Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Sony Xperia XZ Premium - Unlocked Smartphone - 5.5", 64GB - Dual SIM

Top positive review

A Great Phone - Style - Speed - And That 4K Display!!!

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2017

A great phone.

Purchased after 4 iPhones over the years. Also thoroughly reviewed the newest Samsung and LG phones, and did like the Samsung, but not as much as this one. The 4K display is at the cutting edge, and those who say "Who needs 4K on a tiny phone?" have no idea the difference it can make! If you ever want to use a VR 3D viewer, then you'll SO notice the difference. And even if you don't, you'll see details you never saw on other phones. The design/styling is very "Bauhaus" and looks simple and elegant. Classic even. I really like the Galaxy too, but I'd call it a little over-styled. I like the curved glass edges on the Samsung - yeah, they're cool - but they can also be a source of reflected glare, making edge details hard to see or read. And while some don't like the edge bezels on the Sony, I think they look clean and refined. I also found that - holding the Samsung - I'm constantly covering up information on the screen edges that I want to see.

On the Sony, I do wish that the speaker volume were a little louder, but it is very usable. I use some Sony headphones I've had for years, and they have a decently high 'sensitivity' rating, about 105 db, which gives a really strong volume for music and videos - it is not the least bit weak. I can blast my ears off with it. I think some may be using low sensitivity headphones, which can sound great with a lot of power - but they tax the power of weaker headphone outputs. Try a headphone with good sensitivity, and you'll be happy.

The Camera is everything you could ask for in a modern phone - perhaps a half notch below that of the Galaxy. Not perfect, but nothing is - still excellent. And it does have that ultra-slow 960 fps slow-motion, and the 4K is outstanding. I have no issues with the still camera, the autofocus, and other features. But I have an excellent big camera for when I need true pro features. No phone is there yet, but they are improving each generation. And the XZ Premium still comes very close in quality to low-level pro cameras, and might actually be overkill for personal use.

Speed of use is SUPER FAST opening apps, checking mail, using the phone, browsing - even viewing images and videos in full 4K - all you could want and more. Snapdragon 835 is no slouch - neck and neck with the very best!

The touch screen is effortlessly smooth and a pleasure to use, gestures interpreted well.

So you don't think I'm only positive, here's the mostly minor other side...
I do hope that Sony will fix a few things in their First firmware update:
1. Do boost the volume, and dispense with the unnecessarily low 'loud limit,' which is too low (though you can always override it). Don't forget the ringer volume (or louder ringtones please?).
2. Make the Fingerprint Reader work for US customers!... What, are we so inferior to Europeans, Brits, and Japanese in your eyes, Sony? Not a deal-breaker, but really??
3. Give us full control of the Resolution and Audio Settings for the phone, so that we can decide when full resolution - 4K - is important, and when battery life is more important. Sony can't know when we NEED something, but we are capable of making that choice ourselves, I think.
4. I'd take a few more "modern" ringtones, but I can do that myself ...

If you use your phone a LOT, and the display image is important to you, then this is just about the only phone that jumps ahead in resolution - and the other phones WILL be upping theirs (perhaps in another generation or two), but the Sony has 4K now ...

The stereo speakers will not knock your socks off or power your Block Party, but they are nice if you want a medium low background sound, and it's in Stereo. And the audio sounds beautiful and powerful through good, sensitive headphones or most any stereo input.

It feels great and solid in your hand, and it can be operated with just one hand, though two is better due to size.

The menus are really not bad at all - just takes a few minutes to get it after 4 iPhones. No prob.

I'm loving this phone.
I just can't stop myself finding reasons to look at everything on the 4K display. (3840 X 2160 pixels!)

A very few detractions, but still five stars.

116 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

Prime Rocks

Solid phone BUT charging port broke 3 yrs later

Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2020

I only buy dual sim and have been a fan of Sony for being one of the only flagships to offer a top notch dual that works on T-mobile's network. For everything great about this phone go to the 5 star reviews.

I was loving this phone until now (2 yr 10 months later) the USB charging port started to go faulty. I was trying different cables until finally the port stopped working altogether and nothing charges the phone. Once the battery drained, my phone is essentially lifeless. I'm in the process of trying to find someone who can replace the port (looks way to complicated to attempt myself).

I might go back to the One Plus brand now that they have a stronger presence and partnerships with US carriers. Like I said, dual sim and T-mobile are a non negotiable feature for my needs.

One person found this helpful

264 total ratings, 184 with reviews

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From the United States

Randall

A Great Phone - Style - Speed - And That 4K Display!!!

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2017

Color: BlackStyle: Phone OnlyVerified Purchase

116 people found this helpful

Helpful

Anthony Fuller

Beautiful display, quality build

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2017

Color: ChromeStyle: Phone OnlyVerified Purchase

coming from the HTC 10 the this phone is leaps ahead in my opinion and that phone was a beast also. Beautiful display, quality build, the battery is amazing I've only charged it once since Sunday and this is posted on a Thursday, and that's with browsing, photos, slo-mo videos, and installing all my apps (at 30% since Tuesday at time of review). My HTC 10 would of needed charging at least 6 times, one of the reasons I upgraded to this. I keep Bluetooth on all the time(which has better range, faster to connect to devices and sounds way better streaming to my car radio.) I also keep Wi-Fi on all the time.

Everything works like it should, love the "lifelog", been using that since I got it. The remote play works flawlessly to your PS4 f you have one. Another selling point for me. Signal is strong, I have full bars most of the time where my HTC 10 never was really full.

The screen is top notch, I don't see what the point of the new edges, that would cause me problems more than anything, I like my bezels. The screen hue/colors even on normal are great, there's also a vivid color mode that even brightens that up, Ill stick to normal though. 4k display and the HDR samples were beautiful.

The camera 960fps slow motion is awesome I was playing with it at a theme park and got some great videos. Vr effects are pretty cool and more are downloadable.
The apps on this phone are minimal, its not loaded with games and other useless apps, there is a couple but they are great apps, like the lifelog, movie creator, news, etc. I really like how its more of a stock google experience, the dialer and messenger are close to stock or if I'm wrong stock google. Icon packs can be purchased from the play store and used, no need for launchers like Nova and the like, so that's customizable. Dpi is editable, same with icons grid and sizes.

some cons: the new sony lenses, they will be in other devices also, will have a minor distortion to straight line objects, not really noticeable unless your looking for it, and if your picky can be fix with minor image edits. sony has commented on this and says its just the way the new lenses will be, and will start being visible on other devices as they are used. they will look to improve in the future. software updates may also help. Me personally only notice when trying to duplicate it to show someone. normal photos I took looks great.

another is it is a fingerprint magnet. Trying to find an good case at this point has been a challenge, have a few more on order to see if they are better.

speakers could be a bit better, but I've been using HTC boom sound for years, these match up to the HTC 10 but not so much the front facing older gen HTC phones, cant compare to U11 since ive never heard one. But using headphones or Bluetooth audio it seem the Sony does a better job at sound.

I definitely will be using this phone till it breaks or goes too obsolete, which I doubt.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Technomancer92

Best Sony Xperia, Top of the line Android phone

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2017

Color: BlackStyle: Phone OnlyVerified Purchase

Summary: Great phone for the money. Shipped from Amazon, on time and in great condition. No faults can be seen on the device or its original packaging.
Phone Review: This is definitely the best Sony phone to date, it comes with all the latest flagship specs. The only feature it's missing is wireless charging but I'll gladly stick to the general standard of plugging in the phone directly.
One of the main contentions with buying the US model is the use of the fingerprint sensor. Truth be told, the hardware is there but the software (US firmware) prevents the use of it. To gain this functionality, I flashed a foreign firmware onto the phone using software from the XDA developers forum. Its fairly easy and once you download the necessary flashing software and firmware, the process literally took less than 10 - 15 mins.
PS. If anyone needs advice on this, feel free to drop a comment.
The camera is definitely an improvement over my Z5, it captures at low light much better, 4K video stabilisation has definitely improved and HDR although it may not be as well executed as the Google Pixel, still it shows improvement over the Z5. The 960 fps slow motion is breath-taking even though it is shot in 720p the level of detail seen in a slow motion shot will give you a greater appreciation for the finer details in life.
The phone's display is superb, 4K videos are astounding and even though the general interface is in standard 1080p you won't be bothered by this as the colours are still vibrant and the content still looks sharp, also this improves battery life since 4K tends to drain battery capacity quite quickly.
Performance wise, this phone competes with the big names like Samsung, LG, HTC, OnePlus you name it. It's actually snappier than the S8 in certain situations therefore lagging is unheard of on this phone. Although I will admit, when I now got the phone, Facebook would crash without warning, however, after an update for the Facebook app, no such issues have happened since. Which simply means that Facebook was the source of the problem, not the phone's software/hardware.
Overall, if you're a Xperia fan, you're gonna love this phone. If you're an Android fan, you're gonna love it, if you like being on the cutting edge of smartphone technology, you're gonna love it. Yes, it may not have the thinnest bezels, but the industrial design is classic, timeless and holds a certain level of appeal that you just can't get with any other manufacturer.

26 people found this helpful

Helpful

Naperville Jon

Very good phone at a much better price than competitors

Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2017

Color: BlackStyle: Phone OnlyVerified Purchase

Overall, I like this phone very much. First, the good: As soon as I turned it on for the first time, it was ready to update to Android 8.0 (Oreo) and it did so flawlessly. This is a big deal for me, as I hate waiting for new updates. The display is pretty good (not on par with Pixel or LG30, but it's $400 less) and the performance is very smooth and fast as you would expect from the 835 processor (currently the fastest available.)

Others have suggested the styling is old-fashioned, but I like it, and find it sleek and modern looking; regardless, I'm more concerned with how a phone works than with how it looks.

On the other hand, the camera--while much better than what you'd have gotten two years ago--is not the greatest. It's occasionally slow to focus and images have less than perfect color cast to them. It's not great in low light, but it's certainly a serviceable camera for most situations, especially if you use an app like Snapseed or Aviary to process the pictures before posting them.

The design can be a drawback: This phone is very sleek, but also VERY slippery and hard to hold on to. I have already dropped this more times in a month than I've dropped all my other phones ever (it's pretty rugged, as it's still running well). If you set it on even a slightly sloped surface (like the arm of a chair), it's going to slide right off. I bought a ten dollar rubberized case which has fixed it, but now it's harder to slide in and out of a pocket.

My only real complaint about this is that Sony has, for some reason, disabled adaptive storage on this, meaning the Micro USB Card (up to 256 G) can only be used for external storage, not mounted as a part of internal storage. I have a lot of apps on my phone and really appreciated my older phone's ability to add internal storage via the Micro card.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

George

Solid Premium phone with some downsides

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2017

Color: RedStyle: Phone OnlyVerified Purchase

This phone is amazing in many aspect, although there are also some downside. However, it's really nice of the vendor to send me a selfie stick along with this phone, so thanks for the extra item!

As always, the fingerprint wasn't available for the US version due to legal issue in my guess and pretty much the only downside of this phone. Phone comes with near stock android, which is one of the best, and you can disable pretty much the few Sony apps if you want to, though some are useful, especially if you're using for PS4 remote play. The feel of the phone is really solid, slight heavy but that's how I like the feel, making the phone feels really premium. This phone doesn't overheat on my use so far, unlike the problem in the Z5 Premium. Battery last me pretty much from morning wake to night bed time, and I'm a heavy user so this is really good. If you're a minimal user, this phone could easily last up to two days. My network speed for this phone is ridiculously fast in comparison to other phones out there. Speedtest with above 60mbps and up to 100mbps on my LTE network alone. Charging is also fast, half an hour charge for the phone gives about 30+% and that can last a few hours. Camera is snappy, although I haven't get a chance to test in many condition yet so I can't really say much on that at the moment. The large bezel is a bit of a let down since this is in 2017, but considering this phone belong to the XZ family design language, that can be overlook. It would be nice if Sony actually have the notification LED in a different location that's not too obvious since the LED for this phone is very awkward positioned (If you get the black color this is not going to be an eyesore). All in all, I'm really happy with this phone, SD835, 4GB RAM, 64GB+microSD, 4K resolution, a day worth of battery for heavy user, it got all the things I need...for now....

Pro:
Snappy
4K eyecandy screen
Choice of Dual-SIM or SIM+microSD
Solid feel
Long battery life
Fast charging
That LTE speed+++
Low on bloatwares (Can be disable)
Bright screen
Nice Contrast and color display

Cons:
No fingerprint (still...)
Large bezel
Awkward notification LED placement

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Prime Rocks

Solid phone BUT charging port broke 3 yrs later

Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2020

Color: PinkStyle: Phone OnlyVerified Purchase

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Eddie M.

Warranty is non-existent, despite their claims of 1 year warranty.

Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2018

Color: BlackStyle: Phone OnlyVerified Purchase

SONY FAILS IN WARRANTY - DON'T RECOMMEND BUYING SINCE 2 TRIPS TO ITS REPAIR SERVICE RESULTED IN MY PHONE BEING SENT BACK UNFIXED. TWICE!
Bought phone in November 2017. Was excited to try 4k screen. Reviewers raved about it, saying the resolution was stunning and that the difference was definitely noticeable. Not the case! The screen quality was just not that great, colors were bland and resolution was not noticeably different from a QHD screen. Was using the ZTE Axon 7 prior to switching to the Xperia XZ Premium. Immediately disappointed by the screen!! The ZTE Axon 7 uses AMOLED while Xperia XZ Premium uses LCD. With phones side by side playing the same videos in each respective resolution (4K on Xperia, QHD on Axon), the Axon 7 consistently had better looking images, with much richer blacks and contrasts. The difference in resolution is not noticeable, as much as I tried to see the differences between QHD and 4K, It was so minute I had to pause the videos and look very closely at the images to spot the slightest differences. In other words, it is a useless spec that looks good on paper, but underperforms in real world, because the AMOLED QHD screen on the Axon 7 looked better in every way. Even the HDR looked poor. I preferred the non HDR video coming out of the Axon 7's screen.
Decided to keep the Xperia XZ Premium for the overall experience, decent camera, great processor, good OS without too many bloatware, water proofing etc. It is a decent phone overall, however, the GPS functionality decided to stop working all together, and this is where the nightmare began. Phone does not get any signal at all from satellites and so using Google Maps or any other location based service is useless. We all know how important GPS functionality is today on a phone, it is a feature we cannot be without.
Called Sony and they recommended a full factory reset using their computer software that you download. No fix. Called Sony and they sent me a FEDEX label to ship phone to their repair center. Keep in mind they do not offer a loaner device, so I had to figure that out on my own. Sent phone, did not receive any news from them for 3 weeks. Call to get an update and they say that all they know is that the phone is in the repair shop, but they don't know the status. Another week goes by and I call and implore them to fix the phone already and send it back. They say they will try. Phone is sent back to me a few days later, and the paper from the repair shop says "repaired, software reinstalled" . Pop in SIM card and restart phone and GPS has SAME PROBLEM.
Call them again and begin process again to send it back. Talk to a supervisor who states that the technicians do check and ensure phone is working properly. He states that if they cannot fix it, they will replace it. Send the phone again, and wait weeks before they send it back. Guess how it came back? Unrepaired!! Paper from repair shop said "no fault found".
So in conclusion, this has been the worst cell phone experience I have ever had. And there is no way I will ever buy a phone from Sony again or any other product, since they failed so miserably in providing a warranty they claim to have.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Thomas R.

Sony, no baloney. Media player/viewer extraordinaire, smooth operator, standout phone reception and great software.

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2018

Color: BlackStyle: Phone OnlyVerified Purchase

This is an excellent smartphone, and my favorite. Deepsea Black and 4K screen are both gorgeous. Two front firing speakers, and aIl real headphone jack. Handles 2 SIMS if you need 'em or substitute the 2nd with a huge capacity micro-SD card. Cameras are really good, and fast, and steady-shot works very well. Android Oreo is very smooth and refined. The Snapdragon 835 is easy on the battery and blazingly fast. Bluetooth 5.0 pairs quickly and provides great sound with wireless headphones, and HD music through Sony's music app is pure bliss. The phone works in places I've never had a signal before such as my metal buildings or in dead zones in my regular travel routes - totally unexpected. I have it paired with an Asus Zenwatch 2 - they work very well together. Both can make it through my 16-18 hour days with over 30% battery remaining.

I listen to podcasts, books, and watch TV shows, TED, movies, YouTube, and training courses on this. I really appreciate the 2 front firing speakers and the ability to plug in my headphones. This is great phone for consuming media.

Its also water resistant.

If there is one thing I'd ask for, it's a functioning fingerprint scanner - I'd miss it more, but the phone stays unlocked with my watch on my wrist, so it's not a big problem. Oh, and where's the FM Radio?

In my opinion, this beats my HTC phones, my GS8, and the iPhones I've used.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Joe Montoya

Love this phone

Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2024

Color: ChromeStyle: Phone OnlyVerified Purchase

Beautiful phone. Sony is great. Price higher but you pay for what you get.

Helpful

H. Kemps

Solid phone for someone who is not biased

Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2017

Color: BlackStyle: Phone OnlyVerified Purchase

I am one of those people that are not tied to one brand or OS. I have had several iphones, sony, Samsung Note, Windows CE, etc.

I was using a Note 5 and was eagerly awaiting the Note 8, but the placement of the fingerprint scanner and the rumored price turned me off. The new iPhone that is coming out intrigued me, but ultimately decided to pass (I use an iphone 6 for work). So I decided to give Sony another shot (previously owned a Z3).

Asthetics - I actually do not mind the look of the Sony line despite the bezels and find it appealing. From the Note 8 and iPhone 8 leaks I think they will look better, for other than that I prefere the Sony look over other brands.

Screen - the screen is gorgeous, but these days which major phone brand doesn't? The detail of viewing netflix in 4k is amazing though, although may be overkill with a small screen.

Processor - Fast and fluent, no complaints, but it is the current Snapdragon that is coming out on the android phones.

Camera - Love the fact they still have a dedicated camera button on the side, always enjoyed the software. I have not really come acress the distortion issue that some are experiencing.

Video - This is where it shines, the 960 slow mo function and recording video in 4k is fantastic.

I am disappointed that the fingerprint scanner is disabled in US versions, but there is a way around that with the firmware. Plus, with Gear S2 Classic, you can set it so you can unlock phone without passcode if you are within so many feet of your watch is nice.

Overall, I like the phone, I would have liked to get the new Note 8, but I am not looking forward to spending roughly $1100 on new phone.

12 people found this helpful

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Sony Xperia XZ Premium - Unlocked Smartphone - 5.5", 64GB - Dual SIM - Luminous Chrome (US Warranty)

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