World’s First: Sony’s New Xperia Flagships Bring 1000FPS Slo-Mo Camera & 4K HDR Screen

Sony has been lurking behind the others for a year or two and its flagships seemed to lack a certain flare last year. This year at MWC, Sony has unwrapped its duo of flagships, Xperia XZs and Xperia XZ Premium, which come with a lot of “World’s firsts” in their specs sheet.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium

XZ Premium carry’s over the title first debuted with Z5 Premium and takes it to another level. There are so many unique features in the device that it is being called Sony’s most high-end device to date.

Design

The XZ Premium comes with some killer features to boot but let’s start off with the design. It completes last year’s design by merging two sheets of Gorilla Glass 5, the front and the back, and wrapping it around the phone. This is still a mystery as to how Sony and Corning managed that. The result is phone with a gorgeous almost all glass build. Just like the previous 4K flagship, Z5 Premium, the rear comes with a “premium mirror effect”.

The phone is IP68 rated for resistance against water and dust.

Display

The display boasts the world’s first 4K HDR Triluminos panel with an astounding 801 pixels per inch. Triluminos is Sony’s marketing term for QDot displays. Its size stands at 5.5-inch. The screen is said to be a much bigger improvement even from 4K panel on the Z5 Premium. It comes with 40% better contrast and brightness. The HDR features is also pretty unique in smartphones and is only slowly being launched in TVs.

Internals

The phone will come powered with Snapdragon 835 and 4GB of RAM. The built-in storage is 64GB which is expandable via a micro SD card. The new chipset also brings gigabit LTE to the phone, which is yet to be announced on any other phone.

Motion Eye Camera

 

The Motion Eye camera is another standout feature. Unlike common sensors, it uses three layers, with the third being the memory one. It can be used to store images rather than transferring them to the RAM. It can capture images 5x faster and enables 1000fps slow motion video.

There’s predictive capture on board too which stores four pictures even before you press the shutter. This feature uses motion detection to maximize the chances of a good photo.

Sony uses a 19MP sensor with OIS, bigger pixels and its hybrid autofocus system which uses laser and phase detection autofocus. The video capabilities take the throne as the phone is capable of 4K HDR and 960FPS slow motion video – a first for a phone. XZ Premium makes use of a new sensor similar to the one it recently announced a few days ago, though this one has a resolution of 720p.

Here are a few samples from the Sony Xperia XZ Premium’s MotionEye Camera:

Other Specs

The front camera is a 13MP unit, an uncommon practise amongst flagship phones.

The battery is listed as 3,230mAh which is charged with the USB Type-C 3.1 port. Sony’s phones now come with QNovo tech which prevents the battery from deteriorating even after two whole years. There’s Quick Charge 3.0 support as well and Sony

There’s 24-bit audio and stereo speakers on board too. Fingerprint sensor retains the unique position on the side.

The phone will go on sale in late spring while the price will be revealed later on.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium Specifications:

• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (octa-core Kryo)
• GPU: Adreno 540
• OS: Android 7.1 Nougat
• Supported Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, Dual-SIM
• Design:
  • Dimensions: 156 x 77 x 7.9 mm
  • Weight: 195 grams
  • Water-resistant, Dust-proof, IP68 rated
  • All Glass Body
• Display:
  • 5.5” Triluminos LCD with 4K 3840 x 2160 resolution (801 ppi)
• Memory:
  • RAM: 4 GB
  • Internal: 64 GB
  • Card slot: Yes, supports up to 256GB
• Camera:
  • Primary: 19 MP f/2.0 ½.3” sensor, Dual-LED flash, 4K and 720p 960fps slo-mo video recording, OIS, Triple Hybrid Phase Detection and Laser Autofocus, RGBC-IR sensor, Predictive Capture
  • Secondary: 13 MP, 1080p
• Fingerprint scanner
• Connectivity: USB Type-C 3.1, NFC, USB-OTG, GPS, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi ac, headphone jack
• Colors: Luminous Chrome, Deepsea Black
• Battery: 3,230 mAh; with QNovo Protection and Quick Charge 3,0
• Price: TBA

Sony Xperia XZs

Xperia XZs, as the ‘s’ suffix suggests, is the refresh of the six month old Xperia XZ flagship. Unlike the XZ Premium, it doesn’t feature a complete overhaul, partly due to Samsung hoarding all the Snapdragon 835 chipsets, but still brings some massive upgrades.

Design

XZs borrows its looks from the original model and almost nothing is changed. It has the same ALKALEIDO build on the back while the front features a curved Gorilla Glass. The dimensions remain the same and so does the weight. The phone is also IP68 rated against water and dust.

The fingerprint sensor resides on the side.

However, the phone does bring new colours. You get to choose from Ice Blue, Warm Silver and Black.

Display

Yet again, the XZs is more like its predecessor than the XZ Premium. It misses out on the crisp 4K HDR display but instead goes for a 1080p Triluminos Q-Dot display of its predecessor.

Internals

Xperia XZs even retains most of the internals, coming with a Snapdragon 820, though with 4GB of Ram this time. The storage capacity options remains the same as well. Micro SD support is there for those who need extra storage.

The battery is slated to be 2,900mAh and come with the same QNovo Protection and Quick Charge 3.0 based on the USB Type-C 3.1 port. There’s 24-bit audio and stereo speakers on board too.

Camera

The major upgrade comes in the form of the camera. While the XZ already had one of the best cameras of 2016, this upgrade will set new standards for the year.

XZs uses the same flagship 19MP camera with 4K video and 960fps slow motion video. The bigger pixels, three layered sensor with its own memory, Predictive Capture and triple sensor hybrid autofocus put this 2017 XZ series in a league of its own.

He front camera is the same 13MP shooter which was also used in its predecessor.

Other Details

The phone is touted to come with Android 7.1 out of the box. It will arrive around the end of March or early April. Expect the pricing to be similar to the original XZ and below that of XZ Premium.

Xperia XZs will go on sale starting April 5th for $700.

Sony Xperia XZs Specifications:

• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (quad-core Kryo)
• GPU: Adreno 530
• OS: Android 7.0 Nougat
• Supported Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, Dual-SIM
• Design:
  • Dimensions: 146 x 72 x 8.1 mm
  • Weight: 161 grams
  • Water-resistant, Dust-proof, IP68 rated
  • ALKALEIDO build
• Display:
  • 5.2” Triluminos LCD with 1080p resolution (424 ppi)
• Memory:
  • RAM: 4 GB
  • Internal: 32 GB
  • Card slot: Yes, supports up to 256GB
• Camera:
  • Primary: 19 MP f/2.0 ½.3” sensor, Dual-LED flash, 4K and 720p 960fps slo-mo video recording, OIS, Triple Hybrid Phase Detection and Laser Autofocus, RGBC-IR sensor, Predictive Capture
  • Secondary: 13 MP, 1080p
• Fingerprint scanner
• Connectivity: USB Type-C 3.1, NFC, USB-OTG, GPS, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi ac, headphone jack
• Colors: Ice Blue, Warm Silver and Black
• Battery: 2900 mAh; with QNovo Protection and Quick Charge 3,0
• Price: $700