It's a good-looking handset, with Sony's dynamic curve design that gives it a distinctive arcing shape. It's not especially slim at 10mm but that curve makes it seem thinner than it is. Top and bottom have an unusual looking slant to them too, which shows off the metallic strip that runs all the way around the handset. At the bottom there's also a rather attractive LED effect that pulses when you receive alerts.
On paper, the 4.3-inch touchscreen sounds like a step too far down towards budget level, with a resolution of 854x480 pixels -- well below the Xperia Z's full HD 1,920x1,080. At 228ppi it has roughly half the pixel density of the Xperia Z, and even behind some midprice rivals like the Google Nexus 4(320ppi). But while it's perhaps lacking a bit in detail, it still manages to deliver rich and vibrant colours with good contrast that show off movies to good effect.
Android, software and processor
It's running Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean which is a perfectly fine operating system, but one that's now starting to look a bit old, especially with version 4.3 already starting to appear. Still, the age isn't immediately obvious since Sony has updated its user interface and you can now arrange the icons on the various screens in different ways -- alphabetical, most used or your own custom arrangement.
The dual-core processor is backed by 1GB RAM which is pretty much the least we'd expect on a phone of this price these days. It does a decent if unspectacular job of keeping all its various processing balls in the air, though it did start to lag just a little with a handful of apps running at the same time. In our AnTuTu benchmark test it managed 10,918 -- not bad, but noticeably behind Samsung's recent S4 dual-core devices like the S4 Mini and S4 Zoom. Photography The 8-megapixel camera includes an LED flash, autofocus and Sony's Exmor RS sensor for better capability in low light. It starts up very quickly and you can get it going even quicker with the Quick Launch mode, which takes a snap or starts the video running as soon as you switch on. Other features to play with include HDR, panorama mode, image stabilisation and calibrated smile detection (you can set it to detect different levels of smile). Picture quality is pretty good overall, with nice sharp edges and accurate colour balance.
There's 8GB of memory on board, though you can bump that up by a further 32GB via microSD card -- not for apps though, just pics, vids and music. The battery held up reasonably well too, giving us around a day and a half of steady use.
Conclusion
The Sony Xperia L is far from the cutting edge of smartphone development, but it's a good looking, solidly built low to midrange device with a decent screen and a pretty good camera. The processor is a little lacking, and it's a shame it's not running the latest version of Android but it's a solidly capable handset for the money.
AT&T Completes Acquisition of 700 MHz Spectrum from Verizon Wireless to Support 4G LTE
AT&T* announced today that it completed its acquisition of wireless spectrum in the lower 700 MHz band B block from Verizon Wireless. The acquired licenses cover 42 million people in 18 states — California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.
The spectrum will support AT&T’s deployment of 4G LTE to meet surging demand for mobile Internet services. AT&T has the nation’s fastest and now most reliable 4G LTE network, according to independent third-party data.1AT&T’s 4G LTE network currently covers more than 225 million people, with plans to reach nearly 270 million people by the end of 2013, and to substantially complete the build by summer 2014. AT&T’s plans to deploy 4G LTE include the areas covered by this spectrum.
The performance of AT&T’s 4G LTE network continues to be validated by independent third-party testing:
Our 4G LTE service was recognized as having faster average download and upload speeds than any of our competitors in PCWorld/TechHive’s most recent 20-market speed tests — the second consecutive year that AT&T has ranked first overall. PCWorld/TechHive also ranked AT&T’s network as the fastest combination of 3G and 4G services in the 20 cities it tested.2
AT&T was named America’s fastest 4G LTE network in PC Magazine’s 2013 Fastest Mobile Networks 30-market study — and also swept the top rankings in all six U.S. regions from coast to coast: Northeast, Southeast, North-Central, South-Central, Northwest and Southwest.3
In exchange for the 700 MHz spectrum, AT&T paid $1.9 billion in cash and transferred Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum licenses in Phoenix, Ariz.; Los Angeles and Fresno, Calif.; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Portland, Ore.
