Samsung dual-wields its popular Galaxy S and Galaxy Note handsets to defend its dominant position in the realm of high-end Android smartphones. That…
Samsung dual-wields its popular Galaxy S and Galaxy Note handsets to defend its dominant position in the realm of high-end Android smartphones. That one-two punch hasn’t stopped rivals like Sony from trying to dethrone the Korean electronics manufacturing juggernaut, though. The Trinitron-maker’s latest volley, the Xperia XZ2 Premium, combines the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC that also cycles away inside Samsung’s Galaxy S9 with a 5.7″ 3840×2160 HDR LCD display.
For comparison’s sake, the Galaxy S9 has to „make do“ with a 2960×1440 AMOLED panel, though the S9’s bezels are noticeably smaller that those of the XZ2 Premium. Those with long memories will recall that Sony has been shoehorning 4K displays into high-end Android phones since all the way back 2015. That ludicrously-high-res screen (772 PPI according to our napkin math) is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 5, and Sony says the phone boasts IP65/68 water-and-dust resistance.
The Xperia ZX2 Premium pairs Qualcomm’s latest smartphone SoC with 6 GB of memory and 64 GB of UFS internal storage. Users can store more data on a microSDXC card as large as 400 GB, too. Photo freaks should find plenty to like in the XZ2. The user-facing camera is a 13-megapixel unit with a 22-mm wide-angle lens with an f/2.0 aperature. The world-facing camera setup is a two-sensor snapper with a color 19-MP photo-taker and a 12-MP black-and-white sensor that Sony says helps take better pictures in low-light scenarios. The manufacturer says the main camera setup can capture with the ISO set as high as 51,200 for still photos and 12,800 for video.
The phone’s body measures 6.2″ tall, 3.1″ wide, and 0.5″ at its thickest point (16 cm x 8 cm x 1.2 cm) and tips the scales at 8.3 oz (236 g). Some portion of that mass is doubtless due to the integrated 3450 mAh battery pack. The phone comes from the factory running Android 8.
The manufacturer says users can put the XZ2’s display to good use right away with its ability to stream 4K content from both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, feats that continue to frustrate users on the PC. Sony additionally notes that the XZ2 Premium’s speakers are the loudest of any Xperia phone so far, but headphone users will need to carry the included USB-C-to-3.5-mm dongle around with them in order to listen to music privately. Gamers might appreciate the phone’s PS4 Remote Play capabilities.
Sony didn’t provide pricing or availability information about the Xperia XZ2 Premium, though we do know the phone will come with black or chrome silver finishes for its curved glass back. An imported Xperia XZ2 with a 1920×1080 display costs almost $800, so we’d expect the primo model to land somewhere north of that figure. The „vanilla“ Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact are scheduled to officially launch in the US on May 6, so we’d imagine buyers pining for the version with a 4K screen will have to wait at least until then.
