Shootouts

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

By Liu Hongzuo - 26 Jun 2017

Performance

Performance Benchmarks

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium packs the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 platform, making it one of the first Snapdragon 835 smartphones to be officially available in Singapore. In a nutshell, Snapdragon 835 is this year's flagship chipset built on 10nm process techology, with a maximum download speed of 1Gbps (subjected to carrier/telco limits). It also has support for LTE Cat 16 and Cat 13 (downlink and uplink, respectively), and LTE Dual SIM Dual Standby (our local Xperia XZ Premium sets will have dual SIM support in 4G/3G configuration).

The chipset, like the others before it, is a combination of various components. It has a maximum clock speed of 2.45GHz, running on eight CPU cores (64-bit Qualcomm Kyro 280). Graphics are handled by a Qualcomm Adreno 540 GPU, and it supports OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0 full, Vulkan, and DX12. Fast-charging up to Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0, and Qualcomm WiPower wireless charging are supported, but the XZ Premium here only has QC 3.0 as that's the implementation used by Sony.

You can understand more about the Snapdragon 835 from these pieces we’ve put together (1, 2).

On the other hand, the Sony Xperia XZs uses a flagship chipset from the previous generation – Qualcomm Snapdragon 820. It needs no introduction since it was present in 2016 flagship devices.

Both Sony phones have 4GB RAM and microSD card support of up to 256GB. XZ Premium has 64GB internal storage, while XZs packs 32GB instead.

Our benchmarks will pit both phones against other 2017 flagship smartphones that have already surfaced in our market. It’s a mix of devices that come with Snapdragon 820, Snapdragon 835, and their rival processors of the same tier (Samsung Exynos, Huawei Kirin, etc.).

  Sony Xperia XZ Premium Sony Xperia XZs Huawei P10 Plus HTC U11 LG G6 OnePlus 3T Samsung Galaxy S8
  Sony Xperia XZ Premium Sony Xperia XZs Huawei P10 Plus HTC U11 LG G6 OnePlus 3T Samsung Galaxy S8
Launch SRP
  • From S$1098
  • From S$898
  • From S$998
  • From S$998
  • From S$988
  • From S$799
  • From S$1148
Operating system
  • Android 7.0 Nougat
  • Android 7.0 Nougat
  • Android 7.0 with EMUI 5.1
  • Android 7.0 Nougat with HTC Sense
  • Android 7.0 Nougat with LG UX 6.0
  • Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with Oxygen OS 3.2.4
  • Android 7.0 Nougat with Dream UX
Processor
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 64-bit
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 64-bit
  • Kirin 960 octa-core, 2.4GHz
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Octa-core (4 x 2.45GHz Kryo & 4 x 1.9GHz Kryo)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 quad-core (2 x 2.35GHz Kryo & 2 x 1.6GHz Kryo)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 (dual-core 2.35GHz Kryo & dual-core 1.6GHz Kryo)
  • Samsung Exynos 8895 octa-core (4x2.3 GHz & 4x1.7 GHz), 10nm process
Built-in Memory
  • 4GB RAM
  • 4GB RAM
  • 4GB RAM
  • 6GB
  • 4GB RAM
  • 6GB RAM
  • 4GB RAM
Display
  • 5.5-inch / 4K HDR (3,840 x 2,160 pixels resolution) / TRILUMINOS for Mobile / X-Reality / Dynamic Contrast Enhancer
  • 5.2-inch / Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels resolution) / TRILUMINOS for Mobile / X-Reality / Dynamic Contrast Enhancer
  • 5.5-inch / 2,560 x 1,440 pixels / LCD
  • 5.5-inch Main / 2,560 x 1,440 pixels (~550 ppi) / Super LCD 5
  • 5.7-inch / 2,880 x 1,440 pixels (564ppi) / IPS LCD / FullVision Display
  • Always-on Display
  • 5.5-inch / 1,920 x 1,080 pixels (401 ppi) / Optic AMOLED
  • 5.8-inch / 2,560 x 1,440 pixels (570 ppi) / Super AMOLED Infinity Display
  • Always-On Display
Camera
  • Rear: 19-megapixel 1/2.3-inch f/2.0, Memory-stacked Exmor RS, Triple Image Sensing (Image sensor, Laser AF sensor, RGBC-IR sensor), SteadyShot with Intelligent Active Mode (5-axis stabilization), 25mm G Lens
  • Front: 13MP 1/3.06-inch f/2.0 Exmor RS, Quick Launch and Capture, SteadyShot with Intelligent Active Mode (5-axis stabilization)
  • Rear: 19-megapixel 1/2.3-inch f/2.0, Memory-stacked Exmor RS, Triple Image Sensing (Image sensor, Laser AF sensor, RGBC-IR sensor), SteadyShot with Intelligent Active Mode (5-axis stabilization), 25mm G Lens
  • Front: 13-megapixel 1/3.06-inch f/2.0 Exmor RS, Quick Launch and Capture, SteadyShot with Intelligent Active Mode (5-axis stabilization)
  • Rear (main): 12-megapixel, f/1.8, RGB
  • Rear (secondary): 20-megapixel, f/1.8, Monochrome
  • Front: 8-megapixel, f/1.9
  • Rear: 12-megapixel, f/1.7, phase detection autofocus, OIS, dual-LED flash
  • Front: 16-megapixel, f/2.0
  • Rear: Dual 13-megapixel, f/1.8, OIS, 3-axis, phase detection AF + 13-megapixel, f/2.4, 125-degree wide-angle, dual-LED flash
  • Front: 5-megapixel, f/2.2, 100-degree FOV
  • Rear: 16-megapixel, f/2.0, phase detection autofocus, OIS, LED flash, 1/2.8" sensor size, 1.12 µm pixel size
  • Front: 16-megapixel, f/2.0, 1.0 µm pixel size
  • Rear: 12-megapixel, f/1.7, 1/2.5" sensor size, 1.4 µm pixel size, phase detection autofocus, OIS
  • Front: 8-megapixel, f/1.7
Connectivity
  • USB Type-C Gen 3.1
  • A-GNSS (GPS + GLONASS)
  • WiFi Miracast
  • Bluetooth 5.0
  • NFC
  • DNLA
  • Google Cast
  • USB Type-C, 2.0
  • A-GNSS (GPS + GLONASS)
  • WiFi Miracast
  • Bluetooth 4.2
  • NFC
  • DNLA
  • Google Cast
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, USB 2.0 Type-C, NFC
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (dual band), Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, DLNA, USB Type-C, USB 3.1 Gen 1
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, WiFi Direct, Bluetooth v4.2, NFC
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (dual band), Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, DLNA, USB Type-C, USB 3.1 Gen 1
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 + 5GHz), 4G+ LTE Cat 9 (up to 450Mbps), Bluetooth 5.0, VHT80, MIMO (2x2), GPS, GLONASS, NFC, Screen Mirroring
Storage Type
  • 64GB internal storage (expandable via microSD up to 256GB)
  • 64GB internal storage (expandable via microSD up to 256GB)
  • 64GB storage (expandable via microSD, up to 256GB)
  • 128GB internal storage
  • microSD support up to 256GB
  • 64GB internal storage
  • Expandable up to 256GB via microSD
  • 64GB internal storage
  • 64GB internal storage (UFS 2.0)
  • 256GB (MicroSD)
Battery
  • 3,230mAh, non-removable
  • Qnovo Adaptive Charging
  • Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0
  • 2,900mAh, non-removable
  • Qnovo Adaptive Charging
  • Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0
  • 3,750 mAh
  • 3,000mAh
  • Quick Charge 3.0
  • 3,300mAh
  • 3,400mAh
  • Dash Charge
  • 3,000mAh
  • Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging
  • Wireless charging
Dimensions
  • 156 x 77 x 7.9 mm
  • 146 x 72 x 8.1 mm
  • 153.5 x 74.2 x 6.98 mm
  • 153.9 x 75.9 x 7.9mm
  • 148.9 x 71.9 x 7.9 mm
  • 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.4 mm
  • 148.9 x 68.1 x 8 mm
Weight
  • 191g
  • 161g
  • 165g
  • 169g
  • 163g
  • 158g
  • 155g

 

Sunspider Javascript

SunSpider JavaScript measures the browsing performance of a device when processing JavaScript. It not only takes into consideration the underlying hardware performance, but also assesses how optimized a particular platform is at delivering a high-speed web browsing experience.

For your reference, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium and Xperia XZs scored 68.385 and 37.568 respectively, for the JetStream benchmark – again, this is a new test where we're gathering test data, so we'll be a while more before we can transition. But as usual, the higher the score the better.

 

Quadrant

Quadrant is an Android benchmark that evaluates a device's CPU, memory, I/O and 3D graphics performances. The results turned in by the Sony Mobile phones seemed to trail a little behind expectations.

 

3DMark Sling Shot

3DMark Sling Shot is an advanced 3D graphics benchmark that tests the full range of OpenGL ES 3.1 and ES 3.0 API features including multiple render targets, instanced rendering, uniform buffers and transform feedback. The test also includes impressive volumetric lighting and post-processing effects. We're running this benchmark in Unlimited mode, which ignores screen resolutions.

In a benchmarking environment, it appears that gain from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 is certainly much more than its predecessor, and it’s especially powerful in the graphics department. Yet again, it seemed to trail behind another similarly powerful device like the HTC U11. In day-to-day use, we encountered no major performance issues with both devices and they operate as expected.

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