Sony Xperia XZ Premium Review - Review 2022

It's difficult to take your eyes off of the unlocked Xperia XZ Premium ($799.99). Information technology's the get-go phone with a 4K HDR display, packing a staggering number of pixels into a 5.5-inch panel. It also has a powerful Snapdragon 835 processor, loftier-resolution audio, stereo speakers, and a waterproof build. That said, the overall design is a bit dated compared with competing flagships that pare down the body while expanding screen size, and the phone's fingerprint sensor is disabled for US users. In that location's also little 4K HDR content available to take advantage of that gorgeous screen. The XZ Premium offers a lot to similar, merely the Samsung Milky way S8 remains a more well-rounded alternative and our Editors' Choice.

A Dated Design

The Xperia XZ Premium doesn't surprise in terms of blueprint. Available in black, chrome (silver), and pinkish, information technology's practically identical to the Xperia XZ, with the same rectangular shape, rounded sides, and unfashionably large bezel. In an era of phones with edge-to-edge displays similar the Galaxy S8 and the LG G6, the XZ Premium looks dated (and it is, if you expect fifty-fifty further back to phones like 2022's Xperia ZL). That said, it has a nice premium, loftier-quality expect and feel thank you to matching panes of Gorilla Drinking glass 5 on the front and back, giving information technology a highly polished, mirror-similar finish. It picks up fingerprints pretty easily though.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium

The phone measures half dozen.1 past iii.0 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.9 ounces. You can almost use it with 1 paw due to the friendly, rounded sides, but the sizable bezel makes it just likewise big to reach across with your thumb. The tall, narrow Galaxy S8 (5.ix by 2.7 by 0.3 inches, 5.5 ounces) and LG G6 (5.9 by two.eight past 0.three inches, five.8 ounces) are both easier to use.

A dual-SIM and microSD card slot are accessible through a flap on the left side. There's besides a USB-C charging port that supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0. A fingerprint sensor is integrated with the power button on the right, simply it isn't activated in the U.s.a., which is disappointing, equally even entry-level phones are starting to include this feature. Also on the right is a mushy volume rocker and a camera shutter primal. A iii.5mm headphone jack is on top, and there's a pair of stereo speakers on the front end.

The XZ Premium ($489.00 at Amazon) is IP65/68 waterproof, meaning it can withstand immersion in up to five anxiety of h2o for xxx minutes. It worked fine afterwards being fully immersed in a bowl.

It'due south All Nigh the Display

Forget about what the XZ Premium looks like, y'all're here for the brandish. It'southward the world'south kickoff five.5-inch 4K (3,840-by-2,160) HDR IPS display on a smartphone. If you haven't yet done the math, that's a staggering 807 pixels per inch. Information technology'southward past far the sharpest panel we've ever seen on a phone, chirapsia out the Quad Hard disk Galaxy S8 (570ppi) and G6 (565ppi). Text and graphics are incredibly bright, simply to some extent information technology's overkill. At that place are very few instances in which yous can truly distinguish between 4K and Quad Hard disk, at to the lowest degree with a screen this size. Near of the time the phone is simply rendering upscaled 1080p. There'south also no option for yous to up or downscale resolution, unlike the S8.

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As for HDR, it gives the telephone deep blacks, rich whites, better contrast, and more than vivid colors. But it only works with compatible content, which is still limited, though nosotros'll likely start seeing more than of information technology as more than phones support the standard.

Network Performance and Connectivity

The XZ Premium is bachelor unlocked and supports LTE bands 1/2/four/5/seven/8/12/13/17/19/20/26/28/29/32/38/39/40/41, for use on GSM carriers similar AT&T and T-Mobile. During our testing in midtown Manhattan, we experienced solid network connectivity on T-Mobile, recording a pinnacle download speed of 11.41Mbps, which is similar to other phones we've tested on the network recently. The phone supports Cat 16 LTE with 4x4 MIMO, allowing it to attain gigabit download speeds once those networks roll out. Boosted connectivity options include dual-band Wi-Fi and NFC.

Call quality is swell. Transmissions are articulate and voices sound natural. Earpiece volume is good and dissonance counterfoil effectively blots out the vast majority of background noise with merely rare instances of crackling from wind.

Crawly Audio

The XZ Premium supports high-resolution sound with ALAC, DSD, FLAC, and LPCM file formats. The DSEE HX protocol enhances the quality of compressed music files by restoring high-range sound and employing digital noise cancellation. I tested the feature with a pair of Sennheiser HD630VB headphones and was impressed with the uniformly well-baked highs, mids, and lows the telephone produced. Details really came though, and bass was deep and rich without being overblown.

Bluetooth users aren't left out in the cold. The telephone supports Bluetooth v.0, and aptX and LDAC codecs, both of which heighten audio quality with compatible headphones like the Sony MDR-1000X. Bluetooth 5.0 isn't supported on whatsoever headphones notwithstanding, merely it'll permit you stream audio to more than than 1 pair at a time, meliorate quality, and extend range.

The ane disappointing aspect to the audio experience is speaker quality. Despite having stereo speakers, I establish audio to be flat and tinny at the highest volume. It wasn't as room-filling as other phones with dual speakers like the ZTE Axon 7, and was barely audible over the audio of a nearby fan.

Powerful Hardware

The XZ Premium packs plenty of ability under the hood with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. Considering information technology'southward running apps at 1080p, information technology performs exceedingly well on criterion tests despite having a 4K display. On the AnTuTu criterion (a measure of overall system performance), it scores 172,667, a scrap higher than the Galaxy S8 which has the same chipset (158,266), and head and shoulders in a higher place the Snapdragon 821-powered LG G6 (136,907). If y'all downscale the S8 to 1080p, the results are closer (163,756), but the XZ Premium all the same pulls ahead considering of its mostly stock UI.

Overall functioning is shine. We've reached the point where flagship phones and fifty-fifty midrange ones like the Moto G5 Plus can run apps with nary a stutter, and then the XZ Premium with 4GB of RAM has no problem. Information technology tin handle plenty of multitasking also as loftier-end games like Injustice 2 and GTA: San Andreas.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium

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Battery life is disappointing. The phone clocked just iv hours in our rundown examination, which streams full-screen video over LTE with screen brightness set to maximum. That's less than the Galaxy S8 (5 hours, 35 minutes) and the G6 (5 hours, 57 minutes).

A revamped Smart Stamina way optimizes power by learning usage habits and turning off Wi-Fi and other features yous may not be using at sure times of the twenty-four hour period. Qnovo, meanwhile, manages charging cycles to lengthen the lifespan of your battery, assuasive fast charging when yous first plug in, then trickle charging as you get closer to full. These features are difficult to measure in our video examination and may effect in better battery life for everyday usage.

Impressive Camera Performance

The 19-megapixel photographic camera on the back is packed with features. For starters, information technology has the same RGB and IR sensors as the Xperia XZ that amend color reproduction and focus speed respectively. In that location'southward as well a CMOS sensor with phase detection autofocus that improves low-lite shooting. Finally, yous have Movement Middle, a memory-embedded sensor that immediately processes images to minimize distortion and reduce post-processing time, a feature you lot also find on Sony's a9 full-frame mirrorless camera.

The event of all this hardware? The Xperia XZ Premium comes within a pilus of matching the Samsung Galaxy S8 in image quality, which we consider the superlative photographic camera phone on the market right now.

Film quality is strong outdoors and in good lighting, which tin exist expected from any flagship phone these days. The real test comes with low-lite performance. We took a diverseness of test shots under various lighting conditions, some on a cloudy mean solar day, some indoors, and others under irregular lighting, which you can see in the images below.

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Overall, the Galaxy S8 edges out the XZ Premium, showing more item like individual veins and crinkles in leaves, and more than nuance in shadows. Color reproduction is adept, though the Premium tints light-green a shade or two. Noise reduction on the S8 is a bit meliorate, though in the case of some indoor shots (such as the Crimson Mecha), the S8 blurred a chip. The XZ Premium has manual controls, so with some tweaking of ISO and shutter speed, you can match the low-light performance of the S8.

Ane of the features I had the almost fun testing is deadening-move recording. The XZ Premium is capable of shooting video at a ridiculous 960fps. It merely works well in good lighting and shoots in bursts of six seconds, merely when it works, it results in some very absurd video, as you can see beneath.

1080p recording at 60fps and 4K at 30fps is articulate and stable. The latter can cause the phone to warm up, though nosotros didn't encounter whatever overheating. The 13-megapixel front camera takes crisp selfies and is swell for video chats.

Software

In terms of software, you lot get Android seven.1.ane Nougat with Sony'south custom user interface running on top. It'south not a heavy UI layer, and aside from some pocket-sized visual and animation changes, it'll be familiar to most Android users. Sony incorporates Xperia Actions with various smart features for outcome notifications, scheduling, and daily briefings. At the time of testing, Xperia Actions wasn't bachelor.

There's some bloatware. Y'all'll find Amazon, AVG Protection, Facebook, Lifelog, Lounge, Moving-picture show Creator, PlayStation, Sketch, Spotify, Video & TV Side View, and What's New preinstalled. None of the apps can exist deleted, only disabled. Out of 64GB of full storage, you're left with 47.37GB, which is ample for apps, photos, and video. You can always add a microSD carte du jour if yous need more space.

Conclusions

At $800, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium is one of the costliest flagship phones you tin can purchase. In terms of hardware, it matches most of its rivals with smooth, fast functioning, splendid camera quality, and loftier-resolution audio. It too has the sharpest display of any smartphone available. But it's held back by a bezel-heavy design that makes the telephone look outdated and feel unwieldy compared with the sleek Samsung Galaxy S8. Information technology'south also missing a fingerprint sensor and won't work on Sprint or Verizon. And while the 4K HDR brandish is impressive, right now it feels a flake useless due to the paucity of content available. The Galaxy S8 offers largely like features on all the master carriers for a few dollars less, making it out Editors' Pick. If yous want to save some money, the upcoming OnePlus 5 looks like a promising alternative.

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