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Sony adds two more notches to its X Series bed post with Xperia XZ and X Compact
Britta O'Boyle | 1 September 2016
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Sony Mobile has announced another two devices at consumer electronics show IFA, bringing its 2016 smartphone total to six-strong. Yes that's right, there are now that many new Sony smartphones to choose from.
The Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact are the latest additions to the Xperia X portfolio, joining the Xperia XA, Xperia X, Xperia X Performance and Xperia XA Ultra. And breathe.
The Xperia XZ is the company's newest flagship, sitting at the top of the "X" range. It takes over from the Xperia Z5 and goes up against the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, LG's modular G5 and HTC's 10 with a few extra months of development under its belt.
So what does an extra six months mean in the smartphone world? The three standout features of the Xperia XZ are USB Type-C connectivity, IP68 water and dust resistance and its cameras.
A 23-megapixel rear snapper with two supporting sensors, one for colour and one for depth of vision are on board, along with a 13-megapixel front camera. The rear camera has a sensitivity of ISO 12,800 that can be manually controlled with shutter speed, and it offers a 0.6-second capture, while the front camera has a wide-angle lens and a sensitivity of 6400.
Aside from that, it's a familiar metal OmniBalance design for the Xperia XZ that measures 146 x 72 x 8.1mm and weighs 161g. A 5.2-inch Full HD display and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor are also both present, along with a fingerprint sensor within the power button, 3GB of RAM, 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, microSD support and a 2900mAh battery.
Then you have the baby X - the Xperia X Compact. This little guy has a 4.6-inch 720p display and it features a similar design to the larger device, but with a more plasticky finish. It too has a fingerprint sensor within the power button and a 23-megapixel rear camera with triple sensing technology, but it doesn't offer IP68 water and dust resistance.
The front-facing snapper drops its resolution to 5-megaixels and the battery drops capacity to 2700mAh, but you'll still find 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and microSD support. Unlike previous Compact devices though, the processor isn't the same as the larger flagship, with the X Compact seeing the Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 in place of the SD820.
The Xperia X Compact measures 129 x 65 x 9.5mm, weighs 135g and launches on Android Marshmallow, like the Xperia XZ. Both will see an update to Android Nougat at some point, though it is currently not known when.
The Sony Xperia XZ will come in Forest Blue, Midnight Black and Platinum, while the Xperia X Compact will come in Mist Blue, Universal Black and White. They will arrive in October but no pricing has been detailed as yet.
Sony Xperia XZ preview: Sticking to what it knows
Sony Xperia XZ: Release date, specs and everything you need to know
Sony Xperia X Compact: It's Compact, Jim, but not as we know it
Sony Xperia XZ vs Xperia Z5: What's the difference?
Sony Xperia XZ vs X vs X Performance: What's the difference?
The Samsung Galaxy S10+ is now available on EE who have been awarded the UK's best network for the fifth year running. RootMetrics tested the four UK networks and EE was faster and more reliable than all of them, with better data performance. Their network has come a long way since they launched in 2012. Back then they had 11 UK cities covered by 4G. Today they cover most of the UK's land mass, thanks to 19,000 state-of-the-art 4G sites. They've got faster, too – from 50Mbps to a maximum speed of 400Mbps. And they're soon to experience even greater possibilities with the launch of 5G.
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