IFA 2016: Sony announces the new Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact

Sony usually unveils new products at IFA and this year the company has announced two new smartphones for 2016. The Xperia XZ and the Xperia X Compact are the latest devices from the Japanese tech giant. While the former is a flagship, the latter is a mini version of last year’s Xperia X. Sony Xperia XZ is a successor to the Xperia X and seems better than the Xperia X Performance on paper. As usual Sony has focused on design, performance, camera, and battery life. The smartphone brings a new signature design with looped surface but maintains the flat rectangular slab look. The smartphone is made of a material that Sony’s calling ALKALEIDO, a type of Aluminium. Specs include a 5.2-inch IPS display with a 1080p resolution, a Snapdragon 820 chip with 3GB RAM, stereo speakers, 32GB storage with expansion up to 200GB via a microSD card, USB Type-C, a fingerprint scanner and the usual set of connectivity options. The battery is rated at 2,900mAH with quick-charge 3.0 support. The camera also sees some fine tuning. The primary is the same 23MP camera with f/2.0 lens that was seen on the last year’s Xperia X lineup but the sensor is a newly developed IMX300, which offers a new autofocus system. The camera uses color detection, phase detection, and laser-assist to focus faster, more accurately and intelligently track moving objects. Sony calls this Triple Image Sensing. While there is no optical image stabilization, Sony has focused on its SteadyShot Intelligent Active Mode which now uses 5-axis gyroscope measurements (accounting for angle, roll, and shift shakes) to stabilise pictures and videos. The company has also added manual shutter speed control, 4K video and 2x lossless zoom. The front camera include a 13MP sensor for taking selfies. The Xperia XZ will launch in early October in four colours; Mineral Black, Forest Blue, and Platinum. Moving to the Xperia X Compact, this is the newest mini smartphone from Sony. Unlike previous ones that held powerful specs in a small body, the new Xperia X Compact does not carry flagship-level hardware. The handset looks a lot like a smaller XZ but comes with hardware that was offered on the Xperia X. So what you get is a Snapdragon 650 chipset, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage, a 4.6-inch LCD display with a 720p resolution and a fingerprint scanner.  It comes with the same 23MP camera with all the goodies as the XZ but misses out on 4K video and replaces the front camera with a 5MP unit. While you do get a USB-C port, it only supports quick-charge 2.0. The design is borrowed from the XZ but instead of the aluminum waterproof build, you get a ceramic-inspired plastic finish. Prices are not yet confirmed but expect a €700 (Rs 52,000 approx) price tag for the Xperia XZ and €500 (Rs 37,000 approx) for the Xperia X Compact.