Sony’s ultra luscious XZs phone with Motion Eye slo-mo camera launches in Malaysia for RM2,899

Sony made quite an impression at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with their impressive XZ Premium smartphone that integrates their Motion Eye camera that was able to offer up ultra slo-mo 960fps video. While that particular phone isn’t slated yet to grace our shores, Sony has instead served up another offering with a similarly powerful slo-mo snapper dubbed the Xperia XZs.

The XZs sports all the aesthetic hallmarks of Sony’s smartphones including their ‘Loop’ style unibody casing that has a flattened top and bottom with gently rounded curves all around as well as IP65/68 water resistance. The side comes with a dedicated shutter release as well as a side-mounted fingerprint reader while the base comes with a USB Type-C port.

The rear of the XZs comes with the most important thing on the phone – a 19-MP rear snapper with a 1/2.3-inch Exmor RS for Mobile sensor with an F/2.0 aperture and their Motion Eye imaging tech that is able to capture short snaps in ultra slow motion.

Essentially, the sensor is able to capture 0.182 seconds worth of video, cramming them all into a smooth six second clip. You can activate slow motion multiple times in a clip with two second breaks in between. Other mod-cons with the XZs’ rear camera include 5-axis optical image stabilisation, 4K video capture and HDR mode. The camera also has a predictive capture mode that preemptively captures three frames before you fire off the shutter release so you can pick and choose the best shot out of 4.

The front-facing 13-MP camera comes with an Exmor RS for Mobile sensor, F/2.0 aperture as well as similar 5-axis OIS as the rear camera.

Camera aside, the XZs comes with a 5.2-inch Full HD 1080p display with Sony’s usual Triluminos Display and X-Reality for mobile tech for more luscious colours oncreen. The hardware under the hood consists of a Snapdragon 820 64-bit octacore processor running Android 7.1.1 Nougat paired with 4GB RAM and 64GB of expandable storage via a dedicated microSD card slot. It also has two dedicated SIM card slots so you can have two SIM cards and a microSD card at the same time loaded on the phone.

The XZs is quite an audio maven as well with front facing stereo speakers with Sony’s S Surround sound to give a virtual surround sound effect as well as Hi Res audio support to play lossless audio files like flac files and the like. Unlike certain phones, the XZs bucks the trend as it integrates a 3.5mm audio jack.

The firmware has been similarly enhanced with the phone able to offer preemptive modes that optimise battery life, modes and usage on the phone depending on where you are and what time it is. A ‘Good Night’ mode turns the phone on silent mode, lowers screen brightness and turns on the blue light reading mode. Focus mode fires up when you’re working and turns on Stamina mode and keeps things on Silent. Globe trotters will appreciate Abroad mode where it turns on the GPS and adds in roaming assist. The firmware also has better battery and app management with the ability to preemptively warn users depending on how fast they’re draining the battery whether they need to activate Stamina mode. Keeping everything powered on the XZs is a 2,900mAh battery with Qnovo tech for better long term battery life as well as Quick Charge 3.0 tech for faster charging.

The Xperia XZs retails for RM2,899 in Ice Blue, Black and Warm Silver with preorders beginning from 29th March to 9th April at selected Sony Stores, Sony Mobile Stores, Sony Centres, authorised dealers as well as exclusively online via 11street.

Preorder bonuses include the SBH80 Stereo Bluetooth headset, the UCH12W quick charger and a transparent silicon case paired with a tempered glass protector worth RM697.

Xperia XA1
Also available with the preorder is the value-packed XA1 phone that comes with the same beefty imaging optics from the Xperia Z5 for RM1,199. For your money, the Xperia XA1 has a 5-inch 720P display, a MediaTek Helio P20 64-bit 2.3GHz octacore processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB of expandable storage and a rear 23-MP camera with a 1/2,3-inch Exmor RS for mobile sensor and an F/2.0 aperture along with hybrid autofocus, and Steadyshot tech.

The front has an 8-MP Exmor R for mobile image sensor and an F/2.0 lens. The 2,300mAh battery support quick charging and Qnovo PumpExpress 2.0 tech for better battery life with the whole affair juiced via a USB Type C port.

The XA1 ships in your choice of White, Black Gold and PInk and if you hustle with the preorders at 11street and at all the aforementioned Sony authorised outlets, you can score a DK60 charging dock, a transparent silicon case and a tempered glass screen protector worth RM268.