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SONY VERY NEARLY CRACKS IT... TWICE

Author
glennzb,
Publish Date
Tue, 24 Jul 2018, 4:42PM

SONY VERY NEARLY CRACKS IT... TWICE

Author
glennzb,
Publish Date
Tue, 24 Jul 2018, 4:42PM

I've been slack.


I've always heard good things about Sony Xperias, but I've never actually tried one.


So I thought I'd make up for it... by trying two at once...

 


The Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact from Sony are all class. They are smooth, black and sexy. They have Sony written on the front and Xperia on the back and everything else is minimalistic, stylish and cool.


To look at, the full-sized XZ2 is perhaps slightly more classy than the Compact, because it's encased in glass, front and back. The Compact's rear casing is a brushed-metal feel plastic, which has its own advantages because it's nowhere near as slippery as the all-glass finish.


The unusual thing about Sony's latest combo is that in terms of specifications, other than screen size (and obviously, actual size) these two phones are almost identical.


The screens themselves, although one is 5.7" and one just 5" are otherwise identical - and they might be the most sensitive to the touch I've ever... touched. It's hard to put into words exactly why I found the experience of swiping, pinching and pressing these displays so pleasant. It's almost as though they felt soft, like there was some give. Maybe this is exactly what Sony is going for with its "TRILUMINOS" technology. If anything, the screens were almost too responsive and I did occasionally open the wrong app by mistake with my fat fingers.


They don't just feel nice, of course - the displays display superbly, which is what you would expect from an outfit like Sony, famous for cool tellies and even cooler gaming consoles. It's that sort of behind-the-scenes techie know-how that also shines through in terms of sheer processing grunt and smooth operation generally.


The Xperia O.S. is very close to a stock Android experience, with only a few native Sony apps pre-installed. As usual, the home or lock screens don't rotate into landscape mode, but hardly anyone's ever does. There's a familiar app-drawer and on-screen navigation key set-up. All this stuff is the same for both handsets.


One big difference is charging - the larger, glassier XZ2 offers, wait for it, WIRELESS CHARGING! Thank the lord and hallelujah! Finally someone other than Samsung and Apple have come to my wireless charging party. In saying that, battery life on both models is good without being outstanding, again with a similar performance from both phones, despite the Compact's smaller battery. (Smaller display means less drain, I guess)

 

Good work on the wireless charging Sony, but I have to pull you up on your stupid little light. I'm begging all phone makers out there... if you MUST ruin your beautiful design with a charging LED, at least give me the option to turn it off if I don't want it! And believe me; I don't want it. Even tiny little lights illuminate dark bedrooms in the middle of the night. At least I can stop it blinking for notifications.


The XZ2's are certainly not cheap; $1299 and $1049... so you would expect premium performance and features, which is indeed what you get, for the most part. Although both only offer 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, as I've already pointed out, these phones really fizz along.


The only obvious downside is the camera. Neither phone offers a dual lens set-up, either front or back, so there are nowhere near the photo features many other phones in this price range have to offer. That's not to say the XZ2's don't take good pics... generally I found the results sharp and detailed, but perhaps a little dull colour-wise, especially in dark conditions.


There are a few tricks though, including the option to render 3D portraits of yourself or your friends, although it wasn't exactly clear what I was supposed to use the 3D me for once I'd created him. Fun though.


So a slightly underwhelming camera experience is probably all that keeps these two phones from being genuine flagship heavyweight contenders - but then again, that's probably why they're a few hundred dollars cheaper than those dual and even tri-lens options.


Conversely, sound quality is right back up there with the best I've tried - again, what else would you expect from a major AV brand like Sony?


Other than that, the choice is really between sizes; unless, like me, wireless charging is an essential requirement, both phones function so similarly, how big a screen you need becomes the deciding factor - that and the $250 price difference of course.

 


Click here for more information and pricing on the Sony Xperia XZ2


Click here for more information and pricing on the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact

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