Sony XPERIA XZ Premium Review

• KEY FEATURES

  • 5.5-inch 4K HDR display
  • Snapdragon 835
  • 4GB RAM, 32GB storage
  • USB Type-C
  • 19-megapixel camera
  • 960fps slow-mo video
  • Android 7.0
  • Manufacturer: Sony

Design

The Xperia XZ Premium has all the bits needed to create a world-beating phone: the latest Snapdragon 835 chipset, the big 5.5-inch 4K display with HDR, Android 7.1.1 and top-end water resistance IP68.

That’s combined with all the best tech from Sony’s camera, TV and audio departments – meaning you’ve got a camera that promises to be genuinely usable, and a high-res screen that actually has content that makes use of it.

The audio performance isn’t something Sony made a massive point about showing off at the press launch, but it’s still got a great suite of sonic enhancers on board, so you’ll be getting good performance over wired or wireless headphones.

The fingerprint scanner remains built into the power key on the right-hand side of the device and you finger falls right on the spot to open the phone.

However, when it comes to design you’re going to notice one thing with the XZ Premium: it’s very glossy. The mirrored finish is most noticeable in the chrome variant, although you’ll still be able to check out your reflection in the black/dark blue version too.

The connector on the bottom of the phone is USB Type-C, and thankfully there’s a headphone jack on the top. There’s 4GB of RAM, too, and 32GB of internal storage expandable via microSD.

In addition, the mirrored back is a magnet for fingerprints. Also, the XZ Premium is IP68 rated for water-resistance.

Screen 

One of the main reasons most will pick up this phone is the fact it’s got a 4K screen, complete with HDR, making it one of the most advanced on any smartphone.

The sharpness, color and clarity of the XZ Premium was excellent in the demo we saw, but it should be very much noted that previous Sony phones have impressed in demo mode but not quite carried that performance through to day-to-day video watching.

Camera and Slo-mo 

The XZ Premium actually scales back the megapixel count, which is a good start; the 19MP on offer here feels like overkill.

One of the big changes Sony has made is to the Motion Eye sensor, which has been improved to process images five times faster. This is designed to capture pictures just before you shoot, predicting the best snap for you.

The slow-motion camera is excellent though. Being able to shoot at 960 frames per second is pretty much unheard of on a smartphone, and is still a relatively neat trick in the world of point and shoot.

There are some caveats though: it’s only 720p, rather noisy if you’re in any kind of low light, and the camera is fairly zoomed in, so you’ll only really be able to capture long shots.

Battery life 

That 4K HDR screen will likely be drawing a lot of power from the battery, and at 3230mAh it’s a lot smaller than expected behind that large screen.

Not sure whether the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset is going to be kinder or more demanding on the battery pack – the hope is for the former, but some of the higher-power functions on the Xperia XZ Premium may require a bit more grunt.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

As usual, Sony appears to have all the right ingredients for a great phone. A 4K HDR screen, an awesome  camera with 960fps slow-mo video, the latest Qualcomm CPU and a design that reflects the handset's likely high price tag.