Sony Xperia XZ review: Premium style at an affordable price

Alex Kidman

Last updated: Jan 15, 2021

The Xperia XZ is Sony’s best phone to date, and an attractively priced competitor in the premium space as well.

5.2 inches

Display size

1080 x 1920px

32GB, 64GB

Internal storage

23 MP

Rear camera

2,900 mAh

Battery size

Finder rated as Average vs similar phones

We’re reader-supported and may be paid when you visit links to partner sites. We don’t compare all products in the market, but we’re working on it!

Display

Display Size

5.2 inches

Resolution

1080 x 1920px

Camera

Rear camera megapixels

23MP

Video recording

Front camera megapixels

13MP

Front camera aperture size

f/2.0

Physical Dimensions

Dimensions

146mm x 72mm x 8.1mm

Weight

161g

Connectivity

NFC

Yes

Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n

Network category speed

Category 9

Power, storage and battery

Processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 820

RAM

3GB

Operating system

Android 7

Internal storage

32GB, 64GB

External storage support

Up to 256GB

Battery capacity

2,900mAh

Device features

Headphone jack

Yes

Fingerprint sensor

Yes

Water resistance rating

IP68

Wireless charging

Launch price (RRP)	$0
Launch date	2016-10

Go to Sony's site More info

Alex Kidman

twitter facebook

A multi-award winning journalist, Alex has written about consumer technology for over 20 years. He has written and edited for virtually every Australian tech publication including Gizmodo, CNET, PC Magazine, Kotaku and more. He has also been the Editor of Gizmodo Australia, PC Mag Australia, CNET.com.au and the Tech and Telco section at Finder. Alex has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England and a serious passion for retro gaming.

Where to buy

Strengths

Great design
Good battery life
Aggressive price point
Water resistance
Fast, crisp focus for photos

Could be better

Decent, but not great performance
No Forest Blue on contract
Plastic SIM/microSD card tray
USB C still isn't widespread

Sony’s X series strategy has been a curious one to say the least. The X series phones were announced at Mobile World Congress in the same timeframe as Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and LG’s G5, but with availability tracked for some months after the conference. When the XA, X and X Performance arrived, only the Xperia XA really stood out as a solid budget/mid-range competitor, with both the Xperia X and Xperia X Performance leaving us wanting just a little more in the premium spaces they occupied.

It didn’t take Sony long to add more to the X series with the Xperia X Compact (yet to launch in Australia) and the Xperia XZ, designated as the new flagship of the line. In a year that’s seen some seriously impressive premium handsets, will the third time be the charm for Sony?

Design

Smooth and sleek design
IP65/68 water resistance

There’s really only so much you can do with slabs of metal and glass to differentiate yourself. Sony’s Xperia design used to tend towards the boxy, but the smooth sides of the Xperia XZ, and especially the clean black and forest blue finishes are real eye catchers.
Combine that with a weighting that leads you to think the Xperia XZ will be more heavy than it actually is, and what you end up with a phone that looks spectacular and is comfortable in the hand or pocket. 2016 has seen some stunning looking handsets, but in sheer design attractiveness, Sony’s leading the pack right now. Yes, even over the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
Sony’s been the one manufacturer to keep water resistance on its phones throughout, although it’s a feature much-hyped by both Apple and Samsung. The Xperia XZ continues this trend with an IP65/68 rating, which means it’s not your phone for Abyss-style trench diving, but perfectly suitable for accidental dips into water.
Unfortunately, while the Xperia XZ has a highly attractive metal body, its SIM and microSD card tray are flexible plastic. If you don't change the storage or SIM out often this won't be an issue, but if you do it's a concern on durability grounds alone. Competitor devices have nice solid metal trays, and Sony's choice here feels cheap by comparison.

Camera

23MP rear camera
13MP selfie camera
4K video recording

The Xperia XZ packs a fast, crisp focus for photos. Its five-axis stabilised lens can, in the right conditions, provide some very quick and accurate photos, with an app that includes full manual control as well as a variety of fun creative modes for those who are happy to let the phone do the tinkering for them. Low light performance was a little less consistent, but then most mobile cameras struggle in those kinds of conditions.

Performance

Snapdragon 820 processor delivers decent but not great performance

The Xperia XZ sports the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor as most of this year's Android flagships, but it seems that Sony's hasn't entirely fine-tuned it for performance. Here's how it stacked up against other flagships in Geekbench 4's CPU tests:

Handset	Geekbench 4 CPU Single Core (higher is better)	Geekbench 4 CPU Multi Core (higher is better)
Apple iPhone 7 Plus	3374	5649
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	1359	5333
Samsung Galaxy S7	1378	4718
Apple iPhone SE	2449	4171
Apple iPhone 6s	2465	4052
Sony Xperia XZ	1636	3604
Google Nexus 6P	1293	3594
Motorola Moto X Force	1352	3581
Sony Xperia X	1122	2626
Motorola Moto G Play	522	1334

The story is much the same with 3DMark's Ice Storm Unlimited:

Handset	3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Result
Apple iPhone 7 Plus	37956
LG G5	29597
Apple iPhone SE	29276
Samsung Galaxy S7	28903
Samsung Note7	28646
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	28402
Apple iPhone 6s	28171
HTC 10	27392
Sony Xperia XZ	26279
Sony Xperia X Performance	26125

Now, these aren't bad figures, and they're worth weighing against the general Xperia XZ experience. We'd expect decent performance out of the Snapdragon 820, and the Xperia XZ generally delivered that. Still, anyone buying a premium handset has the right to expect premium performance, and while the Xperia XZ has a certain amount of grunt, it's worth noting that other handsets manage to eke out just a bit more.

Battery

A 2,900mAh battery keeps the Xperia XZ chugging through a full day of use
USB-C fast-charging gets you back in action quickly

The Xperia XZ's 2900mAh battery is limited by the size of its frame, so expecting the same battery life you'd get out of phablet-sized phone like the iPhone 7 Plus or Huawei Mate 8 is unlikely. Still, for a Snapdragon 820 battery-chewing processor, the Xperia XZ does a decent job keeping itself going throughout an average use day. You couldn't quite stretch it to a full two-day run unless you were very conservative with your usage or enabled its low power stamina or ultra stamina modes, but it's easily capable of a day's heavy usage.

Here's how the Xperia XZ compared against a range of premium handsets using Geekbench 3's older battery test:

Handset	Geekbench 3 Battery Test Duration	Geekbench 3 Battery Score
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	11:55:00	7150
Huawei Mate 8	11:14:40	6659
Apple iPhone 7 Plus	11:11:20	6713
Samsung Galaxy Note7	11:02:20	6623
Sony Xperia X	10:40:40	6406
Samsung Galaxy S7	10:01:20	6013
Motorola Moto X Force	9:46:50	3914
Motorola Moto 4G Plus	9:44:10	3977
Samsung Galaxy Note 5	9:18:00	5580
Huawei P9	8:26:30	4948
Sony Xperia XZ	8:24:20	5042
Apple iPhone 6S Plus	7:48:10	4681
LG G5	7:36:10	4561
HTC 10	6:54:30	4145
Sony Xperia X Performance	6:46:51	4068

The Xperia XZ joins the family of Android phones using USB-C for charging and data transfer. That's great for high speed transfers and it also supports Qualcomm's fast charging to boot.

Verdict

A slick design and an attractive price tag make the Xperia XZ one of Sony's best smartphones yet.

The Xperia XZ is easily the best overall smartphone Sony produced in 2016, and that $999 price point is quite aggressive in comparative terms.

That being said, it still somewhat feels to us like Sony’s got all the parts to make a really killer smartphone but something’s holding them back. 2015's Xperia Z5 Premium had a 4K display, but Sony’s stuck with just 1080P for the supposedly superior XZ. Battery life is decent given its frame size, but there are alternatives that seem to eke out just a little more, and the same is true for the common processor architecture. Possibly Sony’s aware of this and that’s why it’s priced the Xperia XZ the way it has. The design is lush and the essential experience is very good indeed, and that’s a good argument for any premium handset really.

Your alternatives in this space and under the $1000 price point will all tend to be slightly older handsets that have now seen price reductions, such as LG’s modular G5, the HTC 10 or the newer Motorola Moto Z.

Pricing and availability

The Xperia XZ launched at $999 outright, which is both below that psychological $1000 price barrier, but also markedly cheaper than most other premium handsets right now. Given the fierce battles in the Android space on pricing, we'd expect even better bargains to emerge.

Compare SIM-only mobile plans

Name	Product	Features	Data	Price
Monthly winner: Data Circles.Life 100GB for $38 SIM-only Plan SIM-Only - Postpaid No contract New customers get over 20% off for 12 months - pay $30/mth, then $38/mth onwards. T&Cs apply. Ends 30.04.2021, 9pm AEDT Unlimited standard national calls & texts 100GB Data $30 per month Go to site View details	AUFMP-SIM.PRODUCT.MOBILE_DECORATOR Monthly winner: Data Circles.Life 100GB for $38 SIM-only Plan SIM-Only - Postpaid No contract New customers get over 20% off for 12 months - pay $30/mth, then $38/mth onwards. T&Cs apply. Ends 30.04.2021, 9pm AEDT Unlimited standard national calls & texts 100GB Data $30 per month Go to site View details	New customers get over 20% off for 12 months - pay $30/mth, then $38/mth onwards. T&Cs apply. Ends 30.04.2021, 9pm AEDT Unlimited standard national calls & texts 3GB bill shock protection Plan reverts to $38/month after 12 months	100GB Data	$30 per month Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
felix Subscription $35 1 month SIM-Only - Subscription No contract Unlimited standard national calls & texts No download limit Speeds limited to 20Mbps $35 per month Go to site View details	AUFMP-SIM.PRODUCT.MOBILE_DECORATOR felix Subscription $35 1 month SIM-Only - Subscription No contract Unlimited standard national calls & texts No download limit Speeds limited to 20Mbps $35 per month Go to site View details	Unlimited standard national calls & texts Unlimited international calls + text to over 40 selected countries. $5/mth add on One tree planted monthly for every active subscription	No download limit Speeds limited to 20Mbps	$35 per month Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
Dodo Mobile SIM-only 36GB $30 1 Month SIM-Only - Postpaid No contract Unlimited standard national calls & texts 36GB Data $30 per month Go to site View details	AUFMP-SIM.PRODUCT.MOBILE_DECORATOR Dodo Mobile SIM-only 36GB $30 1 Month SIM-Only - Postpaid No contract Unlimited standard national calls & texts 36GB Data $30 per month Go to site View details	Unlimited standard national calls & texts Includes 200 international mins to 35 selected countries	36GB Data	$30 per month Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
Moose 35.80 50GB 1 Month SIM-Only - Postpaid No contract Unlimited standard national calls & texts 50GB Data $35.80 per month Go to site View details	AUFMP-SIM.PRODUCT.MOBILE_DECORATOR Moose 35.80 50GB 1 Month SIM-Only - Postpaid No contract Unlimited standard national calls & texts 50GB Data $35.80 per month Go to site View details	Unlimited standard national calls & texts Voice over LTE and WiFi calling from Optus	50GB Data	$35.80 per month Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
Circles.Life 20GB for $28 SIM-only Monthly Plan SIM-Only - Postpaid No contract New customers get 50GB data and over 20% off for 12 months - pay $22/mth, then $28/mth onwards. T&Cs apply. Ends 30.04.2021, 9pm AEDT. Unlimited standard national calls & texts 50GB Data $22 per month Go to site View details	AUFMP-SIM.PRODUCT.MOBILE_DECORATOR Circles.Life 20GB for $28 SIM-only Monthly Plan SIM-Only - Postpaid No contract New customers get 50GB data and over 20% off for 12 months - pay $22/mth, then $28/mth onwards. T&Cs apply. Ends 30.04.2021, 9pm AEDT. Unlimited standard national calls & texts 50GB Data $22 per month Go to site View details	New customers get 50GB data and over 20% off for 12 months - pay $22/mth, then $28/mth onwards. T&Cs apply. Ends 30.04.2021, 9pm AEDT. Unlimited standard national calls & texts 3GB bill shock protection Plan reverts to $28 for 20GB/month after 12 months	50GB Data	$22 per month Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
TPG Super Value Large 40GB $29.99 1 Month SIM-Only - Prepaid No contract New customers pay $15/month for the first 3 months, then $29.99/month. Unlimited standard national calls & texts 40GB Data $15 per month Go to site View details	AUFMP-SIM.PRODUCT.MOBILE_DECORATOR TPG Super Value Large 40GB $29.99 1 Month SIM-Only - Prepaid No contract New customers pay $15/month for the first 3 months, then $29.99/month. Unlimited standard national calls & texts 40GB Data $15 per month Go to site View details	New customers pay $15/month for the first 3 months, then $29.99/month. Unlimited standard national calls & texts	40GB Data	$15 per month Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...

Compare up to 4 providers