Sony's now launched its new flagships generation at the MWC 2018 expo in Barcelona, Spain. The two new handsets include the Sony Xperia XZ2, and a smaller version called the Xperia XZ2 Compact.

Sony has not had a very good time in the mobile space. Ever. In fact, the only company I can think of that has less look is Microsoft with its mobile aspirations. Or maybe BlackBerry. But at least BlackBerry has made some good phones over the years (and recently too).

You always felt like Sony had the potential to do something impressive, but year after year fans of the brand were left wanting. Boring design language and minimal USPs were the order of the day, and likely the sole reason why the brand has been relegated to bit-part player in the Android space, despite its long history of competing.

If Sony were an F1 team, they’d probably be Sauber F1 – plenty of pedigree, but no discerning results in modern times. But all this negativity can change over night; all it takes is one good release. And Sony is at it again in 2018 with its brand new flagship phone, the Sony Xperia XZ2.

Historically, Sony's design aesthetic has been pretty angular, with very sharp corners and flat sides all round. This has been switched up for the Xperia XZ2 series. OK, so from the front it still looks pretty angular like previous models, but the corners have been softened a bit, and if you flip the phones round you find a curved back panel, while the front features 2.5D Gorilla Glass. Sony is calling the new design "Ambient Flow" and it's all about symmetry and ergonomics.

As with older Sony Xperia models, it follows a pretty standard glass-sandwich design with a metal frame, which Sony says is "anti-twist" to stop it from warping and deforming. The handsets are also IP65/68 water and dust resistant.

The Xperia XZ2 features a curved and contoured Gorilla Glass back panel in a shiny gloss finish, while the Compact version has a polycarbonate back with a matte finish.

The regular model has a 5.7in display while the Compact is 5in, and both are using the popular 18:9 wide-screen aspect ratio with a FullHD+ resolution, HDR certification and support for the BT.2020 standard.

Both phones have a 19MP Motion Eye 1/2.3" Sony IMX400 sensor with an f/2.0 aperture; essentially the same setup as the Xperia XZ1. It has 5-axis image stabilisation, predictive hybrid laser, phase-detection and contrast autofocus, infrared white balance, LED flash, and a dedicated hardware shutter-button.

Sony has managed to make a few changes though, as the duo are based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 processor, they've leveraged its built-in image signal processor for new-gen BIONZ image processing. Sony says this will impact colour rendition, improve details, reduce noise, and give a boost to low light performance.

Both handsets also feature 4K HDR video capture to the same BT.2020 colour standard (HEVC 10-bit) that the displays are calibrated to. Slow-motion video capture is also onboard at 1080p and 960fps, as well.

The handsets ditch the 3.5mm audio jack and have moved the fingerprint scanner to the rear panel. There are stereo speakers onboard which Sony says are 20% louder than those on the previous model. The Xperia XZ2 also has a Dynamic Vibration system (but the Compact does not), which uses a vibration motor to  simulate bass and improve notification vibrations - most of this can be adjusted in the phone's settings.

As we mentioned, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 powers both models and comes equipped with 4GB of RAM. Both phones also feature 64GB of UFS storage, plus microSD card support.  Rounding off the connectivity hardware is Wi-Fi ac, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0,GPS and GLONASS, and USB Type-C 3.1.

However, there is some confusion regarding the RAM. According to a report from GSMArena, the Xperia XZ2 has been spotted in inventory listings in Taiwan, Hong Kong, the US, the UK, and Canada with 6GB of RAM. Allegedly the standard international model will still run 4GB RAM, as will all of the Xperia XZ2 Compact models, but specifically in the above countries, it is being bumped up to 6GB of RAM. This may change however, as the report notes that the initial listing also showed the Xperia XZ2 Compact with 6GB of RAM and in a matter of hours it was changed to 4GB of RAM, so the same could happen with the regular size model if this is simply an error on Sony's pages. 

On the battery side of things, the regular model has  a 3,180mAh cell, while the Compact has a smaller 2,870mAh setup.

Colour options for the Xperia XZ2 include Liquid Black, Liquid Silver, Deep Green, and Ash Pink. Meanwhile, the Xperia XZ2 Compact comes in Black, White Silver, Moss Green, and Coral Pink.  Sony says late March or early April should see the duo hitting store shelves.

In terms of pricing, Sony didn't reveal much at the initial announcement, and is still yet to tell us what the price plan is in the US. However, the firm has now spoken out about prices in Europe, specifically Germany, where it has confirmed €800 for the main Xperia XZ2 model - essentially upping the Xperia XZ1's price by €100. It's likely that will be a consistent price hike in the US, the UK, and elsewhere.

Despite having mostly the same spec, aside from the lack of the Dynamic Vibration system, a plastic back, and a smaller battery, the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact has an RRP of €600, which basically isn't much of an increase from its predecessor at all.

Sony Explains Dynamic Vibration System

As detailed above, the regular model Sony Xperia XZ2 comes with a new feature, dubbed the Dynamic Vibration System. It's essentially a  haptic feedback system similar to what we've all experienced on most modern smartphones. However, it is more advanced, according to Sony, and it has been designed specifically with an entertainment emphasis to enhance music, films and games.

The haptic vibration motor is considerably larger than what you'll find in most handsets, see Sony's illustration below:

Which is also why the Xperia XZ2 Compact doesn't have it - it can't fit inside the smaller bodyshell.

A larger vibration module alone wouldn't help much, though, and Sony has done a lot of clever stuff with software to leverage this extra power intelligently. Son'y software analyses audio from multimedia and triggers the vibration engine to sync with it. The algorithms track bass and higher-end frequencies to predict where the vibration should be best used.

This ensures maximum compatibility as well - Sony hasn't had to come up with a new audio format and multimedia producers don't need to do anything fancy with games, apps, or other content - the software simply picks it all up and runs with it.