Skip to main content

Sony Xperia XZs Review

Sony Xperia XZs Review

Introduction

Sony is dishing out flagships like there's no tomorrow. Last year, the Japanese company was probably the most prolific top-of-the-line manufacturer of them all. And this year, at MWC, Sony decided to update its flagship line once more. The result were two new phones – the adequately refreshed Sony Xperia XZ Premium and the less-novelty Xperia XZs.

Leaving the XZ Premium aside, let's dive into the XZs and see what's what with the device.

In terms of hardware, little has changed from the XZ. The new phone uses almost exactly the same body design, and almost the same internals with some small, but significant differences.

Design

We've held this phone in our hands before.


The design is anything but a major leap from its predecessor. The Xperia XZs looks exactly like the XZ, save for the slightly more prominent camera bump on the back.

However, this is not inherently a bad thing, as the look and feel of the phone screams “Xperia”, and that means that it's stylish, elegant and clean. It still features the “loop” design Sony introduced last year, making the somewhat bulky phone quite ergonomic and pleasant to hold by curving the sides a bit.

The materials used to manufacture the phone have also stuck since the last model, with glass on the front plate, metal on the back and plastic everywhere else, including a strip of it on the lower portion of the rear panel. However, the plastic components still feel pretty solid and nice to the touch, so we have no complaints there whatsoever.

Our problems with the design start when we look at the right side of the device. It houses the power button, with the fingerprint scanner for the international model, and the awkwardly placed volume rockers on its lower portion. Our thumbs would much appreciate it if the hardware buttons were moved around a little bit, and the volume rockers actually ended up above the power button.

The bottom of the phone houses the USB Type-C port, while the top hold a 3.5mm jack for your classic audio needs.

The Xperia XZs comes in Ice Blue, Black and Warm Silver, and all three of those colors look gorgeous in person, unlike their rather bland looks in most photos, official ones included.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Apple iPad Pro 9.7-inch Review

Apple iPad Pro 9.7-inch Review Introduction This is the part where we normally introduce our readers to the device being reviewed, but seriously, does the iPad need an introduction? Not really. Six years ago, it single-handedly defined what a modern tablet should look and feel like. Today, it is the only tablet that matters in a segment of the mobile industry clutched by stagnation. And the  iPad Pro 9.7  – the newest member in the lineup – further solidifies Apple’s position as a leader on the tablet scene. Bearing a “Pro” in its name, the iPad Pro 9.7 adopts most of what we loved about the 12.9-inch model from last year – the duet of productivity-oriented accessories, the outstanding 4-speaker sound setup, the performance of Apple’s most powerful mobile processor, to name a few examples. With this new model, it all comes at a size that’s more manageable, more portable, more familiar to users, sprinkled with a few extra bits we’re going ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 camera review

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 camera review DPReview smartphone reviews are written with the needs of photographers in mind. We focus on camera features, performance, and image quality. The Note 4 is the latest iteration of Samsung's top-end line of so-called 'phablets'. In terms of design the new model is very close to its predecessor, the Galaxy Note 3, including a similar faux-leather material on the back cover. Under the hood, however, things have been upgraded significantly. In the camera department the Note 4 has gained an optical image stabilization system which makes it the first Samsung smartphone with this feature. With a 1/2.6-inch 16MP BSI CMOS image sensor and F2.2 maximum aperture the rest of the rear camera specification is identical to the Galaxy S5. At the front you'll find a 3.7MP camera with a fast F1.9 maximum aperture for selfie-shooting and video chats. It comes with a selfie-panorama mode.  Howe...
Post a Comment
Read more

LG G5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 edge

LG G5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 edge Introduction In the world of Android devices, Samsung and LG are the two giants that make some of the most recognizable products. The smartphone philosophies of both companies have recently undergone some huge changes: Samsung did much of the changing last year with the radically new design on the  Galaxy S6 , while LG is doing it this year with the  LG G5 . The G5 tries to bring something different to a mature market: a phone with modular design and a brand new metal look. How does it compare with the curved-screen  Galaxy S7 edge , and is that modular design something that brings meaningful change? And then, what about the new, dual-camera system on the G5 with its secondary wide-angle lens? A gimmick or genuinely useful? We compare two of the best Android phones at the moment: the 5.3” G5 with all its bells and whistles against the more familiar yet still modern, 5.5” Galaxy S7 edge. Let’s see which one c...
Post a Comment
Read more