Well, well, well, who would have thought that Sony will drop a cluster bomb over the MWC expo this year, hiding not one, but three brand new handsets under its raincoat until the proverbial last minute. Not only did Sony surprise us with a litany of mobile -related announcements, but it took to the MWC stage to lift the veil over a spanking new line of phones, the X-series, consisting of the Xperia X, XA and X Performance. One of those is even powered by Snapdragon 820, believe it or not, which we thought won't happen before an eventual Z6. Which one? Why, the topic of this very article, of course, the slim but mighty Xperia X Performance - a cutsy 5-incher with a 1080p Full HD display.
As the name implies, this is the most decked-out model in the new X-series trio, and it sports quite the Z-series design, with "premium metal finish," a fairly rectangular chassis and rounded edges, sporting a display that is slightly curved towards the sides, for the trendy uninterrupted look. Sony says that this updated design feels more ergonomic in the hand, though we'll comment on that when we put our hands on the puppy.
Cameras
With the new X-series, Sony has tried to double down on the strongest points of its handsets - battery, camera and overall design - introducing new technologies to upgrade those. The 23 MP camera, for instance, which in the Z-series sports the fastest 0.1s Hybrid AF of all flagships, has now been given the so-called Predictive Hybrid Autofocus, scooped directly from Sony’s blockbuster Alpha camera. In essence, it tries to guesstimate the direction your subject is moving towards, tracking it continuously, hence achieving a perfect focus without blur even on fast-moving objects, at least in theory.
Unfortunately, the Predictive Hybrid Autofocus is made possible by a combination of hardware and software, so it's unlikely we will see on last year's Z-series trio. The camera surprises don't stop here, though, as the rear piece offers 5x Clear Image Zoom and ISO 12800 sensitivity, while the frontal shooter is a whopping 13 MP unit, with enhanced low-light sensitivity.
When it comes to the 2700 mAh juicer, Sony's now standard two-day battery life promise still applies with the Xperia X Performance, but the company has coupled its smart battery management tech with Qnovo’s Adaptive Charging, which it says will double the lifespan of the embedded unit, not bad at all. As for the rest of the specs, the X Performance is equipped with 3 GB of RAM, up to 32 GB of storage, and a microSD slot for expansion. Other things worth noting around the flagship of the new X-series are the finger scanner mounted on the side, continuous color on both the back and the front, and high-res audio support with a dedicated DAC.
Xperia X, Xperia X Performance and Xperia XA will be available starting June in White, Graphite Black, Lime Gold and Rose Gold, with each color having the Style Covers to match. Prices and availability in global markets will be clarified shortly, says Sony.
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