At its MWC 2018 press conference, Sony had announced two high-end smartphones: Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact. Apart from the two phones, it had also teased the Xperia XZ2 Premium and its dual-camera setup. Today, the Japanese brand has unveiled the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium, and it is a beefed up variant of the Xperia XZ2. The…
At its MWC 2018 press conference, Sony had announced two high-end smartphones: Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact. Apart from the two phones, it had also teased the Xperia XZ2 Premium and its dual-camera setup. Today, the Japanese brand has unveiled the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium, and it is a beefed up variant of the Xperia XZ2.
The Xperia XZ2 Premium is the company’s first smartphone to feature a dual-camera setup. It also features a 4K HDR screen, a top-tier Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, plenty of RAM, stereo speakers, and wireless charging, bring it on par with high-end phones from other brands. Let’s check out what else does the phone offers.
The Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium sports a 5.8-inch TRILUMINOS display (IPS LCD panel) with 4K resolution (3840×2160 pixels). To prevent the display from any scratches or scuffs, the screen is covered by a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 panel. The phone uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset, 6GB of RAM, and 64GB of UFS 2.1 internal storage. There’s a microSD card slot for storage expansion (up to 400GB). The XZ2 Premium runs Android 8.0 Oreo with Sony’s UI customisations.
In terms of imaging, there’s a dual rear-facing camera setup, consisting of a 19MP sensor and a 12MP sensor. Both are large, 1/2.3-inch Exmor RS sensor, but the 19MP primary sensor is RGB in nature, and features 1.22µm pixels and ƒ/1.8 aperture. The 12MP secondary sensor is monochrome in nature, and features 1.55µm pixels and ƒ/1.6 aperture. To combine the information from the sensors, Sony is using AUBE Fusion Image Signal Processor. Both cameras use Sony’s 5-axis image stabilisation (EIS). We’re disappointed that Sony still doesn’t want to use an optically stabilised lens even though its competitors have started using dual-OIS cameras.
The camera can record 4K HDR videos at 30fps as well as super slow-motion 1080p videos at 960fps. The rear-facing camera setup uses the company’s Predictive Hybrid Autofocus system, which consists of phase-detection autofocus, contrast detection autofocus, and laser autofocus. The 13MP front-facing camera can be used for capturing selfies, recording videos, or for video calling. The selfie camera uses a 22mm wide-angle Sony G Lens and ƒ/2.0 aperture. It also features a 5-axis image stabilisation (EIS), and can reach up to ISO 3200 for still images and ISO 1600 for videos.
Connecivty-wise, the Xperia XZ2 Premium features GPS, A-GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, a dual-SIM card slot, 4G LTE + VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct, Miracast, Google Cast, Bluetooth 5.0 (with LE, A2DP, aptX, aptX-HD, LDAC), NFC, and USB 3.1 port. The phone is powered by a 3540mAh battery, which supports Quick Charge 3.0, USB Power Delivery, Qi wireless charging, and Qnovo battery care. There’s no 3.5mm headphone port, and you’ll have to rely on the bundled USB Type-C to 3.5mm headphone adapter if you want to use your own headphones. The phone is IP68 certified for dust and water resistance, and features stereo loudspeakers as well as Dynamic Vibration System.
The pricing of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium hasn’t been announced yet. However, the company will start shipping the phone starting the summer of 2018. The device will be available in Chrome Black and Chrome Silver. What makes the XZ2 Premium better than the standard XZ2 is 6GB of RAM and dual rear-facing camera. Apart from that, you also get a higher resolution, 4K HDR display, and a 13MP front-facing camera.
