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Sony Xperia XZ review: Premium style at an affordable price

Alex Kidman

Last updated: 18 September 2019

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

Details

Device features

Display size	5.2 inches
Resolution	1080 x 1920

Rear camera megapixels	23MP
Rear camera aperture size	N/A
Video recording	4K
Front camera megapixels	13MP
Front camera aperture size	f/2.0

Dimensions	146mm x 72mm x 8.1mm
Weight	161g

NFC	Yes
Wi-Fi	802.11 a/b/g/n
Network category speed	Category 9

Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 820
RAM	3GB
Operating system	Android 7
Internal storage	32GB 64GB
External storage support	Up to 256GB
Battery capacity	2,900mAh

Headphone jack	Yes
Fingerprint sensor	Yes
Water resistance	IP68
Wireless charging	No

Launch price (RRP)	$0

Alex Kidman is the tech and telco editor at Finder. He's been a technology writer with experience spanning more than 20 years, writing and editing at Gizmodo, CNET, PC Magazine, Kotaku and many more. Alex has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England and a serious passion for retro gaming.

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.

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