Sony launches Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact
Smaller form factors, Android Oreo and 3D scanning for Sony's latest handsets.
Sony's current flagship phone is the rather excellent Sony Xperia XZ Premium, which was first announced at Mobile World Congress back in Barcelona. At the IFA show in Berlin, Sony has unveiled its two latest smartphone handsets, and as it has done in years past, they're essentially smaller and lower cost Xperia options.
The Sony Xperia XZ1 features a 5.2 inch full HD display running on the Snapdragon 835 CPU. Sony got a lot of power and potential out of the Snapdragon 835 on the Xperia XZ Premium, so it will be interesting to see how the processor fares with a simpler display screen.
The one big jump for the Xperia XZ1 is that it is the first announced phone to ship with Android 8.0 (Oreo) preinstalled by default. With Sony announcing near immediate availability for the Xperia XZ1 and Xperia XZ1 Compact, it means that it will almost certainly beat Google's upcoming Pixel sequel phones to market, which is unusual for Android operating systems.
While a large proportion of the market, including the LG V30 which was also launched at IFA, is opting for dual lenses (often made by Sony) for their smartphones, both the Xperia XZ1 and Xperia XZ1 Compact will feature single 19MP rear lenses, although they will support the Motion Eye camera, including slow motion, found in the Xperia XZ Premium.
Alongside the standard camera features, the Xperia XZ1 will also feature a 3D scanning mode, capable of scanning object for later printing on a 3D printer or using for the creation of personal AR avatars.
The smaller Xperia XZ1 Compact may well appeal to consumers after a smaller but no less powerful smartphone. While it only features a 4.6 inch 720p display, it has the same core Snapdragon 835 and 4GB RAM configuration of its larger sibling.
Sony hasn't announced Australian pricing as yet, but in the US they will sell for $US699.99 and $599.99 outright, which would suggest price points of around $950 and $750 respectively, allowing for GST.
Sony also showed off other products in its portfolio at IFA, including the RX0 camera which is capable of 4K and slow-motion shooting as well as capable of being paired in groups or submerged up to 10 metres. Sony also announced new models of wireless noise-cancelling headphones and new LF-S50G speaker models with inbuilt Google Assistant capability, joining a number of other companies that have announced integrated Google Assistant speakers at IFA.
Xperia XZ1 Specifications
- Product Name
- Sony Xperia XZ1
- Display Size
- 5.2 inches
- Resolution
- 1920x1080 pixels
- PPI
- 537 ppi
- Processor
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
- RAM
- 4GB
- Storage
- 64GB
- Operating System
- Android 8
- Front camera
- 13MP
- Rear camera
- 19MP
- Battery
- 2700mAh
- Dimensions
- TBC
- Weight
- TBC
- Price
- TBC
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