Following months of leaks and rumors, Sony jumped the gun and announced their new Xperia lineup at the IFA 2017. This year, in general, hasn’t been all roses and sunshine for the Japanese firm. The manufacturer’s Q1 flagship, Xperia XZ Premium, failed miserably in most markets even though it had all the recipes of a premium handset. Speaking of, the handset packed the most powerful chipset of this year, Snapdragon 835, and 4GB of RAM on board. In addition to that, XZ Premium was the first smartphone in the world to feature a 4K HDR display. And yet, it failed!
Now, you may be wondering what could possibly be the reason behind the failure of XZ Premium. I don’t know for sure, but I believe it’s the old school design of the phone that failed to catch the attention of phone buyers. Unlike most its rivals, the XZ Premium did not have an all-screen design. When all major smartphone makers are adopting the new design trend, Sony sticks to a design from a bygone era.
Sony’s newest arrival, Xperia XZ1, also features the same old ugly design with huge bezels hanging around the display. Here is what I think: The high-end hardware and gimmicky camera features are not going to help save the XZ1 from the impending downfall, and it’s going to crash and burn just like the XZ Premium and every Xperia handsets before it.
Ahead of public availability, a handful of reviewers had a hands-on opportunity and here’s what they think.
Xperia XZ1 review roundup:
Tom Morgan of StuffTV seems not impressed by the Xperia XZ1’s design. He notes:
“When the rest of the smartphone world is making the jump to front-filling screens with minimal bezels and smooth, curvaceous handsets that are a joy to hold, the XZ1 feels instantly dated before it even goes on sale. Gimmicky 3D scanning tricks and colour-matched headphones are unlikely to make up the difference, too.”
However, the article does appreciate Sony’s efforts adding an amazing camera hardware on a phone priced lower than the competition.
Chris Martin of TechAdvisor also shares a similar story.
“There’s no single flaw in the Sony Xperia XZ1 and while it has some decent specs including good audio features and a good camera, it struggles to stand out in a busy market. Phones like the Galaxy S8 and LG G6 make this newer phone look dated and devices like the OnePlus 5 are better at a lower price point.”
Chris Barraclough of Recombu says:
“Sony’s Xperia XZ1 is one of the best phones around right now for demanding media fans and anyone after a world-class camera that slips into their pocket with ease. While this flagship may lack the gorgeous and innovative design work of Samsung’s premium devices, it’s still a good-looking and distinctive smartphone with a tough-as-nails build.”
Meanwhile, Cherlynn Low of Engadget bashes Sony for the lack of fingerprint reader and their unreasonably priced smartphones.
“Ultimately, Sony’s new XZ1 phones suffer from a flaw that has plagued the company’s premium handsets for years: They are simply too expensive for what they offer. Sony seems to keep thinking it can command the higher prices that Samsung and Apple ask for their flagships. But Sony doesn’t have the smartphone clout and the vast legions of fans that Sammy and Apple do, and the Xperias, while respectable, aren’t quite as advanced as the latest Galaxies and iPhones. They don’t even have fingerprint sensors, which are by now so late they might as well not show up.”
However, Sascha Segan of PCMag looks content with the design of XZ1 and acknowledges XZ1’s unique features.
“Sony doesn’t really need to fight Samsung or Apple. It just needs a niche. Tying the XZ1 lineup to the current trend toward 3D printing and scanning might be just that. While the XZ1 is competitive with Samsung and Apple’s prices, Sony’s difficulty will come with distribution and availability in a market where we prefer to buy phones from our carriers.”
So, what do you think about the new Xperia flagship? Are you okay with Sony repeating the same old design over all their new smartphones? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
5 Comments
3d is gimmick but apple advertised AR which is 5 years old on xperia
story of tech market nowadays
The ‘design fail’ doesn’t care to everyone as much as the camera, the 3d creator, powerful sound and display quality. You don’t see that on other phones, right?
This ‘review’ is just a sad copy of other bad reviews out there.
Haha what a loser Xperia fanboy. Xperia xz1 can’t even compete with Galaxy S8 or LG G6. Sony is already a dead company. Accept the fact and go back to your cave.
Is that a fact just because you say, or there’s real and smart data behind your nonsense comment?
I like trolls like you; they are like Internet clowns.
Sony, you meant the company behind PlayStation, Alpha cameras, Bravia TVs, Sony camera sensors, Sony Pictures, Sony Music (to name a few) is already dead? Since when?