The Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium is a really hard device to like. The flagship doesn’t offer much that a $500 phone can’t provide and Sony is charging a whopping $900 for it. A new update has started to roll out to the phone but we doubt that it will do much to steer buyers towards it.

The interesting features the update brings are new camera modes. First is a bokeh mode that surprisingly didn’t come with it right out of the box seeing as this is Sony’s first phone with dual rear cameras. With the new bokeh mode, users will be able to take pictures with the background blurred while the main subject is in focus.

Another new camera feature is the Monochrome mode. This allows users to take photos and record videos in black and white. This is a feature available on the Essential PH-1 as well.

To access this new features on your Xperia XZ2 Premium, just tap the function key below the shutter button in the camera app.

The update also comes with August’s security patch but the Android version number is still Android 8.0.0. The update started rolling out a few days ago and those who have received it say the camera performance is amazing but still $999 is a lot to shell out.

The Xperia XZ2 packs a 5.8-inch 4K display, a Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM, and 64GB of expandable storage. Its dual cameras are a 19MP f/1.8 1/2.3” sensor and a 12MP monochrome f/1.6 1/2.3” sensor. It also has a 13MP f/2.0 sensor above the display.

READ MORE: Alleged Sony Xperia XZ3 specifications sheet leaked

There is no 3.5mm audio jack but there is Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, and a USB 3.1 type-C connector. It also has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and support for wireless charging. Its battery capacity is 3540mAh and it supports Quick Charge 3.0.

(Source, Via)

The post Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium gets updated: new camera features and August security patch appeared first on Gizmochina.

Is your phone on the list of YouTube Signature Devices? You should read on to find out.

YouTube has released a list of devices that are best for watching videos on its platform. The list is pretty short but includes the popular flagships from this year and the last.

Below is the list of YouTube’s signature devices:

1. Samsung Galaxy Note9
2. Samsung Galaxy S9
3. Samsung Galaxy S9+
4. Samsung Galaxy Note8
5. Samsung Galaxy S8
6. Samsung Galaxy S8+
7. OnePlus 6
8. Xiaomi Mi 8
9. Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S
10. Sony Xperia XZ2
11. Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium
12. Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact
13. Huawei Mate 10 Pro
14. Google Pixel 2
15. Google Pixel 2 XL
16. Nokia 8 Sirocco
17. LG V30
18. HTC U12+

The above devices are said to support the following technologies – HDR, 360° video, 4K decoding, high frame rate, digital rights management performance and next-gen codecs like VP9.

READ MORE: Reports about Google’s return to China not true says China Securities Daily

So if your flagship phone isn’t on the list, it probably doesn’t have support for one or more of the above. This explains why there is no iOS device on the list. There also isn’t a tablet on the list.

(Source, Via)

The post Is your phone a YouTube Signature Device? appeared first on Gizmochina.

Sony is rumored to debut the Sony Xperia XZ3 flagship phone at the IFA 2018 event at the end of the coming month. However, a UK-based retailer named MobileFun had listed the smartphone on its site in the previous week even though Sony is yet to confirm on its existence. The same retailer has listed protective cases for Xperia XZ3 made by Olixar. The case renders available on the listing has once again revealed the design of the smartphone.

The case renders tell a lot about the appearance and form factor of the upcoming Xperia XZ3. The front design of the smartphone is same as Xperia XZ2 that was unveiled earlier this year which suggests that it could be featuring an 18:9 aspect ratio display.

The only dual camera smartphone from Sony is the Xperia XZ2 Premium that was unveiled in April. The newly spotted case renders show that the Xperia XZ3 could be the next dual camera phone from the Japanese firm. In fact, the Xperia XZ3 is expected to feature the exact same 19-megapixel + 12-megapixel Motion Eye dual camera setup that is available on the Xperia XZ2 Premium. The XZ3 is also rumored to feature the same 13-megapixel front camera present on the XZ2 Premium.

[envira-gallery id="202595"]

The dual camera setup is placed in a vertical design on the XZ3. Below it is the fingerprint scanner which is positioned at the center of the back panel. Since the protective case for the smartphone is ready, its arrival could be very close at hand. Now that the Japanese firm has recently confirmed that it will be holding a launch event on Aug. 30 at IFA 2018, the Xperia XZ3 may get announced at the said date. The company may also launch Xperia XZ3 Compact alongside it.

Read More: Sony Xperia XA2 Plus with 6-inch 18:9 display, SD630, 6 GB RAM is official

MobileFun’s Xperia XZ3 listing had revealed that it features a 5.7-inch display that supports Full HD+ resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 18:9. The Snapdragon 845 SoC and 6 GB of RAM are present under the hood of the phone. It has a native storage of 64 GB. The handset receives power from 3,240mAh battery. It was listed with a price tag of 849 euros (~$993).

(source)

The post Sony Xperia XZ3 case renders appear to reveal design appeared first on Gizmochina.

Back in April, Sony had launched the Xperia XZ2 Premium flagship phone. At the unveil event, the Japanese tech giant did not confirm on its pricing and release date. Today, the company has confirmed that the Xperia XZ2 Premium will be releasing in the U.S. on July 30 with a price tag of $999.

Amazon and Best Buy will start receiving pre-orders of the Xperia XZ2 Premium from July 9. Pre-ordering the smartphone from Amazon will allow customers to receive a pair of Xperia Ear Duo wireless headphones for free. Since the handset will be available unlocked in the U.S., customers will have to spend $999 at one shot to avail it.

The Xperia XZ2 Premium will be arriving with a 5.8-inch 4K HDR display that supports a conventional aspect ratio of 16:9. The Snapdragon 845 that powers the phone is coupled with 6 GB of RAM. It is the company’s first flagship smartphone to arrive with a dual camera setup on its rear. It includes a 19-megapixel primary RGB sensor and a 12-megapixel monochrome sensor that can capture impressive shots in dim light conditions. A couple of photos that were snapped using the smartphone had surfaced earlier in this month to reveal its photography prowess.

For shooting selfies, it features a 13-megapixel front-facing camera. It is loaded with Android 8.0 Oreo and is packed with a 3,450mAh capacity battery. For storage, it offers an inbuilt space of 64 GB along with a microSD card slot.

Read More: Alleged Sony Xperia XZ3 GFXBench Listing Appears with Android 9, QHD+ Display and More

Sony is also expected to begin the pre-orders of the Xperia XZ2 Premium in China starting from July 2. However, it is yet to confirm on the pricing of the smartphone for the Chinese market. In Taiwan, the Japanese firm will be holding a press meeting on July 5 to announce the arrival of the smartphone in the country.

In related news, Sony is reportedly working on a successor for the XZ2 Premium. It is speculated to sport an 18:9 aspect ratio display.

What do you think about the pricing of the Xperia XZ2 Premium? Share us your views by posting your comments below.

(via)

The post Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium with $999 Pricing to Release on July 30 in the U.S. appeared first on Gizmochina.

In April, Sony had introduced the Xperia XZ2 Premium flagship. A recent report had revealed that China could be one of the first markets to receive the smartphone since its pre-orders are slated to begin on July 2. However, the pricing of the smartphone is yet to be confirmed. Today, Sony Mobile Taiwan has confirmed that it will be holding a press conference in the country on July 5. It is likely that the Japanese tech giant may confirm the pricing of XZ2 Premium on the said date.

Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium Specs and Features

The Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium houses a 5.8-inch notch-less IPS LCD display that supports a conventional aspect ratio of 16:9/. The USP of the XZ2 Premium is that its screen supports 4K HDR resolution of 2160 x 3840 pixels. The Snapdragon 845 chipset is present under the hood of the phone along with 6 GB of RAM.

The XZ2 Premium includes an internal storage of 64 GB. For more storage, it features a microSD card slot. The Motion Eye dual camera setup that includes a 19-megapixel primary sensor and a 12-megapixel secondary resides on the backside of the phone. It has a front-mounted camera of 13-megapixel.

The handset receives power from 3,450mAh battery that is equipped with Quick Charge 3.0 and wireless charging. The smartphone is loaded with Android 8.1 Oreo. It has a fingerprint scanner placed on its rear side.

Read More: Sony Xperia XZ3 Premium Could be in Works with 18:9 Screen and Android P

Apart from China and Taiwan, the Xperia XZ2 Premium is also expected to launch in select markets across the globe in summer 2018. As far as Taiwan is concerned, the official sales of the smartphone are expected to begin by late July.

(source)

The post Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium Pricing Likely to Get Confirmed on July 5 appeared first on Gizmochina.

Recent reports have claimed that Sony is working on Xperia XZ3 flagship phone. It is speculated that the Japanese tech giant may announce it at the upcoming IFA 2018 tech expo in Berlin, Germany. Fresh information also reveals that the company is also working on a successor for the Xperia XZ2 Premium that was made official in April.

The alleged Sony Xperia XZ3 was spotted on GFXBench with a model number of H8416. A new model number of H8616 has appeared on what appears to be the UAProf from Sony’s website. The listing reveals that the handset supports a resolution of 3840 x 1920 pixels which means it supports an aspect ratio of 18:9.

The resolution of H8616 does not match with the 4K resolution of 4320 x 2160 pixels that is available on Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone. Another thing that has been found about the new H8616 smartphone is that it is loaded with the upcoming Android 9.0.

There is no information available on the other specifications of the H8616 smartphone. However, it may come with features like Snapdragon 845, 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage, 19-megapixel + 12-megapixel Motion Eye dual camera and 13-megapixel frontal shooter that are expected to arrive on Xperia XZ3.

Read More: Sony Xperia XZ3 Leaked Hands-On Photos Reveal Design and Dual Cameras

As of this writing, there is no confirmation on whether the Sony H8616 smartphone will be arriving in the market as Xperia XZ3 Premium. There is a possibility that it may debut with some other moniker since its screen resolution does not coincide with that of Xperia XZ2 Premium.

At the upcoming IFA 2018 event, the Japanese firm may introduce the rumored Xperia XZ3 and XZ3 Compact smartphones. The launch of the rumored Xperia XZ3 Premium could be set in November.

(source|via)

The post Sony Xperia XZ3 Premium Could be in Works with 18:9 Screen and Android P appeared first on Gizmochina.

Recent reports have suggested that Sony would be debuting the Xperia XZ3 flagship phone at the IFA 2018 tech trade show that is scheduled to take place between Aug. 31 and Sept. 5 in Berlin, Germany. It is expected to borrow the dual camera setup and front-facing camera from the Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone that was unveiled recently. Today, a new Sony phone with a model number of H8416 has appeared on GFXBench. Since it features flagship specs, it is being speculated that it could be the forthcoming Xperia XZ3 phone.

According to the GFXBench listing, the Sony H8416 features a 5.9-inch display that supports Quad HD+ resolution of 2880 x 1440 pixels. This suggests that the display offers an aspect ratio of 18:9. It seems to be the first ever from the Japanese firm to support QHD+ resolution on an 18:9 aspect ratio screen.

The Snapdragon 845 SoC is present under the hood of the H8416 phone. The SoC is coupled with 6 GB of RAM and the device includes an inbuilt storage of 128 GB.

For shooting selfies, it has a 13-megapixel front camera. GFXBench usually lists information of the main sensor of a smartphone even if it features a dual camera setup. The benchmarking site has revealed that the main sensor of the smartphone is of 19-megapixel. Since the Xperia XZ3 is expected to borrow the dual camera setup from Xperia XZ2 Premium, it may inherit the 19-megapixel + 12-megapixel Motion Eye dual camera system. It is loaded with Android 9.0.

Read More: Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium’s Stunning Camera Samples & Leaked Chrome Gold Edition Revealed

It is recommended to take this report with a pinch of salt since there is no direct link available for the GFXBench listing of Sony H8416. Moreover, it is not too difficult to fake a GFXBench listing.

(via 1, 2)

The post Alleged Sony Xperia XZ3 GFXBench Listing Appears with Android 9, QHD+ Display and More appeared first on Gizmochina.

The Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone that was introduced in April is now available on pre-orders in some markets and in few markets, it has been just made available for buying. The major highlights of the Xperia XZ Premium is its 5.8-inch 4K HDR display and Motion Eye dual camera setup. The camera samples of the smartphone have popped up a Chinese site to reveal its photography prowess. Moreover, another leak has revealed that the Xperia XZ2 Premium could be soon arriving in a new color option of Chrome Gold.

The camera samples that are shown below are reportedly shot using a pre-production unit of the Xperia XZ2 Premium. Hence, it is likely that the retail units may deliver a bit different photography results.

Xperia XZ2 Premium’s 19-megapixel + 12-megapixel Motion Eye dual camera setup is designed to capture detailed and bright images along with impressive color reproduction in dim light condition and this is quite evident in the low-light camera samples shown above. The XZ2 Premium can shoot 4K HDR videos as well as it can shoot slow-motion videos of 1080p quality at 960fps. The camera samples that regardless of the light conditions, the XZ2 Premium can shoot stunning photos.

In related news, a leaked image of the golden version of the Xperia XZ2 Premium has surfaced online. At the launch event, the Japanese tech giant had confirmed that the handset would be arriving in color editions like Chrome Black and Chrome Silver.

The newly spotted color variant could be officially known as Chrome Gold. The pre-orders of the XZ2 Premium is slated to begin in China on July 2. It is speculated that he Chrome Gold Xperia XZ2 Premium could be designed for the Chinese market.

The authenticity of the leaked image is questionable. Hence, it is advisable to wait for further reports to confirm on its existence.

Read More: Sony Xperia XZ3 Leaked Hands-On Photos Reveal Design and Dual Cameras

The Xperia XZ2 Premium features Snapdragon 845 chipset, 6 GB of RAM and 3,450mAh battery. It has a selfie camera of 13-megapixel. It is preinstalled with the latest Android 8.1 Oreo OS.

(source 1|via|source 2)

The post Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium’s Stunning Camera Samples & Leaked Chrome Gold Edition Revealed appeared first on Gizmochina.

Since Sony follows a pattern of launching smartphones at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in February and IFA tech trade show in September, it is expected to unleash a new flagship phone at the upcoming IFA 2018 event is scheduled to be held between Aug. 31 and Sept. 5 later this year. Earlier this week, a leaked specs sheet of the rumored Xperia XZ3 smartphone had surfaced online. Some rumors claim that the handset may either debut as Xperia XZ3 or Xperia XZ2s. Today, fresh photos of a prototype of the alleged XZ3 phone have emerged today. Design-wise, the smartphone appears very similar to the XZ2. However, one major difference between the two phones is that the upcoming XZ3 features a vertical dual camera setup on its rear.

Nothing much can be deduced from the front image of the phone. It only shows that its top bezel is equipped with an earpiece and a selfie camera. Since the handset looks like the Xperia XZ2, it is likely that the XZ3 will feature an 18:9 display with thick bezels on its sides. The second image shows the rear view of the phone, but it is so blurry that it only confirms that it has a glossy/reflective back panel.

The third and fourth images show the vertically dual camera setup of the alleged Xperia XZ3. The two cameras and the fingerprint scanner appear to be arranged very close to each other. The right edge of the phone houses the power key and volume rocker.

There is no confirmation on whether these images are not fake. Hence, it is advisable to digest this report with pinch of salt.

Read More: Sony Might Make A Bezel-less Phone In Future

As far as the specs of the Xperia XZ3 is concerned, it is expected to borrow some specs from the XZ2 Premium such as 19-megapixel + 12-megapixel Motion Eye dual camera setup and 13-megapixel front-facing camera. The other rumored specs of the XZ3 include 5.7-inch FHD+ display, Snapdragon 845, 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB / 64 GB internal storage choices, Android 8.1 Oreo, IP68 certified body and 3,240mAh battery.

Do you think that the above images are fake or real? Share us your views by posting your comments below.

(source|via)

The post Sony Xperia XZ3 Leaked Hands-On Photos Reveal Design and Dual Cameras appeared first on Gizmochina.

Before the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 even that was held in February this year, the rumor mill had speculated that Sony may debut Xperia XZ2 Premium flagship phone at the tech trade show However, the Japanese tech giant had only unveiled the Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact smartphones at MWC 2018. Today, the company has officially introduced the Xperia XZ2 Premium smartphone that is equipped with a 4K HDR display, Snapdragon 845 mobile platform, 6 GB of RAM and dual rear cameras that is designed to capture amazing shots in extreme low-light conditions.

Design

The Xperia XZ2 Premium sports the same Ambient Flow design that was introduced on the Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact phones. The rear side of the phone is also made out of glass. The back panel features a flash unit which is placed above the vertically stacked dual camera module and towards the center is the fingerprint scanner. It comes in two colors like Chrome Black and Chrome Silver. The IP68 rated chassis of the Xperia XZ2 Premium measures 158 x 80 x 11.9 mm and weighs 236 grams.

Display

The Xperia XZ2 Premium to features a 5.8-inch TRILUMINOS HDR display that supports 4K resolution of 2160 x 3840 pixels along with a standard aspect ratio of 16:9. The screen is tucked under a layer of 2.5D Gorilla Glass 5.

Cameras

The Xperia XZ2 Premium features the Motion Eye dual camera module and Fusion ISP that was demonstrated at MWC 2018 this year. The dual rear cameras can shoot photos with ISO 51,200 and videos with ISO 12,800. It includes an f/1.8 aperture 19-megapixel 1/2.3” Exmos RS RGB sensor that has an individual pixel size of 1.2micron. It is accompanied by f/1.6 aperture 12-megapixel 1/2.3” monochrome sensor with pixel size of 1.55micron.

The dual rear cameras found on Apple and Samsung phones feature telephoto lens as the secondary camera. However, Sony has included a monochrome sensor on the Xperia XZ2 Premium to capture more light and use the Aube Fusion ISP to produce noiseless images even in completely dark environments. The dual rear cameras can capture images with bokeh effect. It can also shoot 4K HDR videos and super slow-motion videos at 960 fps. Its other features include EIS and 5-axis stabilization.

For snapping selfies, it is equipped with a 13-megapixel 1/3.06” Exmor RS sensor. It can be used to shoot images in ISO of up to 3200 and capture images in ISO of up to 1600. It also offers 5-axis stabilization for shooting stutter-free videos. The marvelous display of the phone can function as flash while shooting images through the front camera.

Performance

The Snapdragon 845 chipset is present under the hood of the Xperia XZ2 Premium. The SoC is coupled with 6 GB of RAM and it is packed with an internal storage capacity of 64 GB. The external storage slot of the phone supports up to 400 GB of microSD card. The handset is loaded with Android Oreo. It is powered by 3,540mAh battery that is enabled with features like Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging, Qnovo Adapative charging and wireless charging.

The other features available on the Xperia XZ2 Premium include dual-SIM support, 4G VoLTE with up to 1.2 Gbps download speeds, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth, USB-C, GPS and stereo speakers. It lacks a 3.5mm audio jack.

Pricing

Sony is yet to confirm on the pricing of the Xperia XZ2 Premium. The Japanese company has only confirmed that its premium flagship phone will be available in summer this year.

The post Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium Goes Official with 4K HDR Display, Dual Cameras, Snapdragon 845, 6 GB RAM appeared first on Gizmochina.