The lack of Android 7.0 Nougat is a shame, but we can forgive that given Google’s latest OS was released approximately 45 minutes before the Xperia XZ’s launch. It runs Android 6.0.1 and the latest version of the Sony UI. There’s no major change in the software either. This is a phone of small hardware reforms, like a housemate who finally stops leaving empty toilet rolls on the holder. Sony Xperia XZ operating system: Android 6.0.1 with a sprinkle of Sony style It’s only the CPU/GPU combo that stays much cooler than before. Charging and using the data connections will make the Xperia XZ get fairly warm. We wouldn’t go as far as to call this a totally cool-running phone, though. With an old-gen Xperia Z, you could expect the top of its back to get pretty warm after five minutes or so of play. How much more efficient it is becomes clear when you play something like Asphalt 8.
#SONY XPERIA XZ 1080P#
Given the Snapdragon 820 is used in phones of much higher resolution, such as the Samsung Galaxy S7, it can power the 1080p Sony Xperia XZ at a canter. This is a move to a more Apple-like way of thinking that it’s better to have a few good CPU cores than 750 naff ones. They’re called Kyro cores, and they are both powerful and efficient.
The Sony Xperia XZ only has four cores (rather than the eight of many rival flagships) because, well, they’re better cores. It’s a quad-core CPU, something you generally only see in phones you’d be slightly embarrassed to use. The most exciting thing about it actually sounds like a downgrade. It uses the Snapdragon 820 CPU, part of the Qualcomm renaissance, following a couple of years of producing intermittently suspect chipsets that got warm enough to toast marshmallows. The Sony Xperia XZ has easily enough power to play anything, however. Sony Xperia XZ power: Snap the Magic Dragon This is particularly handy if you like to play mobile games while out and about. It goes bright enough to shrug off any sunny day, with much better outdoor visibility than the LG G5. What the Sony Xperia XZ screen nails is brightness and outdoor visibility. It can deliver supercharged colours if you want them, but also has a strict sRGB mode for the puritan crowd. The Samsung Galaxy S7 has the edge on screen quality. We honestly didn’t notice much of a difference between the modes either, but this may change with a software update. The practical issue is that photos appear more vivid on-screen than they do when you transfer them to your laptop, which is not ideal.Īsk yourself: do you want “fire at the Crayola factory” colours, or something a bit more reserved and natural? There are X-Reality and super-vivid image enhancement modes that fiddle with the contrast a bit here, but nothing to calm down the colour. It’s supremely saturated, the sort of intensity you’d normally see in an OLED screen. The Sony Xperia XZ does try to max-out on colour, though. It’s big enough and sharp enough, but the specs don’t fling any superlatives.
#SONY XPERIA XZ FULL#
It’s 5.2in across, Full HD resolution rather than something higher and uses an IPS LCD screen. At first glance at least, the screen seems a lot like the Xperia Z5’s too. Quite a lot of the Sony Xperia XZ seems familiar, similar to what we saw last year. Sony Xperia XZ screen: too colourful for its own good?