Sony Announces the Xperia Z4
by Brandon Chester on April 20, 2015 4:38 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Sony
- Mobile
- Xperia Z4
Today Sony Mobile officially announced the Xperia Z4 on their Japanese website. The Xperia Z4 will be the company's flagship smartphone for 2015, sitting alongside Sony's flagship tablet which is called the Xperia Z4 Tablet. Based on the specifications provided by Sony, it certainly looks like they've done everything possible to make it fit that role with regards to its hardware. Thankfully, Sony's launch page gives pretty much every specification one could be interested in, and I've organized them in the chart below.
| Sony Xperia Z4 | ||||||
| SoC | MSM8994 2/1.5 GHz A57/A53 Snapdragon 810 | |||||
| Memory and Storage | 32GB NAND + MicroSDXC, 3GB RAM | |||||
| Display | 5.2" 1920x1080 IPS LCD | |||||
| Cellular Connectivity | 2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Qualcomm UE Category 7/9 LTE) | |||||
| Dimensions | 146 x 72 x 6.9 mm, 144g | |||||
| Camera |
20.7 MP Sony Exmor, 1/2.3" Rear Facing, 25mm focal length |
|||||
| Battery | 2930 mAh | |||||
| Other Connectivity | 2x2 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac + BT 4.1, microUSB2.0, NFC, GPS/GNSS | |||||
| SIM Size | NanoSIM | |||||
| Operating System | Android 5.0 Lollipop | |||||
The specifications for the Z4 are certainly appealing. Potential speed and thermal issues relating to Snapdragon 810 aside, the Z4 packs what is basically the best internal hardware available for smartphone manufacturers at the moment. Snapdragon 820 won't be available until the second half of this year at the absolute earliest, and so MSM8994 paired with 3GB of RAM is the fastest you'll see in an Android smartphone that isn't the Galaxy S6.
What may be notable for some is the decision to stay with a 1920x1080 LCD. Given the issues with power consumption and brightness with current 2560x1440 LCD panels, and the relatively limited improvement to sharpness at this display size, I think that staying with a 1080p display was the right decision to make with the Z4.
The Xperia Z4 comes in White, Black, Copper, and Aqua Green
Design wise, the Xperia Z4 bears a great deal of similarity to its predecessor, the Xperia Z3. While it's not a full metal unibody design, it does have a metal frame surrounding the outside of the device. At 6.9mm it is as thin as the iPhone 6 which is impressive. Sony has also been able to include one of their 20.7MP sensors without introducing a camera hump, although the compromise is its 25mm focal length. Like most of Sony's recent products, the Xperia Z4 has an IP65 / IP68 rating for dust and water protection, which is something that now differentiates it from the flagship devices offered by other manufacturers.
At the moment, Sony hasn't provided any information about when an international release of the Xperia Z4 can be expected. It follows that the price is also unknown, although one can guess that it will be around the same price as this year's other flagship devices.
Source: Sony Mobile Japan
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Impulses - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
Yup, I went from an OG EVO to the 3D cause going dual core AND 2GB RAM made it a lot more fluid when switching apps, the EVO LTE a year later was a whole lot thinner, ushered in ICS which was a big step for Android, etc etc.That was probably the biggest jump, I got my current Nexus 5 mostly for convenience's sake (KK, unlocked phone and whatnot), but I've pretty much lost the upgrade bug.
The Z3c was tempting last year for the combination of small size + great battery life, I'm not sure they'll be able to replicate that this year with a Z4 Compact tho. I wish they'd worked in Qi too.
tarqsharq - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
With a yearly change in models, they can probably get ~1/2 of the user base as many people work on 2 year contracts.Spunjji - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
Android 5.0+ are 64bit capable, so that question at least is already answered :)Responsiveness /should/ be better too as it has a more punchy SoC (when not heat restricted) and, again, 5.0+ is nice and nippy.
The rest? Hopefully we find out without having to buy one..!
Chaser - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
I have the Z3. It is a great phone. But like prior Samsungs it's more a spec phone than anything else. My S6 Edge is arriving this morning. Then the Z3 is going to hit Ebay.AndrewJacksonZA - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
@Chaser: Which Z3 is it - D6603? I'm thinking of getting my sister one.ayqazi - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
If they can cram all that into the Compact version, and keep it's screen at 4.7" at the most, I'm sold!lilmoe - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
Dear Sony,Samsung sells Exynos. Buy Exynos. Oh, and 1080p AMOLED. Your phone would be too hard to resist with your design and software.
nikaldro - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
Dear lilmoe,Sony is broke. They sure as hell can't afford Exynos.
Oh, and SAMSUNG took years to get to that high quality AMOLED.
sna1970 - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
AMOLED is being used by Nokia , Motorola , Lenovo , Nexus 6 , Black Berry , Oppo ...Samsung are selling them. but Sony Just refuses to buy them from Samsung .
kspirit - Monday, April 20, 2015 - link
They're selling them pretty cheap actually. Here in my country a Chinese OEM offers a phone for $290 which has the same 1080p AMOLED panel that the S5 does :D