Sony announces three new Xperia X series phone with the XZ1, XZ1 Compact and XA1 Plus coming soon

At their IFA presser tonight, Sony has unveiled three new Xperia X series phones, announcing the Xperia XZ1, XZ1 Compact and XA1 Plus.

Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact

While the Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact are considered by Sony to be the high-end flagships, the Xperia XA1 Plus is also no slouch. The Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact are remarkably similar, differing only in screen size and resolution as well as having different front-facing cameras. The phones have the same hardware base, with a Snapdragon 835 processor and 4GB of RAM running the show you also get 64GB of on-board storage, with a microSD card slot. A 2,700mAh battery should keep you going all day says Sony.

On the camera hardware front, the same 19MP ‘Magic Eye’ camera is on both phones, but on the front are some differences. The XZ1 has a 13MP sensor, while the XZ1 Compact gets a 18MP Super wide-angle front camera with a 120 degree field of view.

Sony is using their predictive capture feature on the new XZ1 models. Predictive Capture begins recording from your camera a few seconds before you take the shot, presenting you with what it considers the best overall image. The Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact also feature the 960fps Super SlowMo video capture first introduced on the Xperia XZ Premium. The Xperia XZ1 is getting a 3D scanning mode.

According to Sony, the camera on the phone can scan objects using an app called 3D Creator, outputting a 3D image you can either share as an image on social media, or even print on a 3D printer.

Of interest is that Sony will be launching the XZ1 and XZ1 Compact running the recently released Android 8.0 (Oreo).

Full specs include:

Design wise, the phones haven’t progressed much beyond what we saw earlier this year. They’re made of metal and glass, with re-inforced plastic and Gorilla Glass 5 for additional strength. The same large bezels above and below the screen are present, and the button configuration with a power button hiding a fingerprint sensor, volume rocker and dedicated camera button. They do retain the IP65/IP68 water resistance rating though which is a bonus.

The Xperia XZ1 will be available in Moonlit Blue, Venus Pink, Warm Silver, Black, while the XZ1 Compact will come in a choice of White Silver, Black, Horizon Blue or Twilight Pink.

Xperia XA1 Plus

The Xperia XA1 Plus comes close to the super mid-range market with a heap of hardware bundled into the body including a generous 5.5″ FullHD resolution display. The phone is powered by a Mediatek Helios P20 SoC, along with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage which also can support a microSD card.

The XA1 Plus has a higher resolution 23MP sensor on the rear, which is behind an f/2.0 aperture lens which should really be appreciated in low-light sensor. The camera has been improved Sony says with a launch to image capture time of 0.6s, a big improvement over their previous efforts on their mid-range device.

While the Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact are launching with Android 8.0, unfortunately the XA1 Plus will be behind the pack with Android Nougat, though an update to Android 8.0 is planned.

The design of the XA1 Plus is essentially the same as the XZ1 and XZ1 Compact, the power button on the XA1 Plus will also get a fingerprint sensor built-in and a dedicated camera shutter button as well.

Availability

At this stage no pricing or availability has been announced by Sony Australia. Globally, Sony says the Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact will be available from September 2017 while the Xperia XA1 Plus will roll out from Autumn 2017.