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HANDS-ON: SONY XPERIA XZ1 REVIEW
IFA 2017 means new gadgets and you can rely on Sony to bring a fair few to the party. This year is no exception and there are three new Xperia phones to tempt you with. Here’s our Sony Xperia XZ1 hands-on review.
Since ditching its conventional naming system, the last being the Xperia Z5, Sony’s range needs a bit of explaining. The XZ is now the top tier but this new model is no replacement for the XZ Premium. Instead, the XZ1 is the 12-month refresh for the XZ so is slightly lower down in the pecking order.
There’s also a new Xperia XZ1 Compact for those who want a smaller phone but with high-end specs. The ‘super mid-tier’ has a new entry in the form of the Xperia XA1 Plus.
SONY XPERIA XZ1 RELEASE DATE AND PRICE
There’s no concrete information yet but we’ve been told that the Xperia XZ1 will be available to pre-order today and ship next week. That should make it the first phone to come with Android Oreo out of the box.
The Xperia XZ1 price is a little harder to predict, though. The Xperia XZ launched at £539 so we hope Sony can keep it around the same area.
SONY XPERIA XZ1 DESIGN AND BUILD
Over the years, Sony has developed a style of smartphone design that’s instantly recognisable. Xperia devices have a distinctive character which helps somewhat in the crowded market.
The Xperia XZ1 is certainly no departure from what we’ve seen before. It is a continuation of it which has pros and cons.
We like the ‘Loop Surface’ design which incorporates a metal uni-body chassis and a Gorilla Glass 5 front. Overall, the phone looks like its predecessor but with small improvements so the metal rear cover gets rid of the slightly ugly strip along the bottom of the XZ.
Sony says the tweaked design is especially strong and is anti-twist and anti-bend. It does feel solid to us during some hands-on time.
As you would expect Sony continues to offer waterproofing so the XZ1 is IP65/68 rated so it’s fully dunkable in fresh water. There’s also a fingerprint scanner neatly engineered into the power button on the side.
We did mention there are cons and that’s when it comes to the bezels. With the tiny bezels on offer with the Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6, Sony’s screen-to-body ratio looks even worse than normal. The XZ1 is quite a big device for a phone with a 5.2in screen.
The Xperia XZ1 will be available in a range of colours including Black, Moonlit Blue, Venus Pink and Warm Silver.
SONY XPERIA XZ1 SPECS
While the design is pretty similar to last year’s model, the XZ1 has a number of upgrades in the hardware department to bring it up to date.
Screen
The screen remains at 5.2in so it’s a smaller option compared to the XZ Premium. The resolution is also Full HD which Sony is sticking to on most phones to help with battery life.
However, the XZ1’s display supports HDR (High Dynamic Range) for improved elements like colour and contrast. It can look a bit over the top at times but is generally well regarded.
The issue, as usual, is that you need to be watching HDR content to take advantage of the technology and there’s still not a huge amount available. That said, Sony said that Netflix HDR content will be available on the device at launch.
That’s on top of Amazon Prime Video which was previously the only way to watch HDR content.
Processor, memory and storage
A 12-month refresh wouldn’t really be a refresh without some new internal components and the headline here is that the Xperia XZ1 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, the firm’s flagship mobile platform.
That’s the same as the XZ Premium and other top-end phones such as the brand new Samsung Galaxy Note 8 (in some markets). Sony might be offering the cheapest phones with the 835 in the XZ1 and XZ1 Compact.
There’s 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage which is double its predecessor and matches the XZ Premium. Sony faithfully offers expandable storage in the form of a microSD card slot so you can add more anyway.
Connectivity and audio
Sony doesn’t go down the route Samsung takes by adding features such as a heart rate monitor and iris scanner. Instead, it focuses on audio like HTC does.
To that end, the Xperia XZ1 has front facing stereo speakers with more sound pressure than any phone Sony has made before. It was certainly loud during a demonstration but we’ll test quality further when we have a sample.
Other features include Hi-Res audio support, an LDAC, Qualcomm aptX Bluetooth and DSEE HX with DNC which will essentially upscale compressed files like mp3 to provide better quality.
There is, of course, a headphone jack and Sony has even made some new headphones to compliment the phone with harmonised colours.
Cameras
Photography remains a key area for Sony when it comes to selling phones and we’re pleased to see the physical camera/shutter button lives on.
The resolution might have dropped from 23- to 19Mp but overall the camera is an improvement as shown in the XZ Premium. Larger pixels mean better low light performance, for example.
What’s good to see is that the XZ1 gets features from the XZ Premium as well as some new ones.
Users will be able to make use of the 960fps super slow motion mode without splashing out on the Premium. It’s the highest framerate on any phone, but you can only record at that rate for one second.
Other neat features include Predictive Capture which will take some photos before you hit the button so you don’t miss an important moment and Smile Shutter which will automatically capture when it detects someone is smiling.
Autofocus burst mode is perhaps the most impressive (subject to proper testing) as it can shoot 10 photos per second all while focusing on a moving subject. You can shoot for up to 10 seconds simply by holding the button down and select what frames you want to keep or even make a short video clip from them.
One of the main new elements Sony is shouting about, though, is 3D scanning. There’s no technical hardware wizardry going on but a pre-loaded app means you can scan things like people heads or inanimate objects with the camera.
You can then share these scans online, although users will have to view them on a web page rather than natively on social media sites like Facebook, set them as a live wallpaper or even order them to be printed into a 3D model by a third party.
It’s all pretty impressive but we can’t imagine anyone using it more than a handful of times just for fun or pure intrigue.
At the front remains a 13Mp camera for all those selfies and it seems decent from some hands-on time.
Battery life
Following in Samsung’s footsteps with the Note 8, Sony has dropped the battery capacity from 2900- to 2700mAh for the Xperia XZ1.
Even so, Sony promises all day battery life for the lifespan of the phone. There’s no wireless charging so you’ll have to make do with USB-C including Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0.
SONY XPERIA XZ1 SOFTWARE
Unlike the Note 8, the Xperia XZ1 will be one of the first phones to ship with Android Oreo pre-loaded – hence why the release date is currently unknown.
On the surface, there’s not a lot that is different compared to Nougat and that’s partly because Oreo isn’t a major new version of the mobile operating system.
Oreo brings improvements and new features such as faster boot times, autofill logins, better battery life and picture-in-picture for a different kind of multi-tasking.
Perhaps the bigger lure when it comes to software is Sony’s own apps such as Walkman and PS4 Remote Play, which add value, especially for those with a PlayStation.
SPECS
Sony Xperia XZ1: Specs
- Android 8.0 Oreo
- 5.2in Full HD HDR display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor
- 4GB RAM
- 64GB storage, expandable via Micro-SD
- USB-C
- Bluetooth
- NFC
- Dual-band 11ac Wi-Fi
- Headphone jack
- Stereo speakers
- 19Mp rear-facing camera
- 13Mp front-facing camera
- 2700mAh battery
- 7.4mm
- 156g
- IP65/68
OUR VERDICT
The Sony naming system continues to baffle but our first impressions of the Xperia XZ1 are mixed. On the one hand, it’s a solid phone with decent specs and could suit those unable to afford flagship level. However, there’s little to get excited about here so it may struggle to stand out. We’re more keen on the XZ1 Compact which should be cheaper.
Sоurсе: techadvisor.co.uk
