Sony has moved away from its ‘Z Series’ moniker for its next flagship smartphone and lifted the lid off a fresh major handset, the Sony Xperia XZ.
Unveiled at the IFA conference in Berlin, Sony's latest handset brings a host of new improvements while keeping some of the best bits of its predecessor, the Sony Xperia Z5, such as a IP65/IP68 dust-tight, waterproof design.
The flagship smartphones was released alongside a whole host of new Sony products including the MDR-100X noise-cancelling wireless headphones and the tiny FDR-X3000R action cam. The company also revealed its in-ear personal assistant, the Xperia Ear will be released this November and that its bringing back a digital-only Walkman as part of its new Signature Series of audiophile-grade amplifiers and headphones.
Touting a 5.2in Full HD 1080p display, the Sony Xperia XZ boasts a vibrant screen that uses Bravia technology as seen in the firm’s TV sets.
The screen is embedded in a “loop surface” design which Sony says offers a “perfect hand fit" due to its curved edges. WIRED got hands-on with the device and were impressed by how ergonomically pleasing the handset is. Measuring 8.1mm thick, it's slightly fatter than its predecessor, but actually feels smaller and more friendly in the hand due to its curved design.
As for weight, the Xperia XZ comes in at 161g, which isn't noticeably heavy or light for a phone of its size. One negative is that the phone does feel slightly cheap in hand, mainly due to its mostly-plastic chassis, which we can't help but compare to the chrome-plated Xperia Z5 Premium released around a year ago.
Another design point worth making is that this is also the first Sony device that features the new Type-C USB charging port, making your micro-USB charging cables redundant.
Perhaps the XZ’s most unique feature is its intelligent battery charge function, a software improvement that sees the smartphone learning your charging habits. While left plugged-in, charging overnight for instance, the XZ won’t juice up its 2900mAh battery further than 90 per cent. It will complete the rest of the charge closer to the time it estimates you will begin using it, for example, an hour or so before you wake up, or when your alarm is set.
This, Sony said, is to minimise damage to battery cells, so that it lasts longer over time. It works by controlling the liquid current going into cells so that the damage to them is minimised and thus “doubles the battery span life” over time.
Sony added that this update is a response to customers feeling upset that wear and tear of their smartphone battery meant they were needing to replace them after just a few years of heavy use. Sony believes this should see its smartphones’ batteries lasting much longer, and as a result, delaying the need for a regular upgrade.
Inside the Sony Xperia XZ is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB or 64GB of storage, depending on the model you opt for. It runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and while Sony couldn't confirm, it's very likely to be on the list to get the Android 7.0 Nougat update as and when the firm makes it available.
In WIRED's quick hands-on tests, the XZ handled everything we threw at it with ease, with apps and widgets on the Android interface popping up instantly, giving us no room for concern in terms of performance.
As for photos, Sony’s latest smartphone doesn't bring anything particularly new to the table in terms of spec. It features a 13MP front camera for selfies and a 23MP rear snapper which is capable of recording 4K videos.
However, one notable new software feature built into the rear camera sensors is the addition of what the Japanese tech firm is calling “triple image sensing technology”. According to Sony, this helps improve focusing on subjects and sensing the distance between objects to help improve digital stabilisation, picture and colour quality, and auto-focus speeds.
The Sony Xperia XZ will be available in black, platinum and blue colour options from “early October”, although pricing is still yet to be revealed.
Alongside the XZ, Sony will also be launching the Xperia X Compact, a slightly smaller 4.6in version of the flagship smartphone. This will be available at the end of September in black, white and misty blue colour options. Again, Sony is remaining tight-lipped regarding pricing for the Xperia X Compact.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
