Sony Xperia XZ2 review

14 March 2018
You don't really have to look any further than the new Xperia XZ2 and its little Compact sibling for proof that Sony is evolving even if slowly. The 2018 flagship is different in a number of ways, some of which more controversial than others.

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  • D
  • AnonD-94604
  • wri
  • 19 Mar 2018

Anonymous, 19 Mar 2018Why xperia cameras are so bad? I know sony can do it better... moreFor those who still dont understand, sony camera division is separate company named sony semiconductor and solution, its not under sony mobile. So, if sony makes profit from selling camera sensors, its sony semiconductor who makes profit, not sony mobile. So if it makes great camera sensors, its sony semiconductor that has innovation.

Sony semiconductor provide/sells their BEST sensor for sony mobile exclusively, sells its older sensors to almost all smartphone vendors. So, sony mobile gets the best sensors but they dont do anything, while othets get older sensors, but they modify it, make it bigger apperture, dual set up, add ois, and make better software. Now you guess yourself why with the best sensors their camera never the best..

    • D
    • AnonD-481725
    • StN
    • 19 Mar 2018

    MikeU, 19 Mar 2018What are the reasons for so many comments when Sony phones ... moreOther brands fans, they aren't happy Sony is offering better than their beloved brands, isn't weird?

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • 6p$
      • 19 Mar 2018

      Why xperia cameras are so bad? I know sony can do it better but why they can't? No OIS and small aparture leads to bad low light shots even for 2014 standard. Even in broad daylight, there are too much noise and sometimes colors are pale and washout. Sony should include a good DSLR in gift package of XZ2. Only then, some people who can endure ugly fragile design and lack of 3.5mm port will buy.

        Anonymous, 18 Mar 2018As customers who are knowledgeable about camera technology,... moreYou haven't read the XZ2 compact camera review from Gsmarena, the camera take still image quality is excellent in daylight and very impressive in low light, and the video quality also on top quality too.
        Source:
        https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xz2_compact-review-1737.php

          • M
          • MikeU
          • 43k
          • 19 Mar 2018

          What are the reasons for so many comments when Sony phones are discussed?

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • Mtn
            • 18 Mar 2018

            Anonymous, 18 Mar 2018As customers who are knowledgeable about camera technology,... moreMaybe it is because they focus more on video recording on phones. I think nobody else is focusing on video capturing other than Sony. Other focus more on stills.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • vjw
              • 18 Mar 2018

              AnonD-481725, 17 Mar 2018Why definitely? As who you are saying this? How much you be... moreAs customers who are knowledgeable about camera technology, it is clear that Sony could have done even better in the camera department. Other companies are using OIS and larger apertures. What is holding Sony back? Cost cutting? Trying to maximise their profits?

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • vjw
                • 18 Mar 2018

                AnonD-481725, 17 Mar 2018Who are the people to define whether Sony is doing a good o... moreOf course it is the fans, because we are the ones doing the buying.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • vjw
                  • 18 Mar 2018

                  Anonymous, 17 Mar 2018OIS has been overrated most of the time, it does't shot wel... moreNope. It is not overrated. And if your hands are shaking so much that OIS can't compensate for it, maybe you need to brush up your photo taking technique.

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                    • Nick
                    • vmF
                    • 18 Mar 2018

                    Tann Hauser, 18 Mar 2018Oh, I see. Nothing is forgivable for you on Sonys camera. ... moreOops, the links from my previous post is broken. Here are images from U11+ and XZ2 for the same night scene:
                    U11:https://www.gsmarena.com/htc_u11_plus-review-1690p7.php#image48
                    XZ2:https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xz2-review-1735p6.php#image23

                      • D
                      • AnonD-745482
                      • tDT
                      • 18 Mar 2018

                      Sony has been taking unique path wheter about feature of software, hardware, and especially the boring yet classy design...but this one is just
                      hideous

                        • s
                        • shongohan
                        • iBh
                        • 18 Mar 2018

                        Hi,
                        Has the XZ2 the RAW export option?

                        thanks!

                          • N
                          • Nick
                          • vmF
                          • 18 Mar 2018

                          Tann Hauser, 18 Mar 2018Oh, I see. Nothing is forgivable for you on Sonys camera. ... moreIn your crop of XZ2's photo, you can clearly see that the noise pattern(what you keep calling "textures") not only exists on the wall but also extends to the window on the bottom centre - the surface of the window is quite rough on XZ2's photo when it is supposed to be smooth. This is what I've been criticising as a mixture of noises and sharpening artifacts. I say it once again, if you ever had edited any RAW photo on your phone/computer, you could immediately tell that this is not just fine luminance noise.
                          Does XZ2 retain any more details than S9? It might seems so at first glance, but if you look closely at the sign on the bottom left side, it is slightly harder to read texts due to high noise level which is further worsened by poor dynamic range(light near the sign is more blown up) in XZ2. The same story holds true for Mate 10 Pro vs XZ2 comparison.

                          So, what do you think of the difference in picture quality between U11+ and XZ2 which I showed you in my previous post? I'd like to hear your opinion on this matter.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • tAT
                            • 18 Mar 2018

                            AnonD-481725, 17 Mar 2018Why definitely? As who you are saying this? How much you be... moreAnd who are you to say he is wrong ? How long have you been working in Camera industry? What are your qualifications ?

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • tAT
                              • 18 Mar 2018

                              AnonD-481725, 17 Mar 2018Sony never failed dude, but they are not planning to domina... moreBecause Sony CAN’T dominate the mobile phone market. Sony has dropped from number 3 to 12th place in the mobile phone sales market. Fact. Would you like proof ?

                              Even in Japan, Apple and Samsung sell more phones than Sony. Meaning, the majority of Japanese people prefer other brands and DON’T buy Sony. Fact. Would you like proof ?

                                Nick, 18 Mar 2018Soft details and relatively high level of noise are forgiva... moreOh, I see. Nothing is forgivable for you on Sonys camera.
                                Great.
                                Not texture but noise and oversharpening... Jolly.
                                Texture https://imgur.com/gallery/AIVet
                                Of course I dont agree.

                                  • N
                                  • Nick
                                  • vmF
                                  • 18 Mar 2018

                                  Tann Hauser, 17 Mar 2018Errrm, I was talking about Pixel 2, that has OIS and f1.8, ... moreSoft details and relatively high level of noise are forgivable on Pixel 2's photos because they have stellar dynamic range and excellent colour reproduction, which including XZ2 almost any flagship phones cannot create especially at night. And again, what you are seeing as a "full of textures" are mixture of high amount of noise and sharpening artifacts. I will keep saying this over and over until you understand this. Please take a look at another pair of images:

                                  HTC U11+ -https://cdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/reviews/17/htc-u11-plus/camera/gsmarena_066.jpg

                                  Xperia XZ2 -https://cdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/reviews/18/sony-xperia-xz2/camera/gsmarena_026.jpg

                                  Since you don't seems to like stronger noise reduction on S9, I'm now showing the samples from U11+ which tends to keep everything slightly more natural than smoothing out noises along with a bit of detail. You can clearly see that the details, noise, dynamic range are all significantly better on U11+, especially towards corners, in which XZ2 destroys all the details and replace them with large blobs.
                                  So, are you convinced that Sony's next flagship phone will desperately need the faster lens and OIS so that noise can be reduced and it can utilise the great advantage of the sensor's high megapixel count under low-light conditions? Sony Mobile is intentionally omitting those features, even though XZ2 has enough space to contain a large camera module, for the sake of cost-cutting. Don't defend the company which does this to their customers, you should rather embrace the fact and demand them to make better phones. I strongly believe that if they managed put those features onto XZ2 Premium (along with dual camera setup), their phones can easily compete with or even surpass flagship devices from Samsung/Apple/Huawei/HTC especially in camera department. I'm already pretty excited to see how their dual camera system perform in low-light, as according to Sony it is capable of producing usable photos even at ISO of 51200, which is simply amazing for a smartphone sensor.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • 7Xb
                                    • 18 Mar 2018

                                    Finally, the new multi-frame noise reduction is something to be recognized. I can tell that it improved the image quality much better this time. And yes! The HDR Video looks absolutely "Cinematic." Sony knows where to improve and they deliver.

                                      Anonymous, 17 Mar 2018they dont plan to dominate the world "anymore". niw they c... moreI guess so, i never see the effort to back on top. How ironic even chinesee huawei and oppo have the goal. And the formula is always simple, make an attractive product and massive marketing.

                                      I still remember six years ago a new smartphone brand greenized all the tech mall in my city, there was many spg demoed its features. Their booth, billboard is everywhere, flooded tv program with their tvc. Its oppo. And five years later, they already in top 5 smartphone vendors..

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