Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium promises crazy-good low-light videos
Less than two months after Sony launched its Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact pair of phones, the company has a new flagship smartphone: The Xperia XZ2 Premium.
It's the most powerful phone in Sony's lineup, with a number of interesting specs, including a 5.8-inch 4K screen and a dual 19/13-megapixel camera on the back.
This is a phone that definitely leverages Sony's expertise in digital imaging. The pair of cameras, a monochrome/RGB sensor combo (similar to the one in Huawei's P series of smartphones), allows for 12,800 ISO sensitivity for video recording (which is the highest ISO for video recording in a smartphone ever, according to Sony), as well as 51,200 ISO sensitivity for photos.
The rear camera also allows for 960fps slow motion in full HD -- better, in theory, than Samsung's Super Slo-Mo which takes videos just as slow but at 720p resolution. And on the front, the 13-megapixel, f/2.0 camera with a new 1/3.06'' sensor should also perform well in low-light conditions.
Like most mobile flagships today, the phone can also capture footage in 4K. But here again Sony gets to show off its imaging chops -- the Xperia XZ2 Premium is the first phone to be able to capture 4K footage in HDR (high dynamic range), according to the company.
The rest of the spec sheet is just as impressive. The phone packs a Snapdragon 845 processor and has 6GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a 3,540mAh battery, IP65 dust and water resistance (note that this is worse than IP67 resistance, which is the norm for smartphones these days), and wireless charging. There's also a fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone, as well as stereo speakers on the front.
Let's talk about the display for a second. The Xperia XZ2 isn't the first phone to sport 4K resolution -- 2,160 x 3,840, to be precise -- but it's still a rarity among smartphones. For day-to-day activities, there's really no need for so many pixels, but if you ever end up slipping your Sony phone into a mobile VR headset, it'll make a difference. It also means you're not losing a single pixel when you check out any 4K footage.
On the outside, the new Sony phone is quite similar to its predecessor, the XZ2. That means it still has huge bezels above and below its perfectly rectangular screen (no notches of any kind here) which may suit some users but it does look a bit obsolete compared to most Android flagships that came out this year.
Xperia XZ2 Premium will become available this summer in two colors: Chrome Black and Chrome Silver. No word on the price, yet, though.
Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.
