Sony today unveiled its first smartphone with a dual-camera setup at the rear: the Xperia XZ2 Premium. A ‘premium’ variant of the Xperia XZ2, the handset comes with a bigger 5.8-inch 4K HDR display.
The 4K display runs at FHD+ resolution and only switches to the higher 4K resolution in certain apps like Gallery or while watching videos. Sony’s Dynamic Vibration System which first debuted with the Xperia XZ2 is also found on the XZ2 Premium. The vibration motor syncs to the beats of the song or the video you are watching to provide feedback.
While we have seen other OEMs also implement dual-camera setup in their smartphones, Sony’s implementation is unique because the company says it can reach a maximum ISO of 51,200 while shooting stills. For recording videos, you can bump the ISO as high as 12,800. Sony says that it is able to achieve this high level of ISO thanks to its “AUBE fusion image signal processor” that keeps noise at bay. The company says its implementation will allow for “ultra-low-light capture” that was previously only seen in high-end cameras.
The secondary sensor is black-and-white in nature which helps the handset in capturing photos with little noise and improve overall image quality. The dual-camera setup allows the Xperia XZ2 Premium to capture photos with a fake bokeh effect which Sony is simply calling Bokeh mode. The handset can also record videos in super slow-mo (960fps) in Full HD resolution.
Strangely though, Sony will be adding these features to the handset with a software update scheduled for Q3 this year.
The front camera has also seen a bump in resolution to 13MP from the 5MP found on the Xperia XZ2.
Other specs of the handset remain the same as the regular XZ2 model. This means we are looking at a Snapdragon 845 chipset, no headphone jack, NFC, dual-band Wi-Fi ac, and more. It does come with more RAM (6GB) and a slightly higher capacity 3,540mAh battery. The handset runs on Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box.
There’s no word from Sony on when the handset will go on sale and its price.
