14 DAY TRIAL // When Sony announced the Xperia Z5 Premium, the world's first 4K smartphone, back in 2015, few believed the device would be popular among the company's fans.
Fast forward two years and Sony introduces the sequel to the Xperia Z5 Premium at Mobile World Congress (MWC), the Xperia XZ Premium. This is the second 4K smartphone launched by Sony, which means the company had enough time to polish its take on this quite rare category of phones.
The question is whether or not Sony managed to make enough changes to the new flagship to make it worth the upgrade over the previous model. As with all new flagships launched each year, new chipsets and more memory are packed inside, as well as better cameras in some cases.
The Xperia XZ Premium comes with a similar-sized display as the Xperia Z5 Premium, but it's larger and heavier. It runs a newer version of Android and packs a more powerful processor and more memory inside.
However, the battery inside Sony's new flagship is much smaller than the one on the Xperia Z5 Premium. Hopefully, Sony managed to find a way to better optimize battery consumption, especially that the Xperia ZX Premium boasts a 4K display.
To recap, the Xperia ZX Premium has the same 5.5-inch display and a smaller battery, yet it's larger and heavier than the previous Xperia Z5 model. The good news is the phone will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 processor, which seems to be second to none when it comes to performance.
Sony also added USB Type-C port and Quick Charge 3.0 instead of the previous version of the fast charging technology. The camera configuration has been modified as well, as the Xperia ZX Premium has a much better front-facing shooter.
You can find below a list of the most important specs that the Xperia XZ Premium and Xperia Z5 Premium offer, which will likely answer to most of your questions.
Specifications table
| Sony Xperia XZ Premium | Sony Xperia Z5 Premium | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 156 x 77 x 7.9 mm 6.14 x 3.03 x 0.31 in |
154.4 x 75.8 x 7.8 mm 6.08 x 2.98 x 0.31 in |
| Weight | 195 grams / 6.88 oz | 180 grams / 6.35 oz |
| Display | 5.5" 4K (3840x2160), IPS LCD, 801ppi Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Triluminos display, X-Reality Engine |
5.5" 4K (3840x2160), IPS LCD, 806ppi Scratch-resistant glass, oleophobic coating |
| Processor | Qualcomm MSM8998 Snapdragon 835 | Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 |
| GPU | Adreno 540 | Adreno 430 |
| RAM | 4GB | 3GB |
| Storage | 64GB | 32GB |
| microSD slot | microSD, up to 256 GB | microSD, up to 256 GB |
| Rear camera | 19 MP, EIS (gyro), phase detection and laser autofocus, LED flash | 23 MP, f/2.0, 24mm, phase detection autofocus, LED flash |
| Front camera | 13 MP, f/2.0, 22mm, 1/3" sensor size, 1.12 µm pixel size, 1080p | 5.1 MP, f/2.4, 1080p, HDR |
| Battery | 3,230mAh (non-removable), Quick Charge 3.0 | 3,430mAh (non-removable), Quick Charge 2.0 |
| Connectivity | USB 1.0 Type-C (version 3.1), Bluetooth 4.2 | microUSB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.1 |
| Network | LTE Cat.16 | LTE Cat.6 |
| Unlock | Fingerprint scanner (side) | Fingerprint scanner (side) |
| Software | Android 7.1 Nougat | Android 5.1.1 Lollipop |
| Colors | Luminous Chrome, Deepsea Black | Chrome, Black, Gold, Pink |