Gadget Review: Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
Last year, Sony gave the world the world’s first 4K smartphone with Xperia Z5 Premium. The much-anticipated phone became the talk of the town and it still offers plenty of excitement for fans of high-tech smartphones. Here’s a quick review of what the phone can offer and how you could get your hands on it.
The Quick Overview
Sony Xperia Z5 Premium was compared to iPhone 6S Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. It essentially is that: an expensive and no-comprise Android smartphone. But under the surface, the Xperia Z5 Premium offered something rather different: the world’s first 4K-resolution screen in a smartphone.
The Design
Just like the iPhone 6S Plus, Xperia Z5 Premium is a rather supersized version of a smartphone. If you’ve seen, or indeed used, the Xperia Z5, the bigger premium version looks and feels rather similar.
The front and back are covered with thin and durable glass panels, with the sides being securely covered by metallic side. The edges of the phone have a subtle plastic finish, but it doesn’t downgrade the overall look of the phone.
The design is rather sleek and the phone is lightweight and slim. But compared to the softer design of the iPhone, Xperia Z5 Premium has a slight ‘boxed’ feel to it. Since the phone is relatively large, the straight, rectangular shape does look rather clunky. Nonetheless, the phone does have an exquisite feel to the design, but this might not appeal to everyone.
The Details
Let’s look at the details and the figures behind the phone. Here are the key features to keep in mind:
- 5.5-inch 3,840 x 2,160 pixel LCD screen
- 23-megapixel camera, 5-megapixel front
- QUALCOMM Snapdragon 810 with 3GB RAM
- Internal memory capacity is 32GB
- Run time up to 2,880 minutes
The Performance
But while a number of smartphone users aren’t too fussed about the design, the performance is something everyone is interested in. Obviously, the 4K-screen does offer plenty of ‘wow’ moments to your user experience. In terms of pixel density, the screen has nearly four times the number of pixels to iPhone 6S Plus.
Despite the stunning facts, the screen’s ultimate failure is the fact the resolution is not yet useful. In fact, in most apps, such as YouTube, the videos are played at 1080 pixels instead of 4K. Accessing videos is possible, but it is rather difficult and defeats the purpose of having a quick-access 4K smartphone.
In terms of the UI, Sony’s style and apps are simple and adaptable. The style isn’t groundbreaking, but it also isn’t anything too horrible either. The performance is good and the phone isn’t suffering from obvious overheating or lags.
The battery life of the phone is rather good, although it performs slightly worse than the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. With a constant video play, the battery runs around 11 hours, although this doesn’t use the 4K-resolution.
If you aren’t using the phone for constant video streaming, then you are able to do a full day of occasional audio streaming, messaging and internet browsing and still have quite a bit of the battery life left.
The Price
What about the price of this phone? As mentioned above, Sony Xperia Z5 Premium is not a cheap phone and you are able to note the 4K-possibility in the price tag.
You can buy this phone from Amazon.com using promotional offers available on our site.
Naturally, the phone is also available as a deal from service providers such as EE, Tescomobile and O2. Although the more you want from your data package, the higher the cost.
It is possible, however, to drag down the price a little. First, if you are already on a data package, you should talk with your provider about a possible upgrade. This could be a great way to get yourself a new phone without the hefty tag.
On the other hand, if you are interested in buying the phone with no contract, you should check out coupon code offers for retailers.
Should You Buy Xperia Z5 Premium?
In terms of the final verdict, Xperia Z5 Premium is not a bad investment, but it’s also not something you necessarily want to jump into. The lure of 4K is understandable, but the resolution is currently rather pointless and 4K alone shouldn’t be the reason to fork out cash for this phone.
Nonetheless, it isn’t a bad smartphone in terms of performance. The battery lasts well, the camera offers a good resolution for stunning pictures and the design is definitely a sleek one, if an industrial, straight design appeals to you. If you need plenty of firepower from your phone and you like a larger design, the phone is definitely worth buying.