Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium Features Place It Among Top-Ranked Smartphones

Sony is entering the upper tier of the smartphone market with a newly announced Xperia XZ2 Premium. The handset, announced on April 16, has the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor users would find in the latest handsets from Samsung and LG. It’s also latched on to new design concepts that eliminate the physical home button, but comes with what might be one of the most powerful dual-lens cameras on the market. With a high-capacity battery and large display to boot, users should be able to surf the Web, watch videos, and play with apps for hours each day without rushing to recharge the unit. This slide show cover the features the Xperia XZ2 Premium will deliver when it hits store shelves this summer. 

Sony is pitching the Xperia XZ2 Premium as a direct competitor to devices like Samsung’s Galaxy S9 or Apple’s iPhone X. But unlike those devices, Sony’s handset has thick bezels around the screen that make its design feel rather Bulky. Sony has opted for a curved back panel design that the company says, makes it much easier to grip than competing devices. Unlike the iPhone X, Sony has bundled a physical fingerprint sensor in the smartphone.

Sony’s Xperia XZ2 Premium comes with a 5.8-inch screen that features a 4K resolution and support for high dynamic range (HDR) to improve color performance. It also has what Sony calls its X-Reality feature that will take video and images that wasn’t produced HDR and up-convert it to HDR quality. This feature will produce sharper visuals in apps, videos, and Web pages, according to Sony

Sony has followed the example of all other Android smartphone makers and built its premium smartphone models around the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. The processor will deliver 30 percent faster performance than previous Sony handsets, according to the company. It’ll also enable faster downloads via WiFi connections, Sony said. A TV episode, for instance, will take just 20 seconds to download on the Xperia XZ2, Sony said.

Sony is promising outstanding photos in its Xperia XZ2 Premium, thanks to a new dual-camera array on the back with what the company calls its “Motion Eye” and “AUBE” technology. Together, those technologies aim at capturing more of a picture than previous cameras and delivering higher-quality photos. Sony also said that the camera has the “world’s highest” ISO sensitivity for video recording on a smartphone and its low-light capturing ability should make its photos and video as attractive as those captured by SLR digital cameras. Video can be recorded in 4K HDR.

Sony’s Xperia smartphone comes with a battery featuring a 3,540mAh capacity. While the company stopped short of saying exactly how long it will last on a single charge, Sony did promise at least 24 hours. The smartphone’s battery life is bolstered by a feature that will cut the battery’s energy consumption to extend its life. A Battery Care feature will also optimize how the battery is charged so it doesn’t lose power too quickly.

Sony says that its Xperia XZ2 Premium will stand up to the elements and should hold up even when it’s dropped. In order to achieve that, Sony’s smartphone has IP65/IP68 water and dust resistance. Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 is also included on the front and back to resist shattering.

Since Sony has designed the Xperia XZ2 Premium to deliver high-end power, it’s perhaps no surprise the device comes with 6GB of memory— which is more than enough RAM for the vast majority of apps. However, Sony is only offering 64GB of internal data storage. Those who want to expand storage can bundle a microSDXC card with up to a 400GB capacity. Many of its competitors allow for cards with 1TB capacity.

The Xperia XZ2 Premium comes with support for high-resolution audio. Sony has included a feature it calls DSEE HX that will take lower-quality compressed audio tracks and upgrade it to higher-quality audio. The device has two front-facing stereo speakers and uses an S-Force Front Surround system to create a virtual surround sound experience.

Sony has confirmed that its smartphone will be available with Android 8 Oreo, the latest Google operating system. However, Sony will bundle many of its own apps in the operating system, including its Xperia Lounge entertainment app and Movie Creator, among several others. 

For now, Sony is keeping some of the critical details surrounding its Xperia XZ2 Premium quiet. In a statement, Sony said that it plans to release the high-end handset this summer in markets around the world, including the U.S. Sony has yet to announce pricing and whether it will offer the smartphone unlocked or keep it locked to certain carriers’ networks.