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With all the attention is on its more flashy sibling, the Xperia Z, the ZL is actually more capable in many ways. In particular, many reviewers tend to compare the Xperia Z with the HTC One, and the latter tends to be favored; however most of the complaints against the Z are actually improved in the ZL.
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Size
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To start off with, both the Z and the ZL have a 5" screen. The resolution is 1920x1080 (aka 1080p) too ridiculously high to even care. The ZL is more compact though; it is basically all screen! It has the highest ratio of screen surface to overall phone size of any smartphone in the market, and is in fact slightly shorter than even the HTC One (with its smaller 4.7" screen).
That said, the HTC one, although slightly longer, FEELS smaller and easier to use with one hand. It has a more curved surface on the back, and so the side edges appear much slimmer than the ZL. And it's slightly narrower as well.
I did a side by side comparison with my ZL and a HTC One in a nearby AT&T Store. Yes the screen is visibly larger on the ZL, but you mostly notice that in terms of the width. That's because the Xperia (both Z and ZL) have "soft buttons" at the bottom of the screen, whereas the HTC one has dedicated capactive buttons below the screen. So the larger screen is mostly noticable when you use all of it, e.g. watching movies.
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Screen
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That brings us right into the screen itself. Much noise has been made about "poor viewing angles", noticeably in Xperia Z reviews. And to be sure, when viewed from the side, you do see a slight dulling of the colors but hardly anything I would notice unless it was explicitly pointed out. I also tend to use matte (anti-glare) screen protectors, which seems to slightly improve (!) the viewing angle.
Now, my previous phone was a Nokia 808 PureView, which despite its smaller screen and much lower resolution, actually had by far the best contrast ratio of any phone on the market (incl. Samsung Galaxys). So side by side, the black is not quite as black on the ZL, and the white is roughly comparable. But the ZL screen is perfectly crisp as it is, and outdoor legibility (in sunlight) is great!
So even though many reviewers seem to prefer the screen on the HTC One, I would actually go for the ZL one as it is noticeably bigger and still very crisp!
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Sound
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Another point reviewers tend to bring up when comparing with the HTC One is the quality of the loudspeakers since the HTC is quite extraordinary in this regard. As said in the introduction, though, most reviews compare the One against the Xperia Z, which has a noticeably poorly placed and tinny speaker (its design is focused on water resistance/IP57 certification). The ZL in contrast has a pretty capable speaker thank you very much! I did a quick test vs. the HTC One in the AT&T store, and could really only tell the difference in clarity when held very close. Of course, the HTC One has stereo speakers, so in close proximity you get extra depth as well.
I compared also against my Nokia 808, which also has one of the better speakers on the market. The 808 can go slightly louder without noticeable distortion, but again, I rarely need volume cranked up that much. (In situations where you want to listen to music or play movies, you usually do so via external equipment anyway...)
The Xperia ZL music player has some sound controls (loudness, equalizer...), which can improve the sound even when playing to external equipment. The HTC has none.
Phone/Voice clarity on the ZL is excellent! Actually in GSMArena's test, it outclasses most other current phones out there, including the HTC One.
(Actually, according to their test, the ZL also has better dynamic range for music playback! At moderate volumes, of course.)
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Camera
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This is one area where I am very picky. Realizing that no other phone (now, or ever!?) will replace the Nokia 808 PureView in terms of photo and video recording quality (Even Nokia's own forthcoming "EOS" or "Lumia 1000" phone won't be able to match it), I definitely had lower expectations for the ZL.
And yes, those lower expectations were appropriate. Sony have pretty much been the driver in the "megapixel race" in smartphones; they had the first 12MP phone (known as "Sony Ericsson Satio") out some 4-5 years ago now. But in terms of actual optical resolution, dynamic range, and nearly every other quality metric, all of their recent smartphones have been somewhat disappointing in that regard.
It's hard, I know... Manufacturers have pushed onto consumers an irrational obsession with slimness, which is quite counterproductive as far as the camera optics (Sensor size, lens) is concerned.
The Xperia Z and ZL were the first smartphones to include the Sony Exmor RS sensor, where the "S" indicates that it uses backlighting to improve low light performance. And to be sure, indoor photos are slightly sharper/richer than with the predecessor, Xperia TL (which I previously purchased/returned).
Also, compared to the HTC One, it definitely has more resolved detail in good lighting conditions. Again, in my in-store comparison tests, I could make out small details/prints to a much higher degree with the ZL than with the One.
Perceived image noise is the biggest culprit. Part of this is probably due to sub-par image processing with the phone's firmware, which means it could be fixable with a future firmware upgrade. To illustrate this, if you take pictures in "burst" mode, they often look crisper and less noisy than in regular mode! (The "burst" mode does away with much of the processing that otherwise takes place). For this reason, a workaround may often be to use the "burst" mode even for regular still shots.
This is one area, though, where despite its lower resolution and lower detail, many will opt for the HTC One. That phone has gone in the opposite direction in terms of megapixels (4MP), focusing instead on larger photo cells for improved dynamic range/low light performance. What REALLY sets it apart, though, is its innovative capture mode, "Zoe", which once you push the capture button takes not one, but a series of 20-30 pictures in rapid succession starting as early as 1 second BEFORE you push the button! That gives you a lot of extra options to work with you can pick out the best of these pictures, you can remove moving objects (e.g. a person walking by in the background), and in its built-in album/gallery application, you'll see images not as static tiles, but movable ones (Harry Potter style...)
The Xperia ZL's answer, albeit more primitive, would again be the "Burst" mode.
One advantage the ZL has over both the Z and the HTC one is a physical shutter button, complete with half-press-to-focus. Even if you use a PIN code to lock your phone, you can go straight to the camera (if enabled in settings).
As for me, I'll definitely keep my 808 PureView around for travels and other occasions where I want to have a compact phone/camera solution without sacrificing image quality...
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Network
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There are actually several flavors of the Xperia ZL, like the Z. This phone (C6506) is the only one among them to support AT&T's LTE network and unlike the HTC One, it also supports T-Mobile's 3G/4G networks. Otherwise, what's the point of buying an unlocked phone, if you were to be tied to a given carrier's network anyway?
That said, there are some AT&T policies you need to be aware of. Even though this phone supports their LTE band, it does not qualify you for one of their LTE data plans. So unless you already have an AT&T branded LTE capable phone, you will need to get the IMEI (serial number) off one and use that one to register for such a plan with AT&T. (In my case, I went into a local store, where the sales clerk was nice enough to use the IMEI from his own AT&T branded Xperia TL to give me such a plan...)
AND this is important BE SURE to specifically request an LTE plan, not simply a "4g smartphone data" plan. Without an LTE plan, you will be limited to HSPA+ speeds. Even though they like to call the latter "4G", it actually a "3G" technology, running on the same frequency and air interface as UMTS and HSPDA. (I blame T-Mobile mostly, they were the ones who started marketing this technology as "4G", mainly because they did not have immediate prospects of getting LTE like the big guys...)
Implicit in all this is that yes, with AT&T you do need a "smartphone" data plan with this phone, whether you use 4G or not. AT&T have recently started to compare the IMEI (serial number) of connected phones with vendor models, and ANY Android phone will automatically "qualify" you for such a plan. Meaning, to serve you better, they will automatically "upgrade" your $10 or $15 "data unlimited" plan (if that's what you currently have) to a $30/month "3GB smartphone data" plan. So if you are buying an unlocked phone in order to avoid this tax, better look at something like the Nokia 808 PureView instead.
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Battery
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Android sucks juice through triple straws. No two ways about that.
The ZL has a slightly larger battery than both the Z and the HTC One. However, since the screen is also larger than the One (and with the same resolution), it does consume the battery slightly faster when in active use. Since most people interested in this phone are likely to be "power users" that play with their phone a lot, this should be of some concern.
Sony has added what they call a "Stamina Mode", where data connections are turned off for most background applications while the display is sleeping. You can add exceptions (e.g. the mail reader, WhatsApp/Viber, etc). And yes, this DOES help the standby life to some degree.
With or without Stamina mode, the ZL lasts a bit longer than both the Z and the HTC One when idle. (Again, how often will it remain idle in playful hands though?)
This also brings me to one of many things I don't like about Android. The GPS is enabled or disabled by you, the user. While it's enabled, the battery runs out pretty fast. When it's disabled, navigation (e.g. Google Navigation, WisePilot also included) don't function well. I wish they could fix some of these obvious shortcomings (I'll get back to more) from the Symbian playbook. Maturity counts, you know.
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User Interface
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The world of Android UIs is gradually coalescing around the "stock" interface provided by Google. By now, Sony is in most respects more "in line" with the stock experience than Samsung or HTC, and so there should be no big surprises (that's a good thing!)
They've added a few bells and whistles here and there, though:
* In the task manager, you'll see a few "mini apps": A calculator, a notes application, etc. You can download additional ones, such as an "IR Remote" application to control the built in IR blaster and thereby your TV. These are miniature overlays on the screen, similar to e.g. the "Dashboard" in Mac OS X. Quite handy for quick access to these functions.
* The drop-down notification pane includes toggles at the top (WiFi, Bluetooth, Mobile Data, Silent Mode, and a Settings icon). This being Android, though, you don't get the quick access to specific settings (e.g. Bluetooth connections while a Bluetooth is active, USB modes while a USB cable is connected, etc) the way Symbian does. Instead, you get a bunch of noise each time an email arrives, each time an application has updated itself, etc... Ah well, c'est la vie.
* The "WALKMAN" music player it's nice!
* Extra homescreen widgets: "SociaLife" for a quick summary from FaceBook, Twitter, news sites, etc.; Image gallery where you can quickly flip forth/back among your recent pictures; Toggle bar to quickly turn off/on various things (WiFi, HotSpot, Bluetooth, Flight Mode, GPS, etc..), and a few more.
There are also some Sony services, for instance to access the "Sony Entertainment Network" (Movie rentals, etc). Most users will use Netflix instead of course.
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Storage
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The phone has 16GB of storage built-in, but supports SDXC cards (currently the largest one available is 64GB).
This was one of the main selling points for me vs. the HTC One, which does NOT take expandable memory. With the latter, you are stuck with the 32 or 64 GB in the phone itself whereas for the ZL, you can upgrade once 96 GB or 128 GB cards become available. And more importantly, if the phone dies (say, water damage), you cannot get your data off the built-in memory (HTC One), but can easily retrieve it from a removable µSD card.
That said, the Xperia Z and ZL have issues with certain µSD cards notably the SANDisk Ultra class 10 cards. I had been using such a card for a year on my Nokia 808 without any issues, but in the ZL, I would get frequent "disconnected" errors when writing large chunks of data (e.g. music/movie synchronization). I now placed that same SANDisk card in my wife's Samsung Galaxy Note phone, also without any issues.
Ironically, ZL works fine with a SAMSUNG 64GB, as well as earlier generation SANDisk Class 6 card.
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Media synchronization
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I use a Mac, so one important selling point for me vs. a Samsung Galaxy was the availability of the Sony Media Bridge application, to synchronize media (photos/videos with iPhoto, music with iTunes), browse the filesystem, etc. HTC also has such software at least for iTunes synchronization I find it rather ridiculous that Samsung does not. Animosity, perhaps?
That's the theory. In practice, I also found that the Sony Media Bridge appellation chokes on large synchronization jobs. I have been trying for several weeks to synchronize a few playlists (a total of ~3000 songs), and while some of the issues were related to the SANDisk µSD card incompatibility, the Media Bridge application also errors out quite frequently. On top of it, it consumes ~300% cpu (3 full cores), 5GB of physical memory, and makes other appellations on my Mac run very slowly.
3rd party applications do exist to do such synchronization, though with Android, this is quite clunky. It involves either mounting the µSD card in "Mass Storage" mode (dumb!), or syncing over WiFi (slow, battery draining, EMR inducing...) I eventually got the job done using "TuneSync", available in the Android store. Still, this is one area where manufacturers (incl Sony) could do a better job. (The now-defunct Symbian OS does this much better...)
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To sum it up
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The Xperia ZL is a very nice phone! The screen is incredibly crisp, if not with quite as vibrant (or gaudy) colors as OLED displays like on phones from Samsung or Nokia. And with the highest ratio of screen to phone on the planet, this is definitely a phone that appeals if you want a large screen but still pocketable device.
I ended up returning mine, mainly because of the disappointing camera -I said I was picky! The "Sony Media Bridge" fiasco did not help. I may yet get a HTC One, though I am not too thrilled about Android in many ways (mainly for small details such the way multiple email accounts are handled, difficulty in importing photos to a Mac, etc), and certainly would want to have a way to disable the "BlinkFeed" feature in that device. But in the meantime, I have returned to my Nokia 808, which lets me use a cheaper data plan, and which on balance has fewer annoyances...
So the Pros over the HTC one are:
Larger screen (Noticable!), while phone is nearly as compact
Removable memory better for post-mortem data recovery
Longer battery life when idle/in your pocket
Less annoying UI (no BlinkFeed, toggles in notification pane, better widgets)
Higher resolution camera/more detail.
Camera shutter button.
Pros of the HTC One over the ZL:
More classy construction; aluminum body. (But the ZL is no slouch; also you'll probably want a case around it anyway...)
Faster processor (but the ZL's is ridiculously fast too... you won't notice)
Better viewing angles on screen (but again, you won't normally notice)
Better battery life when in active use (e.g. watching movies)
Crisper sound, especially with higher volumes; stereo front-facing speakers
Some nice HTC customizations in the default email reader, incl. more professional quoting style in replies
ZOE! That's the ONE thing for which I may get it!
I should also mention the Samsung Galaxy S4, which many will choose based on marketing and the spec sheet. For me, that is not an option, for these reasons:
Very cheap plastic construction. The phone feels cheap.
No FM radio. I use this while commuting to work by train or bus. Internet radio is not as versatile, and eats up data.
Poor/no Mac support.
Inferior reception/call quality.
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