This year’s MWC witnessed the birth of Sony’s new X series phones of which the XZ Premium is being touted as the ‘big daddy’ of the smartphone world. As soon as the announcement of the world’s first 4k HDR display and the super slo-mo feature were made, an awestruck me couldn’t wait to get my hands on the XZ Premium.
Also Read: Sony Xperia XZs: Worthy of Being a Flagship Rival in 2017?
After long the device finally arrived and, I must confess, it was worth the wait. Using the XZ Premium for a couple of weeks gave me an insight of its true capabilities and how powerful it really is. But, does it really justify the price tag that looks exorbitantly outrageous at Rs 59,990! Let’s take a look whether the XZ really has that ‘X’ factor?
Pros:
- Great camera
- Snappy performance
- Super slow motion video
- Vibrant display
- Water/dust resistant
Cons:
- Bulky design
- Prone to smudges
What’s Good?
The Sony Xperia XZ Premium has some of the best specs you’ll find in a smartphone. It sports a 5.5-inch 4K HDR display, which by the way is a first. Sony has brought its television’s TRILUMINOS technology into this smartphone, which helps get the best colours out of the XZ premium’s display.
This phone is a rocket thanks to a Snapdragon 835 processor and 6GB RAM in the phone. Gaming on this phone is amazing; sharpest rendering I have ever seen on a smartphone.
The phone comes with expandable memory up to 256GB with dual-SIM options. A great addition. It sports dual front stereo speakers which are loud enough and it also comes bundled with active noise cancellation via the 3.5mm headphones.
The Android Nougat 7.1 experience on the phone is smooth and Sony have kept the interface clean with minimum bloat. This Sony phone as many before it is also IP68 water resistant.
The camera performance of the phone is top notch. The 19-megapixel snapper at the back delivers some great shots in daylight although in low light you can clearly see in the pictures that the phone is trying to overcompensate for the low lit areas.
Sony Xperia XZ Premium Image sample
(Photo: The Quint)
The super slo-mo feature that records video at a whopping 960 frames per second just blew my mind and I kept playing with it, although I would have liked it to record more than just 1 second in super slo-mo.
Check out the super slow motion sample below.
The front 8-megapixel camera also performs well. I fell in love with the physical shutter button on the device. Just feels right! The 3230 mAh battery might look insufficient but surprisingly performs well despite the 4K display.
What’s Bad?
I got a chance to try out the Deepsea Black and the Luminous Chrome. At one end I found the black variant to be subtle, while the chrome clad XZ Premium turned out to be a bit too flashy for my eyes! The reflective glass design attracts a lot of smudges. The blockish and bulky design is something I am not a fan of, and I really hope Sony can move on from this design in the future.
The phone is a lot bigger than it should be and where I feel it loses some points. Also, the fact that it comes with a 4k display sometimes feels redundant as there is not much 4k content available online right now so the resolution of the display won’t come into play that much.
I had some problems with the SIM tray as every time I used it to insert and remove my SIM card, the phone restarted. Irritating, but not a deal breaker.
Why Buy It?
Look at the price tag... Rs 59,990! This phone is clearly not for everyone. It has the right elements to be the perfect smartphone, but somewhere falls behind in the design department. Yes, you can easily buy a Samsung S8 or the iPhone 7 Plus in this price range, but you won’t get the super slo-mo feature or a 4k display in those devices. So to summarise it in one line: You won’t need this Sony, rather you’d want this Sony.
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