Sony - XPERIA XZ2 with 64GB Memory Cell Phone (Unlocked) - Liquid Black

Dont like at all use this phone on landscaping works cause the dust get in the speakers and sounds distortionated. Nice speed on apps and no lag at all. The fingerprint button are badly located and sometimes if the finger are wet don't recognize the fingerprint. Nice big bright hd screen, almost like iphone 7, frontal sound are nice and vibration instead of bass its amazing. Hd resolution make videos looks nice pictures are awesome and high quality resolution batyery long last enough for my and i charge every 2 days (hardly used 10 hours straight using Bluetooth and Pandora music then get home and using before i go to sleep and still have battery for next day same use and i get home with 10%)

I have had an iPhone since they first came out and have always been happy with them, but decided to give an Android a try this time. It was easy for me to find all the In's and Out's of this new phone as I spend a lot of time working on and using computers and related equipment daily. This Sony Xperia XZ2 is about the most stunning phone I have ever owned. It has a sturdy aluminum frame with a gorilla glass front and back. The back is slightly convex for a better fit in the hand than if it were completly flat. But being Gorilla Glass front and back, also makes it the absolute most slippery phone I have ever had. Sliding right out of a pocket, off the lap desk and even vibrated off the end table until I put a very inexpensive case that I managed to find online on the phone and that took care of the slickness and Im now happy with that. Speaking of the back, most of the criticism I have seen is about the fingerprint sensors location on the back of the phone. Many seem to dislike that and even question the intellegence of the designers, but after using it, in less than a day, I was a really big fan of it being on the back and find it in a convenient natural place for myself to use. I also didnt like the dedicated camera quick launch button as I hit it every time I used the phone, but found out its very easy to disable and arm again at will in the camera settings so I turned it off...one more issue, at least for me, solved. And as for the camera, it is 19MP and takes ome of the crispest vibrant photos of any phone I have owned. It also has excellent video capabilities you can check out in depth at the company website. Its display is unbelievable with a crisp clear image, no matter if its photo, video or gaming. The speakers deliver loud and clear true stereo sound. The processor is a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 845 Mobile Platform and that makes it one of the fastest phones on the market. Its Dynamic Vibration is another feature folks who play games ( It Has Sony Playstation App Pre Installed) will really enjoy as it brings games more to life as you can feel whats going on in the game. Music lovers will like that feature as well. With many more features standard I really suggest you check the Sony Xperia Xz2 page out for yourself and get all the details on all of them. Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that Sony, like Apple on the new iPhones have done away with the 3.5 headphone jack, however Sony includes a set of headphones and the adapter to use then thru the USB 3.0 charging connection even simultaneously while charging the phone. That is no issue for me at all, I went wireless with headphones and earbuds a very long time ago. Also, at this time since its new to the market, cases and other sony accesories are few and far between but that is a usual when I new phone comes out. I cant stress enough how slick this phone is without a case and highly recommend finding one with a grip to it online as soon as possible after or even before you make the purchase. It has Wireless charging (Qi) as an option so any Qi wireless charging device will work just fine. So far I really love this phone and make it a little more customized every day to fit my wants, needs and personality and think you cant go wrong with the Xperia Xz 2 if your looking for a high end Android

Sony Xperia XZ2 Summary With the new Xperia XZ2, Sony delivers a beautiful and well crafted 2018 flagship with a capable camera, outstanding battery life, and one of the smoothest user experiences you’ll find. Pros: - The top-tier Snapdragon 845 processor delivers outstanding performance for any task, including graphically intense gaming - The best battery life I’ve experienced in a modern smartphone – easily 6+ hours screen on time - Beautiful HDR display that clearly demonstrates Sony’s decades of expertise with high-end LCD TVs. - Excellent audio, including loud and clear front facing stereo speakers - Solid 19MP camera delivers sharp photos, 4K HDR video, and 960 fps slow motion - Dedicated camera button - Class leading software optimization for a silky smooth user experience - Generous 64GB storage can be easily upgraded with an inexpensive SD card - Dual SIM capable - Fast charger included Cons: - 1080p display is not as sharp as some other recent phones that run QHD or higher - Outstanding LCD display still can’t match OLED for contrast - No headphone jack (Sony supplies a USB C adapter in the box) - Ambient light sensor is a little too sensitive / directional at times - If you’re not familiar with using unlocked phones, carrier support could be a factor Setup / What’s included In addition to the device itself, Sony includes a USB C fast charger, USB C headphone adaptor, and a nice set of Sony headphones which sound good and include a microphone for hands-free calling. Setting up the XZ2 is as easy as popping in an active SIM card (no SIM tool required) and walking through the excellent guided setup. The software allows you to easily restore a backup from another Xperia phone, from your Google account, or via Sony’s transfer app which, when loaded onto the old phone, will allow the new device to carry over your settings, contacts, etc. The entire process takes just a few minutes and you can easily go back and run the transfer app later if you choose to skip this option at first. Design and Build The Xperia is a well built device. The glass back has a gentle curve that fits well in the hand and there’s no camera bump protruding. It’s definitely a large device, and at a measured 199g it’s about a third heavier than a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. That said, while not as easy to use one-handed as something like a Galaxy S8, but it’s well balanced and pleasant to use. Sony includes an easy-to-activate one-handed mode that shrinks the display down a little if needed. In addition to volume and sleep/wake controls, there’s a dedicated camera button which can wake the device directly to the camera – a great feature to ensure you don’t miss those passing photo ops. Sony says the device is rated IP65/68 for dust and water resistance. I’m not sure why the dual rating, but it’s probably safe to say that the phone will handle any inadvertent spills or rain showers, but wouldn’t be a great companion for underwater photography. There's a fingerprint sensor about mid way down the back of the phone. Some may find the position a bit low and may, as a result, end up smudging the camera lens instead. I found that I got used to it pretty quickly and it's easy to reach with one hand. It's also very quick and doesn't require perfect alignment. The screen is both a strong and a weak point. Colors are gorgeous, contrast is excellent for an LCD panel, and the HDR video rendering is a nice benefit. However at 1080p, the resolution is lower than many other new phones. In my experience, the difference is noticeable but not a real problem in day to day use. Videos, web pages, games, and text documents all look great on this screen, but just that little but less sharp then some of the QHD options out there. The lower resolution probably does contribute to the stellar battery life, a point conceded in a way by the fact that Samsung has recently been switching their displays to 1080p as a software default. Camera The 19MP rear facing camera does a great job capturing scenes in full auto mode in most situations. For those cases where lighting is challenging, a quick tap on the right focus point generally gets the metering and focus set for a solid shot. I’ve tested close ups, landscapes, and low light interior shots and the XZ2 has handled them all really well. Low light shots don’t come out as bright as something like the GS9 with its dual aperture, but I found nothing to complain about and the extra resolution is nice to have too. Video can be recorded at up to 4K with HDR enabled and the results look great despite the lack of optical image stabilization. I also test the 960 fps slow motion mode and the results are great so long as there’s enough light in the scene. One caveat here is that Sony requires you to manually trigger slow motion shots, which can make getting the timing right rather challenging. Overall the camera is a great improvement over my Galaxy S7 in most situations and I suspect most non-enthusiasts will be more than pleased with the results. Software Experience Sony’s software is very light weight with a very close resemblance to standard Android Oreo (the latest version as of this review). Partly as a result of this approach, and I suspect partly due to some very impressive and deliberate engineering effort from the Sony team, this is one of the smoothest phones I’ve ever used. At first I wondered if I might miss features given this simple approach, but a few days of use convinced me that the fluidity and speed of the experience more than make up for the lack of custom software extensions and features. That’s not to say that Sony hasn’t stirred in some of their own ideas. The phone features some additions like HDR video rendering, a theme engine, and a thoughtful battery health system that manages your nightly charge cycle to keep the battery below 90% until shortly before you usually take your phone off the charger. This should help to extend the life of the battery as Lithium batteries prefer not to stay at full charge for long periods. Performance and Battery This phone is fast. Everything I’ve tried from graphically heavy games to Excel to video apps to tools like EverNote has run perfectly. In addition, the highly optimized software does a great job of launching, managing, and switching between apps. With the large display and Android Oreo on hand, split screen app usage is both practical and buttery smooth on this device, so it’s easy to have a YouTube video running on the top third of the display and email below. I’ll leave the benchmarks to others, but while those I’ve seen show solid results, they don’t convey just how fluid this phone is in everyday use. Perhaps the same optimization that makes things run so smoothly also leads to excellent battery life. This device is very efficient in standby and I was easily able to get through a day and a night before charging, even with 6 hours of screen time and a couple of hours of gaming. The stamina of the device goes beyond what you’d expect even the admittedly large 3180 mAh battery. For times when battery life is low, “Stamina” and “Stamina +” power saving modes are available to extend battery life by disabling certain services. Network Performance The XZ2 performed well for me on both HSPA and LTE networks with AT&T. Calls sound fine, but quality is limited by that of your connection. The device supports a wide range of frequency bands and should work fine with any GSM / SIM based carrier such as AT&T and T-Mobile. That said, if you’re new to the world of unlocked phones, having a device that’s not officially provided by the carrier can bring some complexity. It took me several days to get LTE working with AT&T (best bet is to just use your current SIM card and NOT call AT&T to activate your new unlocked phone as a new device). Online posts suggest that T-Mobile may make this easier. In any event, once up and running the performance is excellent, and having an unlocked device makes for a lot of flexibility in moving between carriers, and easily using local service when travelling. The XZ2 makes this even easier because as a dual-SIM device you can keep your US SIM installed when travelling and insert a local SIM in the second slot. Conclusion At first glance, the Xperia XZ2 may appear to be a nicely designed phone that doesn’t really have any outstanding features to distinguish itself in the market. However, after over a week of use as my full-time phone, I believe this to be one of the stronger offerings available today from an overall user experience perspective. Sony has gone to great lengths to create a thoughtful and optimized experience. If you’re looking for a new phone with a good camera, fast performance, smooth software and outstanding battery life – and if you’re wanting to take a different route to the usual Apple and Samsung fare – this could be your next device.

This is the best cell phone I ever had. The battery last 2 days. Got it from Best Buy, the sales person did everything right.

The Sony Xperia XZ2 is the newest flagship smartphone from the aforementioned company. I want to start off by acknowledging that this new design is a welcomed change for Sony, who has been in need of a more streamlined design for some time now. The curved edges bring it into the modern age of the more eye pleasing smartphone. Gone are the sharp edges and cold look of the previous entries of the Xperia series. Replaced with a more curved and aesthetically feeling phone. It has a 5.7”, full HD display, which is a very nice look. Even though it’s not the standard Super AMOLED display of other flagships, it does hold its own. But we’ll get into more of that in a minute. Inside the box, you are greeted with the phone (obviously) , a USB type C adapter with fast charging brick. A pair of Sony branded earbuds (even though, this phone does not have 3.5mm jack) It does, however, come with a USB C to 3.5mm jack dongle for those that want to truly experience the magic that is the audio ear candy the Xperia XZ2 can provide. Also packaged, are extra earbud tips. And your necessary / unnecessary document books that no one ever reads. I’m beginning to believe that those books are there to make sure everything is properly secured inside the box. The Xperia XZ2 is a well built phone. Definitely a premium device. As I said earlier, the screen is a nice 5.7” Super AMOLED display with somewhat of an infinity type feel to it. The bezels are smaller than previous versions of the Xperia line. The body consists of 3 buttons on the right side. The volume rocker, power button and a dedicated camera button ( I really like that button).The fingerprint scanner is on the back right below the camera lens. It’s a hefty phone, for its size. It has a thickness that feels kinda out of place at 1st. But once I played with it, I found that the curves actually feel really good in the hand. The fingerprint sensor on the back is in a better place than one other flagship (We all know which one I’m talking about.), but it still feels a little low. Maybe it’s just my big ol’ man hands. I eventually got used to that as well. The gorilla glass body is both a blessing and a curse at the same time. The positive is that it looks great in its liquid black color and it also allows for wireless charging unlike its little sibling The Xperia XZ2 Compact. The curse comes by way of that slippery body. OH MY GOODNESS, is that thing ever so slippery. And those fingerprints just keep a’ comin’. This phone will definitely need a case or skin. Other than that, I find this to be very nice to hold and look at. The Qualcomm snapdragon 845 processor is super fast and the near stock android OS is a joy to work with. A 19 megapixel motion eye camera ( Them slow motion pics tho) in the back takes nicer photos than the the previous cameras in the line. There’s a neat little feature called 3D creator, where you’re able to scan your face and send it off to get 3D printed or just send to friends online. I am NOT good at this. Lol! Then there’s the fact that this the 1st smartphone camera capable of shooting in 4k at 30fps. That does take a lot of power and could result in the phone warming up, so I would only recommend that for short bursts. On front, you’re given the 5 megapixel selfie cam. The battery won’t wow you with the 3180 mAh battery on board, however, it should get you through a full day before the inevitable nightly charge is required. 4 Gigabytes of RAM and 64 Gigs of storage that can be expanded to the largest micro SD capacity you can find at the moment. The sound quality comes through really well with front blasting speakers for those quick YouTube sessions. The call quality is very nice. I had no problems connecting even on the small network I’m using. Gaming on this beast is top notch. It runs just about any game super smoothly. Being a Sony product, I really didn’t expect anything less. I didn’t even get into the assistant. Yes, Sony has their own assistant called Xperia assist of all things. It’s another program trying to learn your habits, to better assist you in you daily life. I tried it out. It’s not horrible. Lol! No worries though. The Google assistant is still available. It’s also IP68 certified. Making it water and dust resistant. The Verdict The Xperia XZ2 is a really good improvement over its predecessors. It’s a great flagship phone that is feature packed. It does what other flagships can do, albeit, not as good, but passable. But what it does really well , like the camera features and sound quality, it knocks it out of the park. My only real issue with this phone is its price point. It’s the same price as some much better phones out there, so It’s really gonna have to come down to your preferences. I don’t think it’s a bad phone by any means, but the competition is pretty fierce. Could I recommend this phone to anyone? Yes. I could and more than likely,I will. It’s a great gaming device that takes really good photos and great videos. So Great job Sony.

Out of the box, my first impressions were that this was a very attractive phone that feels comfortable in your hand. It has some weight to it which some would call heavy, I call it solid. I think that adds to the premium feel of the phone. It comes packaged with a wall charger, a usb type c cable, wired earbud headphones with extra earbuds and a clip to attach them to your shirt. There is also and included usb type c to 3.5 mm cable, since there is no headphone jack on the phone. The phone looks and feels premium, but the included cables don't. For the price of the phone, they should provide braided cables. The earbuds are ok, but I won't complain, as they are free. The sim card tray is at the top and doesn't require a pin to open it. The sim card tray itself is also very flimsy plastic which I thought might break just from trying to insert the sim card. When you turn on the phone, you are immediately impressed with the screen. It is lcd, not oled, but it is bright and vivid. It is easy to read outdoors even with brightness set at 40%. Cell signal strength is oustanding. I have T-Mobile, and this phone consistantly brings in 5 bars of signal strength. Better than any other phone we have. The camera is a single lens 19 megapixel rear and a 5 megapixel front. After 2 days of putting both through the paces in light and dark settings, with still photography and video. I am very happy with the results. Sony also has a physical camera shutter button which makes it so much easier to take pictures. There is a super slomo function which is nice, but very difficult to capture what you want. There is also a 3D image capture which allows you to take a 3D image of yourself. It's cute, but I don't know how usefull it will be. Watching a movie or video on this beautiful screen should be a pleasure, and visually it is. The problem, however, is that the speakers are tinny sounding. And this is true in phone conversations also, especially when using the speakerphone. This is the single biggest knock against this phone. Sony has a haptic feedback volume setting. This provides you with a vibration during certain scenes in a movie or while listening to music or playing video games. I tried it while watching the movie Troy. It was good at times, letting you feel the rumbling of horses hoofs as the hit the ground or in fight scenes where you could feel every punch. The problem is that it also vibrated when it shouldn't have and you get tired of it pretty quickly. You can turn it off. I immagine that it would be good with video games. The phone features the Snapdragon 845 with Bluetooth 5.0, fast charging and wireless charging (wireless charger not included). It is also water and dustproof.. The Sony UI is very light and easy to navigate, however, Sony does include several apps the you don't want or need and you are unable to delete them. In summary, the pros: 1) Premium look and feel 2) Very strong cellphone signal reception 3) Excellent cameras front and rear 4) Snapdragon 845, very fast and smooth 5) Bluetooth 5.0, great reception and sound 6) Water and dust resistance ( Sony claims it can be submerged in water for 30 minutes) 7) Excellent battery which easily holds a charge throughout the day. 8) Quick charge and wireless charging 9) Sony has a reputation of timely updates for their phones, and I hope that contuse here. Cons: 1) Tinny sounding speakers especially while on speakerphone 2) Fingersprint scanner is low on the back of the phone and takes some getting used to. Though, it is a fast and accurate scanner. .Finally, I really enjoy using this phone and probably would have given it 5 stars if not for the speakers.

BUILD / DESIGN: 3/5 The build materials used on the XZ2 are comparable to many other flagships of this year. However, The XZ2’s back glass is more slippery than any other flagship phone I’ve used within the past few years. Part of that is due to the contour of the back, rather than having a flatter profile like other well-known flagships. I find that I have to be more diligent in ensuring that I don’t drop it. The phone’s edges look to be aluminum, but are so smooth that I can’t get a proper grip on the phone. This leads to a premium-feeling device that you must absolutely be careful with while holding. The placement of the fingerprint sensor is unnatural—at least for most people familiar with rear fingerprint sensors. Usually the fingerprint sensor is placed in a natural position such that your finger will naturally rest on it when you pick up your phone to use it. I tried holding the XZ2 the same way I’d hold any other recent flagship phone, and found that my finger rested on the camera lens, whereas on most other phones, my finger would rest near/on the fingerprint sensor. This decision practically forces you to hold the phone a bit differently, as the fingerprint sensor AND the power button are shifted closer to the middle of the phone, rather than the top quartile. This decision could have been made to prevent your finger from hovering over the camera while holding the phone in landscape mode. Alternatively, it could be that Sony wants you to hold your phone differently so that you are less likely to drop it. Either way, I think they created new problems rather than solving problems with the design of this phone. DISPLAY: 3/5 My first impression of the display used in the XZ2 is that I loved how the colors popped. The panel seems to be very close to the glass, so everything just pops out. Keep in mind, it is not an OLED display, so it won’t have the power-saving features and always-on display settings like other phones, but it is still a very good-looking display which claims to “convert everything to near High Dynamic Range (HDR).” The display is an 18:9 aspect ratio, but does not boast an impressive screen-to-body ratio compared to other 18:9 phones. The large chin at the bottom seems to be there for the purpose of showing the SONY logo. Really Sony? It’s 2018. At the same time, this display might be a deal-breaker. From my tests, too much heat or pressure applied to the display will begin to show horizontal parallel lines running across the display (see my picture). This means that if you play games that require a lot of swiping, you may see this more than others. This artifact presents itself over lighter colors rather than black. That being said, the lines slowly disappear—how long it takes depends on how much pressure you applied to the display. Sony needs to take steps to improve quality control over their manufacturing process to prevent this issue in the future. SOFTWARE / PERFORMANCE: 5/5 Sony is using the latest Snapdragon 845 with 4GB and during my tests after finishing the setup process, this phone is very fast. Default animation transitions are faster than stock Android, so things move very quickly. You can multitask and have quite a few apps open before Android decides to close apps. As far as the UI skin is concerned, I don’t have any problems with it. I personally prefer stock Android, so I’ve decided to use my own launcher, but the only major changes are the launcher, Sony’s added apps (you can disable these), some additional third-party apps (which you can also disable), and some additional functionality added into the settings menu. As far as Sony’s extra apps (not including camera app, album app, etc.) are concerned, some are gimmicky and not critical to the functionality of the device. I don’t feel as though I’ll gain much value through through using them, but if you want more information on them, here’s a small summary: - Xperia Assist: Teaches you the functionality of the XZ2 and helps you set up Xperia Actions. - 3D Creator: Scan real-life objects or your face. Share/print or use them in the AR effect app. - AR effect: Snapchat-like 3D filters and AR playgrounds. - Bokeh: Poorly-implemented Bokeh effect for portrait-mode style photos. - Xperia Lounge: A newsstand for offers, vouchers, tips, movies, music, sports - Movie Creator: Automatically creates movies for you and notifies you - PlayStation: Available on any smartphone, this is good for PlayStation Network functionality. BATTERY: 5/5 I’m happy to say that the battery life for the XZ2 is good. I was able to get somewhere around 6 hours of battery life of mixed use. If I had to use this as my daily phone, I don’t think I’d have issues with it dying on me. The fast-charging AC adapter also helps give you a quick battery boost during the day. I have not tested the wireless charging technology, but I assume it’d work as expected—albeit probably not as fast wired charging with the included AC adapter. There is also a STAMINA and ULTRA STAMINA mode under the battery settings. The normal STAMINA mode allows you to gain some additional use time by turning off some pre-defined features. The ULTRA STAMINA mode turns your phone into a basic phone with a limited set of core apps. Probably good for times when you go areas where you have no data but can call/text. That, or a night out when you’ve forgotten to charge your phone, the battery is low and you need to make sure you can get a hold of your group if you get separated. CAMERA: 3/5 As far as the camera is concerned, it’s not going to win awards. For the average person, it’s a decent camera and will get the job done for simple situations. However, the auto-focus isn’t as fast as its competitors, low-light photography generates more noise in photos when compared to other phones, and the Bokeh app is limited to 8MP, has poor edge detection and thus introduces a lot of artifacts into your portrait shots. Sony makes great camera sensors, but they don’t seem to utilize them effectively in their own smartphones. Lack of optical image stabilization (OIS) means videos are shaky and jittery while photos can come out blurrier, even despite Sony’s efforts to use electronic image stabilization (EIS). Other flagships are using OIS and in some cases, both OIS and EIS. From my experience, you have to do more work than relying on auto-mode to take a memorable picture with the XZ2. They say the best camera is the one you have in your pocket, but in this case, I’d rather carry my bulky DSLR if my only alternative was the XZ2. I’ve used many other flagship phones where I felt auto-mode was all I needed and that my DSLR wasn’t necessary, but the XZ2 isn’t going to pull any instagram-worthy shots unless you’re more camera-savvy than the average person. If I feel like I have to work hard to get a great shot with the XZ2, I might as well bring a camera that I can really control. The XZ2’s camera is simply not up to par with 2018 flagships. The reality is that the average person is a bad photographer, and other modern flagship phones are making it substantially easier for the average person to take beautiful, noteworthy photos that could rival photos taken with much more expensive gear. SOUND: 4/5 The XZ2 has a set of front-firing stereo speakers. They’re not as loud as some other phones, but they’re clear while avoid distorting/clipping. There’s a dynamic vibration feature which will listen to whatever audio you’re playing and the phone will vibrate with the bass frequencies. It’s there to seemingly replicate a subwoofer, but its effectiveness is going to depend heavily on what audio you’re listening to. In short, you won’t get vibrations for bass kicks as often as you will bass synths and bass guitars. As for the headphone jack—there isn’t one. The DAC and Amplifier, however, are integrated into the XZ2, rather than the dongle, itself. The dongle is simply an analog passthrough to the XZ2’s internal DAC and Amp. From my testing with a few headphones ($200 to $1000), the audio quality was comparable to a 3.5mm dongle (with DAC/Amp in the dongle). That being said, it isn’t going to provide enough power to drive high-impedance headphones to higher volumes. So while I wish the XZ2 had an audiophile headphone jack, I’m glad that they at least included their own DAC/Amp which requires a cheaper passthrough dongle, rather than something more expensive. OTHER ISSUES & NOTES: - I’ve noticed some finicky behavior with the GPS while driving on the highway. I’ve lost GPS signal a few times, something I’ve not had happen with other phones. - While on T-Mobile, I’ve had some issues getting data in some areas, but not in others. This could be something to do with new LTE-Advanced spectrum in my area. This is my first LTE-Advanced phone. That being said, I’m only getting about < 5Mbps download on LTE-Advanced. - No Wi-Fi Calling (this is a serious deal-breaker for many) - Dual SIM functionality is limited, as with many Dual-SIM phones. The XZ2 has only one modem, which both SIMs share. You can specify which SIM handles calling, texting and data. You can also have calls be forwarded from one SIM to the other while one SIM card is unreachable. OVERALL: Given how many cons I’ve had to list against the XZ2, I simply cannot recommend it to someone looking for a new smartphone in 2018. At its MSRP, it has quite a few flaws that I think are difficult to overlook. I would still recommend quite a few smartphones from 2017 over this 2018 flagship, and that’s quite unfortunate. It just goes to show that Sony’s Xperia design team needs to focus on delivering a design with features that truly rival the competition.

The Sony XZ2 is the latest flagship phone in the Xperia line that tries to break free from its predecessors in a market that is dominated by some heavy hitting smartphones out there. Rather or not it does this is a matter of opinion and i hope that you can gather enough information from this review to help determine if this is going to be the right fit for you. If you have ever owned a Xperia in the past you are going to right off the bat notice some visual changes. The screen size has increased to a 5.7 inch display with a curved backside wrapped in gorilla glass. You will find a finger print scanner on the backside, which sits in the middle a little lower than what i would of liked to see. Actually that was one the first issues i noticed right away. While the scanner does an excellent job at recognizing your print i feel that the placement was done too low. More than half the time i found myself touching the camera lens rather than the actual scanner itself. Not a big deal but just annoying that i had to keep cleaning the camera lens from all the smudges from my finger prints. The camera is a single lens 19mp lens, while the front screen display still utilizes bezels. Its very disappointing to see that while most major smartphone manufactures out there are going with no bezel wall to wall displays, it seems Sony is still stuck in the past. While this may not be a big deal to some people i tend to find it out dated and kinda of ugly looking as far as aesthetics go. While some trends tend to come back in to fashion i don't see that happening here. Sony has also decided to ditch the conventional 3.5mm headphone jack as well. While most people may find this a bad idea i tend to side with Sony on this one. All my listening devices are Bluetooth and when i come to think about it i can't actually remember the last time i listened to any music on my smartphone with any wired device. But don't worry Sony did not leave out the option for those of you that insist on going the wired route. They have provided an adapter which hooks up to the USB-C port with a headphone jack on the other end. I have provided a picture so that you can have a visual representation of what that looks like. You have forward facing speakers which is a nice feature to have while watching movies or streaming videos on your device. Battery life will get you through the whole day with moderate usage. Through out the day i would stream Spotify, visit social media regularly, and stream several HD videos off Netflix and found by 11 p.m. i still had about 18% charge left. Now lets talk performance and what really sets this smartphone apart. First lets talk visual display of the screen. The XZ2 displays in full HD resolution only. While it does a good job of up-scaling standard resolution to HDR there will be a noticeable difference when compared to some of its predecessors that are using QHD resolutions. Now let me get something straight, im not saying the resolution on the XZ2 is trerrible by any means, in fact its really clean looking boasting very bright colors and true blacks. All im simply saying is some of its competitors have gone the way of QHD and when compared to side by side to a phone that offers this display you will notice a resolution difference most definitely. While i understand that most manufactures debate over rather or not the power needed to push that kind of resolution is worth it, i would of liked to have seen it in Sony's display seeing as how they are recognized by their T.V. and Audio as a power house. Speaking of which lets talk audio for a second. The XZ2 makes up for its screen display with true Hi Def audio sound. The music is definitely alot more crisp and clean sounding with less static and interference. If you have a pair of true sounding Hi Res audio headphones then you will notice the difference right away. Now lets talk about the camera and video recording because this is one area where i think Sony did a really good job and broke away from its competitors. The camera lens itself is a 19mp lens that is the first of its kind out there to offer true 4k HDR recording and playback. Before i get into just how good the recordings are lets talk about its picture quality. In an outdoor environment with ample light the pictures it takes are superb. The colors and quality are so bright and vibrant its almost hard to believe they were not done with an expensive camera. Where it fails however is in low light. While its competitors do a better job in low light the XZ2 has a noticeable quality drop off in a low light scenario. The pictures are average at best with the colors coming out bland and almost unison. But hey no need to to worry because Sony offers a camera that can record in true 4k HDR in fact i may be wrong but i think they are the only ones right now that offer 4k HDR recording with playback. The video quality while recording in 4k is phenomenal to say the very least. And while it looks good while playing it on your phone, hook it up to a 4k or QHD T.V. and man you will notice a sizeable difference in quality. I recorded my kids playing in the backyard in 4k and wanted to see the play back difference on a 4k T.V. so i ran the phone to my Samsung curved 4k UHD T.V. The quality was so good that my wife thought i was lying to here when i told her i filmed it on the phone. Now there are some drawbacks to this however. While recording in 4k you will recieve a prompt letting you know that the phone may get hot and shut down the recording. This prompt is very accurate, while recording in 4k for only 2 minutes i noticed the phone got warm rather quickly. After about 5 minutes the phone became very hot so i stopped recording to prevent any damage. Also another thing to note is the size of the file of a 4k video is almost double the memory needed to save it compared to a standard recording. So while the picture quality is great i can't see you recording full family vacations in 4k seeing as how it would require quite a bit of memory to store it. Now if your looking to post a quick video to social media and you want to make your friends jealous with the quality of the video then the 4k route seems more practical. It also offers full HD super slow mo at 960fps if that is your thing. Now in the way of recording and camera options Sony offers the same thing you would expect to find on any of the latest smartphones out there. There is manual mode which allows you to adjust shutter speed, focus, etc. You have the ability to change background lighting and add in your own special effects which you may find Snapchat. You can also add in AR effects as well. Heres my final take away. I could go on and on about every single feature this phone has and take up pages but in reality these are the only real features that set it apart from the other phones. The rest of the features the phone has to offer is no different than any other feature you would find on any Android device out there so i wont bother wasting your time with that nonsense. The XZ2 has a very nice camera and video recording that records in 4k HDR quality but the sad thing is you can't even watch it in all its glory on the phone because it still displays in Full HD resolution. The audio system is excellent offering a great audio experience but while these two features are really the only thing that sets it apart, its just not enough for me to recommend it to a friend or family. There is no breakaway feature that truly sets it apart or even helps it to compete with some of the big names that are out there. I mean for crying out loud they still utilize bezel screens which i would of thought by now they would of got rid off. At the end of the day this is really going to come down to user preference. I feel that any IOS user is going to be disappointed right off the bat while most Android user will find that this device falls short of being anything other than another average smartphone. If you are looking for something that can take great pictures and recordings what is a well rounded smartphone then this is one your going to want to pick up for sure. If you are used to the latest tech with standout quality and ascetics then you will want to pass on this one. Pros: -Awesome day time picture quality -Great audio -4k HDR recording -Ample battery life Cons: -Bezel screen -Average low light picture -Screen displays in Full HD -Very few breakaway features