Phones Sony Xperia XZ Premium

[kkh786]

Sony has just announced four new Xperia handsets.. but the one that got me intrigued is the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.

On the face of it, Sony appears to have all the right ingredients for a great phone. A 4K HDR screen, an awesome (in theory) camera with 960fps slow-mo video, the latest Qualcomm CPU and a design that reflects the handset's likely high price tag.

Below are some key specs:

• 5.5-inch 4K HDR display (806ppi)
• Snapdragon 835
• 4GB RAM, 64GB storage
• 3230mAh battery
• USB Type-C and Quick Charge 3.0
• Motion Eye rear camera, 19-megapixel triple sensor with 1.22µm pixels and 13-megapixel front-facing camera
• 960fps slow-mo video
• Android 7.0 + Sony UI

On the screen topic.. like the Z5 Premium, the XZ Premium does not output 4K all the time (that would be a battery killer anyway). Instead, in normal use it outputs in 1080p and it switches to 4K when a compatible app is opened.

Pricing and release date are to yet to be announced but I like the look of it (I suspect the release will be after the release of the Galaxy S8 juggernaut)!

What do you guys think?

KKH

 

[MindsEye]

I've got a soft spot for Sony and this does look like a step up from their 2016 offerings. It makes me wonder if they have any VR plans otherwise 4K is overkill imo. I might be looking at this a few years down the line providing the battery life is decent.

Another odd decision with the lack of fingerprint sensor in the US. Atleast to their credit, this is a legit 2017 flagship phone.

 

[nviz22]

I think this might be my backup option to the S8 if that doesn't get my $. I would have to import it to get a FP sensor? Oh great, Sony.

 

[kkh786]

I've always had a soft spot for Sony.. they could (and should) have given Samsung a fight in the early days.. but they decided to flounder.
Their R&D has always been top notch.. especially their cameras but they do not have the ruthlessness of Samsung to pursue and market the crap out of their products!
I hope this handset gets some traction for Sony's sake! We need some real competition for Samsung!
If I was not happy with my Pixel.. I would have been tempted by this more than the rumoured S8 series!

 

[MindsEye]

I think this might be my backup option to the S8 if that doesn't get my $. I would have to import it to get a FP sensor? Oh great, Sony.

Not if its anything like the XZ. From what i understood the hardware was there but deactivated for US territories. It can be activated by flashing the firmware. I would imagine its highly likely that the premium will follow suit.

 

[nviz22]

Not if its anything like the XZ. From what i understood the hardware was there but deactivated for US territories. It can be activated by flashing the firmware. I would imagine its highly likely that the premium will follow suit.

That's stupid, but if they have an unlocked bootloader, then that takes care of it. I was looking into exporting it if I don't have the S8.

 

[swein1992]

I've always had a soft spot for Sony.. they could (and should) have given Samsung a fight in the early days.. but they decided to flounder.
Their R&D has always been top notch.. especially their cameras but they do not have the ruthlessness of Samsung to pursue and market the crap out of their products!
I hope this handset gets some traction for Sony's sake! We need some real competition for Samsung!
If I was not happy with my Pixel.. I would have been tempted by this more than the rumoured S8 series!

ahh same here. I really really love their design and their way of doing things. However, I am returning my XZ tomorrow after having it for a week. Really love the hardware but the software is just terribly optimized. I was having stutters and lags already. Come on Sony, put in some efforts into your software!