Sony Xperia XZ comes to Australia for $999

Sony’s XZ smartphone is priced below top-of-market phones by the competition.

Sony Xperia XZ smartphone

A three-sensor camera, battery management and intelligent app management are features of Sony’s premium Xperia XZ smartphone.

The XZ carries forward the tradition of Sony’s Xperia Z range with water resistance although you no longer have to close off seals before contact with water. It is IP65/68 rated

The Australian today got a preview of the XZ which can now be pre-ordered. It will sell in Australia from October 20 for a recommended $999. It will be available from Sony Kiosks and Sony Centre, and JB Hi-Fi and on 24-month plans from Telstra.

Sony Xperia XZ

The phone features a 23 megapixel main camera which Sony says goes from standby to capture in 0.6 seconds and a 13MP low light selfie front camera.

The camera’s signature feature is its three image sensors.

There’s predictive hybrid autofocus that tracks subjects as they move across the frame. Sony says the camera can predict the position of a moving object ahead of time to still deliver a sharp image.

A laser autofocus sensor measures distance to a subject for sharper images in low life, and an RGB sensor that brings out vivid colour. In my brief time trying the camera the colour reproduction was strong.

An easy to use focus adjustment let me take sharp close ups of objects with blurred backgrounds on manual settings. There’s the return of 4K recording with digital image stabilisation and Sony maintains a separate camera shutter button to keep shooting simple.

The phone has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 829 processor, there’s 32G of internal storage and a microSD card for expanding storage to 256GB.

Sony has implemented battery technology that it says will extend its lifespan. It argues that a battery’s lifespan is shortened when you keep charging a phone after it reaches full capacity. On the XZ it has implemented software that will juice-up a phone to 90 per cent overnight, and then charge it to 100 per cent just before you get up. It learns your waking habits over time.

Sony Xperia XZ sensor technology

There is also Qnovo adaptive charging which adjusts the charging rate. Sony claims a battery lifespan of twice what it would be otherwise. This technology sounds ambitious and we will be keen to test it.

You can separately buy a Sony quick charger UCH12W that uses Qualcomm quick charge 3.0 fast charging.

Sony overlays “smart assist” technology over Google Android Marshmallow. Over time this machine learning technology will glean your habits and alert you to issues.

For example, it might alert you if there’s an app constantly open that you don’t use, or notifications from particular apps that you never engage with. It can take action on your behalf.

The XZ can act as a second screen with Sony PlayStation, the power button is a fingerprint sensor, and the device supports high-resolution audio, including Sony’s new LDAC technology for transmitting high quality wireless audio via Bluetooth.

Sony retains the 3.5mm headphone jack but also implements USB3.1 type-C as its charging/data transfer port. You get a digital noise cancelling headset (MDR-NC31EM) in the box, and there is a mounting unit for the phone on a PlayStation controller. The phone comes in black and blue.