Sony Xperia XZ Review - Review 2022

On paper, the $699.99 Sony Xperia XZ is well-nigh identical to the Xperia Ten Performance released a bit earlier this year. Aside from some minor design changes and a few improvements to the camera sensor, you're essentially looking at the aforementioned phone. Priced on par with flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S7, the Xperia XZ lacks features you lot'd expect, like a fingerprint scanner or a Quad HD display. Information technology also has mediocre battery life, and suffered from overheating issues in testing, merely like the X Performance. That means our assessment hasn't changed much: There are more capable unlocked phones out there.

Design, Features, and Display

With its distinct rectangular shape and sleek metal build (available in black, blue, pinkish, and platinum), the Xperia XZ is immediately recognizable as a Sony phone. Measuring five.7 by 2.8 past 0.3 inches (HWD) and weighing v.6 ounces, it'southward roughly the same size equally the Galaxy S7 (v.six by 2.seven by 0.3 inches, 5.4 ounces), and smaller than the phablet-sized ZTE Axon 7 (half dozen by 3.0 by 0.3 inches, 6.2 ounces). One-handed use is possible, but slightly unwieldy due to the hefty bezel at the top and bottom. If a palm-sized fit is what you want, you're improve off with the Xperia X Meaty.

There'due south a headphone jack upwards top, a USB-C charging port on the bottom, and a flap on the left that opens to give you access to a SIM microSD carte slot that worked with a 256GB Samsung Evo+ menu. The right side houses all the buttons, including a power button, a volume rocker, and a photographic camera shutter key. There'due south no fingerprint scanner, which is becoming an increasingly large omission in a marketplace where even budget phones like the ZTE Zmax Pro accept ane.

Like the Ten Performance, the XZ is rated IP68 waterproof, meaning information technology can survive being submerged in up to six feet of water for thirty minutes. I gave information technology a thorough run under a running sink tap and dropped it in a basin of water without any issues.

The XZ has a v.2-inch, i,920-by-1,080 IPS LCD. That works out to 424 pixels per inch, making information technology less precipitous than the Quad HD panels on the Galaxy S7 (577ppi) and the Axon 7 (538ppi). Merely the display produces colors that look rich and vibrant, and it's hard to see a difference in resolution one time you lot're past the 400ppi mark. Viewing angles are good, and the screen gets very bright, making information technology like shooting fish in a barrel to apply in directly sunlight.

Network Performance and Connectivity

Like all recent Sony phones, the XZ is bachelor unlocked and supports GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile. It has a comprehensive prepare of LTE bands (ane/2/3/4/five/7/12/13/17/20/25/26/29/thirty/41) that give information technology potent network connectivity. I tested the phone on T-Mobile in midtown Manhattan and saw a height download speed of 24Mbps outdoors. Dual-ring Wi-Fi and NFC are also present.

Phonation calls on the XZ are good, just noise cancellation could be better. Transmissions are clear and earpiece volume is loud, simply the phone struggled to blot out groundwork noises like the afar clarion of a siren and the honking of motorcar horns.

Processor and Bombardment

The telephone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, the same chipset y'all'll find in most loftier-terminate Android phones. The phone performed well in our benchmark tests, scoring 130,426 in AnTuTu, which measures overall system performance. That's higher than the S7 (123,993), just less than the Axon vii (141,989) despite its less-enervating brandish.

With 3GB of RAM, the XZ is capable of multitasking, though I couldn't push it to the same limits as phones with 4GB of RAM like the S7 and the Axon 7. In terms of graphics performance, gameplay in GTA: San Andreas and Cobblestone viii was smooth and responsive.

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Bombardment life is a weak signal. The telephone clocked just 3 hours and 57 minutes in our rundown test, which streams full-screen video over LTE with screen brightness prepare to maximum. That's less than the 6 hours we got on the Axon 7, and significantly less than the 9 hours we clocked with the Galaxy S7. Information technology's likewise a bit lower than the 10 Performance (4 hours, 5 minutes), despite having a slightly larger ii,900mAh battery.

The phone supports Qualcomm Quick Charge iii.0, only it only comes with a standard power adapter. Two battery-saving modes are built in: Stamina and Ultra Stamina. Both prolong runtime by disabling functionality similar background data and app refreshing, and tamping down screen effulgence.

Camera
Though the XZ has the aforementioned 23-megapixel rear camera sensor as the X Performance, information technology has some additions that brand information technology amend. There's light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation autofocus to amend the speed and accuracy of low-light shooting, an RGB color sensor to ameliorate color reproduction, and Predictive Hybrid Autofocus with v-axis image stabilization to better video recording.

Overall, the XZ performs almost identically to the X Compact. Focus locks on quickly and pictures come out crisp and accurate. The camera does well at capturing moving objects with limited blur and distortion. It's not as good as the S7, especially when it comes to depression-light shooting, but it takes better shots than the Axon 7.

The problems come with video recording. When recording 4K video at 30fps, the camera app preemptively warns yous that overheating may occur and that it may need to shut down some functions if the temperature rises. The same effect crops upwards when recording 1080p video at 60fps. After several minutes of recording, the photographic camera app reported a problem with overheating and shut down completely. I couldn't open it over again until the phone cooled down. This is the aforementioned trouble we encountered with the Xperia 10 Performance, simply not the X Compact. The Meaty is but capable of recording in 1080p at 30fps, which might explain the deviation.

The 13-megapixel camera on the front end takes clear and detailed shots. The camera app itself supports manual controls, allowing for adjustment to ISO, white balance, focus, and other settings.

Software
The XZ runs Android half dozen.0.1 Marshmallow, but with a fairly heavy custom skin over it. You'll find a custom lock screen, app icons, app drawer interface, and a whole host of new settings in the carte. Sony has promised an update to Android 7.0 Nougat in the hereafter.

There'south a built-in Smart Cleaner that automatically optimizes storage and memory by cleaning cache and closing background apps. ClearAudio+ optimizes sound settings, while DSEE HX upgrades the quality of compressed music files when using wired headphones; I didn't detect a pregnant difference in sound quality with these settings enabled, though. At that place's also a Gloves mode that increases touch on-screen sensitivity, and a Smart Backlight Control that detects when you're holding the telephone in your manus and keeps the screen awake.

You'll also detect a ton of pre-installed apps like Amazon Shopping, AR Effect, AVG Protection, Facebook, Lifelog, Picture Creator, PlayStation, Sketch, Spotify, Sticker Creator, SwiftKey Keyboard, TrackID, Video & TV SideView, What's New, and Xperia Lounge. They tin can but be disabled, not deleted. That leaves you lot with 21.47GB of available storage out of 32GB total. A microSD menu tin can be used for music, photos, and video, just yous can't move apps to it.

Conclusions

At $700, the Sony Xperia XZ is priced like a flagship phone, but it can't friction match the premium feel of devices like the Samsung Galaxy S7. Information technology lacks a fingerprint sensor, has a lower-resolution display, and mediocre battery life. The unlocked Galaxy S7 is a meliorate choice all around. If you lot're looking to salvage some coin, the ZTE Axon 7 gets you a sharper display than the Xperia XZ and otherwise like hardware for $300 less. Most importantly, neither of these phones overheat when shooting video.

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Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/smartphones/11903/sony-xperia-xz-review

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