Sony Xperia Z5 Premium screen test: A (really) close look

21 November, 2015
We just got our hands on a retail unit of the Xperia Z5 Premium, but before we started our review routine, we spent some time marveling its 4K screen. Marveling quickly turned into examining and before you know it, we set out on a mission to find out whether we would readily spot the difference to other 5.5-inch smartphones with lower resolution.

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AnonD-56158, 22 Nov 2015When Sony came out with waterproof and dust proof phone, th... moreActually no, there is no phone with more usefull features than z5 series
Z5P 4k screen, albeit looking unnessesary now, might prove quite useful in near future (VR).

    AnonD-375420, 22 Nov 2015yes i forgot about Microsoft that from my opinion will come... moreSo have some people been telling for years now...
    But all I see is windows phone userbase percentage declining year by year...
    Microsoft is no competitor I am affraid, its good but lame looking mobile OS, android is just a more capable and more polished OS.
    Anyways wish them best, but that tile and menu design is just...not attractive enough for customers

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      • AnonD-456515
      • 6}T
      • 22 Nov 2015

      Tony wong, 22 Nov 2015Some people are weird, when Sony use full HD display, peopl... moreAbsolutely agree...

      Most of the people blind by korean brand
      So they want sony to be good but not so good as samsung

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        • AnonD-52738
        • tue
        • 22 Nov 2015

        Tony wong, 22 Nov 2015Some people are weird, when Sony use full HD display, peopl... moreSimply because Sony make it everything render 1080P most the time. It became real useless already in this way.

          AnonD-423447, 22 Nov 2015Qhd and full hd sure got different.Samsung s5 compared to s... moreGsmarena says - "So what Sony did is put a 4K panel inside the Z5 Premium but they render mostly everything in 1080p resolution. Yes, a bit hard to wrap your head around this concept. So the 4K panel inside the phone only reveals its benefits when you check out high-res images and video on it."

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            • AnonD-56158
            • t7X
            • 22 Nov 2015

            When Sony came out with waterproof and dust proof phone, their sales did not increase! Now they come out with 4K screen and based on this article, it's not looking good for Sony. Especially with that price. You can get a lot cheaper phone with more useful features than this phone.

              AnonD-423447, 22 Nov 2015Qhd and full hd sure got different.Samsung s5 compared to s... moreSeems u havnt gone thru the entire post abt the screen... go and read it first...

                • M
                • McKinky
                • PvC
                • 22 Nov 2015

                vrvly, 22 Nov 2015As for me, when comparing my fhd with new qhd, qhd its bett... moreYes it is possible when you turn X-reality off.

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                  • AnonD-375420
                  • LaI
                  • 22 Nov 2015

                  AnonD-423447, 22 Nov 2015Not forget next year nokia rebound yes i forgot about Microsoft that from my opinion will come very close to apple in ecosystem and premium product, surface are really ok products
                  I see only Micrososft to be direct comp to Apple

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                    • Spacei
                    • nF2
                    • 22 Nov 2015

                    Would have preferred 128gb internal with 8gb ram and top end processor and components - 1080p screen and massive battery that will last 3 days. That Sony would be a more of a game changer than sticking a 4k screen on a phone.

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                      • Tony wong
                      • IW9
                      • 22 Nov 2015

                      Some people are weird, when Sony use full HD display, people complaint why not using quad HD/2k display, why not be like samsung, why now when sony prove to them they can give consumers 4k display and be better than their competitors, people say it useless etc, what do people want actually? from what i see most people are biased with certain brands

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                        • AnonD-162906
                        • t7X
                        • 22 Nov 2015

                        I could smell Virtual Reality games for this Xperia z5 premium. Considering they made higher ppi on the display... ;-)

                          • S
                          • Stack
                          • 0Bk
                          • 22 Nov 2015

                          AnonD-468543, 22 Nov 2015I bet even angry bird will run at 10 FPS in that phone.Good... moreiPhone user detected! Why do you think it will have problems with performance? This phone got the latest, most powerful processor in market. It's meant to stream 4k movies, you can play PlayStation games on it. Although i think 4k screen is overkill, i am waiting for new phone from xperia ultra series. I will certainly buy it.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • vIh
                            • 22 Nov 2015

                            AnonD-423447, 22 Nov 2015Qhd and full hd sure got different.Samsung s5 compared to s... moreI have held both S5 and S6 side by side.S5 and S6 have a difference but it is not due to pixel density but due to improvement in SuperAMOLED technology over the period of nearly 1 year. Also the display glass used on S6 is of a better variety and I suspect that is also a reason for better looking image/video.

                            But S6 has way worse battery life than S5. A 1080p display with S6-like properties would have been much better IMO.

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                              • AnonD-423447
                              • KSE
                              • 22 Nov 2015

                              AnonD-375420, 22 Nov 2015Sony is on a desperate move here. The CEO let the smartphon... moreNot forget next year nokia rebound

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • DEd
                                • 22 Nov 2015

                                AnonD-423447, 22 Nov 2015Qhd and full hd sure got different.Samsung s5 compared to s... morethe only reason you saw a difference is pentile display

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • ny5
                                  • 22 Nov 2015

                                  If Samesung had launched a phone with a 4K screen, would it have fared better? Would it have been described as "underwhelming"? Probably not.

                                  Congratulations to Sony for a really good looking phone.

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                                    • AnonD-423447
                                    • KSE
                                    • 22 Nov 2015

                                    Sushant Sic, 22 Nov 2015Well trust me guys... I was the first owner of Z5 Premium i... moreQhd and full hd sure got different.Samsung s5 compared to s6 can saw the different...please compare to previous model before comments

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                                      • AnonD-375420
                                      • LaI
                                      • 22 Nov 2015

                                      Sony is on a desperate move here. The CEO let the smartphone department one more year to make real profit .
                                      So after closing Pc department i guess this will be the future for smartphone too.
                                      Samsung will live because they make everything, cheap or not from vacuum to tv etc
                                      Apple will live because they have true mainstream innovation and true loyal people
                                      Lg is in the same boat with Samsung
                                      Htc will go away in 2-3 years
                                      So what will be the competition ..

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                                        • AnonD-375713
                                        • Pkp
                                        • 22 Nov 2015

                                        Remembering now the battles about the higher resolution killing the battery and all.
                                        Well here you can blame 2 things: SoC strain (and this was proven when a XDA team forced 1080p only on the G3), and the screen itself wasting more light.
                                        Check a 720P screen on GSMArena's microscope shot, check a 1080p one, QHD 1440p, and this 4K one, but all LCD panels only, OLEDs don't count for what I'm trying to say.

                                        You'll see the black gap between lit pixels increases proportionally (even tho it can be the same size or smaller), the ratio between lit area and black area got worse, and this is where the battery hogging goes, backlight wasting. Switching itself of the LCD takes barely any power, you can see the thin ribbon cables on an LCD television panel of ~60"+, it really takes low power to switch LCD. But the backlight.... this one hogs energy. The less lit up area, the more it wastes and this is the case here. Hope they managed to improve backlight efficiency because these black gaps are wasting a LOT of it.

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