Sony gets serious with their new Xperia XZ2 Smartphones at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The release of the new Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 compact shows real effort in reclaiming their share of the high-end mobile space. New technology, new looks, and some intersecting new features make the two devices a significant return to form for Sony.
Steven Ambrose took some time out of his crazy schedule at MWC and put the new Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 compact to the test.
Sony’s new Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact have shrunk the large and increasingly old-fashioned bezels of their predecessors and offer a taller slimmer and smoother look that is far easier to hold and use. The two new models share almost identical technical specifications. Sony has always maintained that a smaller flagship with all the technological bells and whistles was something its customers wanted.
The new look and feel is a significant departure from older Sony Models and the Gorilla Glass 5 front, and back on the XZ2, is mated to a smoothly curved rear in exciting colours. The look feel and finish is excellent and make these the most comfortable Sony mobiles to date.
Hardware
The Xperia XZ2 offers a 5.7-inch screen and the XZ2 compact a 5” display and is marginally thicker than the XZ2. The XZ2 compact also forgoes the vibration mode, apart from that the technical specifications are identical to its big brother.
The two models offer the latest Qualcomm silicon namely the new Snapdragon 845 processor along with 3Gig of Ram and 64GB of storage. The news processor is amazingly fast with a smooth fluid feel no matter what you throw at the device. IP68 Waterproofing is standard along with dual stereo speakers.
In fact, the entire focus of the new Sony XZ series is entertainment with an excellent screen offering FHD+ resolution and HDR playback. The new Sony screens are some of the best available with vivid, accurate colours and clarity and sharpness that must be seen to be appreciated.
The cameras, one of Sony strengths, have been updated and offer a 19Mp resolution on the front camera. The main camera can record 4k HDR video. The Ultra slow-mo feature introduced last year has been improved and can now work at full HD resolution at 960 frames per second, the only drawback is full HD recording is limited to 3 seconds, and Full HD offers six seconds of recording. The effects are amazing and once tried is endlessly entertaining and straightforward to achieve.
The Sony 3D creation face scanning app works with the front and rear-facing camera to offer a full 3D rendering of faces. There is a dedicated camera button on the right-hand side which is something that all phones should have, as it makes taking photos far easier than using onscreen buttons.
One new feature was an upgraded haptic feedback engine offers a dynamic vibration system that vibrates the phone in time to music or with games to enhance the experience. This felt a bit odd at first. I was not convinced with music especially over headphones when you place the phone in your pocket.
Gaming was another story the vibrations made the game come alive. Felling the experience is what Sony is after and this is one of the only new features I saw on mobiles at MWC, the vibration strength can be adjusted and even switched off as you would prefer.
Wireless charging is standard along with Qualcomm fast charge 3 via the wired USB C port.
Software
The news XZ2 series is offered out of the box with Android 8 Oreo and the Sony interface or overlay is clean simple and faithful to stock Android. Sony offers several upgraded and useful apps. The camera app is easy to use in auto mode and offers some pro features. High-resolution audio is also part of the package.
Conclusion
Sony has really tried to offer a different package in this year’s flagship. The focus in on entertainment and the Xperia XZ2 with its outstanding 5.7” screen is brilliant at movies YouTube and games. The speakers are clear and loud, and the cameras are outstanding. The fast Qualcomm 845 processor ample memory and top of the range build quality will make the Xperia XZ2 range contenders for the top phone of 2017.
The competition is fierce but if you like Sony these two flagships will leave very little on the table and compete with the other manufacturers in almost every way.
The Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 compact will be on sale in South Africa from early May 2018 at competitive prices and packages from the various operators.
Steven Ambrose | Techhuman.com | @ambio | steven@techhuman.com |
For more information https://www.sonymobile.com/za |
