Sony’s Xperia Z5 range includes world’s first 4K smartphone

SONY has unveiled the world’s first 4K smartphone, launching a pocket-sized device with more pixels than most 40-inch televisions.

Sony Xperia smartphones. Picture: Sony

THE first smartphone with more pixels than most 40-inch televisions will launch next month after Sony became the first phone maker to add a 4K technology to a pocket-sized device overnight.

The trailblazing smartphone, dubbed the Xperia Z5 Premium, was unveiled in Berlin and featured a 5.5-inch screen with more than double the pixels per inch of Apple’s iPhone 6, in addition to a 23-megapixel camera with record-breaking speed, a waterproof body, and a fingerprint scanner.

Sony will also launch a standard, 5.2-inch version of the Xperia Z5 phone without the pixel boost, and a Compact model with a screen just 4.6 inches in size.

Xperia Z5 ... Sony will also launch a standard, 5.2-inch version of the Xperia Z5 phone without the pixel boost. Picture: Sony

Speaking two days before the start of the IFA technology show in Berlin, Germany, Sony chief executive Kazuo Hirai talked up the new phone’s photographic credentials, promising it delivered “the world’s fastest autofocus in a smartphone” at .03 of a second.

“Simply explained, the Xperia Z5 contains our best camera created specifically for a smartphone,” he said.

The Z5 and Z5 Premium’s camera will also feature image stabilisation to limit motion blur, a lowlight rating of 12,800 ISO, and improved digital zoom.

Trailblazing ... Sony has unveiled its latest range of Xperia smartphones in Berlin. Picture: Sony

The company, which provides image sensors for Apple and Samsung phones, said it saved the best model for its own handsets.

A Sony Australia spokesman said the company would release the Xperia Z5 and Xperia Z5 Compact in Australia next month, but did not confirm the Z5 Premium’s local release.

Huawei also used the lead-up to IFA to reveal its Force Touch smartphone, the Mate S, potentially beating Apple to launch the technology in a handset.

#Sony innovation fused with flawless style. Say hello to #Xperia Z5 series. #SonyIFA #IFA15 http://t.co/ASMcppOPC6 pic.twitter.com/gjajR08vkV

— Sony Xperia (@sonyxperia) September 2, 2015

The 5.5-inch smartphone has a screen that can differentiate between a light tap and a more forceful press, like the screen on Apple’s Watch. The Mate S will also feature a 13-megapixel rear camera and a fingerprint scanner.

The new phones will face serious competition, however, with smartphone leader Samsung recently revealing two big-screen metal and glass smartphones — the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ — due in Australia this Friday, and Apple expected to reveal two new iPhone models at its September 9 event in San Francisco.

Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson travelled to Berlin as a guest of Samsung.

Originally published as Sony’s Xperia Z5 range includes world’s first 4K smartphone