Sony Xperia Xz Premium Full Review and Analysis

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium is a flagship smartphone that checks all the right boxes. It boasts a 5.46-inch 4K HDR display, which is a significant upgrade from its predecessor.

This display is paired with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, providing a seamless and efficient user experience. The phone also features 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.

One of the standout features of the XZ Premium is its camera system, which includes a 19-megapixel primary sensor and a 5-megapixel front camera. The camera app is also quite intuitive, making it easy to capture stunning photos and videos.

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The Sony Xperia XZ Premium has a reflective case that doubles as a pocket mirror, a feature that's both handy and a bit vain.

The device's back cover is made of Gorilla glass and is quite stable, but applying medium pressure can cause visible distortions in the liquid crystals on the front.

The phone's metallic finish on the top and bottom has diamond-cut edges, which provide a nice contrast to the smooth glass surfaces.

The rounded edges make the device very ergonomic and easy to hold, and it slides smoothly on slanting surfaces due to its smooth exterior.

Despite its size, the Xperia XZ Premium has almost no problem with fingerprints, which is a nice bonus.

Sony's design and build quality have improved significantly in recent years, with their latest products showcasing sleek and minimalist aesthetics.

One notable example is the Sony Alpha a7S III, which features a compact and lightweight body that makes it easy to handle and transport.

Sony's attention to detail is evident in the a7S III's weather-sealed design, which ensures that the camera can withstand harsh environments and conditions.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones boast a durable and long-lasting build, with a stainless steel headband and ear cups that can withstand heavy use.

The WH-1000XM5's foldable design makes it easy to store and transport, and the headphones also come with a hard case for added protection.

Sony's focus on durability and build quality is a major factor in the brand's growing reputation for producing high-quality products.

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The Xperia XZ Premium has a reflective case that doubles as a pocket mirror, which is a unique feature among smartphones. The Deep-sea Black color option is a real showstopper, changing between black, blue, and green.

The front and back of the phone are covered with Gorilla glass, which provides stability, although it can be prone to liquid crystal distortions under medium pressure. The phone creaks when warped, which is a bit disappointing.

The top and bottom of the phone have a metallic finish with diamond-cut edges, which creates a nice contrast with the smooth glass surfaces. The transition between the two materials is noticeable but not unpleasant.

The phone has a nice feel and the rounded edges make it very ergonomic. It's easy to hold and comfortable to use for extended periods. The Xperia XZ Premium slides easily on slanting surfaces due to its smooth exterior.

The phone has almost no problem with fingerprints, which is a nice bonus. They're only visible in very light reflections and can easily be removed.

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The XZ Premium comes in several variants, each designed for specific regions and markets. These variants differ in terms of supported bands and regions.

The G8141 model is a single SIM variant that supports GSM, UMTS, and LTE bands. It's available in Europe (except CIS), North America (except US), Oceania, South America, and Vodacom South Africa.

The G8142 model is a dual SIM variant that also supports GSM, UMTS, and LTE bands. It's available in Africa, Asia (outside Japan), Europe (including CIS), Middle East, and US (unlocked).

The G8188 and SO-04J models are single SIM variants, but they have slightly different LTE band support. The G8188 model is available in Japan (Nuro mobileMVNO unlocked model), while the SO-04J model is available in Japan (NTT DoCoMo carrier model).

Here's a brief comparison of the XZ Premium variants:

The display on the Sony Xperia XZ Premium is truly something special, with a 4K HDR display that's the first of its kind on a smartphone. This means it has a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels, making it one of the sharpest screens around.

The screen is powered by Sony's Bravia TV tech, which delivers vivid colors and high contrast. It's also HDR10 compliant, but unfortunately, it doesn't support Dolby Vision.

One of the standout features of the display is its high brightness, with an average of 568 cd/m². This is necessary to display the high contrasts, and it's also one of the reasons why the screen is so vivid and lifelike.

Here's a comparison of the display's brightness with other smartphones:

The display also has a high pixel density of 806 ppi, making it one of the sharpest screens around. This is especially noticeable when watching 4K content, which looks stunning on the Xperia XZ Premium.

However, it's worth noting that the screen panel uses LCD technology, which can't quite match the pop of an AMOLED display. But Sony's Triluminos Display technology does enhance colors over standard LCD panels, making it a great option for those who want a high-quality display.

The screen is also quite vibrant, with a color space coverage of 63.1% of AdobeRGB 1998, which is higher than the average smartphone screen. However, it's worth noting that the screen does suffer from some screen flickering, which can be a problem for some users. The frequency of this flickering is quite high, at 1136 Hz, but it's only noticeable at brightness settings below 33%.

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium is a powerhouse of a device, and its performance is one of its standout features. It's powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, built on 10 nm process technology.

This processor is paired with 8 custom Kryo 280 processors, which provide a solid foundation for smooth performance. The device also comes with 4 GB of LPDDR4X RAM, ensuring that you can multitask with ease.

The Adreno 540 GPU takes care of graphics rendering, making it perfect for gaming and other graphics-intensive tasks. The device's performance is further bolstered by its 64 GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 512 GB using a microSD card.

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The Xperia XZ Premium's performance is a real powerhouse. It's powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, which is built on 10nm process technology. This means it's fast and efficient, handling demanding tasks with ease.

The device also features 8 custom Kryo 280 processors, which are split into two groups: 4x 2.45 GHz and 4x 1.9 GHz. This dual-clocked design allows for better performance and battery life.

The phone has 4 GB of LPDDR4X RAM, which is plenty for most users. It also comes with an Adreno 540 GPU for graphics rendering, making it great for gaming and other graphics-intensive activities.

Here are some key specs:

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium has some notable drawbacks when it comes to its design. The design isn't the most premium, which might be a disappointment to some users.

One of the design issues is the fiddly SIM tray, which can be frustrating to deal with. This might not be a major concern for everyone, but it's something to consider.

The lack of 4K content also lessens the screen's impact, which is a shame given the phone's market-leading 4K display. This is a bit of a letdown, especially considering the phone's high-end specs.

Here are the cons of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium's design in a nutshell:

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium boasts a top-notch camera system, featuring the world's first 3-layer stacked image sensor with DRAM for smartphones.

This innovative sensor, known as the Exmor RS, allows for super slow-motion video recording at 960 fps, with a steady 720p resolution. This means you can capture stunning slow-motion videos without any jitters or blur.

The camera also features 4K video recording, which supports Steady Shot video stabilization, ensuring smooth and stable footage. You can also record at high-speed 1080p/60fps and 120 fps in 720p.

The front selfie camera has a 13 megapixel sensor with a 22 mm, f/2.0 lens and 90-degree wide angle lens, featuring Steady Shot with Intelligent Active Mode (5-axis stabilization). This means you can take sharp and clear selfies even in low-light conditions.

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The Xperia XZ Premium has Sony's Triple Image Sensing technology, which includes Image sensing (CMOS sensor with PDAF), Distance sensing (Laser AF sensor), and Color sensing (RGBC-IR sensor) systems. This advanced autofocus system can lock focus on a subject within 0.03 seconds, making it perfect for capturing fast-moving subjects.

The camera also features Predictive Capture, which automatically captures a maximum of four photos before the shutter button is pressed. This feature is especially useful when capturing fast-paced movement, and lets you select the best photo afterwards.

The camera received a DxOMark score of 83, indicating its exceptional performance and image quality.

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium's battery is a non-removable 3230 mAh unit, which is quite impressive.

The device comes with a USB-C port that supports USB 3.1, Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0, and Qnovo adaptive charging technology. This means the phone can monitor the cell's electrochemical processes in real time and adjust charging parameters to minimize damage and extend the battery's lifespan.

Battery Care, a Sony proprietary feature, learns and recognizes your charging patterns to prevent battery damage from excessive heat due to overcharging.

The Xperia XZ Premium has two energy-saving modes: "Stamina" and "Ultra Stamina". However, it's a bit annoying that you need to restart the device after using Ultra Stamina.

The battery has 3230 mAh or 11.3 watt hours, which gives the Xperia XZ Premium a good 11:35 hours runtime in our Wi-Fi test.

Even with heavy use, you can still expect the battery to last two days with normal use, and even three days if you're careful.

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The Sony Xperia XZ Premium has a standard 3.5 mm audio jack for wired headphones.

You can plug in your favorite wired headphones without worrying about compatibility issues.

The device also comes with LDAC, an audio coding technology developed by Sony, which enables the transmission of 24-bit/96 kHz Hi-Res audio content over Bluetooth at up to 990 Kbit/s.

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This is three times faster than conventional audio streaming codecs, making it perfect for audiophiles.

Other connectivity options include Bluetooth 5 with aptX and Low Energy, NFC, dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac with 2×2 MIMO antennas, Wi-Fi Direct, MirrorLink, screen casting via Miracast, Google Cast, DLNA, GPS (with A-GPS), GLONASS, BeiDou, and Galileo satellite positioning.

The Xperia XZ Premium also features a USB-C port with USB OTG and USB 3.0, making it easy to transfer files and charge your device quickly.

You can read microSD cards up to 256 GB, but keep in mind that the microSD card can only be formatted as external storage, not as internal storage for apps.

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The Sony Xperia XZ Premium's telephone and voice quality is a mixed bag.

The voice quality is often mediocre, and our contact sounds strangely muffled and even a little distorted via the earpiece.

At maximum volume, you can clearly hear background noise.

Our own voice does not sound good to our call partner either.

The audio enhancement tool ClearAudio+ does show slight improvements, but our caller still does not sound really good.

The speakers are weak, and our contact still sounds muffled with noise at maximum volume.

Our voice is loud enough, but does not sound particularly clear either.

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The Sony Xperia XZ Premium launched with Android 7.1.1 Nougat, which already had some great features like Smart Stamina battery saving modes.

The phone's software is quite lavish, with a lot of functions and features that Sony has added, including its proprietary multimedia apps.

At the time of launch, the security patches were up to date as of June 1st, 2017, but you should still keep an eye on updates to ensure your phone stays secure.

The phone's interface can feel a bit overloaded, especially when apps are grouped into folders in the app overview, but the full-text search feature makes it easier to find what you need.

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Sony's own apps for music, photos, and videos are installed, but they don't replace the Google apps, so you can choose which ones you prefer to use.

Some users might find the bloatware annoying, but if you like having a lot of features prepared for you, you'll appreciate the Xperia XZ Premium's software.

The phone also comes with some advertising apps, so you might want to delete them if you prefer a clean system.

Xperia Actions learns from your actions on the phone and gives you tips on how to make better use of the device, which is a pretty cool feature.

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium price was initially quite steep, launching at £649 ($799, about AU$1,100) SIM-free in June 2017.

This put it in the same price bracket as the Samsung Galaxy S8 and iPhone 7 Plus.

The good news is that the price has dropped to £499 ($540, about AU$700) SIM-free since its release.

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You can find the current price by shopping around, and contract deals are also more attractive now if you'd rather spread the cost over a couple of years.

If you're considering buying the Xperia XZ Premium, you may want to hold on a little bit as the successor, the XZ Premium 2, is tipped to be launched soon.

Here's a summary of the current price and availability: