Sony Xperia XZ unboxing and first look

The Sony Xperia XZ is the best of Sony in a mobile phone: the new flagship comes with a bang in the form of an evolved design, the familiar water-proofing capabilities, improved camera and a focus on preserving battery health in the long run.

We've just gotten the Xperia XZ in our office to undergo the rigorous testing needed for the full review, but just before that, we've decided to unbox the phone itself and share some of initial hands-on impressions.

The first thing that's striking about the XZ is its design: while it still looks like a sharp rectangle, its sides are now curved in what Sony calls a new 'loop' design, so it's definitely more pleasant to hold. At the same time, the XZ remains fairly chubby for its 5.2" size, as it tips the scales at 161 grams and measures 8.1mm thick (it also feels a bit on the thick side because of the flat back that does not have any curvature).

New and shiny, the Xperia XZ features a new 23MP camera

Under the hood, the Sony Xperia XZ features the top-shelf Snapdragon 820 system chip, as most flagships in 2016. There's 3GB of RAM on board as well, and the base version of the handset has 32GB of internal storage that is expandable via microSD cards.

Finally, the big change happens in the camera department, where Sony uses a custom 23-megapixel sensor with 5-axis software stabilization that seems to produce extremely smooth videos and there's also laser auto-focus that speeds up focusing.

Here's what's included in the box with the Sony Xperia XZ:

Stay tuned for our full, in-depth review of the Sony Xperia XZ coming soon.