Sony’s new smartphones: Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact

Sony just introduced two new smartphones under its hood: the Xperia XZ and the Xperia X Compact. With Sony Xperia XZ, Sony just stepped into the flagship game of the year 2016 while the latter happens to be a mini version of its former Xperia X trio. Earlier this year when Sony introduced the Xperia X series, Sony was found taking a step backwards for introducing a not-so-great smartphone with not-so-high end specifications. Sony Xperia X didn’t do quite well as per Sony’s expectations. It also lead the users to waiting for another great device from Sony and undo all the damage that Sony Xperia Z5 and the Xperia X did to the company. With Sony Xperia XZ, Sony has tried its best to up its game. Let’s have a look into these devices and see what Sony has to offer this time.

Sony Xperia XZ

Design and Dimensions

Sony’s new design language, the “Unified Design” has found its way to existence with the all new Xperia XZ. The new design language makes the edges of this smartphone more rounded and adds to the overall beauty. Xperia XZ hosts a Gorilla Glass 4 protection on the front while the back is made of Sony’s “Alakeido” aluminium alloy. Xperia XZ’s dimensions are 146 x 72 x 8.1mm and the phone weighs at 161g only.

Display

Xperia XZ sports a 5.2-inch 1920 x 1080 pixels display with 424 ppi. Sony is sticking with its IPS LCD display. Sony used a 5-inch display on its Xperia X Performance. With the Xperia XZ, Sony has decided to go back to the 5.2-inch display.

Hardware

Sony has embedded a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 CPU accompanied by Adreno 530 GPU and a RAM of 3 GB. The internal storage starts from 32 GB. Expandable storage option stays there. Xperia XZ bundles a 2900 mAh battery which is 200 mAh more then the Xperia X Performance. USB Type-C has found its way on the Xperia XZ, which now makes this the very first Sony smartphone to pull out the USB Type-C at the bottom. Sony Xperia XZ is IP68 certified which means the phone is water and dust resistant. Xperia XZ also supports fast charging. Sony has also worked on the audio of the latest flagship. Sony has significantly enhanced the audio experience on the XZ with 3D surround speaker.

Camera

Xperia XZ features a 23 MP camera at its back and a 13 MP camera on the front for selfies. The shooter at the back hosts an IMX300 sensor with 1/2.3-inch size and 6-element lens with f/2 aperture. 13 MP shooter on the front comes with 1/3-inch sensor size and a 90 degree wide angle lens. Sony’s new triple image sensing technology is supposed to help snap the pictures better in low-light conditions. Phase detection auto-focus is there for snapping the shots quickly. Laser AF and IR color sensor can be found in its camera as well. Xperia XZ’s camera doesn’t come with OIS since there is Sony’s 5-axis software stabilization available. Xperia XZ’s camera supports 4K video recording.

Software

Sony Xperia XZ runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box. While Google has already introduced the all new Android 7.0 Nougat and we know that Sony is quite good at rolling out the updates faster, it won’t take too long for us to witness the Android Nougat rolling out for the new Sony flagship. Xperia XZ powers up the Xperia UI atop of the Android Marshmallow.

Availability and Price

Xperia XZ will be hitting the markets by October 23, 2016. The phone will make its way in three colors including Forest Blue, Platinum and Mineral Black. Keeping in view the prices of past flagships from Sony, the phone should lie somewhere between $600 to $700.

We are keeping our eyes on all the updates regarding the Sony Xperia XZ and will be posting as soon as we come across some new stuff.

Sony Xperia X Compact

Design and Dimensions

Sony Xperia X Compact carries the same design language as the previous Xperia Z compact smartphones. Xperia X Compact’s dimensions are 5.08 x 2.56 x 0.37 inches and the phone weighs at 135g only. Like the previous Compact smartphones by Sony, Xperia X Compact is a pocket friendly smartphone as well and fits perfectly into the pocket of your jeans. Xperia X Compact also comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection on the front.

Display

It’s a 4.6-inch 1280 x 720p display with 319 ppi on an IPS LCD panel. The screen to body ratio is 69.53%. The display has a Gorilla Glass 4 to protect itself.

Hardware

Xperia X Compact is powered up with Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 Hexa-core CPU and a RAM of 3 GB. The phone hosts Adreno 510 GPU. The internal storage starts from 32 GB and there is microSD card slot option as well. Xperia X Compact comes with a battery of 2700 mAh. This phone also comes with USB Type-C support which makes it the very first Xperia Compact phone to have this feature. Unfortunately, the Xperia X Compact is not IP68 certified which doesn’t make it a water and dust resistant smartphone. While Sony has added a lot of power into this small phone, we can safely let the non-water resistant properties of this phone fade away.

Camera

The camera setup found on the Xperia X Compact is as same as that of the Xperia XZ, which is quite interesting for the users. A mid-ranger carrying a camera of a flagship is like a bonus at this point.

Software

Xperia X Compact also runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with Xperia UI on the top. The phone will also receive the Android 7.0 Nougat as Sony prepares it for its Xperia lineup.

Availability and Price

Xperia X Compact is supposed to hit the markets by September, 25. The phone should cost around $450 – 500 keeping in view the prices of past Xperia Compact devices. White, Universe Black and Mist Blue.

Xperia XZ vs Xperia X Compact Specifications

Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact Official Videos