The Sony presentation at MWC this year was short and sweet. However, it packed one of the best smartphone line-ups announced at the show. The company not only announced four new smartphones, but showed their prowess in the imaging department as well. Sony announced four new smartphones, the XZ Premium, Xperia XA1, Xperia XA1 Ultra and the Xperia XZs. Now, none of these devices will be available till spring this year, but the excitement is high as the top of the line Xperia XZ Premium will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC. Further, it is now the first smartphone to feature world’s first 4K HDR display.
So, there is definitely a lot more going on at Sony then expected. Let’s see what the four phones have to offer.
Sony Xperia XZ Premium: 4K HDR display, Snapdragon 835 and more
Sony’s tag line for the XZ Premium is “Everything becomes Wow”, and if you go by the specs only, it is quite true. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC, the phone features some really nice tricks, which currently no other smartphone has. The highlight seems to be the camera, which redefines slow motion capture, taking the fps count to 960 fps. Comparatively speaking, this is almost four times what current gen phones can capture.
Sony calls the new camera 'Motion Eye' and claims that the camera can capture stuff, which the human eye can’t even see. Sony even claims that the new camera can take better images in low light offer better quality than its rivals. The phone also has the world’s first 4K HDR display, content for which is available on Amazon Prime and Netflix. Although, we doubt the internet speeds to stream in 4K are available everywhere still.
Thanks to the Snapdragon 835 SoC, the device can achieve 1GBps download speeds and it will learn a user’s habit to optimise the battery life and performance accordingly. Further, high-res audio is supported and you can play your PS4 games on the phone phone via a controller with PS4 Remote Play.
Sony XA1 Ultra: 6-inch bezel less display
The XA1 Ultra picks things up where Sony XA ultra left. The 6-inch display on the phone is almost bezel-less and offers a 1080p resolution. while, the phone won’t be as ergonomic as a 5-inch device, the larger screen will provide better viewing experience. The design of the device looks quite similar to the phone it replaces, but there are subtle difference here and there, such as the non-curved edges of the device.
In addition, the phone offers a 16MP front-facing camera, which is aided by OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation) and has a wide-angle lens to accommodate more of your friends in a group selfie. The 23MP rear camera seems quite promising as well and makes use of the same camera technology Sony showcased in its flagship devices last year. The phone is powered by a relatively new MediaTek Helio P20 SoC and features 4GB of RAM.
Sony Xperia XA1: bezeless but handy
If the XA1 Ultra seems too big to you, Sony has a smaller variant as well called the Xperia XA1. This is a 5-inch device sporting an IPS display with 720p resolution, which again goes edge-to-edge.
The phone is quite good looking, but in essence is a cut down version of the XA1 Ultra. The front-facing camera is 8MP only and the phone also makes do with a smaller 2300mAh battery. The rear camera however remains the same at 23MP and supports Sony’s Hybrid focus and Steadyshot technology.
Sony Xperia XZs: smaller flagship
While the XZ Premium is the main flagship smartphone for Sony this year, the XZs seems to be a more everyday version of the same. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC, the smaller phone retains some of the flagship features from the XZ Premium. It uses the same 19MP Motion Eye camera and has all the cool camera functions as its bigger sibling, including the 960 fps slow mo camera.
What it does lack though, is the high display resolution. The 5.2-inch device has a 1080p display and a smaller battery. The phone also misses out on a USB Type-C port, which seems like an odd omission.
However, just like you, we are also confused why Sony is using a year old SoC on a new flagship. The company could have definitely used a Snapdragon 821 instead.
Rounding up, here are all the specifications of the phone, you might be interested in.
| Sony Xperia XZ Premium | Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra | Sony Xperia XA1 | Sony Xperia XZs | |
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 | MediaTek Helio P20 | MediaTek Helio P20 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 |
| Display Size | 5.5-inch | 6-inch | 5-inch | 5.2-inch |
| Display Resolution | 3840 x 2160p | 1920 x 1080p | 1280 x 720p | 1920 x 1080p |
| RAM | 4GB | 4GB | 3GB | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB | 32/64GB | 32GB | 32GB |
| Rear Camera | 19MP | 23MP | 23MP | 19MP |
| Front Camera | 13MP | 16MP | 8MP | 13MP |
| Battery | 3230mAh | 2700mAh | 2300mAh | 2900mAh |
| OS | Android 7.1 | Android 7.0 | Android 7.0 | Android 7.0 |
| Price | NA | NA | NA | NA |