CES 2013: Sony Xperia ZL Vs HTC One X+ Feature Comparison

We put together Sony's newly announced Xperia ZL side-by-side with HTC's new flagship phone, one X+, to help you decide your best buy.

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Sony officially unveiled the Xperia Z and Xperia ZL One-Touch smartphones at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas Convention Centre, booth #14200, on 7 January. They are expected to be released in the first quarter (Q1) of this year. HTC released its new flagship device - the successor to One X known as "One X+" - in November 2012 to strengthen its One-series line-up of smartphones.

The latest Xperia smartphones feature One-Touch functionality via Near Field Communication (NFC), 1080p full HD display and enhanced battery-life via STAMINA mode (Wi-Fi and data traffic are disabled during standby, but you still receive incoming calls, texts, and alarms). In addition, the handsets come with a host of intuitive multimedia features: Sony's trademark WALKMAN app, Album and Movie apps for sharing and media playback on the go. The device is also said to be water and dust resistant. Sony claims that the handset offers water-resistance to a depth of one meter for up to 30 minutes.

Although the Xperia ZL incorporates the same features as the Xperia Z, the former comes in a smaller form factor and will be available only in select markets.

HTC One X+

Inheriting the camera capabilities of its predecessor, the One X+ introduces the power of Sense v4+ User Interface (UI) along with the newly launched Self Portrait mode for the front camera. Featuring a powerful 1.7GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 AP37 processor onboard, the HTC One X+ LTE is claimed to be 67% faster than the HTC One X1 LTE, by its maker.

Here is a detailed feature comparison of the two flagship devices:

Sony Xperia ZL vs HTC One X+: Weight and Dimensions

The Xperia ZL weighs 151 grams (g) and measures 9.8mm in thickness, while the One X+ is 16g lighter at 135g and also slimmer at 8.9mm. The taller HTC phone measures 134.4 x 69.9 x 8.9 mm, while the Sony handset measures 131.6 x 69.3 x 9.8 mm.

Sony Xperia ZL vs HTC One X+: Display

Xperia ZL features a 5in screen with 1080p full HD display, and supports a native resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels at a pixel density of 441 pixels-per-inch (ppi). The multi-touch screen is well-protected with shatter-proof and scratch-resistant glass, while its display is powered by Timescape UI and Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2.

One X+ sports a 4.7in Super LCD2 screen with a native resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. The multi-touch display offers a pixel density of 312ppi, while Corning Gorilla Glass 2 provides protection against scratches, smudges and superficial damage. HTC introduced the new Sense v4+ UI with this model for enhanced UI performance.

Sony Xperia ZL vs HTC One X+: Operating System

Both the Xperia ZL and One X+ will run Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) out-of-the-box, and will be upgradeable to Android 4.2. Notable Jelly Bean features supported include multi-user support, Gesture Typing, a new Quick Settings option, a lock-screen widget, a new camera app, photosphere, an improved Google Now, a new daydream feature and miracast display.

Sony Xperia ZL vs HTC One X+: Processor and Memory

The new Xperia phone is powered by a quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait-processor that is based on Qualcomm's MSM8064 Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset. The graphics processing is handled by Adreno 320 chipset, which Sony claims will enhance gaming and browsing performance considerably.

The One X+, on the other hand, ships with ULP GeForce 2 chipset for its gaming requirements, and Nvidia Tegra 3 AP37 based quad-core 1.7 GHz processor powers the device.

The Xperia handset bundles 2GB of RAM, while the One X+ offers just 1GB of RAM.

Sony Xperia ZL vs HTC One X+: Storage

The HTC phone comes in two storage variants: 32 and 64GB, but its Sony counterpart offers a single storage model of 16GB. The latter provides microSD slot for storage expansion up to 64GB, while the former has none.

Sony Xperia ZL vs HTC One X+: Connectivity

On the connectivity front, Sony offers support for Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n standards, as well as One-Touch functionality via NFC. The HTC phone also supports similar Wi-Fi and Bluetooth options, besides offering NFC capability.

Both the smartphones add support for 4G LTE bands and use Micro-SIM architecture.

Sony Xperia ZL vs HTC One X+: Camera

The Xperia ZL ships with a powerful 13 megapixel (4128 x 3096 pixels) camera, which Sony claims has the world's first image sensor to support High Dynamic Range (HDR) video capability, even in backlight conditions. The primary camera supports 1080p video recording at 30 frames per second (fps), while its two megapixel front-facing camera is capable of 720p video capture at 30 fps.

The HTC One X+ offers an eight megapixel (3264 x 2448 pixels) camera with simultaneous HD video and image recording capability. Its primary camera also supports 1080p video recording, albeit at a lower frame-rate of 28 fps. Its 1.6 megapixel front-facing camera offers 720p video capture at 30 fps.

Sony Xperia ZL vs HTC One X+: Battery

Sony is yet to reveal the battery power (mAh) specifications for the phone. However, the company claims the device will offer up to 10 hours of talktime and over 500 hours of standby time on a single charge.

In contrast, the HTC One X+ is powered by a 2100mAh battery, which is rated to deliver almost 13 hours of talktime and up to 360 hours of standby time on a single charge.

Sony Xperia ZL vs HTC One X+ : Price

Sony is yet to reveal the price for Xperia ZL. There is no price information for 32GB variant of One X+, whereas the 64GB model is priced at £451 (Clove UK).