Sony has begun shipping a new flagship phone, the
Xperia XZ2 Premium, though you better be ready to spend some big bucks if you want to bring one home. The handsets costs $999.99 (let's just call it a grand), and there is no cheaper option. There also is not a more expensive option—it is available in a single configuration.
To be far, Sony is not the first smartphone maker to breach a grand. Other companies have done it with loaded SKUs, including both
Apple and
Samsung, the top dogs (in terms of market share) in the United States. And of course there is the
iPhone X, which starts at $999 for the 64GB SKU, and runs $1,149 for the 256GB model.
So what does the Xperia XZ2 Premium bring to the table for a grand? Well, it has a 5.8-inch display with 4K resolution and high dynamic range (HDR) support, so it sports one of the fancier smartphone screens out there. Sony further claims the Xperia XZ2 Premium automatically up-converts standard definition content into "near HDR-quality experiences," so there is that.
Underneath the hood it is rocking Qualcomm's fastest mobile processor to date, the Snapdragon 845. This is paired with a generous 6GB of RAM, and a rather disappointing 64GB of built-in storage—at this price point, we would really like to see at least 128GB of storage, and preferably 256GB. There is a micro SD card slot though, so you can add more storage if needed.
For snapping photos, the Xperia XZ2 Premium features a pair of proprietary camera sensors on the rear of the device, including a state-of-the-art 19-megapixel memory-stacked sensor and a 12-megapixel black-and-white sensor. These combine to act as a single dual-camera module, with both sensors processing data in real-time through Aube, a new fusion image processing technology Sony developed.
On the front of the camera, Sony plopped a 13-megapixel sensor for taking selfies and group photos. Overall, it is a nice array of cameras on the Xperia XZ2 Premium.
Other specs include a 3,540 mAh battery with Qi wireless charging support, S-Force front surround sound, dual SIM slots, and Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. Hit the link in the via field or
go right here to order one from Amazon, if you are interested.