Sony Xperia XZ Premium Has 4K HDR Display and Shoots 960fps Super-Slow Mo

Sony brought out their latest flagship smart phone – the Sony Xperia XZ at the annual MWC 2017 trade show in Barcelona, with a whopping high-resolution 4K HDR display and super-slow motion up to 960fps! Yes, I know, the 960fps is a big claim and if there is anyone capable of stretching out their sensor performance to the max, it would Sony, because we all know – they make the damn things after all.

The 960fps the super-slow motion capability on the Sony Xperia XZ is sadly not only limited to 720p at the maximum 960fps but it will only record just 0.18 seconds. Nevertheless, these sort of frame rates are impressive when you consider that they translate to a decent 7.2 seconds in real time (when played back on a 24p timeline, unless my math is totally wrong here).

Here are a few examples of what the super-slow mo on the Sony Xperia XZ looks like:

The other big feature in the new and slick Sony flagship is of course the 4K (technically UHD 3840 x 2160) HDR 5.5-inch display. According to Sony, this is a …first time ever in a smartphone thing, which makes images and videos “pop” for a truly unique visual experience. All this is possible thanks to the new display that features the very impressive 807 ppi pixel density using DNA from the popular Sony BRAVIA TV technology.

Sony calls this TRILUMINOS Display for mobile, and the new XZ flagship also employs other Sony tech jargon such as X-Reality for mobile and Dynamic Contrast Enhancer.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium Specs

• Colours: Luminous Chrome, Deep Sea Black,
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 64-bit
• GPU: Adreno 540
• Operating System Android Nougat (7.1)
• Camera (Main)
  • Motion Eye
  • 19MP 1/ 2.3” Exmor RS™ memory stacked image sensor
  • Super slow motion 960fps video capture
  • Predictive Capture
  • Ant-distortion shutter
  • Triple image sensing technology
  • Predictive Hybrid Autofocus
  • SteadyShot with Intelligent Active Mode (5-axis stabilization)
  • 4K video recording
• Camera (Front)
  • 13MP 1/3.06” Exmor RS for mobile image sensor
  • 22mm wide angle lens
  • ISO6400
  • F2.0
• Display
  • 5.5” 4K HDR
  • TRILUMINOS™ Display for mobile
  • X-Reality™ for mobile picture engine
  • Dynamic Contrast Enhancement
• Design
  • IP68
  • Fingerprint sensor on power button* (not available in all markets)
  • USB Type-C
  • Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on front and back
• Memory
  • 4GB
  • 64GB Universal Flash Storage
  • Up to 265GB SD card support.
• Battery
  • 3230mAh

The new Sony Xperia XZ Premium smart phone is also one of the first Android devices to be powered by the brand new Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile chip, as well as one of the first smartphones capable of Gigabit Class LTE (up to 1Gbps).

Sony has also managed to create a new camera for the XZ, which in itself seems as if it was lifted from one of the company’s popular Alpha series or RX100 series cameras. Sporting the moniker “Motion Eye”, the new camera system for the Xperia XZ Premium is also the company’s first to feature a memory stacked Exmor RS sensor with technologies usually only found on premium compact cameras providing 5 x faster image scanning and data transfer.

In addition to the unprecedented super-slow motion at 960fps, the XZ features something Sony calls “Predictive Capture”, which “stays one step ahead and automatically starts buffering images when it detects motion even before you press the button”, so you can find a moment your eye may just have missed from a selection of up to four shots taken a second before you clicked.

In addition, the new 19 megapixel high resolution sensor has 19% larger pixels to capture more light and provides exceptional detail and sharp images even in low-light and backlit conditions.

Additional improvements have been made inside Motion Eye to the BIONZ processor – it can now detect moving objects more precisely to enable Predictive Capture. Clarity, detail and texture are also improved to give exceptional image quality thanks to the redesigned G lens with high optical clarity.

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium is going to be available globally in a variety of colours including Luminous Chrome and Deep Sea Black from late Spring 2017, while the official list price has not yet been revealed. I suspect, this will not be cheap, and definitely within iPhone 7 Plus territory.

Sony have also developed a sister model called the Sony Xperia XZs, which features a slightly smaller a 5.2-inch display with 1920 x 1080 resolution and same slow-motion capabilities. The XZs is scheduled for release in April.

[via Sony]

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