Sony Xperia XZs

The once dominant force of the smartphone world, Sony, has its mobile division now working on consolidating product lines to focus primarily on the Xperia X series. The series caters mainly to the upper mid-range to high-end smartphone user segment, which Sony is desperately trying to recapture.

The Sony Xperia XZs Glossy Steel, 64GB (4GB RAM) is priced at Rs.49,900. It comes with a 5.2 inch OLED capacitive touchscreen display with 1080 x 1920 pixels at 424 PPI (pixels per inch). This flagship is powered by Qualcomm MSM8996 Snapdragon 820 Octa-core processor and comes with 4GB RAM. It also has 32/64 gigs of internal storage that can be expanded up to 512GB with a microSD card. The phone runs Android 8.1 and a 2900mAh non-removable battery. It measures 146 x 72 x 8.1 mm and weighs 161gm. Further, it also houses an 19 MP primary camera on the rear and a 13 MP front shooter for selfies.

The Xperia XZs is a more refined and improved version of the showstopper, that was the Xperia XZ. As far as aesthetics go, the Xperia line hasn’t changed much over the last couple of phones, and the XZs is no exception. Sony launched the Xperia XZs only 6 months after the Xz, so understandably, the design is pretty much identical to what we’ve seen. The XZs has a super smooth matte back made of Sony’s alkaline aluminium alloy and is comfortable to hold owing to its curved sides. It has an IP68 rating so you shouldn’t have any problem using it in any weather. There are a few things we’re delighted to see on the Xperia XZs though, such as a 3.5 mm audio jack, a USB TypeC port and the stereo speakers.

Sony has gone with the 5.2 inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display, which is the same screen used in the Xperia XZ. The display is vibrant, sharp, and the colour distortion is minimal. This allows multiple viewing angles. The colour reproduction is accurate, and even the sunlight legibility is on point.

One of the most important upgrades in the Xperia XZs has been the increased amount of RAM. The significant change in the XZs is the 4GB of RAM over the 3GB which was available on Xperia XZ. Base storage comes as either 32 or 64 GB with a provision to expand it with a microSD card up to 512 GB.

The most iconic feature about this phone, however, is the 19 MP, f/2.0, 25mm (wide), 1/2.3″, predictive PDAF, Motion Eye camera on the rear with an over 23 MP sensor. Sony has re-engineered and redesigned the entire camera system since the XZ, to make some significant leaps in the right direction, and it seems their hard work has paid off. The pixel size on the new sensor has become 20% bigger. The rear sensor gets predictive hybrid autofocus, a f/2.0 aperture, 5-axis stabilisation, and a companion RGBC-IR sensor for capturing accurate colours. Details with vivid colours and good depth can be seen when capturing landscapes and macros. 

Sony also integrated their proprietary camera specific technology right into the center stack, which allows capturing short video sequences at an impressive 960 frames per second. The most attention-grabbing camera feature, however, has to be the slow motion video mode. There are a few limitations that we’d like to get out of the way. Firstly, videos are only 720p, and the field of view is cropped compared to the regular videos. Secondly, you can only slow down short segments of the normal footage, that too in a prominent light, which is a prerequisite for getting good results with this camera setup. If the light is not enough, the camera cranks up the ISO, and you end up with very noisy footage.

The battery life of the Xperia XZs is at best modest and doesn’t charge very fast either despite sporting the quick charge 3.0. It only charged up to a decent 40% in half an hour according to the tests. The Xperia XZs works with the latest Android software out of the box and utilises the latest version of Sony’s custom UI on top. The XZs packs a 2900mAh battery which is decent on paper but is not likely to be enough for most users. The phone sometimes suffers from overheating problems when using the camera to its full capacity, leading to a bit of a worry when looking at its processing power.

Sony bringing its brilliant camera industry-centric technology from its Cyber-shot cameras to the realm of smartphones is an absolute treat for every user. Shooting at 960fps slow-motion video can certainly get addictive, and we look forward to seeing this feature on other phones as well. There’s only one big thing holding us back from recommending the Xperia XZs, and it isn’t the price of the phone, it is the issue of overheating at ceratin uses of the camera. The best part of the Xperia XZs is its camera, however, due to this dilemma we are unable to take advantage of it, and that’s a big deal-breaker.