- In the world of smartphones,
we're always looking for the next big thing,
and recently Sony released the brand new Xperia XZ Permium.
You guys have been asking me if the XZ Premium
is worth your time and money,
so in this video I'm bringing you
the top five features of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.
What's going on, tech squad?
Andru Edwards here, editor in chief of GearLive.com.
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As I mentioned, we're taking a look at
the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.
I've been playing with this one for about a month,
and I'm checking in now with my favorite features
of this device.
And you know, it's actually pretty interesting.
Sony is a pretty big name in consumer electronics.
They make great TVs.
You may have recently seen my Sony Z9D review video,
as well as my Sony A1E Oled TV review.
If you haven't seen those, I'll link them down below.
They also make the PlayStation 4,
one of the most popular game consoles of all time.
But in the smartphone game,
they're not really talked about as being
in that top tier level.
You've got Apple with the iPhone,
you've got Samsung with the Galaxy S line,
and more recently you've got Google
coming out with its Pixel.
So with Sony releasing the new Xperia XZ Premium,
is it something you should seriously consider?
Now, this is Sony's headline smartphone for 2017,
and as you'd expect for being a flagship,
it comes with all the top specifications.
Just like Sony's previous flagship, the Z5 Premium,
there's a 5.5 inch display here with 4K resolution,
and a Snapdragon 835 processor
that can give rival handsets such as the Galaxy S8
and the HTC U11, and the LG G6 a run for their money.
But where Sony's really looking to stand out this time
is with the rear camera.
The headline feature is the 960 frames per second
super slow motion, which allows you to shoot
some pretty dramatic videos.
But with that being said, let's jump in
to my top five features of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.
Big shout out, by the way, to Sony
for sending over the phone,
and to Best Buy for sponsoring this video.
All right, number one on my list,
as I mentioned in the opening, is this display.
It's a 5.5 inch display, 4K resolution,
and it supports HDR.
Now, there is a caveat to that 4K resolution.
While the screen is technically 3840 by 2160,
the vast majority of the time,
you'll be looking at an upscaled 1080p version
of the Android operating system.
Now, you might rightly be asking
why this is the case, and the answer would be battery life.
Rendering 4K resolution every waking minute
that you're using the phone
would pretty much destroy the battery.
So instead, you'll see native 4K resolution
in certain instances.
Those include using built-in Sony apps
to look at things like images or videos,
or supported streaming video services
like Amazon Prime Video, which does offer 4K videos
and even HDR content.
Since Sony hasn't departed from
a more conventional 16 by nine aspect ratio,
the Xperia XZ Premium's display does not
put black bars on the sides
when you're watching widescreen content.
As I mentioned, the display also supports
high dynamic range in supported apps,
like Amazon Prime Video.
4K HDR is impressive on a 75 inch TV,
like I've got here with the Sony Z9D,
but it's even more mind-blowing
when you've got it on a display that fits in your pocket.
And if you're keeping score,
Sony is the first smartphone maker
to put this level of display on a mobile device.
Moving onto my next favorite feature
on the Xperia XZ Premium,
it's got to be that predictive camera.
The camera utilizes Sony's own motion eye capture system,
which draws on the company's digital imaging know-how.
Essentially, this equates to the first
mobile stacked memory sensor
to have dedicated DRAM,
which should help with image processing speeds.
The stacked memory has other benefits as well,
such as predictive capture,
which buffers images when it detects motion.
That allows you to capture images
immediately before and immediately after
you press the shutter button.
So in essence, you get three images,
and you can choose which of the three you want,
or you can just save all three.
The new 1.23 inch sensor sees the megapixel count
reduced to 19 megapixels,
from the 23 megapixel version used
in the regular Xperia XZ.
But the pixels themselves are now 19% bigger,
which means you're gonna get improved reliability
in low light situations.
And in keeping with the XZ Premium's
photography and video focus,
Sony actually put a dedicated shutter button
on the right hand side,
so when you're holding the phone this way,
right where your forefinger rests,
you've got a two phase shutter button.
You can hold it down half way to focus,
and then push it all the way to take the picture.
And if you're anywhere else on Android,
you can long press on that button
to open up the camera app.
Next feature here on my top five favorites
on the XZ Premium has got to be
that super slow motion video that I mentioned.
In fact, I might even call this
the headline feature of this device,
which by far eclipses rival handsets,
and even Sony's own flagship 4K action camera.
But again, just like the 4K display,
there are some caveats here with the super slow motion.
When you jump into the slow motion mode,
the image is immediately cropped,
putting you in a very tight field of view
that can be difficult to manage.
There's also a loss of resolution,
as the Xperia XZ Premium can't pull off
its party trick at 4K,
and instead records at 720p.
Not a huge deal, because that's what
pretty much every other smartphone camera
does for slow-mo as well.
An onscreen tutorial will tell you that
once you begin recording at 30 frames per second,
you'll need to press the shutter button again
at the right time to begin capturing in super slow motion.
Since there's no pre-buffer on the slow-mo,
you'll need to be very precise
when you begin slow motion capture.
You'll naturally be inclined to go a little too soon
for the first few attempts.
The other issue here is that ample lighting
is absolutely necessary.
In fact, I would even go so far as to say
the super slow motion isn't gonna look good
unless you're in pretty much broad daylight.
Most videos I shot indoors were both
extremely noisy and soft.
One scenario Sony is pushing for slow motion
is capturing people's pets,
but there's a reason that Sony's sample videos
are all shot outdoors.
Next up on the top five features has got to be the audio.
Sony attaches great importance to the audio quality
of the XZ Premium.
It's one of the main features of the smartphone,
next to the screen and camera.
The XZ Premium is equipped with stereo speakers,
which are both located on the front of the device,
so you can't be too mad at the top and bottom bezels,
because that's where the speakers are.
The smartphone supports the LDAC technology,
which prevents loss of quality
when the XZ Premium is connected to
wireless loudspeakers or headphones.
The DC technology developed by Sony itslef
is also used to provide better sound
when playing MP3s.
And, rounding things out, high resolution audio
is also supported by the XZ Premium.
So basically, no matter how you listen to
audio on this device,
whether it's through the front-facing speakers,
whether it's through the headphone jack on the top,
or whether it's through USBC on the bottom,
or even Bluetooth, it's gonna sound pretty great.
And finally, last on my list of my top five features
for the Sony Xperia XZ Premium
has got to be PlayStation 4 remote play.
Download the PlayStation app to sync your Xperia Premium
with your PlayStation 4.
That allows you to use your phone
as a second gaming screen,
or to access the PlayStation Network for downloads,
multiplayer chats, and news updates.
You may think it's a little crazy
to use your smartphone as a PlayStation 4 display,
but it actually works really well.
With the XZ Premium's advanced processing
and fast memory access,
gameplay is always smooth and responsive.
And, taking it back to those stereo speakers up front,
it makes the game even more immersive.
The Sony Xperia XZ Premium is a handset
jam-packed full of features,
and from its impressive 4K display
and huge power under the hood,
to excellent camera and solid battery life,
it has all the ingredients of a flagship smartphone.
Now, all that said, this phone is
a little bit pricey at $799.
That puts it in direct competition
with the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus,
the HTC U11, and the iPhone 7 Plus,
all fantastic and well-known smartphones.
So there you have it, guys, that was your look at
the Sony Xperia XZ Premium smartphone,
and my favorite features of this device.
If you wanna know more about this one,
if you want a more in-depth, full review of the phone
or the camera itself, just comment down below.
Let me know what you think, by the way,
in the comments as well, and I'll meet you down there
for further discussion.
Don't forget, click or tap on my face
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Thank you so much for watching as always, guys.
I appreciate your support.
I'm Andru Edwards, and I'll catch you in the next video.
(rock music)