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Sony's shiny new Xperia XZ Premium has a Snapdragon 835, 4K HDR display and can record 960FPS!

By James Lu - on 27 Feb 2017, 4:30pm

Sony's shiny new Xperia XZ Premium has a Snapdragon 835, 4K HDR display and can record 960FPS!

Sony fans disappointed by last year's showings will be pleased to know that Sony is going all in for 2017. The Japanese brand just announced no less than four new smartphones at MWC 2017, with the new Xperia XZ Premium leading the way with a number of world first innovations.

Xperia XZ Premium

The 5.5-inch Xperia XZ Premium has the world’s first 4K 2,160 x 3,840, (801ppi) HDR display in a smartphone. At its press conference at MWC, Sony also announced a partnership with Amazon for 4K HDR content, so you'll be able to take advantage of that unique HDR display.

The most interesting new feature on Sony’s new flagship is a new rear camera system Sony is calling Motion Eye. Sony has embedded fast memory right into the 19-megapixel rear camera, which lets it capture super-slow motion footage of 960FPS at 720p resolution. That's four times slower than any existing smartphone and something many DSLRs and high-end cameras aren't capable of doing.

The additional memory in the camera lets the phone start buffering shots before you've even pressed the shutter button, so as soon as you do press the button, there won't be any lag, the camera will start recording the frame it was already taking at that exact moment. To help capture the shot, the rear camera uses the same triple-sensor system we first saw on the Xperia XZ: laser AF, an RGBC infrared sensor for adjusting white balance on the fly, and an updated ExmorRS image sensor. The front camera is a 13-megapixel shooter.

Design-wise, the phone looks quite similar to the Xperia Z5 Premium, which was the first Sony phone with a 4K display, with a rectangular body and an ultra shiny mirror finish. As with most of Sony's premium smartphones, the XZ Premium is rated IP68 against dust and water. The fingerprint scanner is once again integrated into the side power button. We like this position as it's ergonomic and faster than front or rear mounted fingerprint scanners.

Specs-wise, surprisingly the XZ Premium is powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 835 processor. This chip was rumored to be exclusive to Samsung, but while this seems to disprove that rumor, it looks like Samsung will still be the first phone available for sale with an 835 processor, as the XZ Premium isn't slated for release until at least May.

Xperia XZs

Launching alongside the XZ Premium is the XZs. The 5.2-inch smartphone has exactly the same 19-megapixel Motion Eye camera system that’s found in the XZ Premium, which lets it also do 960 FPS slow motion. The XZs has a more run-of-the-mill 5.2inch Full HD display, and instead of glass on both sides, the XZs has a metal back. It is still IP68 dust and water resistant like its more premium bigger brother.

The XZs is running on the far less impressive Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, with a launch expected sometime in April.

Xperia XA1 and XA1 Ultra

Rounding out the Sony's offerings at MWC are the Xperia XA1 and XA1 Ultra, which Sony is calling its "super mid-range" line. The XA1 has a 5-inch 720p display, while the XA1 Ultra has a 6-inch Full HD display. Both devices are powered by Mediatek Helio P20 processors, and have a 23-megapixel f/2 rear camera lens. The front camera is different however: the XA1 has an 8-megapixel front camera, while the XA1 increases that to 16-megapixels and adds optical image stabilization.

Both phones also include a new software feature called “Xperia Actions” which looks similar to the machine learning algorithms we've seen on the HTC U Ultra and Huawei mate 9. Sony claims Xperia Actions will learn user habits and automatically change settings and manage apps according. For example, when you go to bed your Xperia can learn your bedtime routine and automatically adjust the screen brightness and call volume. The XA1 and XA1 Ultra is scheduled for an April release.

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