There is something to be said about a design philosophy that makes devices stand out against its competition. But if that look seems to have stagnated and just made devices look dated, it might be time to reconsider things. Thankfully, Sony has finally heeded the call of the public and has finally introduced a new look for its Xperia line of devices.
The Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact made their first appearance at MWC 2018 earlier last week and introduces a new design approach that is a welcome change. The bezels have finally shrunk and the back with a design that Sony calls “ambient flow” shows a flashier device that’s reminiscent of HTC’s phone. Sony finally creates a standalone fingerprint sensor at the back, too. And like most of the other flagships in 2018, it doesn’t have a headphone jack, too. Your consolation is that the phone supports AptX HD and LDAC codecs for high-quality audio.
Sony pares down on over the top features but still packs in the best specs it can into the Xperia XZ2. There isn’t a gimmicky 4K display here instead the 5.7-inch display of this phone comes with an FHD+ (2,160 x 1,080) with a 2:1 aspect ratio and HDR support. The phone also supports stereo speakers. It runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage with microSD expansion, Android 8.0 Oreo, and 3,180mAh battery with Qi wireless charging support.
To help differentiate itself from the other flagships, Sony introduced Dynamic Vibration System that makes the phone rumble along to different types of media and games. Sony’s tagline for the feature is “feel your media.”
When it comes to its camera, Sony sticks with the 19-megapixel sensor and tweaked things a bit to make it better. When shooting in 4K video, it can now capture HDR and Sony bumped up the resolution of its ultra slo-mo mode by letting you record 960fps footage in 1080p resolution. The 3D Creator face-scanning app can now work with the front-facing camera as well.
The Xperia XZ2 Compact shares a lot of the hardware features of the XZ2 but in a smaller, well, compact size. It comes with a 5-inch screen and still has the same Snapdragon processor and camera capabilities. It doesn’t get Dynamic Vibration System and wireless charging for its smaller 2,870mAh battery. The device is encased in plastic instead of glass.
