Shootouts

Sony Xperia XZ Premium & XZs review: The first 4K HDR phone and its sidekick

By Liu Hongzuo - 26 Jun 2017

Imaging, Battery Life and Conclusion

Imaging

On the Xperia XZ Premium, you’ll find a 19-megapixel rear camera that’s supported by a 1/2.3-inch sensor and 25mm G Lens at f/2.0. It’s a lower megapixel count than last year’s Xperia XZ, which sat at 23-megapixels. Despite shrinking the camera to 19-megapixels, Sony still managed to increase the pixel size of the sensor by 19% (bringing it to 1.22µm). The sensor now captures 19% more light, resulting in up to 50% less noise when compared to the Xperia XZ.

Other features include Predictive Hybrid Autofocus, Triple Image Sensing technology, as well as low-light support up to ISO 12,800. There’s 5-axis stabilization provided, but it’s only for video-recording. The two new features, Predictive Capture and Motion Eye, are possible thanks to their new memory-stacked sensor. In essence, the memory-stacked Exmor RS sensor is five times faster when it comes to scanning and data transfer from the top of the sensor to the stacked DRAM (25Gbps). From the DRAM to the processor, however, it's still at typical 5Gbps. 

The Xperia XZs features the same rear camera, with all the same specifications, down to the memory-stacked sensor. As mentioned in the Features section, you won’t miss out on any of the core features if you choose to pick it over the XZ Premium.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium. Click for full-resolution image.

100% crop of above shot.

Besides its vibrant colors, the sharpness in the Xperia XZ Premium is truly great. You can see the details on the bottle to the left of the photo, the alarm clock, and various objects in the test shot. It's noise control and contrast handling seemed a little off, but nothing too alarming for a smartphone camera. 

Sony Xperia XZs. Click for full-resolution image.

100% crop of above shot.

The Sony Xperia XZs seemed better at handling contrast, but it doesn't capture detail as well as its flagship sibling. Could it be the slightly different DSPs in both Qualcomm chips resulting in different image processing outcomes? Nonetheless, the Xperia XZs shots are acceptable, with average color and contrast handling.

 

Battery Life

Our standard battery test for mobile phones has the following parameters:

  • Looping a 720p video with screen brightness and volume at 100%
  • Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on
  • Constant data streaming through email and Twitter

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium has a battery capacity of 3,230mAh, while the smaller Xperia XZs comes with 2,900mAh. Both phones support Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0, and they use Qnovo’s Adaptive Charging technology for more intelligent and safer charging. To stretch out their battery uptime, there’s Smart Stamina mode – a mainstay of newer Sony smartphones.

Unfortunately, battery life has never been the strongest point for Xperia phones, and the Xperia XZ Premium and XZs are no different in this regard.  The low battery uptime on the XZ Premium is partly affected by the demanding processing power and video upscaling. For the XZs, it boils down to its smaller battery capacity at just 2,900mAh. 

Their saving grace? Both phones support Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 to help you quickly charge them when required.

 

Conclusion

Well, we certainly were expecting Sony to charge a premium for the Xperia XZ Premium, since they have the honor of being the first brand to bring in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835-based phone to our shores.

The S$1,098 price tag is good news, even if the HTC U11 (S$998) is better-priced. What’s certain is how Snapdragon 835 phones are going to be around the thousand-dollar mark, and it makes little sense to grab a similarly-priced smartphone with an older/less-capable processor (Huawei P10 Plus is also retailing at S$998).

As such, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium certainly is value for money, given that it also offers a 4K HDR display. The new features like Motion Eye and Predictive Capture are very practical for everyday use, and it’s founded on the (slight) advancement in smartphone camera technology.

However, battery life is a huge point of contention for smartphone users, and many competing phones are superior in this arena (after factoring in price and processing power, too).

The Xperia XZs packs the older Snapdragon 820 chipset while also offering some important features present in the flagship at S$898. The best comparison in our list is none other than the Huawei P10 (S$798), with a similar level of processing throughput, along with similar display size, resolution, battery capacity, and both phones come with unique rear camera features. Having to choose one phone over the other boils down to personal preference – it’s deciding between that hundred bucks, its physical appearance, or the slightly higher battery life – factors that are all highly personal.

Unfortunately, the OnePlus 3T (S$799) is still the phone to beat at this tier from a value-for-money perspective since it offers a better processor, and a significantly longer battery life and is cheaper than the Xperia XZs. Imaging performance is however better on the Sony device.

All things said and done, it's clear that the both the Sony Xperia XZ Premium and XZs are great shooters and offer unique imaging features like the super slow-motion video capture and predictive capture that set them apart from the competition. Raw performance and benchmarking are where both phones seem to under deliver for their expected tier. Even so, we highly encourage experience the devices at the Sony stores or at other retail outlets to experience what the phone offers, complete with their nice display and interesting imaging options. Positive experiences can override benchmark outcomes, but at the end of the day, we're here to give you the full outlook should you need a balanced view of the phone and its standings in our opinion.

Sony chose to focus on being one of the first in Singapore to bring Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 835 chipset, improve on their camera mastery and that they achieved. Hopefully, the new experiences they bring to the table are enough to sway the fickle smartphone market towards the latest Xperia devices.

Final Ratings

Sony Xperia XZ Premium


Click for detailed results break-down

Sony Xperia XZs

Click for detailed results break-down

 

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