Sony Xperia Z5 and Z5 Premium — the latest flagships from the Japanese manufacturer, will be launched in India on Oct 21.
While the Z5 will be priced below the Rs 40,000 mark, the Premium model will be among the most expensive phones ever launched in India and is likely to carry a price well above Rs 70,000.
Of course, the Premium model has got some superlative specifications — primarily around its display. It is the only phone in the world to come with a 4k display.
Unlike full-HD displays (which have 2 mln pixels or dots on them) and QHD displays (which have 4 mln), 4K UHD displays have 8 mln pixels on them — and the 5.5 inch phone display has a resolution of around 800 dots per inch.
Of course, it doesn’t really matter to 99% of the users out there because the human eye cannot make out any difference beyond a point — say around 500 ppi. On the other hand, having so many pixels is a drain on the battery as well.
It is reported that typical interface components — such as the app listing grid — will be displayed at lower resolutions and not a the native 8M resolution. It is estimated that Sony is able to give ‘normal’ battery back-up with the help of this feature.
However, the Z5 Premium will display all media and pictures at the native resolution. It is not clear what treatment is given to apps such as browsers.
All three phones — the Z5, Premium and Compact — have been built on similar internals — Snapdragon 810 supported by 3 GB of RAM in case of the first two and 2 GB in case of the Compact. However, there is no word yet on when the Compact will be introduced in India and what the pricing could be.
While the Premium version may hog all the attention, it is unlikely to be a viable candidate for purchase for most people due to its price.
On the other hand, the Z5 will be the cheapest flagship launched by Sony in recent years. The Z3 was launched in India at a price of Rs 52,000 last year, while the company introduced its Z3+ in the country with a tag of Rs 56,000 four months ago.
Part of the reason why the Z5 will be priced around the Rs 40,000 mark is that the model has not really gone much beyond the Z3+ in terms of specs. Tellingly, the price of the Z3+ has fallen from Rs 56,000 to Rs 35,500 in just four months.
The only major difference between the two phones is a slight improvement in camera resolution (from 21 MP to 23 in Z5) and a possible upgrade in LTE version to Category 6 from Cat 4 (we are not sure of this yet.)
In almost all other ways, the Z3+ is as good a phone as its successor. These models will also compete with the Sony Xperia M5 — which is also very very similar to these in its specs. The M5 — which was launched for Rs 38,000 last month, is currently selling for Rs 33,000.
In fact, the steep price declines seen in Sony’s smartphones is likely to put off people from buying the phone in the first few days. Sony’s phones typically become value-for-money only after 2-3 weeks of initial availability.
[socialpoll id=”2301369″]
| Xperia Z5 Premium | Xperia Z5 | Xperiia Z5 Compact | |
| 4G BANDS | LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 17(700), 20(800) | LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 17(700), 20(800), 28(700), 38(2600), 40(2300) | LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 17(700), 20(800), 28(700), 38(2600), 40(2300) |
| CHIPSET | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 | Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 | Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 | ||
| DISPLAY | Type | IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors | IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors | IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Size | 5.5 inches (~71.3% screen-to-body ratio) | 5.2 inches (~69.6% screen-to-body ratio) | 4.6 inches (~68.9% screen-to-body ratio) | |
| Resolution | 2160 x 3840 pixels (~801 ppi pixel density) | 1080 x 1920 pixels (~428 ppi pixel density) | 720 x 1280 pixels (~323 ppi pixel density) | |
| Multitouch | Yes, up to 10 fingers | Yes, up to 10 fingers | Yes, up to 10 fingers | |
| Protection | Scratch-resistant glass, oleophobic coating | Scratch-resistant glass, oleophobic coating | Scratch-resistant glass, oleophobic coating | |
| – Triluminos display – X-Reality Engine |
– Triluminos display – X-Reality Engine |
| MEMORY | Card slot | microSD, up to 200 GB | microSD, up to 200 GB | microSD, up to 200 GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internal | 32 GB, 3 GB RAM | 32 GB, 3 GB RAM | 32 GB, 2 GB RAM |
| CAMERA | Primary | 23 MP, 5520 х 4140 pixels, phase detection autofocus, LED flash | 23 MP, 5520 х 4140 pixels, phase detection autofocus, LED flash | 23 MP, 5520 х 4140 pixels, phase detection autofocus, LED flash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Features | Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panorama | Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panorama | Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panorama | |
| Video | 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@120fps, HDR | 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@120fps, HDR | 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@120fps, HDR | |
| Secondary | 5.1 MP, 1080p, HDR | 5.1 MP, 1080p, HDR | 5.1 MP, 1080p, HDR |
| BATTERY | Non-removable Li-Ion 3430 mAh battery | Non-removable Li-Ion 2900 mAh battery | Non-removable Li-Ion 2700 mAh battery | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talk time | Up to 13 h 10 min (2G) / Up to 17 h (3G) | Up to 11 h 30 min (2G) / Up to 14 h 50 min (3G) | ||