A lot of our readers gave mixed reactions on our head-to-head article on the mobile flagships that were launched at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona just a week ago. Some of the Sony fans felt particularly maligned as they say that the software/interface of the Sony Xperia X Performance should at least be at par with the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the LG G5. Of course, everybody’s allowed an opinion. But here’s Sony already trying to convince buyers that the Xperia X Series will be “smarter” than most.
You see, that’s already a problem right there. Flagship devices are expensive and high-end animals just because they perform and have the leading edge hardware. OnePlus is trying to prove that wrong – but it’s putting flagship level hardware on a cheaper phone. Sony is doing the opposite – it’s putting marginally lower tier hardware on their flagship phones and now they ask consumers to buy it on the grounds that it will be “smarter”.
Sony says – in an official blog post – that there are three ways the Sony X Series will win out. First up, it leverages on its camera, which is admittedly the best one around – a 23MP Exmor RS sensor that will give you the fastest autofocus available in a smartphone today at 0.1 seconds. Sony calls this the “Predictive Hybrid Autofocus”.
Secondly, Sony says that the curved glass display and rounded corners to the frame is a result of analysis and testing to create the best fit for a human hand. Granted, Sony Xperia Z devices were probably the most gorgeous phones we’ve seen made at their time, but those devices had great hardware to back up the looks. The Xperia Z3+/Z4 aside, most of those earlier flagship devices would run toe-to-toe with the other brands’ top phones. And you have to notice, the flagship phone is named “Xperia X Performance” – you’re not buying that phone just for the look and feel. You buy it so because it promises to perform.
Lastly, Sony is banking on great battery management. In real world terms, they’re promising that the 2,700mAh battery on the Xperia X Performance will give you at least two days of uptime. If proven to be true, then that is a great breakthrough in power management – it is rare to see a 2,700mAh battery last for two days on a smartphone. You will see a number of things working for Sony to be able to do this, but majorly, it will be the less power-hungry display – a 5-inch 1080p TRILUMINOS display. With the other flagships sporting bigger QHD displays, it would be logical to think the Xperia X Performance should have a better battery life.
For the older Sony Xperia Z devices, Sony didn’t have to explain why they would be a great investment. The phones looked damn good, the Sony UI was known to be one of the best around, and they had the hardware to back up their claims. And even at that, Sony still found it hard to break majorly into the market share of Apple and Samsung. What we are saying is, with the Xperia X Performance – and the marginally lesser specs – the phone feels like an effort to retain status quo, and not a phone that will wow consumers into buying Sony instead of other brands.
SOURCE: Sony
There is a “small” note on the bottom of the image and it says Smart Battery Management to deliver 2 days battery life is only for Xperia X and XA models not for X Performance. That’s a pity.
Coming from a Z3, I’d take the 1080p screen over the higher end screens any day. I’m not a spec where, I don’t buy simply because the numbers are bigger, I buy for my needs and wants. I love what the X Performance is offering and as long as the price isn’t outrageous, I’m replacing my Z3 with that.
So why did Sony release the Z5 Premium? A legitimate demand for higher res screens, or a marketing oversight?
High end phone buyers are spec whores, the low end phone buyers seek out bargains and good value for money. Sony is neither.
I guess we’ll never know for sure why they released the Premium, but my guess is trend following. A lot of people (from reading posts like these on sites like this) seem to dismiss Sony no matter what they bring to the table. I guess they tried to go with a gimmick to see if that would work. Other manufacturers do that as well from time to time. While I agree that Sony’s lower end offerings are priced too high to be considered bargains, I can’t agree with your statement on the Z line. My Z3 is comparable to any of the other flagships of the time. Even the X Performance isn’t that much different from the G5 or S7. 1Gb less RAM, lower resolution but (likely to be) more than capable and beautiful display. It is well spec’d. They just need to not price themselves out of the competition.
focus on battery improvement.. it will surely sell more
You can now grab the latest Sony Phones at a discounted price below
Xperia X Performance IS water and dust resistant.