Sony's brand is well established within the tech market, but in the last number of years, their phones have failed to dominate the field. They've lagged behind Samsung, Apple and even Huawei in recent times. Sony's latest flagship device, Xperia XZ, looks to turn that trend on its head.
Out of the box, the XZ looks very similar to the last number of Sony Xperia devices, but also reminded me of the early Lumia devices. It's incredibly smooth and sleek, and sits comfortably in the hand.
The 5.2-inch screen is full HD and displays colours beautifully. Internally there's 3GB of RAM, which is ideal for multi-taskers and the device is available with either 32 or 64GB of storage. It's possible to increase this up to 256GB with a microSD card.
Sony's camera game has always been strong. The XZ is no exception to that. There's a 23MP rear camera and a remarkable 13MP front camera. The device manages to capture beautiful images with a simple point and shoot.
While the phone is solid in terms of performance, I have struggled to find it's unique selling point.
If you're a fan of Sony devices and own a Z3 or earlier, you'll like this. The XZ feels like it has the best bits of the last number of Sony phones crammed into a good looking body. There's nothing new or remarkable there, unfortunately.
Sony's XZ smartphone is available for pre order now at €699
