What is the name of the new xperia xz premium camera. Review of the Sony Xperia XZ smartphone - the return of the flagship. Okay, what's the difference between XZ2 and XZ1?

Sone Xperia XZ Specifications:

CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, Eight cores (4x2.45 GHz Kryo & 4x1.9 GHz Kryo)
Memory: 64 GB main, 4 GB RAM, microSD support up to 256 GB
Screen: IPS LCD, diagonal 5.46 inches, resolution 3840 x 2160 pixel density 807
Main camera: 19 MP Motion Eye camera, 2.3-inch Exmor RS sensor, 1.22 micron pixels, Predictive hybrid autofocus, 960fps super slow motion video Predictive shooting camera launch and shooting (0.5 sec.) Sony G lens Lens with F2.0 aperture
Front-camera: 13 MP 1/3.06" Exmor RS sensor 22mm wide-angle lens with F2.0 aperture
Battery: 3230 mAh, Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging, Qnovo adaptive charging technology.
Dimensions: 156 x 77 x 7.9mm
Weight: 195 grams
Moisture resistance: IP65/68
Colors: Bright Chrome, Deep Black, Bronze Pink

Sony is a company that has been producing portable technology since the late 70s. Moreover, it was with their famous Walkman that consumer portable technology began. It is not surprising that the history of Sony mobile phones already goes back 20 years. And although it is now difficult for the Japanese to compete in sales volumes with such monsters as Samsung, Sony Xperia smartphones, especially the flagship models, are still very interesting.

What do we want from an expensive flagship smartphone? Of course, everything at once. Having paid a lot of money, the buyer wants to get an impeccable device in which each of its individual elements and the device itself as a whole will surpass its competitors. Is there such a smartphone on the market now? No, the Xperia XZ Premium did not become one either. Nevertheless, we will take a closer look at the different aspects of the smartphone and find out how close Sony managed to come to the image of the ideal.

Construction and design

Although the Think Different slogan belongs to Apple, it could also be applied to Xperia smartphones. They may or may not be successful, but they are always original and different from their competitors. The Xperia XZ Premium cannot be confused with a smartphone from any other vendor even from ten meters away. At a time when Chinese manufacturers are churning out dozens of “premium” twin models, this is simply a colossal advantage.

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The XZ Premium's unibody body looks like it's made from a single piece of glass, and the chopped top and bottom edges evoke associations with the old-school body of the 2012 Nokia Lumia 920. At the same time, it seems that in the design of the XZ Premium, Sony went against all modern trends. Everyone makes “slicked-down bodies,” but we will have edges. Everyone has curved screen glass, but our glass will be flat.

There is no need to mention the unusual location of the fingerprint sensor on the right side. This is generally a proprietary feature of Xperia smartphones.

In the end everything worked out very well. The smartphone not only looks original, but it is also beautiful and ergonomic, and the side fingerprint scanner and physical camera start button are not just exotic, but a really convenient and practical solution. Moreover, the button turns on the camera even when the smartphone is in sleep and locked states.

And this is probably the only flagship smartphone that can be placed vertically. It's not clear why, but it can be done.

Dmitry Bevza / Gazeta.Ru

In general, the design of the XZ Premium is close to flawlessness, which, alas, cannot be said about its construction.

There is only one complaint here, but it is huge, like a blue whale, and is called screen-to-body ratio, or the ratio of screen area to front panel area. For the Xperia XZ Premium it is 68.4% - for 2017 this is very little. For example, for the Samsung Galaxy S8+ this figure is 84%.

The top and bottom bezels of the screen are simply huge. It is also surprising that with so much space under the screen, the touch control buttons were placed on the screen, and not under it. Thus, in a large number of applications they “eat away” the useful screen area.

Here's what the Xperia XZ Premium and Samsung Galaxy S8+ screens look like when the browser is running. As they say - no comments.

Dmitry Bevza / Gazeta.Ru

Platform

Let's talk very briefly about the processor and memory. There's really nothing to talk about here.

The Snapdragon 835 processor is the most powerful and fastest processor on the Android device market today, and 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage memory and support for microSDXC cards (up to 256 GB) are enough to solve absolutely any problem.

Camera

But let’s look at the camera in more detail, since the camera is important. Very important. A smartphone with a bad camera is a bad smartphone by definition.

For a long time, Sony developers have had a difficult relationship with the cameras in Xperia smartphones. This is surprising if you know that Sony is the largest manufacturer and supplier of photo models for smartphones - most of all premium smartphones in the world are equipped with Sony cameras.

It’s a paradox, but often Sony photo modules worked better in third-party smartphones than in their own.

In general, many complaints were made about the shooting quality of Xperia smartphones in previous years. It’s not that they filmed poorly, no. But they were clearly inferior to their main competitors. All this, of course, affected both reputation and sales. This state of affairs is doubly surprising, since Sony is still a large and respected manufacturer of professional photo and video equipment.

About a year ago, at one large technology exhibition, Sony bosses publicly spoke in the spirit of: “Stop putting up with this. We're Sony. We are photographic experts. Now our smartphone cameras will shoot as cool as competitors’ cameras. And even cooler."

And here is the result. The Xperia XZ Premium is equipped with a very sophisticated Motion Eye camera. Let's briefly list all the bells and whistles: Exmor RS sensor with its own memory for fast image scanning, new Sony G Lens, proprietary BIONZ image processing technology, predictive shooting, increased pixel size for shooting in low light conditions, distortion-compensated shutter for fast-moving objects, 5-axis image stabilization and slow motion at 960 frames per second.

The XZ Premium's camera is really good and shoots better than last year's Xperia. It is noticeable that they worked not only on the hardware, but also on image processing algorithms. We can’t say that the XZ Premium camera takes better pictures than the best mobile cameras (iPhone 7, Galaxy S8, LG G6, Pixel, Huawei P10), but Sony’s application is quite worthy.

Dmitry Bevza / Gazeta.Ru

Among the features, one can note that the software processing of night shots is not as aggressive as, for example, in the Galaxy S8. Sometimes that's good. If there is at least some light source, then the frames are not overexposed. But if there is no light at all, then the same Galaxy S8 copes better.

As for the front camera, since it has a wide-focus lens, a lot of people, beautiful backgrounds, and other things fit into the frame, which is especially good for group selfies.

In general, our overall impressions of the camera's performance are positive. I really liked the color rendition, the quick activation of the cameras with a physical button, and the speed of autofocus. The XZ Premium is comfortable to shoot with, and the image quality is quite high.

What I didn’t like was the operation of the HDR mode and its control. The HDR enable button is hidden in manual settings. It's not available at all in automatic mode, and the XZ Premium's HDR mode itself doesn't look as impressive as its competitors.

Dmitry Bevza / Gazeta.Ru

Nuances

Other interesting features of the Xperia XZ Premium include a good IPS screen with a crazy pixel density of 807 per square inch. In real life this is hardly relevant, but for VR glasses it is very good. The screen supports 4K HDR technology. This technology is certainly effective, and video content shot using it looks great. The only problem is the lack of such content in Russia.

As for audio playback, the smartphone is simply crammed with hardware and software “improvers,” just like all its main competitors. Even audiophiles will appreciate the sound, especially with good headphones and the right format, but it’s impossible to say that the XZ Premium sounds better than other smartphones with dedicated DACs. Good sound from a premium smartphone has now become a must.

The XZ Premium supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 super-fast charging, but what's more interesting is its support for Qnovo's slow, or rather smart, charging technology and Battery Care option.

Qnovo technology monitors the condition of the battery during charging, measuring several parameters at once. It regulates the current level to avoid excessively high values.

Battery Care charges the smartphone up to 90% during overnight charging, then the process stops until the morning. Shortly before the user wakes up, it is recharged to 100%.

Thus, the maximum capacity capacity is maintained twice as long. At least, that's what Sony says.

Of course, it takes some time for the smartphone to “understand” your schedule and habits and adjust the power and smart charging mode just for you.

Results

Overall, I liked the smartphone - an original and powerful device with many invisible smart features, a good camera and excellent sound. There is only one problem - the screen size is too small for such a case. So in 2017 they no longer “wear” it. The official price of Xperia XZ Premium in Russia is 55 thousand rubles. To us and 99% of our readers, of course, it seems too high, like the prices of all other flagship smartphones of 2017. It’s difficult to get used to this, but this, alas, is the pricing on the Russian “white” smartphone market.

Sony Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact have a new design, good specifications and water resistance. In addition, the Sony Xperia XZ2 has wireless charging, and for the younger version of the Compact, Sony has fit a 5-inch screen into a compact body.

The new smartphones from Sony, called the Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact, look cool and, based on the results of the first practical testing, made a very good impression on us. In terms of processor performance, this Sony smartphone model competes with the Galaxy S9, but it remains questionable whether the camera will be convincing enough in twilight conditions. The XZ2 Compact remains unrivaled in its class and should delight fans of compact mobile phones. Advantages

Disadvantages great design

excellent performance

waterproof

good camera, no headphone jack

XZ2 Compact without fast charging power supply and without wireless charging Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact from Sony with new design

Sony, with its Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact, is finally saying goodbye to its beloved wide frames on the top and bottom sides. With ever-increasing screens trying to fit into ever-smaller frames, the Japanese electronics maker resisted to the last, remaining almost alone in recent years not to follow this design language.

But now Sony Mobile wants to update itself in this regard, says goodbye to the usual charm and instead wants to use a new design: the concept of the Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 is called “Ambient Flow” with streamlined shapes. It slightly resembles the design of the HTC U11 Plus. By the way, Samsung, for example, once upon a time used a “natural” comparison for its Galaxy S3. But everything new is well forgotten old. In any case, we liked the result, since the Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact both look cool and feel very good in the hand. The XZ2 Compact deserves particular praise - it's simply brilliant how small and convenient a mobile phone with a 5-inch display can be. The larger model with its 5.7-inch LC screen offers enough space to please even multimedia content lovers. The Galaxy S9 has similar dimensions. For improved one-handed control, you only need to swipe on the bottom software bar, after which the system reduces the image size and shifts the content to the lower left or right corner - everything can be done intuitively. In the Xperia XZ2, Sony places Gorilla Glas 5 on the front and back sides, which looks quite elegant but makes fingerprints noticeable. No less elegant is the matte Xperia XZ2 Compact, for the manufacture of which Sony used plastic. But this does not upset us, since the compact model also looks very good. What we find more annoying is the gap that forms at the transition from the display to the frame. But there is a possibility that the production models will be assembled to a higher quality. Moreover, both mobile phones are waterproof according to IP-68 standards.

Fingerprint scanner on the back of the Xperia XZ2

According to Sony, the XZ2 smartphone offers a 13 percent larger image area than the Xperia XZ1, despite being 1mm thinner. Both new models boast a modern 18:9 aspect ratio and display content in a suitably expanded Full-HD resolution of 2160x1080 pixels, also called FHD+. Most users would still not be able to perceive even higher image clarity with the naked eye. Only when using VR glasses, the resolution can never be too high. In this area, the Galaxy S9 remains ahead of the competition. Some regret for users who are fans of the classics may be caused by the fact that the fingerprint scanner is now, like many competitors, located on the back of the case, and not on the side on the on/off button of the device. It’s a pity because it functioned best there and remained virtually unnoticeable. In addition, the central location of the Xperia XZ2 scanner seemed unusual to us during the first test and required some adaptation period, but not problematic. According to Sony, it's located exactly where users place their finger most times when they pick up the phone.

Snapdragon 845: a powerful force in the Xperia XZ2 (Compact)

The Xperia XZ2 & XZ2 Compact are among the first smartphones to hit the market with Qualcomm's latest, ultra-powerful mobile processor, called the Snapdragon 845. According to Sony, it packs 30 percent more power than its predecessor, the Snapdragon 835. power with efficiency increased by 20 percent. The RAM size is 4 GB - this is not very much, but according to our estimates, it is enough for top models. Thus, you get a very fast system with a large performance reserve, which should be enough for the coming years. The Xperia XZ2 Compact appears to be not only the smallest 5-inch smartphone, but also the most powerful. Despite its convenient size, you won't have to make any compromises in terms of equipment. The battery with its capacity of 2870 mAh also seems decent to us. The regular XZ2, which due to its larger screen size also has a larger capacity of 3180 mAh, can offer a little more in this regard.

Improved camera - even in low light?

Sony not only provided new camera functionality, but also wants to improve the quality of photos. In daytime lighting conditions, users can enjoy the high 19-megapixel resolution, which allows for highly detailed scenes to be captured. Whether the matrix can compare with its competitors even in twilight lighting should be shown by the results of our full testing. Since Sony continues to use rather small pixels measuring 1.22 microns, as well as a not very large f/2.2 aperture, which reduces the amount of light entering the sensor, and, as before, refuses to integrate an optical image stabilizer, we are cautious skeptical. The fact is that its predecessors often showed shortcomings during tests in twilight lighting. However, as we've been told, Sony has been developing sensor processing with Qualcomm, which should be better than previous models. But when it comes to video, the camera, on the contrary, should perform well, which it has already done on the XZ1.

Super slow motion video in Full-HD resolution The manufacturer has also optimized the maximum resolution available in its super slow motion video shooting mode. You can now even shoot in Full HD resolution at 960fps for extremely slow motion videos. The previous model, as well as the Galaxy S9, do this only in HD, that is, 720p. However, the duration of the clip has now become even shorter. If before it was a short 0.184 seconds, which during playback stretched to 6 seconds, now only half of these values ​​remains. In addition, the camera has the ability to shoot video in 4K and HDR, and according to Sony it supports 10-bit color depth and an extremely wide BT.2020 color space. This is cool, but it is worth recognizing that in the “consumer” segment there are unlikely to be devices that allow you to fully display BT.2020. Even in the UHD TV space, the somewhat smaller (though still large) DCI-P3 color space is common. However, you can still enjoy videos with rich colors.

No headphone audio jack

Unfortunately, Sony has now joined the ranks of manufacturers who have abandoned the use of a 3.5 mm audio jack for connecting cable headphones. A suitable adapter is included in the package, but it does not allow you to listen to music and charge your smartphone at the same time. Anyone who needs exactly this can purchase a special adapter, which is available from Sony. Also among the innovations we can note support for wireless charging, but only for the large Xperia XZ2, not for the compact model. For the corresponding WCH20 charging station with a power of 9 W, the manufacturer requests about 4,500 rubles - that is, it turns out to be even more expensive than the Qi-Pad in Apple stores. And even more so, this price looks brutal compared to analogues from Chinese stores.

Xperia XZ2 is chic, fast, but expensive

The Xperia XZ2 can download data from the mobile Internet, if LTE networks ever allow it, at an extremely high speed of 1.2 Gbps, and the XZ2 Compact at 800 Mbps. Both devices boast the latest Bluetooth 5 standard, as well as fast WLAN-ac. There is also a Micro-SD/Dual-SIM slot, as well as a USB 3.1 Typ-C port. Unlike the Galaxy S9, the new Sony phones also support Voice-over-LTE on the second SIM card for improved voice transmission.

The Xperia XZ2 also comes with a UCH12 fast charging power supply, and the compact model is sold, unfortunately, with a weaker UCH20 power supply that does not support fast operation, despite the fact that the smartphone itself supports this technology. It's a shame, it really wouldn't be worth saving on this. Both devices run Android 8. The 64GB version of the Xperia XZ2 in Liquid Black, Liquid Silver, Deep Green and Ash Pink should go on sale early in the second quarter. The Xperia XZ2 Compact with 64 GB of internal memory will be available in the spring in the colors Black, White Silver, Moss Green and Coral Pink. Which one would you choose? Sony Xperia XZ2 Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact Anyone, as long as it's cheap I prefer to shop on Aliexpress I'm an Apple cultist View results Loading... Read also: Headphones with active noise cancellation: comparing models from Sony, Bose, Sennheiser and Beats

The best mobile processors from Qualcomm

The current update to the Sony smartphone line could be called boring and frankly unattractive: almost nothing has changed in the appearance of the devices, but the inside is exactly the same as what we saw a little earlier, in . But instead of another listing of technical characteristics and focusing on gigabytes, megapixels and gigahertz, the company decided to focus on the capabilities of the built-in camera. It is unlikely that armchair analysts and network experts-on-all-issues approve of this approach, but the market always perceives it positively. Nobody knows exactly at what frequency the processor operates, but everyone knows that this smartphone can be unlocked with your face, and you can also send an animated chicken to your friend. So Sony wants the Xperia XZ1 to be perceived as a phone that allows you to create 3D copies of objects using the built-in camera. Time will tell how interesting and important this is, but we’ll just figure out how it all works.

Along with the release of the Xperia XZ1, the company also updated the compact version of the flagship. It's called the Xperia XZ1 Compact and remains a unique device thanks to its combination of flagship hardware and compact size. So, the possibilities for alternative use of the built-in camera in both new products are similar, but we will tell you about them separately.

Specifications

Appearance, ergonomics and software

In the case of the Xperia XZ1, I would like to note some significant disregard for global trends. Seriously, Sony remains perhaps the only manufacturer that does not use elongated screens with an aspect ratio of 18:9, dual cameras, or facial recognition. This may not be great in the long run, but for now the XZ1 doesn't suffer from it at all and looks very neat and nice. The smartphone is offered in four colors: pink, black, silver and blue. In my opinion, the last two are especially good, but the black one looks a bit boring.

The screen diagonal is small by the standards of 2017 flagships - only 5.2 inches, so there are no problems with one-handed operation. The body profile has an elongated elliptical shape, the side edges are perfectly rounded, and all this, of course, is made of glass and metal. Plastic is used only for some buttons and the plug on the SIM card compartment. By the way, the plug fits very tightly, there is a special rubber gasket around the perimeter - the smartphone is protected from dust and moisture according to IP65/IP68 standards. It can be immersed in fresh water, but the warranty does not cover smartphones that have been wet - keep this in mind. However, the main thing to remember is: under no circumstances connect the headphones and charger until the ports are dry.

The layout of buttons and controls is standard for Sony smartphones. At the bottom center is USB-C, on the left side there is a tray for a SIM card and microSD. In our case, the smartphone has only one slot for an operator card, but there is also a Dual SIM version, which has a combined second slot. On the right side there is a double volume button, as well as a power key with a built-in fingerprint scanner and a dedicated button for launching the camera and releasing the shutter.

On top there is a standard 3.5 mm audio jack - thanks for that, it's still relevant. I will add that on the side faces there are visible inserts to ensure the operation of wireless modules through the metal case; they do not stand out much, but perform their function in the best possible way. I wasn’t too lazy and compared: the Xperia XZ1 “holds” the network and Wi-Fi signal much better than the iPhone 7 Plus.

Returning to the topic of great similarity between the Xperia XZ1 and, it is worth noting that the LED flash and laser that helps autofocus are now installed behind a horizontal insert; in the previous model, this block was located vertically. The built-in camera lens has slightly increased in size and began to protrude further beyond the rear panel. But for now nothing can be done about this - optics with stabilization require a fairly thick body.

The Sony Xperia XZ1 was originally announced with Android 8.0 Oreo and eventually ships with it. Formally, by the way, this is the first smartphone based on the eighth version of the operating system, along with the Xperia XZ1 Compact. Visually, the new OS is not much different from version 7.0 Nougat, but updating to the current OS is a problem for many Android devices, and Sony immediately took care of a fresh system for its flagship in this regard. All the features from other devices are in place: energy saving modes, optimization modes, and so on.

The list of pre-installed applications looks the same: Movie Creator, PlayStation, Xperia Lounge plus a file manager and all the standard Google applications. There is exactly one new application - 3D Creator, which I will talk about in more detail below.

Display and sound

Previously, in the case of Sony smartphones, we often had to complain about insufficiently precise screen settings, excessively (even if compared with the “average temperature in the hospital”, and not with reference values) high color temperature and insufficiently high contrast. But the Xperia XZ1 shows clear progress in this area.

Firstly, Sony simply stopped imposing a non-disabled enhanced display mode, leaving the choice to the user. Now in the display settings menu we have three modes available: professional, standard and extreme brightness mode.

If we focus on subjective feelings, then it is the latter that is most impressive, but the color accuracy “flies” into the abyss. By default, the standard mode is enabled, and for the most accurate display there is a professional mode, so we carried out all measurements in these two modes.

The maximum brightness and contrast values ​​do not change when switching modes, and they turn out to be very good in comparison with competitors. The XZ1 display “shines” brighter than the iPhone 8, which means this smartphone will be more comfortable to use in sunny weather - you can even read the screen painlessly on the beach.

Standard Sony Xperia XZ1 screen operating mode, color temperature. Blue line - Sony Xperia XZ1 coverage in standard mode, dotted line - reference temperature (6500 K)

As you can see, in professional mode the color gamut practically coincides with the sRGB color space, and in standard mode it becomes much wider. But this is not the case when more is better. The color temperature curve varies slightly in different modes, but the average value remains the same - about 7400 K. This is higher than the reference temperature, but the difference of 900 K is practically not noticeable.

The gamma differs slightly: we have 2.11 in professional mode and 2.05 in standard mode. Both are within normal limits. The average DeltaE deviation for the ColorChecker extended palette is 3.36, and for primary colors it is 1.78. And this is a truly amazing indicator. But this applies only to the professional mode; in the standard mode, this figure deteriorates somewhat and reaches 4.81 for the extended ColorChecker palette and 4.11 for primary colors.

The sound is in perfect order. Firstly, the smartphone is equipped with two speakers and reproduces sound in stereo mode, and quite loudly. And secondly, it has not lost the standard mini-jack, so you can use absolutely any headphones without restrictions. The sound is loud and of high quality; even high-impedance monitor models work normally.

Although Sony's Xperia XZ Premium ticks almost every box on the high-end smartphone test, and also offers users Android 7.1 combined with excellent performance, it still doesn't make the cut. -5” of our respective rating. In particular, the quality of photos taken in low light leaves much to be desired. And also because Sony, even in its flagship smartphone, refuses to have a fast charger, the ratings in the “Battery” test category are lower than those of its direct competitors.

Advantages

very fast processor
excellent equipment
high quality workmanship

Flaws

The mirror surface of the case collects a lot of fingerprints
Camera in low light does not correspond to high-end level

• Price-quality ratio
  Fine
• Place in the overall ranking
  17 out of 200

• Price/quality ratio: 73
• Performance and Control (35%): 93.2
• Equipment (25%): 93.8
• Battery (15%): 80
• Display (15%): 89.7
• Camera (10%): 73.4

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Sony Xperia XZ Premium is a mirror

For several years now, Sony has not fundamentally changed anything in the design of its smartphones, and this time it continues to rely on the minimalistic look that we know from the Xperia series devices. In principle, it all looks good and elegant, but in the case of the Xperia XZ Premium it already reaches its limits.

Firstly, the phone turns out to be very large, since the screen is surrounded on all sides by clearly defined frames. In addition, at the bottom, Sony has placed an additional black strip with soft control buttons, which also takes up a certain space.

On the other hand, the silver/chrome body of the device we tested reflects everything like a mirror. Within a short time, both the front and back surfaces became covered with numerous fingerprints and greasy stains. Of course, they can be rubbed off on clothes, but they definitely won’t be recognized as beautiful. But now there are no problems taking selfies with the main camera. The edges here are also glossy, rounded and very smooth, which makes the device weighing 190 grams easier to slip out of your fingers during a telephone conversation.

Mirror surface: Xperia XZ Premium allows you to take selfies with the main camera

Brilliant 4K display

In terms of equipment, Sony is rolling out several heavy artillery pieces to the position at once. These include an extremely clear 4K display with a 5.5-inch diagonal. Xperia XZ Premium in UHD resolution presents not only photos and videos, but also displays the user interface.

However, in everyday life, a picture with a pixel density of 800 ppi hardly provides any advantages compared to 400 ppi. Even if we bring the smartphone very close to our eyes, we most likely will not be able to notice the difference in clarity. However, VR (virtual reality) fans will be able to get some benefit from this.

Like competitors LG and Samsung, Sony advertises support for HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology. The screen boasts a truly wide color gamut and excellent image quality, but it doesn't shine as brightly as a Full HD display does. The latter reaches a remarkable 582 cd/m2, but Sony can only offer XZ Premium users 485 cd/m2. However, in most cases the content reads quite well.

Battery: Sony is saving on the wrong things

Of course, UHD resolution on a large display took its toll during our online testing. Here, the Xperia XZ Premium managed to last a good eight and a half hours, but it's still a long way from the almost ten hours of the cheaper Xperia XZs.

The device missed a certain number of rating points, not least because of the duration of the charging process, which lasts more than three hours. And although the XZ Premium itself supports Quickcharge 3.0 fast charging technology, Sony decided to save a little money and included a regular power supply with a power of only 7.5 W in the package.

Xperia XZ Premium camera with its advantages and disadvantages

Sony paid great attention to the digital camera of its new flagship and equipped it with a high resolution of 19 megapixels, as well as a high-speed video recording function with 960 frames per second. The camera is essentially the same as the one in the Xperia XZs, but showed slightly better results during testing. The reason may most likely be a new firmware version.

The photo quality here can be considered good for the most part, however, in comparison with such direct competitors as above all, the Xperia XZ Premium still reveals certain shortcomings. Pictures taken in low light do not correspond to the high-end level of the device. This is clearly shown by comparing photographs taken by the smartphone we tested and the HTC U11.

However, even in daylight, the Sony camera does not reach the level of competitors that cost about the same. Contours are often noticeably indistinct and surfaces blurred. Most likely the problem is that the matrix is ​​too small for the high resolution used.

High speed video camera

The camcorder mode, called “High Frame,” is an interesting feature that will bring a lot of pleasure to shooting in daylight. In this mode, the camera shoots video in HD resolution at up to 960 frames per second, so you can then playback the footage very slowly.

However, because the shutter speed per frame is extremely fast in this mode, indoor results often appear too dark and noisy. The ability to take “pre-emptive” pictures is practical. In this mode, the camera takes photos before you press the shutter button, so you can then choose a better shot - this mode is especially useful when shooting moving subjects.

Top performance

In terms of performance, the Xperia XZ Premium is on par with the best models on the market (and in our smartphone rankings). Snapdragon 835 provides a fast user interface, smooth scrolling, pleasant response speed to commands and quick application launch. This “system on a chip” also contains gigabit LTE and Bluetooth 5 modules.

If 64 GB of internal memory is not enough, you can expand it using microSD cards. Data exchange with a computer will also be pleasantly fast thanks to the presence of USB 3.1 Type-C. Last but not least practical is the protection of the case in accordance with the IP-68 standard, which for users means the ability to drop the smartphone into water without consequences.
Sony sells the Xperia XZ Premium in chrome and black colors at an initial cost of 54,990 rubles.

Alternative: Sony Xperia XZ

Cheaper, not as well equipped, but with a longer battery life: Sony fans can't go wrong by choosing. At the same time, the smartphone, which has been on sale since last fall, costs about 13,000 rubles less. In some online stores you can find it even cheaper than 40,000 rubles.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium test results

Characteristics and test results of Sony Xperia XZ Premium

At MWC 2018, Sony boasted of its new gadgets. The Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact are a breath of fresh air in the Japanese smartphone family.

While competitors were constantly reducing the bezels around the display in their smartphones, Sony still, with manic persistence, offered solutions that have been used in gadgets of this brand for many years. And finally a miracle happened - of course, the Sony Xperia XZ2 cannot be called Bezel-Less, but it is probably the most advanced model in the history of the Japanese, judging by the size of the frames around the screen.

The bezels around the Xperia XZ2's screen are significantly thinner compared to previous Sony phones. This is a big step forward and fans of this brand will be pleased. The new design is called Ambient Flow and it seems that Sony is moving away from angular shapes in favor of a more rounded body. The Xperia XZ2 fits well and confidently in the hand, even despite the shell made of Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The smartphones will be available in the following colors: black, silver, green and pink. Of course, there would be an IP65/IP68 certificate.

The new Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact smartphone has a 5.7-inch screen, HDR Full HD+ in 18:9 aspect ratio. The display is sharp, the colors feel natural, and the viewing angles are really good. Interestingly, the device not only reproduces existing materials in the HDR format, but thanks to special algorithms, it improves the quality of the created materials by converting them to the HDR format. Also worth mentioning is Sony's new technology - Dynamic Vibration System. It is useful mainly during games, when the smartphone itself is the controller. The Dynamic Vibration system works in the same way as the vibrations in the DualShock 4 gamepad. Algorithms analyze data and audio provide special feedback vibrations directly to your fingers.

But probably the most important thing about the Xperia XZ2 is its photo features. Thanks to the camera with Motion Eye, you can now record 4K HDR video - a world first! Thanks to the HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) format, the smartphone records reality with all the details, in real colors and shades. The device also received improved video recording quality in Super Slow Motion mode at 960 frames per second in Full HD format (as in the Samsung Galaxy and Galaxy S9 Plus). In fact, the model received one of the most powerful cameras in smartphones available on the market today.

In addition to the Sony Xperia XZ2, you could also admire a model at the MWC 2018 exhibition. XZ2 Compact - a smaller version with a 5-inch screen. The Compact body is not glass, although it also fits comfortably in the hand. The model also has high-quality optics.

New items will go on sale starting in mid-March. How much the manufacturer valued the Sony Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact is not yet known.