REVIEW:

Between Samsung’s exploding battery drama and Apple’s latest release being plagued by delays, the smartphone market was open for a new king.

Enter Sony’s Xperia XZ.

While getting “live the dream” tattooed across my chest is one of my worst life choices, the decision to make the switch from Apple to Android has been just the opposite.

It’s not that I hadn’t tried previously to cross over, I just always found comfort in the familiarity of the iPhone.

I will admit the XZ looked great on paper, but I expected a hasty return to my iPhone after a quick spin with Sony’s latest flagship device.

To my surprise, I am extremely happy with the smartphone and will continue to use it.

DESIGN

There is no denying this is an aesthetically pleasing smartphone, which is a welcome change from Sony’s previous bulky Z range.

It might still have Sony’s signature rectangular shape, but the XZ has been tweaked to have a much curvier body than its predecessors — because who doesn’t love curves.

Self-described as its “loop” design, Sony claim the curves make for a more seamless transition between the high purity metal found on the rear and the glass on the front.

You can still see the joins where the materials meet, but they are not glaringly obvious — especially in the new “forest” blue shade.

Not only does this new design look sexier, but it’s supposed to make the XZ easier to hold.

This is a welcome feature for someone who is known to lack co-ordination from time to time.

Despite the new design, I have still managed to drop the smartphone a number of times and I can report it’s very durable.

With one such incident coming while jogging, I expected a string of four-letter expletives would follow me picking my Sony up from the jagged footpath below.

While there was a swear word it was more like “s**t yeah” — a response to only the most mild cosmetic damage.

A design feature I had never really considered before was Sony’s placement of the fingerprint scanner, which is built into the power button on the right hand side of the phone.

The 5.2 inch display means the phone is quite large, so having the scanner on the side makes it much easier to unlock with one hand.

If you have used Apple’s iPhone Plus devices with the fingerprint scanner on the bottom of the screen, you will understand what I am saying.

Sony’s latest device has been waterproofed with an IP68 rating, which means it can be fully submerged in up to 1.5m of water for up to 30 minutes.

While claiming a IP68 rating, Sony’s small print suggests people should not put it completely under water or expose it to salt and chlorinated water sources.

I might have ignored this warning and the phone is still working fine — just saying.

CAMERA

While fresh design is a welcome change, it is the camera that is the real hero of the XZ.

Let’s start with the 23MP rear camera, which includes triple image sensing technology for capturing movement and colour.

An imaging sensor has been used to ensure moving subjects are captured with all-important detail and sharpness, a laser autofocus sensor measures the distance to the object to help with low light and low contrast, and the RGBC-IR sensor measures Infrared information and colour to help the Automatic White Balance Function.

As with most Androids on the market, the camera also has manual settings for greater control for those more avid photographers.

To make the most of the triple image sensing technology, the device goes from standby to capture in 0.6 seconds — ensuring you never miss a shot.

The XZ also has a dedicated camera/shutter button on the side of the device, which helps when taking advantage of the waterproof capabilities by shooting underwater pictures.

The smartphone also features a 13MP front-facing camera, which has Sony’s renowned 1/3.06 low-light sensor and a 22mm wide angle lens for capturing more in shot.

It must also be mentioned that the camera will shoot in 8Mp 16:9 by default and the 23MP setting will work only in 4:3.

In terms of video, the phone is capable of recording in ultra-HD 4K resolution at 30fp, although that is sure to fill the 32GB of storage.

If you were planning on using the 4K video camera, it would be wise to extend the storage to 256GB with a Micro-SD card.

EVERYTHING ELSE

In terms of all the other specs, the XZ has a high-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and 3GB of RAM.

The display isn’t Quad HD despite the product being a 4K smartphone, with Sony opting to keep the screen full HD.

In saying this, the display is still extremely vibrant, bright and crisp, and doesn’t use as much power as some other phones on the market.

In terms of software, the Sony Xperia XZ runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Sony’s own lockscreen, settings menu and other features overplayed.

Eventually, the phone will move to 7.0 Nougat Android, although there is no word of when this might happen.

Unlike the iPhone 7, the XZ has a headphone jack, which is located at the top of the phone — something that makes much more sense than Apple, who used to have it on the bottom.

Although, I can’t help but think Apple’s push to wireless is the right move in the long term.

The smartphone supports 24-bit/192 kHz audio playback and has front facing stereo speakers for when no headphones are plugged in, although with only a signle speaker, the volume leaves a little to be desired.

Another impressive feature is the inclusion of PS Remote Play, which users to play games from their PS4 on their smartphone.

The XZ includes 2900mAh battery and charges via a reversible USB-C port.

Sony also claim its smartphone includes ‘Qnovo Adaptive Charging’ technology, which “arms your charging patterns and adapts to them, resulting in up to twice the battery lifespan”.

Despite adding to the battery lifespan in terms of years, I found on general day-to-day use it wasn’t the best.

I also had dramas with the USB-C cable falling out easily, meaning my phone didn’t charge.

Additionally, even when the phone was plugged into charger, the battery life still went down when I was using the phone, which was highly disappointing.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Having been an Apple fanboy for the longest time, I can say this phone has really impressed me and has made me consider crossing to Android for the time being.

It is simple to use, quick and has one of the best cameras on any smartphone currently on the market.

With waterproof capabilities and the camera button on the side allowing for some awesome underwater photography, the phone is more than impressive.

I will admit to missing Apple’s native podcast app and the latest iOS version of Apple Music, but these are only minor gripes.

My biggest concern would be with the battery, but even that wouldn’t stop me from recommending this phone.

I am about to move onto the Google Pixel and LG V20, but those devices will have to be pretty special to keep me from coming back to this Xperia XZ.

What are your thoughts on Sony’s Xperia XZ? Continue the conversation on Twitter @mattydunn11.