It is worth noticing that Sony is struggling a lot in the smartphone arena. Times have quickly changed in the mobile market, thanks to several Chinese brands, which changed the segment. That being said, big brands such as the Sony and HTC are struggling to hold their own.
Eight months ago, at the MWC 2016, Sony killed the company’s flagship lineup- Xperia Z series of smartphones, but at the IFA 2016, the company launched another smartphone with the letter ‘Z’ in it. Dubbed as the Sony Xperia XZ, the smartphone looks same as the Nokia Lumia 900 series of smartphones with little of Sony’s deft touches.
All these apart, many were excited about the Xperia XZ launch (that includes me as well :P) and finally Sony bought the smartphones to Indian boundaries couple of days ago. And, as expected, the smartphone has priced aggressively (Typical Sony) at Rs. 51,990, however, Best Buy will be Rs. 49,990. We got our hands on the Sony Xperia XZ and here’s what we think after using the smartphone extensively for about eight hours.
Sony Xperia XZ First Impressions: Pleasing Design!
The design language of the smartphone is not new, but Sony has made some subtle changes to the older Nokia Lumia 900 and 920 smartphones and made this design. And, trust me, the design looks insanely good. Although, the device looks thicker at first glance, but it is just 8.1mm thick.
Sony has used a new material called ‘ALKALEIDO’, which made the device look much more premium. When taken into hands, the handset feels robust and offers good feel. However, do make a note that, the back is a fingerprint magnet. All in all, the device looks premium and offers great in-hand feel. We will check the device’s durability in our full review.
Sony Xperia XZ First Impressions: Gorgeous Display
In terms of display, the Xperia XZ features a 5.2-inch FHD display with a pixel density of 424 PPI. Though the display is an FHD panel, it doesn’t look like the same. If offers punchy colors, deep blacks, and decent viewing angles. But, in bright sunlight conditions, the 1080p tend to reflect a lot, which is a bit of an underwhelming.
Software is Still Buggy
We must admit that Sony has come a long way. They released the Xperia X with Snapdragon 652 at around Rs. 47,000 in India and the device was quite a disappointment to the company. Now, we have the flagship Snapdragon 820 under-the-hood and only 3GB of RAM (decent enough). That being said, in our short time with the Sony Xperia XZ, the device tends to stutter a lot, especially while installing a new application from Play Store. This happened all the time. Apart from that, we haven’t faced a single issue with the phone even with heavy intensive tasks.
Sony’s Trademark Camera
Sony still got potential in it. One cannot simply manufacture camera sensor without knowing how to use them to full potential. We are saying it again, the cameras on Xperia XZ are insanely good in our little time with the device. Take a look at the camera samples to get an idea. But, one thing which is underwhelming is the device heats a lot when using the camera and as a result, battery drains quickly. This is not a new issue as we have seen the same problem with other Sony devices in past as well.
Mediocre Battery Life
We cannot judge the battery life as of now. But, the Xperia XZ offered me 4 hours of screen-on time with around 30 percent of battery life and I have been using the camera all the time. We will give a clear cut on the battery life of the smartphone in our full review.
A Good Smartphone, but Priced Aggressively!
Sony does it again. They are back in the smartphone arena with a good smartphone, however, it will be surely marred by the pricing. It can be pre-ordered on Amazon. Stay tuned for our full review of Xperia XZ, which will be live in coming days.
