Can the Xperia Z5 family catapult Sony as a smartphone leader?

For many years Sony has had its share of ups and downs in the smartphone market. They were a bit late to join the Android train many years back but when they did, they made a splash especially with the introduction of the water-proof Xperia Z. Others followed the path of making their flagship devices IP68 certified.

Yet, for some time, it seems that Sony has been playing catch-up in their roll-out. The design has been almost the same for the past 3 years and incremental upgrades in the hardware are not as impressive.

Not until this week when Sony announced the new Xperia Z5 family. At the top of the heap is the Xperia Z5 Premium, the first smartphone to sport a 4K (quad-FHD) display. That distinction is as resounding as many other titles claimed by other brands before — first true octa-core, first with 4GB of RAM, first with 256GB storage, and many more.

Here is the comparison of hardware specs of the entire Xperia Z5 line-up.

Sony	Xperia Z5 Premium	Xperia Z5	Xperia Z5 Compact
Display	5.5-inch IPS LCD @ 2160×3840 pixels, 806ppi	5.2-inch IPS LCD @ 1080×1920 pixels, 403ppi	4.6-inch IPS LCD @ 720×1280 pixels, 323ppi
Chipset	Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810	Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810	Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810
Processor	ARM Cortex A53 1.5GHz quad-core, ARM Cortex A57 2.0GHz quad-core	ARM Cortex A53 1.5GHz quad-core, ARM Cortex A57 2.0GHz quad-core	ARM Cortex A53 1.5GHz quad-core, ARM Cortex A57 2.0GHz quad-core
GPU	Adreno 430	Adreno 430	Adreno 430
Memory	3GB LPDDR4	3GB LPDDR4	2GB LPDDR4
Internal Storage	32GB	32GB	32GB
Expandable Storage	Up to 200GB via microSD	Up to 200GB via microSD	Up to 200GB via microSD
Cellular	3G, HSPA+, LTE	3G, HSPA+, LTE	3G, HSPA+, LTE
SIM Card	Single SIM, Dual-SIM	Single SIM, Dual-SIM	Single SIM, Dual-SIM
WiFi	802.11 b/g/n/ac, WiFi Direct, DLNA	802.11 b/g/n/ac, WiFi Direct, DLNA	802.11 b/g/n/ac, WiFi Direct, DLNA
Bluetooth	v4.1, A2DP, apt-X	v4.1, A2DP, apt-X	v4.1, A2DP, apt-X
NFC	Yes	Yes	Yes
GPS	with aGPS, GLONASS/Beidou	with aGPS, GLONASS/Beidou	with aGPS, GLONASS/Beidou
Radio	Yes	Yes	Yes
Battery	3430mAh Li-Ion	2,900mAh Li-Ion	2,700mAh Li-Ion
Operating System	Android 5.1.1	Android 5.1.1	Android 5.1.1
Dimensions	154.4 x 75.8 x 7.8mm	146 x 72 x 7.3mm	127 x 65 x 8.9mm
Weight	180 grams	154 grams	138 grams
SRP	€800 (~Php41,700)	€700 (~Php36,500)	€550 (~Php28,700)

The Xperia Z5 Premium is more of a show of prowess — just because they can. Packing 4 full HDs into a display just 5.5 inches across is indeed a feat.

For a long while the over-all look and feel of the Z1 right up to the Z4 were almost the same from a certain distance. Sony has made significant changes with the Z5 design to differentiate it from its predecessor.

Ultimately, consumers will decide with their if these are enough to make the Sony Xperia Z5 the smarpthone to beat this year. Expect the Xperia Z5 line-up to be released globally in October and probably November in the Philippines.

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

8 Comments

Kemie says:

9 years ago

Sabi sa ibang int’l tech sites ginamit raw yung isa sa Z5 model sa pagshoot ng 4K video for 10 mins at walang heating issue na nireport. What if may solution na yung Sony para sa efficient thermal dissipation ng 810 SoC pag naka-maximum load yun? May bagong model ba ng 810 tapos yun yung ginamit nila?
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Andre says:

9 years ago

Bragging rights lang 4K. Aanhin mo yun sa phone screen a full HD reso pa lang eh more than enough na. I doubt na maraming bibili nito; tingnan nyo Apple – kahit ang specs ay pang 2 years ago na Android eh kumikita nang husto. Di dinadaan sa specs kundi sa overall user experience. Yun ang kaibahan ng iPhones at ng Androids.
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Morpho says:

9 years ago

it has dual thermal tubes to dissipate the heat the dragon expels.
let’s see. I’m really looking forward to the Z5 compact
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GTB says:

9 years ago

What Iphone have a good user experience? I doubt it, kung sa features or other applications Android is the best I have both IPhone and Samsung and I much recommend Samsung specially with simplicity of used. One more big problem with IPhone in the Philippines is the support, My IPad Air was purchase in the Beyond the Box for 2 weeks ago then the power adopter became defective, since this is part of the warranty I go with the Authorized Service center. Guest what happened? They test my charger for 2 weeks then after the result of test they said that my charger is a fake (Oks a fake included in the box what the hell!!!) then I purchase a branded one in the PowerMac Megamall they dont want to open because it was sealed and need to purchase first. Oks I bought one for 1,199.00 php after I open the adapter… What is this the same with the fake one that you don’t want to replace. Guys go to service center and watch the reactions of the customer inside, kayo na ang magdeside kung bibili pa kayo uli ng Apple Product sa Philippines….
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Apple Lover says:

9 years ago

By the way Sony is one of the Great Mobile Phone specially with their best after sales support. You want to know why try to buy one and go to service center.
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