The Sony Xperia Z phone is tougher than it looks.
The phone is waterproof — in water up to three feet deep for a half-hour, according to Sony — but it looks like a standard smartphone, lacking the macho armoring of most devices built to withstand the elements.
The phone uses an Android operating system and is powered by a quad core Snapdragon chip, which, at least on paper, isn’t as fast as the chips in some competing phones. But the chip is snappy nonetheless.
The device is on the larger side, with a 5-inch, 1920 x 1080p HD screen. Sony makes much of its access to Bravia TV technology, but the screen is not definitively better than an Apple Retina or Samsung Amoled screen.