The handsets, which feature Sony’s “triple image-sensing technology” which is created to capture blur-free photos, were launched at IFA Berlin 2016.
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The design is very much like every other Sony Xperia smartphone – slab-like. That’s because it’s essentially the same internal components as the existing Xperia X, but in a smaller body with a 4.6 inch 720p display.
The Xperia XZ is estimated to have a 5.2-inch screen, while the Xperia X Compact may sport a 4.6-inch display. While Sony’s smartphone shooters already have image stabilization, the XZ’s 23-megapixel camera has X and Y shift shake to create a five-axis image stabilization.
Sony’s recent round of tough restructuring has not come at the price of innovation, the company’s chief executive told CNBC, adding that the company was still able to create “wacky” products to wow consumers. From what we know so far from the leaks, the Xperia XR will ditch the sharp edges in favor of curves.
The phones are also capable of recognising the user via a fingerprint sensor on the power button, allowing them to pick up and unlock the device in a single movement.
Not to be outdone, the V20 will use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and support the latest Android 7.0 Nougat straight out of the box. The Xperia XZ is expected to launch in the USA on October 23, and the Xperia X Compact will be here even sooner, arriving later this month on September 25.
Rumours suggested that the handset could be released as soon as September 1, along with the Xperia XZ, during its presentation at IFA 2016.
The Xperia Compact Z (or Xperia XR as some are calling it), meanwhile, is part of Sony’s Compact range which has always deftly combined smaller-screened devices with spec-sheets commonly reserved for high-end phones.
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Gone is the “oh my god I am definitely going to break this soon” feeling of the past several generations of Sony smartphone – here with what the company calls an “ALKALEIDO” back panel, I feel as though the high-end nature of the phone remains while its fragility is no longer almost as much of a concern. The phone felt fast and responsive in the brief time I spent with it, but I’ll have to run some benchmark tests when I receive a review unit to see where it stands. Its little sibling, the Xperia X Compact, sports a similar feature-set (it’s only available in a single-SIM version) but with a Snapdragon 650 SoC and slightly less capacious 2,700 mAh battery.
