The Sony Xperia XZs has been around for two months now. The Apple iPhone 7 is a little older, as its successor is already in the works. Both smartphones have a lot to offer and come for rather high prices. Do they live up to expectations? I think they do. They both offer powerful specs and interesting features, paired with a nice design. Is one of them better than the other? Let’s take a look at them both and make a decision after comparing them.
Sony Xperia XZs
When it comes to design, you can either love or hate the Sony Xperia XZs. The handset has a great build quality, however, the pointy corners probably aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. The thin side bezels are cool, however, the top and bottom ones are rather thick for a 2017 high-end smartphone. Sony went for the extremely simple design once again, which is a good thing for some people, a bad thing in the eyes of others. The metal body doesn’t only look and feel great, it is also incredibly durable. The handset is IP68 certified, so it is dust and water resistant. The fingerprint sensor of this handset is side-mounted.
The Sony Xperia XZs has a 5.2-inch LCD display with 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution and a 424 ppi pixel density. While the images displayed on this screen will be clear and crisp, they won’t be as amazing as the ones displayed on QHD displays, and won’t look as great as an OLED screen. Even so, users will have nothing to complain about with this display. Games and videos will look just fine on it. The Triluminous display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, which makes it scratch resistant.
As for the power, the Sony Xperia XZs runs on Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset paired with an Adreno 530 GPU. The handset is available in two configurations, including 32 GB of internal storage and 4 GB of RAM or 64 GB of native storage and 4 GB of memory. Both versions support up to 256 GB of additional storage thanks to the microSD card slot featured by the smartphone. Even though the Snapdragon 820 isn’t the most powerful chipset on the market right now, it is a fast one that, combined with the 4 GB of memory, will turn this handset into a reasonably fast one.
The Sony Xperia XZs sports a 19MP IMX400 triple-layer image sensor. This is able to shoot some incredible quality photos and captures video at an insane 960fps. Naturally, it features a LED flash and it also offers predictive phase detection and laser autofocus. The smartphone’s front- facing camera has a 13MP sensor with a f/2.0 aperture and records 1080p videos. Both cameras are exceptional, so users can capture great quality images with them. Sony is known for its great cameras, so this feature is not necessarily a surprising one. However, it is a welcomed one.
The handset’s fingerprint sensor is region dependent, so those who buy the smartphone in the US won’t get this safety feature. The smartphone also features a USB Type-C reversible connector, WiFi, Bluetooth, and NFC connectivity. The Sony Xperia XZs is equipped with a 2,900mAh battery that should be able to ensure a decent battery life. As for the price, the Xperia XZs will set you back $650 for the 64 GB storage version.
Specs
– 5.2-inch 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution display
– Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor
–4 GB RAM
– 32 GB/ 64 GB internal storage + up to 256 GB extra storage
– 19 MP rear camera, 13MP secondary camera
– 2,900 mAh battery
Apple iPhone 7
The Apple iPhone 7 is one of the most popular handsets on the market. It has a pleasant design, with a durable aluminum body and glass protection. This smartphone is not as boxy-looking as the Sony Xperia XZs, as it has rounded corners. It is also smaller than the Xperia XZs. Just like the Sony handset, the iPhone 7 has thin side bezels and larger top and bottom bezels. In this case, the fingerprint sensor is front-mounted, placed just under the screen. Overall, the Apple iPhone 7 is a good-looking device and it made from durable materials. Also, it is dust and water resistant, just like the Sony Xperia XZs.
The Apple iPhone 7 comes with a 4.7-inch display, which places in the rather compact category. the majority of flagship devices now sport displays as large as 5.7 – 6.0 inches, or even larger. The display has a 750 x 1334 pixels resolution and a 326 ppi pixel density. This means that the display of the Sony Xperia XZs is a little sharper. However, the iPhone 7’s screen won’t really disappoint either. It is able to ensure a nice visual experience, even though it won’t be an amazing one. What makes this screen a great one is its 3D Touch feature.
Under the hood, the Apple iPhone 7 hides an Apple A10 Fusion quad-core processor. This is paired with a PowerVR Series7XT Plus graphics card. The handset includes only 2 GB of RAM, which is rather surprising nowaday. Even with this low amount of memory, the iPhone 7 still is a fast handset, thanks to its powerful processor. Customers can choose between 32 GB, 128 GB or 256 GB of internal storage but they won’t have the possibility to further expand it. As for the software, the iPhone 7 comes with iOS 10.1 on board, but it is upgradable to iOS 10.3.2 and it will probably get the iOS 11 upgrade in the next few months. Overall, the Apple iPhone 7 ensure a good user experience. It works quite fast and its software offers some interesting features users can enjoy.
When it comes to the cameras, the iPhone 7 doesn’t really have a lot to show off. It is able to capture good quality images with its 12 MP back camera. However, it is not as impressive as the dual camera setup of the iPhone 7 Plus. The resulting images will be nice, but they won’t be really amazing. The primary camera can capture 4K video and 8MP images simultaneously. On the front, the handset sports a 7MP sensor, which is great for taking selfies and for video calls.
Just like the Sony Xperia XZs, the iPhone 7 features a reversible connector, WiFi, and Bluetooth connectivity, and it also offers NFC for Apple Pay. It lacks a 3.5mm audio jack, however, so users will need to purchase other kinds of headphones. While the 1,960 mAh battery of the handset is definitely not a jaw- dropping one, it is able to ensure a decent battery life. Just like any other Apple smartphone, the iPhone 7 doesn’t come with a small price. The 32 GB storage version of the handset will cost $719.99 unlocked. For the higher storage versions, customers will naturally have to pay more.
Specs
– 4.7-inch 750 x 1334 pixels resolution display
– A10 Fusion processor
–2 GB RAM
– 32 GB/ 128GB/ 256 GB internal storage, no card slot
– 12 MP rear camera, 7MP secondary camera
– 1,960 mAh battery
Conclusion
If you are able to make peace with the boxy design of the Sony Xperia XZs, it can be a nice choice for you. It is quite powerful, has amazing cameras, and it runs on the latest version of Android. However, the iPhone 8 has a more pleasant design, it is quite powerful too, and if you are an Apple fan, the iOS software will be the better choice. Given the fact that they are parts of two different ecosystems, it’s really hard to say which one is the better one. I am used to the Android operating system, so the natural choice for me would be the Sony Xperia XZs. It is also more affordable.
RSS