At an exclusive media event yesterday, Sony announced the launch of a new range of smartphones in its Xperia series. These devices include the Sony Xperia XZ1 and the XA1 Plus. The Sony Xperia XZ1 is a 5.2-inch phone with full HD display offering a screen resolution of 1080x1920p and the screen receives protection from a Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
The display is also bolstered by the proprietary Triluminous display technology of Sony as well as the X-Reality technology adopted for mobiles. The processor fitted on the Sony Xperia XZ1 is the top end 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and the GPU is the Adreno 540.
The XZ1 also comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The storage can be further expanded to up to 256GB using a microSD card. The Sony Xperia XZ1 ships with the Android 8.0 Oreo OS out of the box.
It is however in the optics department that one would expect a lot from Sony and the Xperia XZ1 won’t disappoint you in this score. The main rear camera is a 19MP Exmor RS sensor that possesses 3D capabilities. A slow-motion recording feature at 960fps is also available besides the 4K recording facility, similar to the one seen in the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.
On the front, the selfie camera of 13MP has a wide-angle f/2.0 aperture lens with the Exmor RS image sensor technology. The battery fitted on the Sony Xperia XZ1 is 2700mAh, accompanied by the Quick Charge 3.0 feature and the connectivity options are complete.
The water and dust resistant IP 68 certification is also available and the audio section is strengthened by Hi-Res Audio and other special technologies, unique to Sony. One of the stands out features on the phone is its new 3D-scanning technology.
The phone allows you to simply use the rear camera to map a face, head, some food or a freeform object. You then follow the dotted lines onscreen and tap Confirm. It’s not fiddly, and it’s not picky about lighting either: it’s fancy 3D-imaging tech that just works.
The company also announced the launch of the middle-range Sony Xperia XA1 Plus. This phone has specifications that are much toned down as compared to the XZ1 discussed above. The display is 5.5-inch full HD, with a resolution of 1080-by-1920 pixels, and a MediaTek Helio P20 SoC as the processor.
The processor is an octa-core variation with a 64-bit chipset and clocking speeds have been measured at 2.3GHz for four cores and 1.6GHz for the other four. The phone also comes with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage space. You can also use a microSD slot to expand storage to up to 256GB.
The XA1 Plus’ rear camera has a large 23MP sensor with Sony’s Exmor RS technology, while the rear camera is of an 8MP variety. The battery on the XA1 Plus is a huge 3420mAh battery with support for Quick Charger 2.0 tech.
In terms of pricing, the XZ1 is immediately available on the market for a price of AED 2199. The XA1 Plus on the other hand will be available mid-October 2017, for a price of AED 1149. The company had also announced the XZ1 Compact at IFA this year. Sony has however confirmed that this particular device will not be coming to the Middle East region anytime soon.
Stay tuned for a hands-on and a full review!
