Sony Xperia Z4 (from left: White, Black, Copper, Aqua Green)
Following lavish global launches from Samsung and HTC comes the quiet unveiling of Sony’s Xperia Z4 flagship in its home country of Japan.
Changes to the Xperia Z4 include an improved octa-core processor, a 5.1 megapixel front-facing camera and support for a wireless audio standard superior in quality to that of CD.
Missing from the unveiling is a Compact variant of the Xperia Z4.
Sony recognises the Xperia Z4 is an ‘evolution’ of the technologies found in its current Xperia Z3 smartphone. The design is near identical with a polished metal chassis and tempered glass used on the front and back. Weight has dropped by 8 grams to 144 grams, and it fractionally thinner at 7mm.
Screen size has stagnated at 5.2-inches, and whereas Samsung and LG have opted for 2560x1440 displays, Sony retains its lower 1920x1080 resolution.
The Xperia Z4’s 424 pixel-per-inch (ppi) density remains competitive against the 441ppi HTC’s One (M9) and the 326ppi Apple iPhone 6.
Inside the Android Lollipop smartphone is a Snapdragon 810 chipset that alternates between a 1.5GHz quad-core CPU and another 2.0GHz quad-core CPU. The smartphone has 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage and, unlike Samsung’s Galaxy S6 series, supports expandable microSD cards up to 128 gigabytes in size.
Decreasing in capacity is the battery. It has dropped by 170 milliamps-hour (mAh) to 2930mAh.
Sitting flush is a rear 20.7 megapixel camera capable of recording UHD videos. Notable improvements have been made to the front-facing camera as it jumps to 5.1 megapixels in size and has a 25mm wide angle lens.
Rounding off the smartphone’s multimedia repertoire is support for high fidelity music streaming. This has been made possible through Sony’s proprietary LDAC audio codec, which Sony claims can stream three times the amount of data as standard Bluetooth.
Older Sony flagships were defaced by unattractive flaps needed in order to be resistant to water. The Xperia Z4 ditches the tacky microUSB cover and yet retains its IPX8 certification. It can be submerged 1.5 metres deep for thirty minutes in freshwater.
Sony has unveiled its Xperia Z4 flaghship in its home country of Japan. Good Gear Guide received the following comment from Sony Australia:
The Xperia Z4 was announced today in Tokyo for the Japanese market. Sony Mobile is considering the feasibility in other markets.
Stay tuned for developments on Sony’s Xperia Z4.
