Waking up to news that theres a new Sony Xperia phone in town - the Xperia XZ2 Premium - is going to leave a lot of people scratching their heads.This is the phone that should have been launched in Barcelona in February.
Its got the 4K HDR screen and dual camera sensor on the rear thats capable of some incredible low-light video - its easily the most powerful phone Sonys ever created.So potential buyers must be confused over why this is happening now - whats the reason for having a massive phone unveiling, bringing out two phones that dont really add a lot to the market and then saving what should be the big reveal for nearly two months laterAnd on top of that, why on earth is it not coming to places like the UK, and yet is being sold in the US, where theres less of a fanbase for Sony Xperia handsetsThe phone Sony fans will wantThe Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium is, unsurprisingly, the follow up to the Xperia XZ Premium - one of the top phones of 2017.
That phone offered super slow motion video for the first time on a phone, a superb 4K screen and the same mix of Sony tech thats seen it win fans from around the world.It suffered from a few things though: the camera was - again - not quite up to the level of rivals, in terms of everyday use, it had a bezel-heavy front where Samsung and LG were pushing screens to the edge of the phone with the Galaxy S8 and G6, and it was pretty darn expensive.That last point shouldnt matter too much given most flagship phones are charging a hefty premium these days, and Sony was offering some premium technology in the mix.So when the time came for the new phone launch in 2018, most people expected to see a reboot of this phone - Sonys strategy of showing prowess in technology was its strongest hand.
That perception might be based on the older generation always believing that Sony just naturally stood for good quality, but its brand awareness nonetheless.But what we got was confusing: the Sony Xperia XZ2, a phone that finally brought the 18:9 screen format with fewer bezels and a powerful new chipset running things.
But also a single-sensor camera where most rivals were chucking out two on their phones, and a Full HD screen.Its a fine phone.
But it feels like the base model - the iPhone 8, the Samsung Galaxy S9.
Both of those had a bigger, more expensive sibling (the iPhone 8 Plus and the Galaxy S9 Plus), and it felt like Sony was missing a part of the puzzle.Things got more confusing when Sony unveiled a sensor at MWC too, a dual camera that was capable of fantastic video quality in low light and much-improved image quality.
The mystery deepened.The new Sony Xperia XZ PremiumWhy do this nowIt was really tough to see why Sony would do this: unveil a new phone, and then spend time talking about how the next one was going to be even better.
Was it actively trying to put off potential buyers No, as it turned out.
It was trying to be honest and build brand loyalty.We wanted to be honest to our customers, Tomokazu Kaz Tajima, Senior VP at Sony Mobile told me at MWC this year.
If we hide [the sensor] and then just focus on sales [of the XZ2], thats fine, but if after that we introduce a special camera with a super IOS level - a really special product - we have a certain segment that will be disappointed."Were being honest and giving them a choice."Tomokazu Tajima, Senior VP at SonyWere being honest and giving them a choice.
Its clear ISO 51200 is a monster spec and if thats the reason they buy then we wanted to give them the right option.
If they want that monster spec, please wait, but if you want a balanced product then buy the [Xperia XZ2].There was a lot of debate within Sony over whether to even show off the sensor at MWC this year, mindful of the fact it might cannibalize the lustre and excitement around the XZ2 - and especially as it knew that the XZ2 Premium was just around the corner.But the performance of the sensor, in low-light video especially, was remarkable and its clear that this was camera technology Sony had been working on for a while.Image 1 of 3The performance of the new sensor on show at MWC was very, very impressive for low-light video.Image 2 of 3It's not clear which phone it was being compared to, but the vibrancy was unquestionable.Image 3 of 3This is a still image of the same scene taken with the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.Sony didnt want to just join put a dual-sensor camera on the back of its smartphones for the sake of it, Hideyuki Furumi, EVP, Global Sales Marketing, Sony Mobile told me at MWC.He called some of the dual sensors a gimmick and that Sony was more interested in pushing the boundaries of what could be done.That makes sense - but when rivals are thrusting phones like the iPhone X and Galaxy S9 Plus in consumers faces, its hard to see why the Xperia XZ2 Premium wasnt displayed as proof that Sony was still capable of such technological prowess.Tough timesOne thing thats worth mentioning is that even if a brand has all the necessary elements to make a top smartphone, it doesnt mean that it can do so cost-effectively, and thats a key part of strategy.Any smartphone manufacturer, whether its LG, HTC, Huawei, Samsung or Apple, could make a one-off phone that has technology so dizzying that consumers would be confused as to why they dont just sell that and blow the competition away.But making a phone requires far more than just assembling the parts.
It needs to have a bundle of power in an ever-slimmer frame, which means a high engineering cost to miniaturize components and runs the risk of failure (just ask Samsung about the Note 7 debacle).It needs to be rigorously tested in terms of camera, battery and CPU performance.
Months need to be spent ironing out bugs, finding optimizations to software and this is all to the backdrop of new Android updates and more powerful chipsets spewing out all the time.Even if all of that is achieved, a certain portion of the development budget has to be given to marketing, so people actually get to hear about these high-end phones and consider them for purchase.Its no secret that Sony has not been having the best time in terms of smartphone salesIts no secret that Sony has not been having the best time in terms of smartphone sales - there are small shoots of recovery thanks to a reorganization of the business, but its hard to see how it would have the clout in the market to invest heavily in the next generation of smartphone creation, which would explain why it seems to bring out phones with technology wed seen the year before.Indeed even Tomokazu Tajima, Senior VP at Sony Mobile, confirmed to me in 2016, at a journalists round table in Tokyo, that Sony struggled to take on the might of Samsung and Apple, stating that the company didnt want a direct fight with those two industry behemoths.Its less that the company doesnt want the fight, but more that it doesnt have the sales figures to go after Apple and Samsung, so it needs to rely on the technology to do the talking - which is a tough sell when youve got Apple ramming the home its camera messaging, Samsung spending big on talking up how its new phone is the same as the human eye and Huawei aggressively spending to try and crack the premium market.Is Sony's dual camera the real dealBad timingOne thing this low-key unveiling of the Xperia XZ2 Premium does show is that MWC is a terrible time to be launching phones for some brands.
The new phones that emerge dont come out at a time when consumers are upgrading, and thus the lustre of the flashy new model is slightly lost.But for those that feel Sony should have just shown off XZ2 Premium in Barcelona last month anyway, to whet appetites, consider that its not going to be on sale for three or four months, which means what would have been on the stand would be a half-shell of a phone thats not good PR.You almost wish that Sony would skip MWC and do its own launch event to own the narrative, but having so many industry heads and journalists around in Barcelona is too tempting for the brand, it seems.There is one final thing thats confusing over the Xperia XZ2 Premium - while being sold globally, its not coming to the UAE or the UK, two pretty useful markets for any smartphone manufacturer and one where premium phones are well-received.Youd think that the opportunity to sell the phone to as many as possible would make sense, but we dont have the sales figures for 2017s Xperia XZ Premium, so its hard to say whether those markets really want a 4K screen on their phone.Its a shame because - finally - we have 4K content to watch on it.
Last years Premium was a joy to use when watching 4K HDR footage, and with Amazon and Netflix both streaming said content to your handset its a message consumers could have got on board with.We really need to get our hands on the Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium before making any judgements - and dont forget, its got the older-style 16:9 aspect ratio, meaning big ol bezels, and the same inexplicably-poor placement of the fingerprint scanner on the back as the XZ2.Perhaps this is a halfway ground, and theres a stunning Sony smartphone coming at IFA later this year.
Sony might be small fry in the mobile game compared to the behemoth it once was, but its still got a legion of fans and theyll be hoping that the brand makes some bold decisions soon and starts putting the technology its so proud of into a phone thats truly impressive and everyone can buy.3oV6n4MbHk9G5KgkZh8Che.jpg#