Sony Xperia XZ Premium review: The showstopper

12 May 2017
The Sony Xperia XZ Premium has a gorgeous 4K display. Better yet, a 4K HDR display! The latest Snapdragon 835 chipset is pulling the strings and delivering lightning-fast LTE while the Adreno 540 is firing up millions of pixels in a heartbeat. With or without the mirror finish, this is one of the classiest designs around and waterproof, too.

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  • AnonD-186803
  • 3ad
  • 15 May 2017

Lex79, 15 May 2017Agree with many of your points, especially regarding batter... moreI see your point, to a degree. But it's worth noting that niether the XZP or the XZs display any overheating, and the S8 actually limits the time you can record 4k to 10 minutes. Yes really.

Swings and roundabouts on that one. There's no contest that the XZP has the best video and stabilisation on a smartphone currently.

But hey,... it has bezels. Apparently they matter.

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • JpI
    • 15 May 2017

    Tann Hauser, 15 May 2017So if I say Sony was most innovative in the last year or so... moreXZP has ufs 2.1. XZs has emmc 5.1

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      • Arian Adler
      • ELT
      • 15 May 2017

      Tann Hauser, 15 May 2017Why thank you for sharing. Yep, IMO XZ is best here. ... moreThose images made by Wily fox! I guess!! Why!? Times! We are three times in one to one images! Also source of Lights! Why three projectors R ON in first image!? why those pictures are not in SAME TIME....

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        • AnonD-89109
        • gMJ
        • 15 May 2017

        AnonD-643330, 15 May 2017You're blind and you need eye doctor ! It's the worst Camer... moreThen I suppose GSMA team need eye doctors too? Cause this is what they say,

        "The samples are hardly inspiring, with plenty of detail lost to heavy-handed noise reduction, which ironically isn't doing all that good of a job of masking the noise itself. Now it's not a terrible performance by any means, but it's just lagging behind the vast majority of competitors."

        It clearly is THE WORST phone for low light and not the best in daylight either. So in a nutshell waste of a phone, just like the ones came before this. Sony has consistency for producing phones with poor cameras, that's the only positive here, their consistency.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • JpI
          • 15 May 2017

          Anonymous, 15 May 2017Yes, 90% of those are gimmicks, the opposite of innovation.... moreDual edge screen = cute but useless, more fragile

          Bixby = still unfinished, Google's will be available for all phones running android 6 and 7

          Infinity screen = Tv is 16:9 and most of the content is made for tv, which means 2:1 or 18 5 :9 is waste of time.

          Iris scanner = takes longer to unlock than FPS



          BTW, S8 is considered the most fragile phone ever...

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            • AnonD-186803
            • 3ad
            • 15 May 2017

            Anonymous, 15 May 2017Z5 premium was released in September 2015, that's almost 2 ... more"Almost". But not.

            And the screen technology was not the same - the Z5P had worse viewing angles and no HDR. My point stands.

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              • Lex79
              • BiP
              • 15 May 2017

              AnonD-186803, 15 May 2017This comment confuses me - 2 years ago nobody had tried a 4... moreAgree with many of your points, especially regarding battery optimisation, but not sure I would say that the 5axis stabilisation is the best solution, for two reasons

              1. Its very taxing on the Soc/isp, which I think goes some way toward the 'overheating' issue that can plague high end Xperia devices.
              2. Is only active under limited circumstances.

              For these reasons, I'd say the Pixel/iPhone have better solutions, if they are not quite as stable, then they are very close, but they are always active and whilst I've never used a Pixel, I have never had a iPhone complain that it has to shut the camera app down in order to cool down.

              Maybe things are different now with the XZp and its newer hardware, we'll see.....

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                • AnonD-186803
                • 3ad
                • 15 May 2017

                Anonymous, 15 May 2017Yes, 90% of those are gimmicks, the opposite of innovation.... more"That's what I'm calling a middling company. One that pationately cares about things that don't matter."

                Unlike the addition of a heartbeat monitor (nobody I know has ever used this), a very poor iris scanner (So poor that nobody could ever reliably wish to use it) and flinging the fingerprint scanner (not a very good one) onto the side back (where it's so poorly placed that,... you get the idea).

                The lack of Bezels on the S8 lead to constant false input during my time with the device - including many, many times when I was forcibly ejected from the App I was using.

                Sony pioneered water and dustproofing and put their fingerprint scanner (a very good one) right where it should be - constantly where your thumb will touch it.

                People underestimate what Samsung got wrong with the S8 and overcriticise where they feel Sony's failings lie. So they have bezels? Rather bezels than constantly being kicked out of the camera because the edge of my finger brushes the back button. I know which is more annoying - and less user friendly.

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                  • Anonymous
                  • swf
                  • 15 May 2017

                  AnonD-186803, 15 May 2017This comment confuses me - 2 years ago nobody had tried a 4... moreZ5 premium was released in September 2015, that's almost 2 years ago. Like I said , they hardly made anything new in the screen resolution department.

                  Aslo those photo samples look awful despite all the "innovation" needed to take them. Innovation is not really that if it doesn't lead to palpably better results.

                    AnonD-77443, 15 May 2017http://imgur.com/a/knpR3 Interesting that you never post t... moreWhy thank you for sharing.
                    Yep, IMO XZ is best here.

                    Same as here:
                    http://imgur.com/a/WyrU5

                    Great automode this phone has in lowlight, even at higher exposure keeps great detail, dynamic range and color, with well controlled noise and less noise supression artefacts. Could use a bitmore contrast tho.
                    And at dusk there, just wow. Great detail, true color, great dynamic range.
                    XZ Prem is a beast at lowlight.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • swf
                      • 15 May 2017

                      Tann Hauser, 15 May 2017So if I say Sony was most innovative in the last year or so... moreYes, 90% of those are gimmicks, the opposite of innovation.

                      Innovation on phones is to make them more usable. Riddling them with bezels and small battery is what will definitely impact most users.

                      960fps video is something that noons is going to use, as well as front autofocus considering that the focal point of front cameras is always in about the same distance.

                      That's what I'm calling a middling company. One that pationately cares about things that don't matter.

                      Also despite all those "innovations" many agree with me that the camera performance is nothing spectacular. Goes to show that fixating on camera performance is never too good of an idea because the results are rarely as you want them.

                      Lastly the 4k monitor on phones is probably one of the worst ideas ever. It wastes resources for absolutely no reason. You cannot really see the added pixels unless and until you get too close for your own health's sake.

                      Being able to do something is not synonymous with having to do it.

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                        • Lex79
                        • BiP
                        • 15 May 2017

                        GrumpyHumpyBrother, 15 May 2017Oh really? Then let's talk about low light. As a Sony fan,... moreYour point regarding Samsung's over sharpening is fair enough, but I would suggest Sony has a similar problem coming from the opposite direction.

                        Due to the high mp count on what is still a fairly small sensor, Sony rely on aggressive software noise reduction to ensure that the noise resulting form all those pixels crammed so tightly together is kept under control. I would say they don't do a good enough job. Pics from an Xperia are not pretty at all cropped in.

                        Also I doubt a pro photographer would pic either an Xperia or a Samsung for smartphone photography purposes, more likely they would choose a modern iPhone as the best compromise, and as it has access to powerful on device editing tools (through services like mobile version of adobe lightroom). When a pro would consider using a smartphone that is......

                        And again a pro would likely take one look at that camera ui and its clumsy/limited excuse for a manual mode and pass anyway.

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                          • AnonD-643330
                          • a3v
                          • 15 May 2017

                          AnonD-89109, 15 May 2017There's no news there really. That's what Sony is. Producin... moreYou're blind and you need eye doctor ! It's the worst Camera ?? Realy?? just 960 fps is Enough to beats other phones ... go read DXO mark Sony phones are in top 3.

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                            • Arian Adler
                            • ELT
                            • 15 May 2017

                            Slow motion 720p@960fps just for 5 seconds is very very short length

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                              • AnonD-72356
                              • rKv
                              • 15 May 2017

                              GrumpyHumpyBrother, 15 May 2017Oh really? Then let's talk about low light. As a Sony fan,... moreWait for gsmarena full comparison, things will be clear

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                                • Fusion
                                • jeu
                                • 15 May 2017

                                Almost forgot Sony still makes phones..

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                                  • AnonD-186803
                                  • 3ad
                                  • 15 May 2017

                                  AnonD-89109, 15 May 2017There's no news there really. That's what Sony is. Producin... moreUtter tosh. So far from any semblence of reality that one wonders if you actually read the review or looked at the samples before posting.

                                  Yes at a 200% crop you see noise at pixel level but there are more pixels in a frame so you have to crop much further in to see the noise (which is what GSMs software automatically does). Crop identically to the competition and you'll see 2 things: the noise disappears and the detail is higher. The colours are also the most accurate and the general composition is far more natural.

                                  These are things that professional photographers actually WANT.

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                                    • Anonymous
                                    • wc6
                                    • 15 May 2017

                                    Rey, 15 May 2017Why do gsmarena not included a review or test of actual qua... moreThe modem supports 4x4 MIMO and 4x carrier aggregation, so access to a network and speed — even in weak signal conditions — are rarely a concern, source:

                                    https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2017/02/27/powered-snapdragon-835-sony-xperia-xz-premium-reaches-gigabit-speeds

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                                      • AnonD-186803
                                      • 3ad
                                      • 15 May 2017

                                      Anonymous, 15 May 2017It's not a lie to say that Sony hardly upgrades her phones.... moreThis comment confuses me - 2 years ago nobody had tried a 4k screen, let along 4K plus HDR. 2 Years ago Sony was still using the 23mp sensor with 3 layers, now it's got a superior 19mp with built in RAM (a first on a smartphone). They've also installed industry leading battery monitoring and management software in their latest phones. 2 years ago they were using 3 "axis" video stabilisation, not they're using 5 "axis" stabilisation - which even the most ardent Sony haters here must admit results in the best video stabilisation on any mobile phone.

                                      Sony haven't exactly been napping.

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                                        • AnonD-89109
                                        • gMJ
                                        • 15 May 2017

                                        Hoffmann, 15 May 2017It doesn't even need to be dark, this camera takes awful pi... moreThere's no news there really. That's what Sony is. Producing phones with poor cameras year after year. That's why no one buys a Sony of late. A company in coma, surviving based on some typical fanboys.

                                        Awful camera samples. Worst samples I've seen in a while. And that's just covering the camera. Considering everything quite possibly one of the worst phone available.