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Introduction
Premium Sony Xperias is where a lot of firsts happen - first 4K display on a smartphone with the Z5 Premium, first HDR display on a smartphone with the XZ Premium alongside 960fps super slow-mo video recording, and now, on the Xperia XZ2 Premium - a dual camera for the first time on a Sony smartphone (a bit late to that party, eh?).
But what a mighty dual camera it is for a first crack at it - a couple of large, 1/2.3" sensors - one RGB and the other black and white. So, without a Bayer filter and with some large pixels you get more light reaching the sensor, higher per-pixel sharpness, and better dynamic range. Sony is also pushing the limits of sensitivity with the ISO going as high as 51,200 in stills and 12,800 in video.
One caveat, though, and we'll be repeating this a bunch of times - the software on the Xperia XZ2 Premium is pre-production - as far as we know, that goes for all the XZ2 Premium units you see tested online. That means image quality is not yet final. And also, the portrait mode and the dedicated monochrome shooting ate not yet available - they're coming, only they aren't here just yet.
Now on to the display - as with all Sony Premiums, it's got a 4K resolution and this time around it's also grown a bit to 5.8 inches in diagonal, compared to the 5.5 inches of the older two. We're somehow willing to accept the resulting drop in pixel density below 800ppi - it's 'just' 765ppi this time.
The rest of the hardware is pretty standard - Snapdragon 845, of course, 6 gigs of RAM and 64GB of storage - all the latest and greatest. Battery capacity is the largest on a Xperia Premium smartphone yet - 3540mAh is about 10% more than last year's model.
And here's a quick rundown of the entire specs list, before we go hands-on with the XZ2 Premium.
Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium specs
- Body: Aluminum frame, Gorilla Glass 5 back and front; IP65/68; 158 x 80 x 11.9mm, 236g; Chrome Black and Chrome Silver color schemes.
- Screen: 5.8-inch IPS LCD, 16:9, 3840x2160px,765ppi, HDR.
- Rear Camera: Primary 19MP, 1/2.3" sensor, 1,22µm pixel size; f/1.8 aperture, 25mm equivalent lens. Secondary 12MP black &white, 1/2.3" sensor, 1.55µm pixel size; f/1.6 aperture lens. Predictive hybrid laser/phase detection/contrast AF, burst AF, IR sensor for white balance, LED flash, dedicated hardware shutter key, BIONZ for mobile image-processing engine; ISO up to 51,200 for stills.
- Video Recording: 4K video recording @30fps, HDR video up to 4K, 1080p @60fps, 1080p@960fps, Steady Shot image stabilization; stereo audio recording; predictive capture; ISO up to 12,800 for video.
- Front Camera: 13MP, 1/3.06" sensor; f/1.8 aperture, 22mm equivalent lens; 1080p video.
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, Kryo 385 (8x custom Cortex-A75 @ up to 2.8GHz), Adreno 630GPU.
- Memory: 6GB RAM, 64GB UFS + microSD (up to 400GB).
- OS: Android 8.0 Oreo.
- Battery: 3540mAh; Quick Charge 3.0, USB Power Delivery, Wireless Charge (QI); Qnovo adaptive charging.
- Connectivity: Single SIM and Dual SIM version (nano SIMs), 4G VoLTE, 5CA LTE Cat.18 (up to 1.2Gbps download), 4x4 MIMO, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/GLONASS/Beidou/Galileo/QZSS, NFC, USB 3.1 Type-C.
- Audio: Dynamic vibration system, High-res audio, DSEE HX, LDAC, Stereo speakers with S-Force surround, aptX HD audio.
- Misc: Fingerprint sensor on the back, 3D creator scan with back and front cameras, SDR to HDR video upconversion.
We're going to see what the XZ2 Premium can offer us but yeah, a disclaimer is due.
This is a pre-production unit running non-final software. Therefore, while the hardware is to the best of our knowledge identical to future retail units, the appearance and performance of the finalized software may differ. Hence, we'll be calling this a 'preview'.
Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium hands-on
The Xperia XZ2 Premium is big in every direction. It's got a 5.8-inch display in a classic 16:9 ratio and that's part of the reason why it's big - 18(+):9 displays are smaller in area for the same diagonal (thanks, Pythagoras).
The XZ2 Premium is so large though that it's bordering requiring two-handed use. It's the width specifically which makes the experience less than stellar. This phone is wider than the iPhone 8 Plus and mind you, that's one wide phone.
It's once again a 4K display, and even though it's larger now compared to the old Premiums (~5.5 inches in diagonal both of them), pixel density is still a crazy 765ppi. You won't be seeing individual pixels, is what we're saying.
It's got more than its fair share of bezels, though - maybe not by Sony standards, but certainly by current ones in the industry.
The fingerprint reader is on the back, just where you'd find it on the non-Premium XZ2 and XZ2 Compact. Only not quite. You see, the Premium has a dual camera and the extra module has pushed the fingerprint sensor down, just above the midpoint.
The result is that your index finger naturally falls on the bottom camera (the RGB one), and smudging it is one side of the issue. Unlocking the phone takes an extra effort to either flex your finger or adjust your grip so you find the sensor with your finger fully extended. Neither comes naturally.
The thing is, with the way that stuff is arranged on the back, you'd be tapping the camera and wondering why the phone doesn't unlock. Both the fingerprint sensor and the camera assembly have a tiny tangible lip around the border and it's hard to tell what exactly it is you're touching. Sure, one is recessed, the other is slightly raised, but it's not an immediate distinction.
The back is the same shiny reflective glass that we're familiar with from the XZ2 - it looks great until you touch it at which point it gets covered in fingerprints. It's easy to clean though, so you can have it in pristine condition in case you want to show it off.
We can't give Sony any praise for getting rid of the headphone jack that's for sure. Then again, it was already gone on the XZ2, so having it reappear on the Premium wasn't really on a list of expectations. At least there's still an adapter in the retail bundle.
Sony has kept the two-stage hardware shutter release button, a staple of Xperia smartphone design. Even if over the years we've firmly adopted tapping on the screen to take a photo, having it as a shortcut to launch the camera is still useful.
We'll end this short hands-on session the way we started it - speaking about size. Or, rather, weight this time. The XZ2 Premium weighs a massive 236g and that's 15g more than the almost-tablet Xiaomi Mi Max 3 with its 6.9-inch display and 5,500mAh battery. This makes the Xperia one of the heaviest big-name phones we've seen recently. As we said earlier, you'll need both hands.
Synthetic benchmarks
The Xperia XZ2 Premium has the Snapdragon 845 under the hood, like pretty much every high-end phone this year except for Huawei's and Samsung's (some Samsungs too, in fact).
But it's disclaimer time again. This is a pre-production unit running non-final software. Therefore, while the hardware is to the best of our knowledge identical to future retail units, the performance of the finalized units may differ.
Having said that, the Premium already puts out the numbers you'd expect from its top-tier hardware. One thing we need to point out is that in graphics benchmarks the onscreen tests are still carried out at 1080p and not in the full 4K resolution of the panel.
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone X
10215 - HTC U12+
9001 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
8883 - LG G7 ThinQ
8865 - Xiaomi Mi 8
8494 - Sony Xperia XZ2
8466 - Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium (pre-production)
8392 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
8349 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
6784 - Huawei P20 Pro
6679 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
6590 - Google Pixel 2 XL
6428 - LG V30
6365 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
5460
GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone X
4256 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
3771 - HTC U12+
2456 - Sony Xperia XZ2
2454 - Xiaomi Mi 8
2431 - Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium (pre-production)
2423 - LG G7 ThinQ
2395 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
2199 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
1987 - Google Pixel 2 XL
1915 - Huawei P20 Pro
1907 - LG V30
1901 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
1862 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
1836
AnTuTu 7
Higher is better
- Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium (pre-production)
266723 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
264044 - HTC U12+
263696 - LG G7 ThinQ
259393 - Sony Xperia XZ2
259244 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
246660 - Xiaomi Mi 8
217298 - Huawei P20 Pro
209884 - Google Pixel 2 XL
203119 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
201065 - LG V30
182374
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
83 - Sony Xperia XZ2
82 - Apple iPhone X
81 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
74 - Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium (pre-production)
72 - Huawei P20 Pro
66 - LG G7 ThinQ
66 - HTC U12+
64 - Xiaomi Mi 8
64 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
63 - Google Pixel 2 XL
61 - LG V30
60 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
51 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
50
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium (pre-production)
59 - Apple iPhone X
59 - Sony Xperia XZ2
59 - Xiaomi Mi 8
57 - Huawei P20 Pro
55 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
51 - HTC U12+
50 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
47 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
45 - LG G7 ThinQ
43 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
42 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
37 - Google Pixel 2 XL
36 - LG V30
35
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
61 - Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium (pre-production)
60 - HTC U12+
60 - LG G7 ThinQ
57 - Sony Xperia XZ2
55 - Xiaomi Mi 8
53 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
47 - Apple iPhone X
44 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
43 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
42 - Google Pixel 2 XL
42 - LG V30
41 - Huawei P20 Pro
40 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
39
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium (pre-production)
57 - Sony Xperia XZ2
51 - Apple iPhone X
51 - Xiaomi Mi 8
50 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
41 - Huawei P20 Pro
37 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
34 - HTC U12+
33 - LG G7 ThinQ
30 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
24 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
23 - Google Pixel 2 XL
21 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
20 - LG V30
19
Basemark X
Higher is better
- HTC U12+
44390 - Sony Xperia XZ2
44097 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
44013 - LG G7 ThinQ
43833 - Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium (pre-production)
43802 - Xiaomi Mi 8
43285 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
42134 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
40890 - Huawei P20 Pro
39945 - Google Pixel 2 XL
39143 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
38507 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
37211 - LG V30
36704
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone X
4708 - Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium (pre-production)
4360 - HTC U12+
4300 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
4196 - Sony Xperia XZ2
3859 - Xiaomi Mi 8
3858 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
3424 - Google Pixel 2 XL
3379 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
3354 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
3333 - Huawei P20 Pro
3252 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
3174 - LG V30
2705
A bit late, but with potential for greatness
The Xperia XZ2 Premium is the first Sony smartphone with a dual camera - 'better late than never' seems appropriate. It may be the last of the big names to warm up to the idea, but for all the time it took, this is one of the most impressive camera specsheets you can read today.
There's not one, but two 1/2.3" sensors inside the Premium - we don't get to see such large imagers since both HTC and Google switched to smaller 1/2.6" ones for the Pixel 2 and U11. And this Xperia's got two.
For starters, there's the 19MP module from the Xperia XZ2, sort of - all the numbers are the same, except this lens has a wider aperture (f/1.8 vs. f/2.0). The focal length is still a wide 25mm equivalent, pixel size is 1.22µm.
The other one's 12 million pixels are 1.55µm across, so they're pretty big to begin with. Additionally, this being a black & white module, there's no Bayer filter on top of the sensor, so an extra 1.6 stops of light makes its way to them pixels. This one also has an even wider aperture at f/1.6. Theoretically, this should make it one hell of a camera for low-light shooting.
That, and the ability to crank the ISO all the way up to 51,200 for stills and 12,800 for video. The XZ2 could only go as high as 12,800 and 4000, respectively.
Now, since this is pre-production unit running non-final software (did we mention that?), not all shooting modes are available yet - eventually, there will be a monochrome and a portrait mode. Both of these will be ready by the time the phone hits the market.
So far, only the high sensitivity mode that combines images from the two cams is operational, and we're told even that is not finalized but we found it to work quite well.
Superior Auto will engage it when it's dark enough and in Manual mode you have to toggle manually whether the phone should use both cameras or not. Turning this toggle On will unlock the High sensitivity mode and lift the ceiling of the ISO to the insanely high 51,200.
A little caveat is that the dual camera image blending is only available at 17MP resolution. If you insist on using the 19MP mode, this is only possible in Manual mode and the new special mode is not available.
Camera UI
We shot a handful of daylight samples and here the Premium is on par with the already excellent XZ2 (in our case it's the XZ2 Compact, but they have the same camera anyway).
In fact, it turned out that the 2 extra megapixels the non-Premiums capture in Superior Auto (19MP) provide a negligible benefit over the XZ2 Premium's 17MP in terms of resolved detail. There's not much to separate the two Xperias in colors or dynamic range either - it is almost the same camera, if we don't count the dual camera features.
Xperia XZ2 Premium camera samples, Superior Auto
Here are the Compact's versions of the same scenes.
Xperia XZ2 Compact camera samples, Superior Auto
We are seeing more notable differences in low light, however, and they're in the XZ2 Premium's favor. Part of it is down to the wider aperture (f/1.8 vs. f/2.0), which lets more light to the sensor and allows it to keep a lower ISO for the same exposure value.
Additionally, the XZ2 Premium's photos taken in Superior Auto are cleaner than the Compact's with much less noise speckles - noise reduction has been tuned differently, and the detail sacrificed in the process isn't all that much. Of course, the XZ2 Premium benefits not only from the wider aperture but also the dual camera tandem too.
Xperia XZ2 Premium low-light samples, Superior Auto
We did switch to Manual mode where we could have a more direct control over the use of the cameras. There are marked differences between the images captured with just the one camera and those taken with the two. With the two cameras combined, the results are very much identical to the ones you'd normally get in Superior Auto.
Xperia XZ2 Premium, Manual mode: Single camera • Dual camera
Xperia XZ2 Premium, Manual mode: Single camera • Dual camera
Xperia XZ2 Premium, Manual mode: Single camera • Dual camera
With the single camera you'd end up with significantly more noise, but also some extra detail. Even in this case where the monochrome module is out of the picture (aren't we punny), we consider the Premium's photos to be superior to the Compact's.
New vs. old samples: Xperia XZ2 Premium • Xperia XZ2 Compact
New vs. old samples: Xperia XZ2 Premium • Xperia XZ2 Compact
New vs. old samples: Xperia XZ2 Premium • Xperia XZ2 Compact
We figured that even though the Premium's software isn't quite ready for prime time, a quick shootout would still give us an idea of what to expect. We brought a Pixel 2 XL, Galaxy S9+, and a Huawei P20 on our late-night outing. Draw your own conclusions, but let's just say we're liking where Sony's headed and it's no longer an underdog in handheld low-light photography.
Shootout: Xperia XZ2 Premium • Pixel 2 XL • Galaxy S9+ • Huawei P20
Shootout: Xperia XZ2 Premium • Pixel 2 XL • Galaxy S9+ • Huawei P20
Shootout: Xperia XZ2 Premium • Pixel 2 XL • Galaxy S9+ • Huawei P20
Shootout: Xperia XZ2 Premium • Pixel 2 XL • Galaxy S9+ • Huawei P20
And here are the same scenes shot on the Huawei P20 in its Night mode, for comparison purposes.
Huawei P20 low-light samples, Night mode
Video recording
The Xperia XZ2 Premium is particularly impressive in low light video recording, where the extra high ISO capabilities leave the competition in the dust.
Sure, the high-sensitivity magic works only in 1080p and not in 4K, but the Premium is able to capture detail in situations so dark the others just can't see. It does so while also retaining a nice color saturation, when the rivals' output goes gray and dull. Mind you, we're talking cream of the crop smartphones here - Galaxy S9+, Pixel 2 XL, and Huawei P20, and none is anywhere near.
Here's an extra video we only shot on the Xperia XZ2 Premium - at this point it was abundantly clear the others couldn't handle the darkness. We only wish the 4K video recording benefitted from that too.
Our overall impressions
We'll be doing more proper testing once a finalized unit of the Xperia XZ2 Premium comes our way. Battery life, performance, image quality - all these things should be examined on a retail-ready device, but we still jumped at the opportunity for an early look at what this device is capable of.
A bunch of things are already obvious from the onset, however. Like, for example, the fact that the handset has an almost tablet-like weight to it and a significant amount of bulk too. It's an important consideration which might put off a bunch of potential users.
But put that aside, and it's fair to say the dual camera is a game changer for the Xperia lineup. The software may not be completely final, but we like what we get from this camera - pixel peeping or not, it never disappointed us.
The new system also gives the XZ2 Premium a significant competitive edge in video recording in the dark. It goes to the extent that the XZ2 Premium can capture good-looking footage in situations where rivals can't output anything usable (or recognizable). That's some amazing stuff right there.
You can say we're pretty excited and looking forward to getting our hands on a proper review unit. Let's hope that happens sooner, rather than later.
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