Xperia xz premium when will it come out. Review of the smartphone Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium: cherry orchard

Xperia XZ2 Premium is Sony's top device.

Sony has officially unveiled Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium. The smartphone was released almost two months after the announcement of the "little brothers" - Sony Xperia XZ2 and Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact at MWC 2018. The smartphone boasts a gorgeous display, powerful "stuffing" and a dual camera that takes great pictures in low light conditions.

Design

The Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium comes with the recognizable Ambient Flow design that many have already seen on the Sony Xperia XZ2 and Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact.

The body of the smartphone is made of glass. The front of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium has small bezels around the edges of the display on the right and left, but the indentation at the top and bottom spoils the whole impression. On the back of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium, a flash, a dual camera with two vertically oriented modules and a fingerprint scanner are located in the center from top to bottom.

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 3840×2160 pixels (4K).

On top of the 4K display, the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium is covered with a protective 2.5 D Gorilla Glass 5.

Performance

Filling Sony smartphone The Xperia XZ2 Premium is no worse than the rest of the flagships of 2018. Responsible for the performance of the smartphone system-on-chip Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 with graphics accelerator Adreno 630.

Smartphone Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium received 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of built-in UFS flash memory. The smartphone supports the 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 the ISO to 51200 for photos and up to 12800 for video. Of course, this falls a little short of the Huawei P20 Pro (102400), but it still looks pretty decent.

The main camera of Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium is double with vertically arranged modules and 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 sensor, 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 f/1.6 aperture and 1.55µm pixel size. In the bottom line, 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 matrix with f / 2.0 aperture. In the process of taking a selfie, you can use the 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

Smartphone Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium has support for 2G/3G/4G/LTE (Cat. 18), Wi-Fi standards b/g/n/ac, GPS/GLONASS and Bluetooth 5.

In addition, the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium has an NFC chip, USB Type-C 3.1 (up to 5 Gb / s) and a 3.5 mm headphone adapter.

Operating system

The Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone runs on 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

Dimensions smartphone Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium - 158 x 80 x 11.9 mm and weight - 236 grams. The thickness and weight of the smartphone is much greater than that of the key opponents of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium - Samsung Galaxy S9 / S9 +, etc.

According to a long tradition, the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium is IP68 certified, which allows the smartphone to easily endure dust and immersion in water to a depth of more than 1 meter for more than 30 minutes.

Price

The cost of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium is still unknown. However, following sound logic, we can assume that the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium will have to pay a little more than the current Sony Xperia XZ2. 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 the summer of 2018.

We remind you that it was originally planned that the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone will be officially presented at the MWC 2018 exhibition, which was held in February 2018 in Barcelona. However, Sony only announced the Sony Xperia XZ2 and Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact, leaving the flagship for later.

Smartphone Sony Xperia XZ Premium has not only a modern appearance, but also a powerful stuffing. Responsible for performance is the new generation Snapdragon 835 processor, which currently has no competitors. In addition, the novelty has a 5.5-inch screen with excellent 4K resolution and highly sensitive cameras, capable of replacing the 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 the Sony smartphone for 12,500 rubles.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium Package Contents

In a compact box, along with a smartphone, there is an AC adapter with which the gadget is charged, and a USB cable used to connect the product to a computer. There is also a miniature memory card ejector and stereo headphones. Like all products of the company, the smartphone comes with a user manual and a warranty card.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium design

The screen occupies 69.65% of the front side area. There are no mechanical buttons under the display; interface keys are used to control the 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, plays music and forms a surround sound. On the left side is a hybrid slot for SIM-cards and microSD, protected from dust and moisture by a plastic cap. 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 button with a fingerprint sensor integrated into it, a volume rocker and a key with which you can take photos or videos. At the bottom is a USB port for connecting to a computer and a charger, and a microphone. At the top is a 3.5 mm jack for connecting a headset. In the upper left part of the rear surface, the manufacturer installed:

• the lens of the main camera, protected by a steel ring around the perimeter to protect the lens from minor mechanical damage;
• flash;
• laser autofocus sensors;
• IR emitter remote control.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium Specifications

• aspect ratio - 16:9;
• color depth - 24 bits;
• sRGB color gamut is 138%.

Hardware stuffing Sony Xperia XZ Premium

• micro SD
• microSDHC;
• microSDXC.

According to Google statistics, as of May 2017, the number of devices running Android Nougat 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 that can be downloaded from PlayMarket.

Cameras and media Sony Xperia XZ Premium

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 performance, 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. For shooting at long distances, phase detection autofocus is used. The IR-RGB system optimally adjusts the white balance under different levels of artificial light sources, resulting in pictures with excellent color reproduction.

Among other hardware features, I would like to note a unique shutter mechanism that allows you to clearly shoot moving objects, and an additional button located on the right side of the smartphone body. If you hold the latter for a long time, the camera is activated even when the screen is off, with a short press, the shutter is released. In the settings, you can set the volume control as zoom.

The camera can shoot in automatic or manual mode. In the first method, you need to press the 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, 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 small details are “eaten up” at 100% zoom. 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. Instead, it becomes possible to see the grace of movement that is inaccessible to the human eye under normal conditions. The flash works in four modes:

• filling;
• automatic;
• eliminating the effect of "red eye";
• flashlight.

For selfies and video calling, Skype provides a widescreen 13 MP camera. The sensitivity of the module is enough to take pictures with a resolution of 4160x3120 pixels and create videos in FullHD quality. The Sub Camera is equipped with a number of features, including a wrinkle-smoothing filter, a smile detection option, and a gesture-responsive self-timer mode.

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, which provides three-dimensional virtual sound. The presence of the ANO function allows you to determine the type of connected headset and automatically set the necessary sound settings. 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

• A-GPS;
• BriDou;
• Glonass.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium battery review

To increase the duration 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

Having become acquainted with technical specifications and functionality gadget, you can highlight the positive and negative sides of the model. The advantages clearly include a modern powerful next-generation processor, a sensitive fingerprint scanner, high degree protection that allows you to safely use your smartphone at the beach or in the shower, as well as a unique screen resolution. Given 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 the shooting leaves much to be desired;
• the price of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium smartphone, although it corresponds to the characteristics, is too high;
• for a device of this class, the battery used has a small capacity;
• soiled hull;
• heating the device during prolonged work with energy-intensive applications;
• No QuickCharge charger included.

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. He was remembered by all journalists not only for his attractive appearance, a 4K screen and the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, but also an incredibly cool camera that can record slow motion video at 960 frames per second. This is an absolute record for mobile devices, which no company in the near future will be able to beat. The catch is that even now, two months after the announcement, it is still not possible to buy the Sony Xperia XZ Premium in any country in the world.

A few hours ago, the well-known insider Roland Quandt from the German resource WinFuture said that official sales of the flagship smartphone Sony Xperia XZ Premium will begin 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 the announcement until the start of sales, three whole months, a whole quarter, will pass. How this will affect sales of new items is not yet clear.

Specifications Sony Xperia XZ Premium

The British representative of the Amazon online store also confirmed that the official sales of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium smartphone in the UK will begin on June 1. At MWC 2017, a Sony spokesperson hinted that this device will hit store shelves in late spring. As it turned out, the date moved a little, but only by a few weeks, not months.

In Russia good old Japanese brands are valued in a way that they are hardly valued anywhere else in the world: since Soviet times, Sony (and Panasonic) equipment has been considered something sacred, special, inaccessible and desirable. The reputation continues to this day. In many ways, this is why the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium Limited Edition (Pro version) has reached us, unlike many other European countries. In the last sentence, by the way, there was no joke - the full name of the smartphone offered in the Sony Store sounds exactly like that.

By itself, the XZ2 Premium smartphone remains itself in any version. “Limited Edition” means special packaging and premium Expert Service, as well as a subscription to an online photography course at the Xperia Ambassadors Photography Club. Yes, the school of mobile photography, we were not mistaken. The “Pro version” was added for beauty - and, probably, in order for the model name to become completely grotesque.

It is logical that the XZ2 Premium itself is remarkable not so much for its 4K display with HDR support or its hefty glass body, close to what we saw in the "normal", but for the quality of shooting both photos and videos - a scheme with two rear cameras with RGB and monochrome sensors, which allows the smartphone, among other things, to shoot with sensitivity up to ISO 51200. Has Sony finally managed to make a smartphone that surpasses competitors in shooting quality (or at least comparable to them)? Is a real work of engineering hidden behind a huge thick case?

⇡ Specifications

⇡ Design, ergonomics and software

I already wrote about the appearance of the Xperia series smartphones and its evolution in the XZ2 review mentioned above - Premium is moving along the beaten path, only “thicker, wider, heavier”.

The rear surface is mirrored, the block with the camera is shifted to the center (in this case it is a dual block), as is the fingerprint scanner, located dangerously close to it. As a result, when unlocking, you regularly miss the sensor by touching the lower camera lens with your finger. It should be constantly wiped, but the camera application will not remind you of this (although other smartphones have already learned).

Of the Premium differences, of course, the front panel is striking. On it - not a display stretched to its full height, but a traditional one, 16:9 format, with noticeable frames on the sides and significant indents at the top and bottom. The untimeliness of this decision, especially in times of winning cutouts and front cameras retracting from the body, is simply blatant - but Sony insists on the timeless design status of the XZ2 Premium and the "elitism" of such an approach that does not take into account fashion trends. Well, the Japanese are in their right, and someone may really like this approach.

But with the Xperia XZ Premium, it's also important that you like big things. This is the largest and heaviest flagship for today: 158 × 80 × 11.9 mm, weight - 236 grams. For comparison: Samsung Galaxy Note9, which has a larger battery and a screen more than half an inch larger, weighs 201 grams. In reviews, it is often customary to say in such cases that “the gadget is pleasantly heavy on the hand,” but Sony is probably overkill. You don’t experience any serious problems when using the XZ2 Premium - due to the rounded edges and the back, you hold it in your hand without any problems, as well as you steer in the usual two-handed way. But it's hard to talk seriously about real convenience.

Of course, there are no questions about the build quality and materials used - tempered glass (Gorilla Glass 5) on both sides, metal around the perimeter, dust and moisture protection according to IP65 / 68 standards (you can drown a smartphone to a depth of one and a half meters for half an hour and do not worry about his condition - however, such a case is not considered a guarantee, keep in mind). There is no mini-jack, and the sled for SIM-cards and memory cards are deprived of a pin lock - you can get them by simply picking them up with your finger. And yes, as a result, the smartphone will reboot - Sony's traditions are unshakable.

Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium: the left side is devoid of functional elements

There are two color variations of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium - black, as we tested, and silver. Both look serious, noble and boring - however, in this price category, one should not expect any kind of game. It's still "premium".

Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium, top: SIM and/or memory card slot and microphone

In terms of functional elements, everything is standard for Xperia: in addition to the power and volume keys, a separate capture key is also located on the right side - the volume button is not used for this. Despite the presence of a huge empty space under the display, the navigation keys are made, as is now customary in Android, virtual and are located in its lower part. There is nothing more to highlight in the appearance of the XZ2 Premium. There are no extra sensors above the screen - for example, for face recognition. This option is present, as on most smartphones running Android 8.0 Oreo, but it only uses front camera and does not differ in high reliability (and in this case it cannot boast of the speed of work). Rely on the fingerprint scanner.

I have already mentioned its features above. Moreover, to use it, you need to intercept a rather slippery (still glass) smartphone in your hand - the scanner is doubly suboptimal. Alas, compared to the “normal” XZ2, nothing has been fixed here: they were obviously developed simultaneously according to a single principle. As for the scanner itself, this is a standard capacitive sensor, the data for which needs to be rewritten regularly. It does not demonstrate any record speed of work, but it is also impossible to say that it works for an annoyingly long time.

Screenshot gallery

By itself, the shell for Android 8.1 is the same as in XZ2 - there have been no major changes in the months since its release. Corporate strict style and a large number of very decent branded Sony services are accompanied by slightly outdated logic (with a mandatory application menu) and various recommendations for installing applications (a separate screen in the application menu is dedicated to this). There are no specific solutions specifically for the Premium Limited Edition (Pro) model - normal operating system for fans of the brand.

In November, the XZ2 Premium, along with several other Xperia XZ series smartphones, will be one of the first to receive the update to Android 9.0 Pie - despite Sony Mobile's not very high positions in smartphone sales, relations with Google remain very good.

⇡ Display and sound

The 4K display on the "premium" Xperia first appeared three years ago () - but since then no one has followed the example of Sony, so this element no longer seems to be such a significant advantage of the Main flagship in the Japanese company's family. Every year the display added tenths of an inch, last year it added support for HDR, but the essence has not changed. Now it is a 5.8-inch IPS LCD screen that always shows the picture in Full HD resolution, switching to 4K (3840 × 2160) only when watching videos in various applications (including Youtube). The display format is 16:9. While everyone is fighting for every square millimeter of the front panel of the case, trying to occupy them all with a screen, Sony shows iron endurance.

Unfortunately, Sony continues to ignore OLED screens, although without their use it is impossible to achieve a real breakthrough in the quality of displaying images on mobile screens.

The panel itself, in its characteristics, does not differ much from the one we saw. The measured brightness is 492 cd/m 2 , the contrast ratio is 1311:1. The numbers are even better than those of the XZ Premium, and in combination with a full-fledged screen “sandwich” (with a polarizing layer, an oleophobic coating, and so on), this means a completely acceptable picture in any conditions, including under the scorching sun. But just acceptable, nothing more - you can’t call it truly comfortable viewing in these conditions: the colors fade.

And everything we want to see.

Update | 01/28/2018

The Sony smartphone has passed the FCC certification with a 5.7-inch screen but a surprisingly small physical size compared to most Sony phones. However, it can get rid of the 3.5mm headphone jack.

So we really want to see a new design for the Sony Xperia XZ Premium 2 and luckily it looks like we're in for it as not only has Sony's CEO claimed that some of the upcoming smartphones will be getting a new design, but the specs list dimensions that confirm design changes.

big screen

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium's 5.46-inch screen isn't the smallest, but to really make full use of its 4K resolution, it really needs to get bigger, and with competitors like , a larger diagonal would help the Xperia XZ Premium 2 compete. .

It shouldn't get huge, but going up to 5.8 inches could make a big difference, especially if Sony can shrink the screen bezels to keep it roughly the same physical size.

Less software bloat

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium weighs down with a plethora of pre-installed apps, many of which duplicate the features of Google's apps (which are also on the phone) or just aren't very useful.

With the new Sony Xperia XZ Premium 2, we'd like less bells and whistles, with a clean Android version. Considering that the whole app store makes it easy and quick to fill in any problems, so the basic apps are enough for us, without duplicates.

Dual camera

The XZ Premium offered a good camera, but an additional lens could make it even better.

Sony's flagship phones tend to have decent cameras, and the Xperia XZ Premium is no exception. In our review, we noted the camera's impressive Slo-Mo and ability to capture a lot of detail, but this is just one lens against the competition with dual cameras, and we want Sony to follow suit.

The dual lens isn't just a marketing gimmick, as it could unlock new features, including lossless optical zoom, that could bode well for the Xperia XZ Premium 2.

More power!

The Xpreia XZ Premium offered enough performance, but early rumors suggest the new model won't get an upgraded chipset or more RAM, which can be disappointing not only because it's reasonable to expect a performance boost from the new model, but also because at the time of the phone's release, The specs seem frankly outdated for a high-end phone.

So hopefully this rumor is wrong and the Xperia XZ Premium 2 will actually see a performance boost. We would like to see a smartphone with the new Snapdragon 845 chipset. RAM may stay at 4 GB, but we will not refuse to increase this figure.

SlotSIM cards

It's a small point, but in our review of the Xperia XZ Premium, we noted that the SIM slot is extremely inconvenient, which is why we'd like to see it redesigned on the Sony Xperia XZ Premium 2.

It's not something most people need to interact with often, but that doesn't mean the SIM card slot shouldn't be of decent quality.

Need a 4K display? probably on the way too.