not put glass layer at the back as in xperia z otherwise a back cover would have become a necessity...nnSo overall its a very good phone...its kind of futuristic phone and you would not regret it for another 5 years or so....So if you are dangling between S3 , nexus and ZR then go for ZR....