Sony has finally announced the launch of this year’s flagship-level smartphone, the Xperia XZs. The smartphone comes loaded with some interesting features coupled with some goody specs for a price tag of Rs 49,990. The star of the show is the rear camera, which has the ability to shoot slow motion videos at 960 frames per second. The company is banking heavily on the camera department this time. But will it be successful? Well, we spent some time with the device and here’s is our first impressions.
Design and Display
One thing we would all agree that when it comes to design language, Sony has provided with some uniquely designed smartphones. But it seems that this time, the company has played it safe, as this year’s flagship device looks a tad similar to its predecessor. This means that you get the same boxy design, which the company calls a loop surface design. But still, it is able to give some solid look and feel to the device, which is a welcome move, but we would have liked to see the company adding some brownie points to the design part. Talking about some aesthetics, the device is not the sleekest with 8.1mm thickness and not the lightest devices with 161 grammes, we have seen in the market.
The front has twin-speaker setup one at the top and one at the base, while at the top there is a front-facing camera, the usual array of Sensors all encased under Corning Glass protection. The right houses a power on/off button, which also acts as a fingerprint sensor, which we have seen in other Sony-branded smartphones, along with volume controls and a dedicated camera button. The left houses hybrid SIM slot, while at the top you will see a 3.5mm Audio Jack (thankfully!). At the base, you will find a USB Type-C port along with a microphone. At the back, sits the primary camera at the top left position and beneath it is hybrid Autofocus system coupled with LED flash. Overall, there is nothing refreshing about the design, but still, it is comfortable to hold and ease to use.
Coming to the display, the device boasts a 5.2-inch full HD display with a screen Resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. Sony has been known for making some good displays in the past and same can be said for this one. During our initial testing period, we found that the display has some good viewing angles and being a compact device, the display gives some punchy colours. However, it would be interesting to see how well does it perform during our review.
Hardware and Software
The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 Processor along with Adreno 530 GPU. The phone is backed by a 4GB of RAM and comes with 64GB storage, which can be expanded up to 256GB via microSD card. The device is IP65/IP68 certified meaning that it is water and dust resistance. On the connectivity, the device supports 4G, Bluetooth 4.2, A-GPS/GLONASS, Wi-Fi, NFC and USB Type C.
Looking at the sheer specs sheets, the company has opted for some last year specs, especially, the flagship processor used by the company (at least the brand should have given a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC). We have one of the finest smartphone available in the market and it is none other than OnePlus 3T, which seriously packs some superiors specs and is a monster when it comes to performance for just Rs 29,999.
On the software front, the device runs the latest Android 7.1.1 Nougat operating system. The user interface is quite stock(ish) when it comes to look and feel, but it comes with many pre-installed apps, which can be an eyesore for some.
Camera and Battery
The major USP of the device is the camera. The company had gone in-depth about the latest technologies used in the camera and how it has taken little things from all its camera portfolio and added to the phone. The smartphone sports a 19-megapixel rear camera which supports Super slow motion 960fps video capture, Predictive Capture, Anti-distortion shutter, Triple image sensing technology, predictive Hybrid Autofocus, 5-axis stabilisation and 4K video recording. For the front, there is 13-megapixel Exmor RS for mobile image sensor, 22mm wide angle lens, ISO6400 and Aperture f/2.2.
To start with, the camera is touted to be the first smartphone, which comes with a new Motion Eye camera system that comes with a built-in memory within an image sensor. This, according to the company, will process each image 5 times faster and improves low light performance. But the star of the show is the new super slow motion recording capabilities.
The device can record slow motion videos at 960 frames per second. For your reference, a normal camera records a slow motion video at 240 frames per second. During our testing, we were impressed with the ability to slow down the video that smoothly, though during indoor testing there were a lot of graininess and noises. It would be interesting to see who it will be able to perform during our in-depth review.
On the battery front, the smartphone is juiced up by a 2900mAh battery coupled with Quick Charge 3.0 technology, which the company claims can charge the device up to 60 per cent in 45 minutes. The brand has also added some nifty features including Qnovo Adopting charging and battery care, which basically minimise damage and maximise battery lifespan. We suggest you hold your horses and wait until we are out with a detailed review.