Review: Sony pushes Xs not Zs with Xperia as shower selfie returns
Sony’s new Xperia set to reignite bizarre craze.
Sony’s action to ditch its Xperia Z range for Xperia X is an act of faith. While the Z range was not a big seller, it had its followers which included some members of my family that loved its stylish glass chassis, quality display, camera and, notably, water resistance.
And that’s Sony’s problem. Great quality didn’t translate into market leadership. That’s mainly because the opposition offered more for much the same money. Sony now is up against not only Samsung, LG and the like, but also phones from China that offer a swag of features for less cost. Life is getting harder, not easier.
In its early days, the Z even sparked a bizarre craze: the shower selfie, a time that’s better forgotten given the less than flattering self-images that appeared online.
Two of the three new Z models have 13-megapixel front facing cameras which, heaven forbid, will spark shower selfies afresh with a resolution quality that will induce cries of “far too much information”!
The new X range has three variants: the entry level XA, the X and the high end Xperia X Performance, which I tested. The X Performance retains the glass facade at front but on the back it has a less fragile brushed aluminium surface that’s easier to grip.
Older water resistant Z models included awkward flaps you made sure were closed to retain the phone’s water resistance. On this phone that’s limited to one flap protecting a tray that holds a SIM and microSD card. You rarely open it so it’s not a chore. Just make sure it’s closed before dunking the phone in the pool, surf or, if you must, taking it into the shower. Both the micro USB and headphone connectors don’t need a flap.
The phone supports a mammoth 200GB storage on a SDXC card.
The X Performance is a narrow design at just 70.4mm wide, so you can easily wrap your fingers around it. It has a 5-inch display. Sony has opted for full HD 1080p rather than 4K resolution which will save battery. The very high pixel density of 443 pixels per inch means great resolution on a small form factor but I prefer the more brilliant AMOLED screens to the IPS LCD display here.
Ask Sony what the signature features are, and they’ll say the camera, high resolution audio, and battery performance.
The phone has a dedicated camera button. Even when it’s asleep it takes about 1 second to be ready for action. But it’s not so fast when you press the button to take a shot. I took photos with this and Samsung’s Galaxy S6 edge and the edge snapped shots almost instantaneously in comparison.
The X Performance takes quality photos with good colour even in low light. But I was expecting something really special from a big 23mp sensor. In low light, exposure takes longer and you’re more prone to camera shake. That’s especially so if you use the button and not the screen as trigger.
In low light, the X Performance’s photos were brighter and more colourful but detail wasn’t as sharp as with the edge. I used automatic settings for this comparison.
The camera has a feature called “predictive hybrid auto focus” where you focus on a moving object and the camera calculates where it will go to take a sharp photo. A Sony camera uses continuous autofocus and wide focus area settings for this and it works. With the phone you poke your finger on the object on the display which is less convincing. It had issues identifying and sticking with the object.
Image stabilisation shooting video delivered smooth pans even while walking in our local park. Video looked good.
In terms of performance this is a fast phone with the same Qualcomm 820 processor and Adreno 530 graphics unit as on the fastest S7 edge models. It scored an astounding 132450 on the AnTuTu benchmark test.
The X Performance has a moderately sized 2700 milliampere hour battery that delivered 8 hours 32 minutes of battery life, playing video at 50 per cent brightness. There are phones that do much better. Sony has implemented a Qnovo adaptive charging features which replenished 10 per cent of battery in 10 minutes, and 22 per cent in 20 minutes. It took about one hour 50 minutes to completely charge. The quick charger costs $59.
The phone also supports USB OTG (on the go) so I was able to plug a USB flash drive directly into the phone and transfer files to-and-fro via an adaptor. This is useful where you can’t transfer files wirelessly, for example on a plane.
The fingerprint sensor is on the power button on the side of the device and it had no trouble recognising my prints and logged me in quickly. The phone also can be used as a PlayStation 4 controller.
The quality of audio delivered on a Sony phone can be reason enough to buy it. With noise cancelling headphones, listening to FLAC files on this phone was sensational. I loved particularly the undistorted treble tones. The two front facing speakers deliver clear, clean audio quality but I’d go for the headphones.
The Xperia XA and X are available from tomorrow but we don’t know the debut date of this higher end model in Australia. We know the X Performance will be available only through Telstra or from Sony Australia online.
Australian pricing is yet to be revealed but we do know US pricing of $US700 ($936) so it will be north from there. Sony is throwing in 12 movie downloads as a sweetener.
The Xperia X Performance will be available in four colours: white, graphic black, lime gold and rose gold. Not knowing the pricing makes it hard to rate this phone so I’ll assume a retail price of around $950.
Sony Xperia X Performance smartphone
Rating: 7/10
Price: TBA
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