Technology

Five key features on the Sony Xperia XZs

YOU GOT TECH - Abe Olandres - The Philippine Star

May 8, 2017 | 12:00am

Five key features on the Sony Xperia XZs

Sony has recently released its latest flagship smartphone in the country, the Xperia XZs. Those who previously owned a Sony Xperia XZ from last year will be very familiar with the design and capability of the Xperia XZs but those who are still considering getting a new phone might benefit from these five key features:

1. Incremental upgrades. The design is the same, as are the dimensions, battery and processor. It still uses a Snapdragon 820 chip, which is already two generations old. The latest Snapdragon 835 was reserved for its better sibling, the Xperia XZ Premium. Nevertheless, the Snapdragon 820 is still a pretty capable and hardworking processor.

2. More RAM. Sony added 25-percent more memory to the Xperia XZs. It now packs 4GB from 3GB on the XZ. We can’t really say that’s a huge step forward, though, considering that almost all flagship smartphones these days already carry at least 4GB, with some even going as much as 6GB of RAM.

3. IP68 dust and water resistance. Sony pioneered and popularized water resistance in smartphones, an important feature soon followed by other brands. The Xperia XZs can withstand being under water as deep as 1.5 meters for as long as 30 minutes.

4. Same battery but with fast charging. With the same 2,900mAh internal battery, the Xperia XZs lags behind other similar flagship phones. However, it makes up for it by supporting Quick Charge 3.0. This gives the phone a little more than 50 percent charge in just 30 minutes. The Xperia XZs also features Qnovo Adaptive Charging, which prolongs the overall battery charging cycle of the device from the usual 300 to 500 cycles all the way up to 800 cycles.

These days, the goal is not to have bigger batteries on phones but how fast you can re-charge the device.

5. New 19MP Motion Eye rear camera. Perhaps the biggest improvement introduced with the Xperia ZXs is the new 19-megapixel Motion Eye camera shared with the Xperia XZ Premium.

The rear camera has a large Exmor RS sensor with wide f/2.0 aperture for low-light capability. It supports hybrid auto-focus, five-axis stabilization and 4k video recording. The Predictive Capture feature senses movements in the shot and buffers images so it can show you up to four more photos just before you hit the shutter button. This gives you the ability to pick the right framing or action you want to take.

The most fun or impressive feature of the camera is its ability to capture videos at a very fast rate of 960fps (other phones can only do up to 240fps). That’s super slow motion action right there.

The Sony Xperia XZs has a suggested retail price of P39,990. It’s available in Ice Blue, Black and Warm Silver.