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Sony Xperia XZ Premium announced: 4K HDR Display, 960 FPS video capture

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R

Ryne

Member
Every Sony phone has shit on me in some way that I can no longer keep them on my buy list. I have experienced too many issues with them.

Looks great, but I also echo the complaints about all that extra bezel space. Why not put the buttons on the chin if you are going to make it that large?
 
H

Harry Stewart

Member
I don't get why people are so hyped up for this phone. It's never releasing before the S8, which will steal all its thunder. The 4K HDR screen is IPS, so no VR, and will make mincemeat of that poor 3,200mah battery if you manage to find content for it. Plus the usual Sony traditions: big bezels, likely non-functioning fingerprint reader in the US, astronomical price, and once again a great on paper camera sensor that will likely fall short of its potential. The thing is a tank, too, bigger than even the Z5 Premium and is pushing 200 grams. For a 5.5" phone that's ridiculous, I don't care how nifty your screen is.
 
M

Mokubba

Member
Don't know if it's true but I remember reading that in order to avoid a camera bump at the back for Sony's "omnibalance" design, the camera + sensor is moved to the top.

This allows the phone to be symmetrical for the Omniblanace design and is also why the bottom bezel is always the same size as the top.

Their designs may not be for everyone but I hate camera bumps and have loved the omni balance design since the Xperia Z. They've won a lot of awards for it so I can't be the only one.

In future they need to get the edge to edge screen on the flagship phones.
 
L

Lagspike_exe

Member
Harry Stewart said:
I don't get why people are so hyped up for this phone. It's never releasing before the S8, which will steal all its thunder. The 4K HDR screen is IPS, so no VR, and will make mincemeat of that poor 3,200mah battery if you manage to find content for it. Plus the usual Sony traditions: big bezels, likely non-functioning fingerprint reader in the US, astronomical price, and once again a great on paper camera sensor that will likely fall short of its potential. The thing is a tank, too, bigger than even the Z5 Premium and is pushing 200 grams. For a 5.5" phone that's ridiculous, I don't care how nifty your screen is.
Click to expand...

It most likely won't run the UI and other stuff that's not pictures and videos in 4K. Xperia Z5 Premium rendered everything at 1080p. Battery life should actually be pretty good considering it has Snap 835.
 
vivftp

vivftp

Member
anddo0 said:
Could Sony have another announcement at IFA?
They've done crazier things...
Click to expand...

Well, there are rumors from another forum I visit. Usually I don't trust the source, but he was pretty accurate about the recently announced phones about a month in advance:

IFA: XZ1 and XZ1 Compact with Snapdragon 835

and next year XZ1 Premium

IFA: New Design
Click to expand...


So if Sony are going for a new design language, we should see it at IFA it seems.


As for the bezels people keep talking about, there are 3 factors at play there I think

1) The stereo front facing speakers require additional space
2) The main camera sensor they use is larger than normal phone sensors, and requires additional space. Their sensors of this size also historically heat up quite a bit, so it would probably not be best to put it behind the screen
3) It might also be a design choice. Sony has already done really small bezels before in the Xperia ZL, they haven't forgotten that. So we know they're capable of it


If this rumored new design does wind up being slimmer top and bottom bezels, I will personally be a bit saddened as I like having bezels to hold on to. We'll see though...
 
F

farisr

Member
Unknown Soldier said:
4K screen on a phone. Okay. I'm sure that drives up the cost for no visible consumer benefit.
Click to expand...
I'm all for it. I'll continue to buy cheaper 1080p phones, while folks that want the latest and greatest phone will basically help make these screens become standard on phones, eventually driving down their costs, which will lead to VR headsets with a good enough pixel density for their screens to not seem lacking/blurry.
 
S

Servbot24

Banned
Fezan said:
people complaining about bezels how do u hold phone without bezels ?
Click to expand...

I don't get this either. I guess there could be a pone with no bezel where the edges of the screen have touch disabled? But then it just adds confusion of where you can touch. Plus the edges of your fingers would be covering the edge of the screen, making it annoying for videos... Just seems pointless in the end.
 
vivftp

vivftp

Member
Your Entertainer said:
The bezels are too big, period
Click to expand...

They're absolutely perfect for me. The bezels on my Z Ultra are probably a bit bigger, and they're perfect whenever I hold my phone with 1 hand in landscape mode, which is most of the time.

I sometimes think that people who go on about minimal bezels are just going by appearance and not thinking about the practicality of not having a bezel to grip.
 
vivftp

vivftp

Member
doby said:
Who holds their phone by the front whilst using it? It should be cradled by your fingers.
Click to expand...

I do? If I'm holding the phone in landscape for extended periods of time to read or watch a video I find it far more comfortable to place the length of my thumb along the bezel and have my other fingers support the weight from the back. Then again my phone's far larger than the norm, so it might or might not be different for other phones.

I am curious what this new design Sony will be using is, assuming the rumor is true. If they follow suite with the near bezeless design I will be a wee bit sad, but I'll already have my XZ Premium by then and that should keep me happy for the next couple years :)
 
A

Akira

Member
I used to be a huge cheerleader for Sony and Xperia 3-4 years ago. I wanted them to be among the top Android manufacturers, but they fumbled every chance they got by being slow to market, not having the specs and features to match Samsung and even LG, and not developing their design at the same pace. They were at the top of Android design back in 2013-2014, now Samsung LG and the Chinese brands have improved their industrial design that might have be seen critically as being above Sony on that aspect.

The bezel thing was one of the criticisms of Xperia flagships back then and they have done absolutely nothing to progress from 2013. I know they have experimented and released minimal side bezels in some of their mid range phones such as the Xperia XA, ZA or whatever the hell the name is (I don't want to get started on their naming convention). But these are fringe phones and not their flagship phones.

Having something to hold onto is just a plain bad excuse for keeping huge bezels. With the iPhone, they've kept the large top and bottom bezel because of the home button and Touch ID. But now they are seeking ways of making the phone more compact while keeping the screen the same size, such as integrating Touch ID into the display screen and removing the home button. The other excuse is that they use it for front facing speakers, which is no good when the speakers sound worse anyway than other mono speakers on other phones. Another excuse is that Sony uses special Exmor sensors that need the huge top bezel -- but Sony is routinely beat out by Apple and Samsung cameras because of their shitty camera processing algorithms. What's the use of having a state of the art camera sensor when the results are average?

I know some of the people defending Sony here would be ecstatic if the XZ Premium came in a bezel less package with the same specifications, which is what we are now expecting with the iPhone 8 and Galaxy S8 (except the 4K screen probably). I probably sound really salty, but I'm just disappointed at Sony has handled their mobile effort. They could easily have done so much better.
 
T

TERRORIFFIC

Member
I loved my Z3 more than any other phone ive ever owned... but if this doesn't come to my carrier I cant justify it. Im also kinda invested in wireless charging at this point.
 
M

Madness

Member
ZombiePlatypus said:
I know megapixels are sorta approximations, but holy fucking shit at 13MP for front facing camera.
Click to expand...

It's because of the selfie culture and snapchat being so prevalent now. I see more people take pics with the front camera than the back one despite the camera in the back usually having a better lens and sensor. Crazy though. I've been wanting to ditch Samsung for a while now after all these years. This phone could do it.
 
L

Leopold

Member
I just got an Xperia Z5, and I am somewhat impressed. I had an Arc S and a Xperia ZL, they were quite good phones actually. Z3C was a huge letdown as it was amazingly fragile.

Z5 is snappy, Sony UI is minimally intrusive, bloatware is not locked. It is a pity that their price tag is so insanely high.
 
I

Imp the Dimp

Member
Ryne said:
Every Sony phone has shit on me in some way that I can no longer keep them on my buy list. I have experienced too many issues with them.
Click to expand...

My Z3 Compact is my #1 worst technology investment ever. It literally disintegrated within just a few months without further impact from me. Never had that problem before, never after.
 
Rellik

Rellik

Member
LeleSocho said:
This is bullshit, if this phone came out 6 months ago no one would have complained, you are just victim of the yearly fad on smartphones.
Click to expand...

I would. I've always hated bezels on phones and TVs and it's a big factor in my phone choice.
 
M

Mindwipe

Member
Pankratous said:
If it only uses 1080p unless 4k content is run then that greatly alleviates my battery concerns.
Click to expand...

That's a stock Android feature now, so yes. It will only run in 4K if the application calls a specfic API requesting that.

Interestingly, there's no way to do this for HDR in Android under Nougat...
 
vivftp

vivftp

Member
Fezan said:
Sony’s new flagship phone belongs in a museum

By very professional vlad from verge
Click to expand...


Yeah, Vlad's usually got a hate boner out for Sony so I wasn't surprised to read his impressions. Tech will always progress and Sony's fit some nifty tech in here that we'll be seeing in all phones in the coming years anyways. They get a feather in their cap for being first with this tech, but it's like it upsets Vlad that it was Sony instead of one of his preferred manufacturers.

I've all but set my mind on getting the XZ Premium, unless reviews reveal some monstrous flaw that we can't yet see. Glad to see Sony confirmed it'll be coming to Canada, I just hope all the carriers pick it up. I have my heart set on it and I'm with Rogers, and one of my friends also wants it and he's on Telus.


BTW, GSM Arena's updated their preview page with a variety of camera samples:

http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xz_premium-review-1583p3.php

It already looks quite good, and as this is all very early pre-production software it should only get better.
 
vivftp

vivftp

Member
NH Apache said:
"It's gorgeous and powerful but I hate it because it's too nice. Also it releases in 4 months and that's years away."

Who is this idiot?
Click to expand...

Yeah pretty much what I say whenever Vlad reviews any Sony product.


One interesting thing I saw from Stuffs preview video relates to the gorilla glass exterior:

https://youtu.be/sgcFGnzWwGw

Skip to 3:56 and it looks like Sony showed a graphic of how the gorilla glass is like a tube, and the phone internals just slide on in. I wonder if that was just dumbed down to illustrate the design or if that really is how it works. I'm curious how this design could affect repairs if the glass were to crack.

Can't wait to see someone do a drop test with it :)
 
N

NaM

Does not have twelve inches...
After using the z3c I said to myself that I would never ever again buy a sony smartphone but I'm weak :(
If they do deliver with the camera and don't sell it for like $ 1k I may buy it.
 
vivftp

vivftp

Member
Mr.Shrugglesツ;231350068 said:
We are weak people. I'm gonna wait for that ZXC.
Click to expand...

Well if the rumors are true you just have to wait til IFA for an announcement and it might have this supposed new design.
 
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