Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
The Sony Xperia Z's video capabilities are impressive (on paper), with that 13.1MP camera able to give Full HD 1080p recording at 30 frames per second.
For one thing, you're able to select scene modes from landscape, to beach, to party to sports and much more. There's even one for shooting videos of your food, called Gourmet. This is something we're used to seeing in still camera modes, but on videos, it's pretty rare and a great addition.
On top of that, Sony's HDR mode kicks in here to make your movies look better, and given the sheer level of processing going on we're really impressed with the results.
We tried the video stabilization function and it coped admirably. You're also able to change things such as the focus mode and white balance, which just gives that extra level of usability.
There's not as much of a sharpness issue on video as there is with the still images, and you can see clearly that if something is out of focus, the camera is constantly trying to fix it as you move about.
You do have to be aware, too, that videos shot at Full HD will be absolutely massive. You'll struggle to send them via many email providers, and we ended up having to upload them to Dropbox and then forward people links to view stuff we'd shot. It all felt a little crude.
This is especially annoying when you consider that some phones will automatically resize videos for you or enable you to trim them once shot as par for the course.
Also, remember that if you're on a 4G plan, you'll eat through data like Pacman through those little dots just sending that photo of your Gran pulling a Christmas cracker then falling off her seat.
However, overall the Sony Xperia Z is definitely one of the top phones on the market for those that like to savor life's memories in more than just the odd snap. Once you get the footage off the phone, it's immense.
