When will xperia xz premium be released. Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone review: cherry orchard
Xperia XZ2 Premium is a top-end device from Sony.
Sony has officially introduced the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium. The smartphone was released almost two months after the announcement of its “younger brothers” - Sony Xperia XZ2 and Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact at MWC 2018. The smartphone boasts a gorgeous display, powerful hardware and a dual camera that takes great pictures in low-light conditions.
Design
The Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone received a recognizable design in the Ambient Flow style, which many have already seen on the example of the Sony Xperia XZ2 and Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact.
The smartphone body is made of glass. On the front, the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium has small bezels along the edges of the display on the right and left, but the padding at the top and bottom spoils the whole impression. On the back panel of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium, in the center from top to bottom there is a flash, a dual camera with two vertically oriented modules and a fingerprint scanner.
Display
The Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium has a 5.8-inch IPS display. The aspect ratio of the display is 16:9, and the resolution is 3840x2160 pixels (4K).
The top 4K display of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium is covered with protective 2.5 D glass Gorilla Glass 5.
Performance
The hardware of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone is no worse than that of other flagships of 2018. The performance of the smartphone is driven by a system based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chip with an Adreno 630 graphics accelerator.
The Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone received 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of built-in UFS flash memory. The smartphone supports installation of MicroSD memory cards.
Camera
Sony engineers paid special attention to the camera of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone. Its main feature is the actual ability to shoot in complete darkness due to the ability to increase ISO to 51200 for photos and up to 12800 for video. Of course, this falls slightly short of the Huawei P20 Pro (102400), but it still looks pretty decent.
The main camera of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium is dual with vertically arranged modules and an LED flash. The resolution of the camera modules is 19 MP and 12 MP, respectively. The first module is a color Motion Eye with a 1/2.3-inch Exmor RS matrix, f/1.8 aperture and 1.2 micron pixel size. The second is black and white with a 1/2.3-inch monochrome sensor with an f/1.6 aperture and a pixel size of 1.55 microns. The bottom line is that the dual main camera of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone supports HDR photo/video and 960 fps Super slow motion (FHD/HD) video recording.
Front-camera Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium - 13 MP with 1/3.06-inch Exmor RS sensor with f/2.0 aperture. When taking selfies, you can use your smartphone screen as a flash.
Common to the dual main and front cameras of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium is the presence of 5-axis image stabilization.
Communication and communication capabilities
The Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone supports 2G/3G/4G/LTE (Cat. 18), Wi-Fi according to b/g/n/ac standards, GPS/GLONASS and Bluetooth 5.
In addition, the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium has an NFC chip, USB Type-C 3.1 (up to 5 Gbps) and a 3.5 mm headphone adapter.
operating system
The Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone runs on the Android 8.x Oreo mobile operating system.
Battery
The Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone boasts a 3540 mAh battery. The smartphone supports wireless, adaptive and fast charging according to Qi, Qnovo and Quick Charge 3.0 standards, respectively.
Dimensions and more
The dimensions of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone are 158 x 80 x 11.9 mm, and the weight is 236 grams. The thickness and weight of the smartphone is significantly greater than that of the key opponents of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium - Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+ and others.
According to a long-standing tradition, the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium has support for the IP68 standard, which allows the smartphone to easily withstand dust and immersion in water to a depth of over 1 meter for more than 30 minutes.
Price
Nothing is known yet about the cost of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium. However, following sound logic, we can assume that for the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium you will have to pay a little more than the Sony Xperia XZ2 currently costs. In Russia, the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact costs 50,000 rubles, and the Sony Xperia XZ2 costs 60,000 rubles. Accordingly, the cost of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium will probably start at 70,000 rubles. The start of sales of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone is scheduled for summer 2018.
We remind you that it was originally planned that the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone would be officially presented at the MWC 2018 exhibition, which was held in February 2018 in Barcelona. However, Sony announced only the Sony Xperia XZ2 and Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact, leaving the flagship for later.
The world's first smartphone with a 4K HDR display and 960 fps slow motion
Last spring in Barcelona, the international GSM association at the annual Global Mobile Awards (Glomo Awards) announced that the new flagship Sony Xperia XZ Premium became the best in the category “New smartphones and mobile devices at MWC 2017”. And this is not the only award that the Sony Xperia XZ Premium model received, favored by the press and critics, during the exhibition. In this regard, President and CEO of Sony Mobile Communications, Hiroki Totoki, said: “Xperia XZ Premium is the most technically outstanding smartphone we have ever created.” At a minimum, the Xperia XZ Premium became the world's first smartphone with a 4K HDR display (5.5″), and the device also features a new Motion Eye camera capable of recording videos at 960 frames per second and playing them back in slow motion, in four times slower than other smartphones. Finally, the new Japanese flagship has arrived in Russia and has become available in official retail.
Main characteristics of Sony Xperia XZ Premium (G8142)
- SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (MSM8998), 4 Kryo cores @1.9/2.4 GHz
- GPU Adreno 540
- Operating system Android 7.1.1
- Touch display IPS 5.5″, 3840×2160, 801 ppi
- Random access memory (RAM) 4 GB, internal memory 64 GB
- Nano-SIM support (2 pcs.)
- MicroSD support up to 256 GB
- GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
- WCDMA/HSPA+ networks (850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz)
- FDD LTE Cat.16 networks
- Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz) MIMO
- Bluetooth 5.0
- GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BDS
- USB 3.1 Type-C, USB OTG
- Main camera 19 MP, autofocus, f/2.0, 4K video
- Front camera 13 MP, f/2.0
- Proximity, lighting, pressure sensors, magnetic field, accelerometer, gyroscope, step counter
- Super slow-motion video recording at 960fps
- Dust and moisture protection IPS65/68
- Battery 3230 mAh
- Dimensions 156×77×7.9 mm
- Weight 191 g
Appearance and ease of use
Sony Mobile remains true to tradition, this applies to both the appearance of its smartphones and the software shell. The design of the new product uses the same already familiar principle of Loop Surface: the metal frame, bending, with its curved edges extends onto all panels - front, back and side. The frame itself is made of metal polished to a mirror finish; it is echoed by two glass panels of Gorilla Glass 5. As a result, we have one of the most slippery and easily soiled smartphones, in which, perhaps, only Xiaomi Mi Mix can compare with it.
At the same time, the design and design are truly impressive: the mirror-like body with sharp corners and flat end panels looks at least impressive, and maybe even status-worthy. Another thing is that all this splendor goes against ergonomics and comfort: sharp corners take up an inadmissible amount of extra space in your pocket and dig into your hips, and shiny surfaces, naturally, are instantly covered with fingerprints.
This is not to say that the glass panels themselves are very slippery, but no one usually holds a smartphone by them. But the polished and varnished sides of the convex metal frame are extremely slippery, so it is quite difficult to lift the smartphone from the table.
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As for the materials and build quality, naturally, there can be no complaints here; Sony is always in perfect order with this. But it’s worth saying a few words about the dimensions. The Sony Xperia XZ Premium has a 5.5-inch screen, which is not that big by today's standards, but in terms of body dimensions it is comparable to the Samsung Galaxy S8+ with a significantly larger screen (6.2″).
The frame around the screen looks too wide, especially the top and bottom segments, which are 17 mm high, and there aren’t even touch buttons at the bottom. There is a lot of empty space, and the only explanation for such indentations is the stereo speakers placed above and below in the frontal plane.
The panel glass has barely noticeable curves as it transitions to the end edges, but only on the sides. There is an LED event indicator above the screen.
The back panel here is also real glass, it’s not plastic, but the same Gorilla Glass 5 as the front. The camera module is single, not double. The camera does not protrude beyond the surface, the panel on the back is absolutely flat.
All hardware buttons are located on the right side. The one that is responsible for power and locking has a built-in fingerprint scanner, it is easy to feel blindly, and convenient to use. The other button, responsible for adjusting the volume, on the contrary, is completely smooth, slippery, small, and sticks out a little beyond the body. It is difficult to find it blindly. There is also a third one, very small and barely noticeable; traditionally for Sony, it is responsible for working with the camera.
The card slot here is hybrid: you can install two Nano-SIM SIM cards or replace one of them with a memory card. Sony usually releases two variants of each model - single and dual SIM, and the Xperia XZ Premium is no exception. Only here there are not one, but two pull-out trays, and they are covered with a convenient lid that does not need to be squeezed out with a paper clip. All Sony smartphones automatically reboot as soon as the card tray is removed from the case, regardless of whether there are any cards there at all.
The smartphone is waterproof according to the IP65/IP68 standard. The standard suggests that the device can stay underwater for up to half an hour, but Sony prohibits this, mentioning only protection from splashes of rain or from an accidentally spilled glass.
At the top end there is an audio output for headphones (3.5 mm), as well as an auxiliary microphone.
The bottom end is dedicated to the main conversation microphone and a universal USB Type-C connector that supports connection in USB OTG mode.
Sony Xperia XZ Premium is available in three color versions: Luminous Chrome, Deepsea Black, and Bronze Pink. We tested the “regular” black version, but apparently Sony is relying on pink bronze. Designer Satoshi Aoyagi especially noted on this occasion: “We wanted to find a shade that would create a feeling of warmth and at the same time be an example of premium design and functionality. The bronze metallic shimmer adds depth to the color of the front and back of the smartphone, while diamond cut technology adds extra shine to the top and bottom bezels.”
Screen
Sony Xperia XZ Premium is equipped with an IPS display with protective 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5. Triluminos, X-Reality for mobile and Dynamic Contrast Enhancer technologies are used. The screen dimensions are 68x121 mm with a diagonal of 5.5 inches. The resolution is 3840x2160, the pixel density is very high, about 801 ppi. This is the world's first smartphone with a 4K HDR display.
The frame around the screen is wide by modern standards, more than 4 mm on the sides and 17 mm on the top and bottom. Coupled with the sharp corners of the body itself, it all looks quite cumbersome.
You can manually adjust the display brightness or set automatic settings based on the ambient light sensor. The AnTuTu test diagnoses support for 10 simultaneous multi-touch touches. The screen is compatible with gloves.
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Detailed examination using measuring instruments conducted by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.
The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are slightly better than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photograph in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens of both devices (Sony Xperia XZ Premium, as is easy to determine, is on the right; then they can be distinguished by size):
Both screens are dark, but the Sony screen is still a little darker (its brightness in the photo is 107 versus 117 for the Nexus 7). The tripling of reflected objects in the Sony Xperia XZ Premium screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the outer glass (also known as the touch sensor) and the surface of the matrix (OGS - One Glass Solution type screen). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of intense external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. The outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (very effective, even better than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much more easily and appear at a lower speed than with regular glass.
When manually controlling the brightness and displaying the white field in full screen, its maximum value was about 460 cd/m², and the minimum was 4.7 cd/m². The maximum value is high, and given the excellent anti-glare properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors should be at an acceptable level. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the right of the front speaker slot). IN automatic mode When external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment; the user can use it to try to set the required brightness level in the current conditions. We slightly increased the brightness in complete darkness and found that in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 12 cd/m², in an artificially lit office (approximately 550 lux) it sets it to 190 cd/m², in a very bright environment (corresponding to clear lighting during the day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) increases to 460 cd/m². We were quite pleased with the result. It turns out that the auto-brightness function works adequately and to some extent allows the user to customize their work to individual requirements. Only at very low brightness levels does significant backlight modulation appear, but its frequency is high, about 2.3 kHz, so even in this case there is no visible screen flicker.
This screen uses an IPS type matrix. The microphotographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure:
For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.
However, the subpixels themselves are arranged in an unconventional way: typical columns run in the horizontal direction, but in each column the triads of subpixels are shifted vertically by one subpixel, first up, and after three columns down. Note that we have already seen a similar arrangement of subpixels in the case of Sony Xperia Z5 Premium. As a result, the ratio of horizontal columns to vertical triads is 3 to 2, the actual vertical resolution is 1/3 less than horizontal (hereinafter we mean landscape screen orientation). That is, there are actually only 3840x1440 dots (RGB triads) on the screen, and not 3840x2160.
Additional tests have shown that not every application is capable of displaying images in this conditional 4K resolution. For example, all tested third party applications They believe that the screen has a Full HD resolution, that is, 1920 by 1080 pixels, and the image is displayed in this resolution, and the smartphone itself scales the image to the true screen resolution. Only Sony's own image demonstrator (application Album) displays the image in 4K resolution. The second exception is video output using hardware decoding. Let's consider the features of such an output using the example of vertical and horizontal worlds with black stripes one pixel thick through a white gap also one pixel thick. The original test image is available at this link, with the world in the center. Here is its fragment:
Everything is fine with the vertical (on the left side) stripes: clear, pixel by pixel. With the horizontal ones (on the right side) everything is worse, since the dark gaps are only one subpixel thick and visually the world is seen simply as a gray field. In addition, at the bottom and top of the horizontal world, instead of stripes, some kind of mess is displayed - apparently this is an error in conversion to the resolution of the strange matrix. However, formally, a black-and-white resolution of 3840 × 2160 pixels is still implemented.
The screen has good viewing angles without inverting shades and without significant color shifts, even with large viewing deviations from perpendicular to the screen. For comparison, here are photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of the Nexus 7 and Sony Xperia XZ Premium, while the screen brightness is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m² (across the white field in full screen), and the color balance on the camera is forcibly switched to 6500 TO.
White field perpendicular to the plane of the screens:
Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field.
And a test picture:
Colors on the Sony Xperia XZ Premium screen are oversaturated, skin tones are shifted into the red region, and the color balance is noticeably different from the standard. Also, as additional tests have shown, color contrast has been slightly increased.
Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:
It can be seen that the colors did not change much on both screens, the contrast remained at a good level.
And a white field:
The brightness at an angle for both screens has noticeably decreased (by at least 5 times, based on the difference in shutter speed), but in the case of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium the drop in brightness is slightly less (brightness according to photographs is 232 versus 226 for the Nexus 7). When deviated diagonally, the black field does not lighten very much and acquires a purple tint. The photographs below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same for the screens!):
And from another angle:
The black field on the Nexus 7 is still a little darker at the corners. When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is excellent:
The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is high - about 960:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 24 ms (11 ms on + 13 ms off). The transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 34 ms. Constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, the gamma curve did not reveal any blockage in either highlights or shadows, and the index of the approximating power function was 2.31, which is slightly higher than the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve deviates little from the power-law dependence::
We did not detect the presence of dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the displayed image, which is very good.
By default, the color gamut is noticeably wider than sRGB:
If someone still finds the image on the screen of this smartphone not “bright” and “colorful” enough, then in the screen settings you can enable Extreme brightness mode.
The result is shown below:
Saturation and color contrast become even higher. The color gamut in this mode almost completely covers the Adobe RGB gamut.
Let's look at the spectra:
They are typical for Sony's top mobile devices. Apparently, this screen uses LEDs with a blue emitter and green and red phosphor (usually a blue emitter and a yellow phosphor), which, in combination with special matrix filters, allows for a wide color gamut. Yes, and the red phosphor apparently uses so-called quantum dots. Unfortunately, as a result, the colors of images - drawings, photographs and films - oriented to the sRGB space (and these are the vast majority) have an unnatural saturation. This is especially noticeable on recognizable shades, such as skin tones. The result is shown in the photographs above.
However, not everything is so bad, in the mode Professional coverage is adjusted to sRGB boundaries:
Let's look at the spectra:
It can be seen that in this mode the color components are mixed with each other, which makes it possible to reduce the color gamut. Let's look at the test image in this mode:
So much better! Hence the advice: once you have your smartphone at your disposal, be sure to select the mode Professional, only in this mode can you view photographs and watch movies obtained from most sources available to the average user.
By default, the balance of shades on the gray scale is slightly compromised, since the color temperature is higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the spectrum of an absolutely black body (ΔE), although not very large, varies noticeably from shade to shade. But at least the color temperature variation is small. (Dark areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)
This smartphone has the ability to adjust the color balance by adjusting the intensities of the three primary colors.
That's what we tried to do; the result is data signed as Corr. in the graphs above. As a result, we adjusted the color temperature and at least reduced ΔE in the bright area. This is a good result, but the brightness (as well as the contrast) has decreased from 460 to 415 cd/m².
Let's summarize. The brightness adjustment range of this screen is wide, the anti-glare properties are excellent, which allows you to comfortably use the smartphone both on a sunny day outside and in complete darkness. It is acceptable to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately. The advantages also include a very effective oleophobic coating, the absence of an air gap in the layers of the screen and flicker, moderate black lightening when the gaze deviates from perpendicular to the screen surface, and excellent uniformity of the black field. By default, the color balance is not the best, but the presence of appropriate adjustments allows it to be corrected to an acceptable level, albeit at the expense of some reduction in brightness (and contrast). Taking into account the importance of the characteristics specifically for this class of devices (and the most important thing is the visibility of information in a wide range of external conditions), the quality of the screen can be considered very high. When compared with the Sony Xperia Z5 Premium, we can conclude that Sony has done an effective job of correcting the bugs; the new smartphone finally has a high-quality sRGB mode and has eliminated dynamic brightness adjustment depending on the nature of the output image. We've been waiting for this since 2014, when the Sony Xperia Z2 appeared on the market. Better late than never!
Cameras
The front module has an Exmor RS sensor with an area of 1/3.06″ and a resolution of 13 megapixels, as well as a 22 mm wide-angle lens with f/2.0 aperture without its own flash and autofocus. The maximum light sensitivity of the matrix is ISO 6400, there is the same five-axis SteadyShot stabilization with Intelligent Active Mode as in the main camera. The shooting quality is generally good: the image is bright, sharp and detailed. However, as can be seen from the examples, the matrix still fails to organically expose dark and light areas at the same time; the sky is completely brightened even in even daylight.
For the main camera, Sony has reserved a new exclusive module that will not be available to other manufacturers for now. It uses a 1/2.3″ mobile Exmor RS sensor with a 1.22µm pixel size. The 25mm wide-angle G Lens has an f/2.0 aperture. The maximum light sensitivity of the matrix is ISO 12800, but you can manually set only ISO 3200. The main feature of the new Motion Eye camera is that it has its own fast memory, which made it possible to shoot Super slow motion video at 960 fps. True, there are noticeable limitations. Firstly, super slow mode is only available in 720p resolution, and the picture quality in it, of course, leaves much to be desired. Secondly, you cannot simply start shooting video in this mode; it can only be activated for a few seconds during normal shooting, and the result will be presented in the form of inserts in a standard video. That is, you have to either delicately capture the moment, which is sometimes not easy, or simply cut pieces of slo-mo into a longer scene. You cannot manually select areas after shooting on the resulting video; what happened is what happened.
Otherwise, the camera’s capabilities are well known to us: there is predictive hybrid autofocus and five-axis proprietary SteadyShot stabilization with two modes, the smartest of which (Intelligent Active Mode) is better not to use - everything “floats”, the shape of objects in the frame is noticeably distorted. The standard SteadyShot mode works much better.
Manual settings, as usual, allow you to set shutter speed, photosensitivity, exposure compensation, white balance, and select a focus option. However, if you use the side button, the camera always turns on in auto mode. But in automatic mode, it can take several frames even before the user presses the shutter button (Predictive Capture).
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The camera can shoot video in a maximum resolution of 4K, but this mode is selected separately in the menu. There is also a shooting mode at 60 fps, regular Full HD @ 30 fps, as well as the aforementioned slow motion. Unlike Huawei smartphones, here both for 4K video and for 60 fps the H.264 codec is used, not H.265. The camera copes well with video shooting. Focusing does not fail, there are no jerks, no artifacts, the image is bright and detailed. Sound recording is performed at a decent level, and the noise reduction system also copes with its tasks.
- Video No. 1 (111 MB, 3840×2160@30 fps, H.264, AAC)
- Video No. 2 (34 MB, 1920×1080@60 fps, H.264, AAC)
- Video No. 3 (40 MB, 1920×1080@60 fps, H.264, AAC)
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Good sharpness across the frame. |
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There is good detail in the middle part of the frame, but there are large areas of out of focus on the sides. |
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The camera copes well with macro photography. |
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The text is well done. |
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Good detail in the background. There are still many areas of blur. |
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Detailing is good only in the middle part of the frame. |
We also tested the camera on a laboratory bench using our method.
The camera turned out to be good, but I can’t even call it a flagship camera this time. What immediately catches your eye is some strange software processing that is more typical for the average segment of cameras. There are huge areas of blur that are completely unjustified. We, of course, know that Sony tends to improve cameras before sales start, but it is still difficult to say that these zones will disappear. In the center of the frame, detail is at a very good level, but in its current form the camera can only be recommended for documentary shooting.
The laboratory bench confirms good resolution in the center of the frame, but only in good lighting. However, the edge of the frame isn't too bad either. But the camera's flash is very weak. Hopefully, with updates, the camera will be able to curb its noise and geometric distortion.
This time we did not show the resolution in the 12 MP shooting mode on the graphs, since it is no different from 20 MP, except for the image size. If previously in 8 megapixel mode the camera used a sensor area of approximately 16 megapixels, then compressing the image and increasing the relative resolution, now it does not use such tricks, so geometry distortions and sharpness at the edges do not improve. However, even simply reducing the image size to 12 megapixels will increase the relative resolution and detail, that is, use the same area more efficiently, so it makes sense to shoot not at the maximum resolution. However, this is true for almost all smartphone cameras.
Telephone and communications
The smartphone, thanks to the new SoC, received a modem that theoretically supports data transfer at speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s in LTE Cat.16 networks. In the urban areas of the Moscow region, the device behaves confidently, does not lose connection in places where reception is uncertain, and quickly restores the connection. It also supports Bluetooth 5.0, both Wi-Fi bands (2.4 and 5 GHz) MIMO 2×2, there is NFC with support for Mifare Classic, so the device works with the travel document application. Can be arranged wireless point access via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels. The quality of reception in Wi-Fi networks also raises no complaints. The USB Type-C connector supports connecting external devices in USB OTG mode. The data transfer speed between a computer and a smartphone using a cable via USB 3.1 Type-C ports is about 25 MB/s.
There are no complaints about the operation of the navigation module; it can work with GPS (with A-GPS), and with the domestic Glonass, and with the Chinese Beidou. During a cold start, the first satellites are detected within tens of seconds. The smartphone is equipped with a magnetic field sensor, on the basis of which the digital compass of navigation programs usually operates.
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Software and multimedia
The latest version of Android OS 7.1.1 with a proprietary shell is used as a software platform, which with the update has become closest to the stock version of Android, both in appearance and in internal structure. Now Sony smartphones inside resemble pure “Google phones” more than any of their competitors. The once-present pull-out side panel in the launcher program menu has disappeared, mini-applications have disappeared, and the notification shade, dialer and open programs menu began to look and function the same as in pure Android.
Also familiar is the set of pre-installed programs that have been transferred from model to model over the years (Movie Creator, Sketch, AVG antivirus). Now the default keyboard in all Sony smartphones is SwiftKey.
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To play music, the device uses its own player with a familiar set of settings: the user is traditionally given the choice between manual adjustment and automatic optimization of all sound parameters using the complex ClearAudio+ function. The smartphone can play tracks in High-Resolution Audio quality; low-quality tracks are pulled out using Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE HX) technology. The set includes several more sound technologies; you can read more about all this, dedicated to the sound technologies used in all modern top-end smartphones from the manufacturer.
The sound of the main speaker is rich and quite clear, not as loud as possible, but bassy and slightly muffled. As usual, there are two speakers located at the top and bottom of the front panel, they work in conjunction with S-Force Front Surround technology.
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Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 doesn't need any special introduction. This is Qualcomm's flagship SoC and one of the most powerful mobile platforms in the world at the moment. It is significantly more powerful than its predecessor Snapdragon 821 and is noticeably ahead in all respects of Huawei’s flagship solution, the HiSilicon Kirin 960. It also has no equal in MediaTek’s portfolio. Only the top-end Samsung Exynos 8895 platform, which powers the latest Korean flagships Galaxy S8 and S8+, can compare with the Snapdragon 835. They outperform the Qualcomm SoC in comprehensive tests, but in graphics tests the Qualcomm platform simply has no equal.
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In any case, this SoC provides the system with reliable performance and in real scenarios allows the smartphone to cope with all tasks without exception. All the games we tested, including Modern Combat 5, Mortal Kombat X and others, run without the slightest slowdown at maximum settings. Sony Xperia XZ Premium is a very productive device that has a significant “margin of safety” for future updates.
Testing in complex tests AnTuTu and GeekBench:
For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry figures). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that they once passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions of test programs.
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Testing the graphics subsystem in gaming tests 3DMark, GFXBenchmark and Bonsai Benchmark:
When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).
| Sony Xperia XZ Premium (Qualcomm Snapdragon 835) |
LG G6 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 821) |
Huawei P10 Plus (HiSilicon Kirin 960) |
Meizu Pro 6 Plus (Samsung Exynos 8890 Octa) |
Samsung Galaxy S8+ (Samsung Exynos 8895 Octa) |
|
| 3DMark Ice Storm Sling Shot (more is better) |
3236 | 2409 | 1666 | 1869 | 2628 |
| GFXBenchmark Manhattan ES 3.1 (Onscreen, fps) | 42 | 12 | 10 | 13 | 19 |
| GFXBenchmark Manhattan ES 3.1 (1080p Offscreen, fps) | 41 | 24 | 17 | 24 | 36 |
| GFXBenchmark T-Rex (Onscreen, fps) | 60 | 38 | 39 | 52 | 57 |
| GFXBenchmark T-Rex (1080p Offscreen, fps) | 112 | 61 | 55 | 71 | 103 |
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Browser cross-platform tests:
As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.
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AndroBench memory speed test results:
Thermal photographs
Below is a thermal image rear surface obtained after 10 minutes of battery testing in the GFXBenchmark program:
The heating is highly localized on the left side of the device, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat chamber, the maximum heating was 38 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees), which is not very much.
Playing video
To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a table.
Further testing of video playback was performed Alexey Kudryavtsev.
We were unable to check the theoretically possible support for adapters for outputting images to an external device due to the lack of an adapter option that connects to USB port Type-C, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Method for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices) Red marks indicate possible problems associated with the playback of the corresponding files.
According to the frame output criterion, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and, in most cases, without skipping frames. When playing video files with a resolution of 1080p (1920 by 1080 pixels), the image of the actual video file is displayed exactly along the edge of the screen. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235: all gradations are displayed in shadows and highlights. Let us remind you that when watching movies you need to select the mode Professional in screen settings.
Battery life
The non-removable battery installed in the Sony Xperia XZ Premium does not have the largest capacity of 3230 mAh - it could probably fit more in a large and heavy case. Moreover, the smartphone has a powerful hot SoC and a large screen with a very high resolution. All this leads to increased system power consumption and, as a consequence, to rather modest autonomy results for such a battery.
Testing has traditionally been done at normal power consumption levels without using power-saving features. Naturally, there is a proprietary energy-saving Smart Stamina mode, and the already familiar Qnovo Adaptive Charging technology is responsible for a more gentle approach to battery charging.
Continuous reading in the Moon+ Reader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) with auto-scrolling lasted just over 15 hours until the battery was completely discharged, and when continuously watching videos in high quality(720p) with the same brightness level via home Wi-Fi network The device does not even last up to 10 hours. At the same time, in 3D gaming mode, the smartphone can work for quite a long time, more than 7.5 hours, that is, it turns out that the device “sags” only in video viewing mode.
The smartphone on the Qualcomm platform naturally supports proprietary fast charging Quick Charge 3.0, but we could not test this in practice, since the test sample arrived to us without the included network adapter. From a conventional charger with a maximum output current of 1.5 A, the device is charged for 3 hours with a current of 1.4 A at a voltage of 5 V. The smartphone does not support wireless charging.
Bottom line
The device has been available in Russian retail since the beginning of summer; the official price of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium is 55 thousand rubles. The price is the maximum, and everything should be perfect for products in this price segment, because competitors are the most powerful and popular models of our time, for example, Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+, LG G6. What does the new Japanese flagship have? The Sony Xperia XZ Premium has a decent camera with an unusual, albeit not essential, super-slow-motion function, one of the most powerful mobile platforms in the world with the widest communication capabilities. A noticeable advantage is the presence of moisture protection; in the new season, top-end smartphones from Samsung, Apple and LG are also provided with it. The screen has the highest resolution and, for once, an ideal profile system that allows you to display either a bright and colorful image or a standard sRGB picture. The combination of a powerful SoC and a bright screen with an average-capacity battery means that the hero of the review has far from the highest autonomy among modern flagships. Devices from Samsung, LG and Huawei certainly have a better situation with this. As a result, it turns out that in some ways the hero of the review is inferior to his competitors, and in some ways he is on the same level with them, but the Sony Xperia XZ Premium smartphone certainly has its own zest that can attract the attention of fans of this brand.
The Sony Xperia XZ Premium smartphone has not only a modern appearance, but also powerful hardware. The new generation Snapdragon 835 processor, which currently has no competitors, is responsible for performance. In addition, the new product has a 5.5-inch screen with excellent 4K resolution and highly sensitive cameras, capable of replacing a camera in many cases. Below is a review in which we will try to figure out whether the gadget is worth its price.
- Read also a review of a Sony smartphone for 12,500 rubles.
What's included in the Sony Xperia XZ Premium package
In a compact box along with the smartphone there is network adapter, which is used to charge the gadget, and a USB cable used to connect the product to a computer. There is also a miniature device for removing memory cards from the tray and stereo headphones. Like all the company's products, the smartphone comes with a user manual and a warranty card.
Design Sony Xperia XZ Premium
The front and back of the case are made of durable Gorilla Glass 5 and are connected to each other using an aluminum side frame. Both halves have mirror surfaces, which girls will appreciate. An oleophobic coating is provided to protect against grease stains, which does not fully cope with its function and fingerprints are still visible. The angular shape of the case does not spoil the appearance of the product; the corners of the metal frame are rounded, which significantly improves the ergonomics of the device. Thanks to the IP68 degree of protection, the device is not afraid of dust, moisture and can operate underwater at a depth of up to 1.5 meters. The manufacturer produces this model in three colors - black, bronze and silver. With dimensions of 156x77x7.9 mm, the gadget weighs 191 g.
The screen occupies 69.65% of the front side area. There are no mechanical buttons under the display; interface keys are used to control device functions. At the top there is traditionally an auxiliary camera lens, a notification LED and a speaker, which, in tandem with the main one, participates in music playback and creates surround sound. On the left side there is a hybrid slot for SIM cards and microSD, protected from dust and moisture by a plastic plug. The tray is designed to connect two nanoSim cards or one SIM card and a memory card.
On the right side there is an oblong power activation button with an integrated fingerprint sensor, a volume rocker and a key with which you can take photos or videos. At the bottom there is a USB port for connecting to a computer and charger, and a microphone. At the top there is a 3.5 mm jack for connecting a headset. In the upper left part of the rear surface the manufacturer installed:
- the main camera lens, protected around the perimeter by a steel ring to protect the lens from minor mechanical damage;
- photo flash;
- laser autofocus sensors;
- IR remote control emitter.
Sony Xperia XZ Premium: specifications
The 5.5-inch display is based on an IPS matrix with wide vertical and horizontal viewing angles (178° each). Amazingly high 4K resolution (3840x2160 pixels) and pixel density up to 801 ppi allow you to display clear and detailed images on the screen. Support for multi-touch technology (up to 10 touches) ensures smooth image scaling. With a maximum brightness level (up to 700 cd/m2) and a contrast ratio tending to infinity, you can watch videos without color distortion even in sunlight. HDR10 technology expands the dynamic range of shooting and displays a balanced image. The presence of the upscale function reduces the display resolution from UHD to FHD when working with content and applications that do not support a high image standard. This reduces energy consumption. Thanks to X-Reality technology, it is possible to add clarity and saturation to a photo or video image by “drawing” additional pixels. In addition, other important parameters can be noted:
- aspect ratio - 16:9;
- color depth - 24 bits;
- The color palette according to the sRGB standard is 138%.
Sony Xperia XZ Premium hardware
The heart of the gadget is a powerful 64-bit Snapdragon 835 processor with 8 Kryo cores operating at 4x2.45 GHz and 4x1.9 GHz. Given the advanced characteristics of the chip, there is no need to worry about its competitiveness for a few more years. An Andreno 540 video card with a clock frequency of 710 MHz is responsible for processing and displaying images. Thanks to dual channel random access memory LPDDR4X 4 GB capacity, the smartphone supports many popular programs and applications. Personal information, music, photos, videos and games are stored using 64 GB of built-in memory. If necessary, it can be increased to 128 GB by connecting:
- microSD;
- microSDHC;
- microSDXC.
According to Google statistics, as of May 2017, the number of devices running AndroidNougat is 7.7% of all Android devices in the world and their number continues to grow by an average of 2.2% per month. Due to the peculiarities of the OS, it is possible to use a large number of paid and free applications, which can be downloaded from PlayMarket.
Cameras and multimedia Sony Xperia XZ Premium
The gadget has a 19 megapixel camera model Exmor RSI MX 300 with a physical sensor size of 1/2.3 inches. Initially, the manufacturer will “test” it on its devices, and in the future there is a possibility of supplying it to other companies, such as Apple, Samsung and others. The module uses a “proprietary” algorithm for working with Bions images, which came to mobile gadgets from professional cameras. It allows you to quickly process the camera image and recognize movement in the frame.
The module uses a 6-lens GLens lens with a minimum focal length of 4 mm, capable of macro photography from a distance of 12 cm. For high-quality camera operation, the manufacturer has provided laser autofocus and an IR-RGB sensor located next to the flash. Laser focusing is used for objects located in close proximity to the lens. Phase detection autofocus is used for long distance shooting. The IR-RGB system optimally sets the white balance with different powers of artificial light sources, resulting in pictures with excellent color rendition.
Among other hardware features, I would like to note the unique shutter mechanism, which allows you to clearly photograph moving objects, and additional button, located on the right side of the smartphone body. If you hold the button for a long time, the camera is activated even when the screen is off; if you press it briefly, the shutter is released. In the settings you can set the volume control as zoom.
The camera can shoot in automatic or manual mode. With the first method, you need to press a button, and the electronics will do the rest. In the second mode, it is possible to set the required shutter speed in the range from 0.0002 to 1 second, change the white balance, perform exposure compensation, and smoothly adjust the focus.
Photos in daylight are clear, without blurring in the corners. When shooting at night, the noise reduction system is activated and at 100% zoom, small details are “eaten up”. One of the advantages of the camera is the function of shooting video in slow motion, while the image quality is reduced to HD and the sound is turned off. In return, it becomes possible to see the grace of movement inaccessible to the human eye under normal conditions. The flash operates in four modes:
- filling;
- automatic;
- eliminates the “red eye” effect;
- flashlight.
For selfies and video calls, Skype has a widescreen 13 MP camera. The sensitivity of the module is enough to take photographs with a resolution of 4160x3120 pixels and create videos in FullHD quality. The secondary camera is equipped with a number of functions, including a filter that smooths out wrinkles on the skin, a smile detection option and a self-timer mode that responds to gestures.
The model is equipped with stereo speakers that provide loud and rich sound. As befits the flagship of the XPERIA line, the smartphone uses S-Force Front Surround technology, providing three-dimensional virtual sound. The presence of the ANO function allows you to determine the type of connected headset and automatically install necessary settings sound. Many users consider the lack of an FM tuner to be a disadvantage. Built-in video and audio players support AAC, MP3, MP4, MPEG and many other file formats.
Communication Sony Xperia XZ Premium
The connection is carried out in all existing standards from 2G to 4G. Thanks to the use of Bluetooth technology, it is possible to exchange information wireless mode between compatible devices up to 10 meters away. A Wi-Fi module is provided for Internet access. Terrain orientation and location determination are carried out by satellite navigation adapters:
- A-GPS;
- BriDou;
- Glonass.
Sony Xperia XZ Premium battery review
A lithium-polymer non-removable battery with a capacity of 3230 mAh is responsible for offline operation. Its charge is enough for 1-2 days of talk time or 6 hours of watching videos in good quality. Charging is possible both from AC power and from a computer via a USB connector. A full battery recovery cycle lasts no more than 2 hours. The presence of the QuickCharge 3.0 fast charging function significantly reduces this period.
To increase battery life, the manufacturer has provided a special economical STAMINA mode, which reduces the performance of the gadget and reduces the speed of information transfer in the background. The Qnovo Adapting Charging technology used significantly increases battery life.
Sony Xperia XZ Premium: price and release date
The device was presented at the MWC 2017 exhibition in early spring. The start of sales was scheduled for the end of May. The new product appeared on the Russian market only in June. Despite the high price, SonyXperia XZ Premium quickly won the hearts of users.
Having become familiar with technical characteristics and the functionality of the gadget, one can highlight the positive and negative aspects of the model. The advantages clearly include a modern, powerful new generation processor, a sensitive fingerprint scanner, a high degree of protection that allows you to safely use your smartphone on the beach or in the shower, as well as a unique screen resolution. Considering that the model is positioned as the flagship of the XPERIA series, there are a number of shortcomings that spoil the overall impression of the gadget:
- despite the use of a new generation camera, the quality of shooting leaves much to be desired;
- the price of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium smartphone, although it meets the specifications, is too high;
- for a device of this class, the battery used has a low capacity;
- soiling of the case;
- heating of the device during prolonged use of energy-intensive applications;
- no QuickCharge included in the package.
At the end of February, two months passed and now the Japanese manufacturer has presented an even more premium model. If you want enhanced functionality, Xperia XZ2 Premium allows you to do just that.
There are few smartphones with 4K HDR screens and the Xperia XZ2 Premium is one of them. It also has a new dual camera that has very high sensitivity and can take photos in almost complete darkness. With a screen like this, it's no surprise that the camera can shoot 4K HDR video.
The new device can be presented as an enhanced version in all possible areas. They have almost the same appearance with a glass back and curves, but the XZ2 Premium has a higher screen resolution, a dual camera with new capabilities and improved sound.
The list of hardware specifications of the Xperia XZ2 Premium is presented below:
- Operating system:
- Dimensions: 80 x 158 x 6.4-11.9 mm, weight 236 g
- Snapdragon 845 processor, 6 GB memory
- Screen: 5.8 4K HDR LCD, 16:9
- Rear cameras: dual with maximum ISO 51200 for photos and 12800 for videos
- 13 MP front camera with 1/3.06 inch sensor size
- Battery: 3450 mAh
- Additional features: dynamic vibration, water protection, wireless charging, no headphone jack
Key differences between the two smartphones
The Xperia XZ2 Premium and the standard XZ2 share the same basic architecture. Both work on , but the standard version has 4 GB of memory. The Xperia XZ2 also has a 5.7-inch screen with Full HD resolution. As for the cameras, the standard variant has a single 19 MP camera, while the new smartphone has a dual camera setup. The front camera on the new device is 13 megapixels versus 5 megapixels on the standard one. The battery is also larger with a capacity of 3450 mAh versus 3180 mAh, but how this will affect the operating time will only be known after testing.
Focus on cameras
So, there is a dual rear camera. The main sensor is color, the second records a monochrome image, which differs from the approach in dual cameras on Apple and . There, the secondary camera has telephoto lenses to enlarge the image. Sony uses a black and white camera to capture more light and combines the output from the two cameras using an image processor. The developers, without false modesty, talk about ultra-high sensitivity and obtaining images without digital noise, which was previously supposedly only available in cameras with removable lenses. It will be interesting to test these claims in practice.
With the new dual camera, you can shoot photos at ISO values up to 51200 and videos up to 12800. Such levels were previously unattainable for smartphones, but the image will certainly be grainy at such values.
There are several creative functionality. An example is shooting video with a selective bokeh effect, where the background is blurred in the style of digital SLR cameras. In addition, you can partially remove color from photos and leave it only on the subject so that it stands out more.
4K HDR video recording is supported, as well as slow motion shooting at 960 fps.
Availability
Sony has not yet announced the price of the Xperia XZ2 Premium; sales are promised to begin in the summer; a more precise release date for the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium has not been announced. There will be two color options available: chrome black and chrome silver.One of the most interesting exhibits at the annual MWC 2017 exhibition at the end of February was the top-end smartphone Sony Xperia XZ Premium. It was remembered by all journalists not only for its attractive appearance, 4K resolution screen and flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, but also for its incredibly cool camera, which is capable of recording slow-motion video at 960 frames per second. This is an absolute record for mobile devices that no company will be able to break in the near future. The only catch is that even now, two months after the announcement, it is still not possible to buy a Sony Xperia XZ Premium in any country in the world.
A few hours ago, well-known insider Roland Quandt from the German resource WinFuture said that official sales flagship smartphone Sony Xperia XZ Premium will launch this summer. The Japanese corporation is going to launch its new device for sale in Europe on June 1, 2017. Thus, from the moment of announcement until the start of sales, three whole months, an entire quarter, will pass. How this will affect sales of the new product is not yet clear.
Technical specifications Sony Xperia XZ Premium
The British representative office of the online store Amazon also confirmed that official sales of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium smartphone in the UK will begin on June 1. At MWC 2017, a Sony representative hinted that this device would hit store shelves in late spring. As it turns out, the date has shifted slightly, but only by a few weeks, not months.
