6/21/2017 SonyXperiaXZPremiumreview:Premiumyes,butcompetitionisahead|TheIndianExpress

Home Technology Tech Reviews Sony Xperia XZ Premium review: Premium yes, but competition isahead

Sony Xperia XZ Premium

review: Premium yes, but
competition isahead
Sony Xperia XZ Premium is a top notch phone, theres no doubt. The camera
ticks the right boxes, the overall UI and performance is not bad, though it
could be smoother. As far as premium goes, this phone covers it all, offering
the complete package.

Written by Shruti Dhapola | Published:June 21, 2017 2:20 pm

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Sony Xperia XZ Premium review: Price in India is Rs 59,990 and heres our full review of the device.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium is the second

RELATED NEWS
smartphone from the company after the Sony
Apple poaches top
Sony TV executives to Z5 Premium to sport a 4K display, though this
boost video content is a 4K HDR resolution display. This means
Sonys Xperia XZ Premium can play content
shot in HDR format, and so far it has
Sonys 2017 audio
range review: SRS-XB partnered with Amazon Prime Video for this
Bluetooth Docks, MDR- HDR ready content. Also 4K videos on
XB510AS headphones
and more YouTube can be viewed in full resolution on
this phone.
Apple hires Sonys
`Breaking Bad team as
TV push gains Sony has itself announced plans to
momentum concentrate on the premium category in the
smartphone business, where the company is
struggling to make a mark. Premium is not
an easy category to play, given Apple and Samsungs domination.

But the meaning of premium smartphones has also changed drastically over the
last couple of years. OnePlus in particular has pushed this trend of introducing
great specifications, including the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, which the
Xperia also sports, at a mid-budget premium pricing. So how does Sony Xperia XZ
Premium fare in our review? Will this be premium phone that sees some major
success for the company? Heres what we thought after using this phone.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium specifications: 5.5-inches 4K HDR display | Qualcomm

Snapdragon 835 processor | 4GB RAM+64GB storage (expandable) | 19MP Motion
Eye camera + 13 MP front camera | Android Nougat 7.1.1 | 3230 mAh battery

Sony Xperia XZ Premium price in India Rs 59,990

Sony Xperia XZ Premium Design, Display review

Sony Xperia XZ Premium has the familiar wide, angular design just like the
previous generations past. It sports that glass and metal body just like the S8 series
and the recent HTC U11, and LG G6. Like all these other phones, this is smudge city.
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Youll need to keep a special tissue or cloth at hand to keep the phone sparkly clean.
The Deep Sea Black colour review unit we got does have a unique reflective colour
shiny all around, all of which screams premium. Theres Gorilla Glass 5 on the front
and back of this phone, but still best to get a cover. Getting a shattered display
repaired isnt cheap.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium has the familiar wide, angular design just like the previous generations past

Sony Xperia XZ Premium has the fingerprint sensor embedded in the power button,
and theres a dedicated camera button as well. While the fingerprint scanner is
accurate, one major issue is that you might accidentally press the power button
when youre just trying to unlock the phone, which locks it all over again. This can

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be frustrating at times. Sony has a push slot for the SIM cards, and this is a dual-SIM
smartphone with a dedicated slot for a memory card.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium has 5.5-inch display with 38402160 pixels resolution, but
the company hasnt done away with bezels on the side or top. At 5.5-inches, this is
still an old-school display, and the phone is just slightly wider than the Galaxy S8+
which sports a bigger 6.2-inch Infinity Display. The angular design, and sharp edges
also means this one isnt always so comfortable when youre trying to put it in your
jeans pocket or use with one hand.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium looks beautiful but easily turns into a smudge fest.

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Coming to the display, Sony Xperia XZ Premium has one that is vivid, bright, and
competes with the likes of Samsung Galaxy S8 easily. When you check out the
phones specs on benchmarking apps like Antutu or even CPU-Z, it shows 1080p as
the resolution. However, once youre watching 4K content, the resolution gets
bumped up and screenshots that I took of 4K YouTube videos confirmed the 3840
resolution on this display. From a display perspective, Sony has winner here, except
youll need a high quality internet to stream content at 4K.

Benchmark tests for Sony Xperia XZ Premium: PC Mark Battery, Antutu and GeekBench 4.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium Performance review

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Sony Xperia XZ Premium is currently the only smartphone in India on sale with the
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, though HTC U11 just launched and the
OnePlus 5 is coming soon. Xperia XZ Premium comes with 4GB RAM+64GB on
board storage, and overall we didnt face too many problems with running multiple
apps on this smartphone.

In Antutu and GeekBench, this phone doesnt exactly set the records on fire, which
is disappointing for a smartphone launching in 2017. In Antutu, Sony Xperia XZ
Premium scored even lower than the earlier Galaxy S7 series, and the older iPhone
6s, which is surprising. Of course, benchmark scores are not the be-all and end-all
as far as performance goes. Multi-tasking, games like Asphalt 8 and Nova Legacy
are not a problem, and visually its all very appealing.

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Sony Xperia XZ Premium is currently the only smartphone in India on sale with the Qualcomm
Snapdragon 835 processor, though HTC U11 just launched and the OnePlus 5 is coming soon.

However, its not all smooth in this device. There were moments when the camera
app didnt open for me, and I had to restart the phone to get this issue sorted. And

yes, the Sony problem of the device getting warm when pushed for too long is there.
But I wouldnt say the device becomes unusable, and on our temp gun, the
maximum we got even with 4K video recording was 39, after around 5 minutes of
video.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium Camera review

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Sonys new phone sports a 19MP Motion Eye camera, and this one also has the 960
FPS slow mode. Now the camera is something that takes time to getting used to. So
the camera comes with Predictive Capture, which the company claims buffers
images one second before you press the shutter button, and lets you choose from a
best of four images. There are small differences between these shots, and you
might not always see them when asked to pick the best shot. The Predictive Capture
feature can be turned off in the settings though, and it will work better for action
based shots.

Settings for the 4K video camera and the 960FPS camera in Sonys new phone.

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It comes with auto object tracking as well, so if you pick one object as the focus, the
camera will ensure this stays in focus. For standard still shots, I would say the Sony
Xperia XZ Premium delivers excellent results, and while the colours might seem
over-saturated in some instances, the images themselves are also sharp and have
enough detail. Of course, since youre seeing this images on a gorgeous display
makes a whole lot of difference, but theres no denying the XZ Premium has a
camera that does perform well. Though I would say it struggles with pinks at times.

In low-light, the Xperia XZ Premiums performance is also quite good. The pictures
come out looking sharp, and while there is noise on the edges,the overall picture
composition is good.

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Sample shots from the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.

Sample shots from the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.

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Sample shots from the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.

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Sample shots from the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.

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Sample shots from the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.

Finally, the 960 FPS slow-motion mode is supposed to be the other highlight of this
smartphone camera. Now, honestly it takes some time figuring out how this works
While recording the video you need to press the button for it to record in the slow-
mode. Yes, it is best to do this in bright-lit conditions, but even then there is too
much noise. Sure the Super-slow video looks cool when you get it right, but this
isnt something I would want to use on a daily basis. Full marks to Sony for trying
something new, but the implementation will take some time to perfect on
smartphone cameras.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium Battery, UI and Audio review

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Battery is the unpredictable part of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium. In the PC Mark
battery test it scored around 4 hours plus, which is really not acceptable for a
premium smartphone. Depending on your usage you can make this phone last for a
day. I used this phone to listen to music all day, run WiFi hotspot and inevitably by
the end of the day from 99 per cent it would be down to under 20 per cent.

On average, Id say I was getting 8-10 hours with this phone, which is not so great
for a premium phone. However, Sony has added its Stamina mode, which really
pushes the battery usage beyond the average capacity. There were times when I
expected the phone to be dead soon, because it had 12 per cent battery, and yet it
would manage to last another hour or so.

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Battery is the unpredictable part of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium comes with Android Nougat 7.1.1 with Sonys Xperia UI on
top. It is loaded with Sonys own apps as well, and the UI isnt so bad or clunky.
Could I do without a Sony app folder on the phone? Sure, but this phone has enough
storage to keep most people happy. Notifications from the Xperia Lounge can be
annoying, and its best to turn these off.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium comes with High Resolution Audio and if you like
listening to music on your device, you wont be disappointed. If you have
compressed audio files, you can upgrade their quality, but the setting only works
with headphones. Theres also ClearAudio+ for headphones, which makes a
noticeable difference to the audio quality. There are also equalizer presets for those
who care to explore.

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Sony Xperia XZ Premium is a top notch phone, theres no doubt. The camera ticks the right boxes, the
overall UI and performance is not bad.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium Verdict

There is no doubt that the Sony Xperia XZ Premium is a top notch. The camera ticks

the right boxes, the overall UI and performance is not bad, though it could be
smoother. However, this still has an outdated design and a display, which despite
the 4K feature, looks old, and the heating problems havent gone away. Plus, the
960FPS video might not always live up to expectations. Sony Xperia XZ Premium
might be one of the best bets from the company till now. The only problem: The
competition seems to have gone ahead.

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Achu Kumar Reply

A Jun 21, 2017 at 11:44 pm

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Did you review Z5 premium i guess not XZP, as far as all videos avaliable in it has
no butterniess or tardiness in it as you say, its bit faster than the S8 and HTC U11. in
which way the compe ion is ahead the screen,performance,audio, camera? pls
specify and Oneplus 5 with 6gb ram could only equal XZP,S8 in performance is
WOW

Employ Ment Reply

E Jun 21, 2017 at 4:21 pm

15,000 - 50,000
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: 6140686 ........................ Uhsghsbsjkshshjs

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