Sony announces Xperia Z5 phone at Berlin IFA

Sony has announced its long awaited next generation Z5 smartphone, adding more features to the Xperia.

Sony has announced its long awaited next generation Z5 smartphone, adding more features to its already recognised Xperia branding as a waterproof, dust proof handset.

At a keynote address at the IFA trade fair in Berlin, Sony president and CEO Kazuo Hirai said the Z5 also boasted the world’s faster autofocus on a smartphone camera, some 0.03 seconds.

A new feature called clear image zoom would let users zoom in 5 times closer to an image without deterioration, even in lowlight situations. Shaky video was taken care of the next advanced image stabilisation system.

He said the Z5 had a finger print reader on its side which allowed for secure unlocking in a single gesture;

The Z5 battery’s would provided up to 2 days of charge. The handset was available in various colours and in two sizes: one with a 4.6-inch display and a premium model with 4K video quality on a 5.5-inch screen.

Newly released Sony Xperia Z5 smartphones are on display at the Sony booth oat Berlin’s IFA.

He said the quality of lower than 4K resolution video would be improved thanks to Sony’s image upscaler embedded in the phone.

Mr Kazai said he was a long term fan of high resolution audio and Sony was leading “a revolution” in providing a high quality audio experience in its smartphones.

Its high resolution audio (HRA) was supported by streaming services such as Deezer and was the preferred music quality of many artists who offered their music in HRA quality.

Mr Kazai said Sony was investing heavily in businesses that would drive growth; the competition was intense and the stakes were high.

In TVs, its European sales had more than doubled, He said the increase in HDR or high dynamic range viewing content had revolutionised the television experience. HDR contained 10 times the dynamic range of picture brightness.

The Japanese electronics company also announced a new, colourful headphone series called “H.ear On”. It will be available as an over-the-head units and as earbuds. H.ear On features noise cancellation and high resolution audio quality combined.

Mr Kazai said Sony was promoting several staff-initiated projects and one was a watch with the smarts embedded in the watchband.

Chris Griffith travel to Berlin courtesy of Samsung.