The Sony Xperia XZ2.
With smartphone names getting longer and more
complicated nowadays, it's getting tough to
keep track of them all.
This most recent flagship from Sony just got
a hefty all-glass redesign, and well, it's
time to see if it can survive the stress of
everyday life.
This is the Ash Pink color, which describes
itself pretty well.
Kind of has a 'Jigglypuff walk through a forest
fire' kind of vibe.
Let's get started.
[Intro]
Sony historically has never been a super high
performer when it comes to solid build quality
or rigidity.
The Z5 Premium, and Xperia XZ from last year
both flexed like soggy bananas.
And while they didn't fail or break, it was
a little unnerving.
Out of the box, this heavy, all-glass rectangle
feels like it might be telling a more durable
story this time around.
We'll start with the glass scratch test.
Sony has advertised Gorilla Glass 5 on both
the front and back, so it's pretty safe to
assume that we'll get scratches at a level
6.
This means coins, keys, and razor blades won't
do any damage to the surface because they
are all softer materials than a level 6.
We get deeper grooves at a level 7, but since
this is Gorilla Glass, it should still hold
together to avoid shattering.
Even with those abrasions introduced into
the glass.
The Sony branding at the bottom of the phone
is under the surface and won't scratch off.
Things start to get interesting up here at
the top of the phone.
The front-facing camera is 5 megapixels, but
it's advertised as having gyro electronic
image stabilization.
It'll be interesting to see if that gyro is
hardware related during the teardown.
The earpiece is color matched to the phone...kind
of looks like Double Bubble, after it's been
on the bottom of your shoe all day.
The earpiece won't come out.
It's very solidly attached to the inside of
the phone, which is good for the aesthetics
of your phone in the long term.
Ideally we want smartphones to last longer
than 2 years.
Moving to the Gorilla Glass 5 back glass panel
on the phone, it's got a subtle curve throughout
the whole surface.
It's definitely not as flat as the previous
Sony phones.
It is packed with features though, like wireless
charging, and NFC.
The single colored LED flash is also tucked
up underneath the glass.
The rear 19 megapixel camera is protected
with glass so it won't scratch easy.
And it has that same gyro EIS that the front
camera has.
The fingerprint scanner is very flush with
the back glass surface, which leaves it pretty
unprotected in your pocket or purse.
I'll scratch it up a little bit with my razor
blade to mimic a few years worth of abuse.
Luckily though, it can still sense my fingerprint
and unlock the phone.
The sides are made from anodized aluminum,
which match the same watered down grape Kool-Aid
aesthetic as the rest of the phone.
[Scratching sounds.]
The color can be scraped off revealing the
silver metal underneath.
Same with the volume, power, and dedicated
camera button.
The top of the phone has the SIM and SD card
memory expansion slot – up to 400 gigabytes.
So thumbs up for that.
I'll tap that back in here, and there's plenty
of metal up here too.
The other side of the phone is gloriously
free from Bixby.
But the bottom with the USB-C is annoyingly
void of a headphone jack.
Just something to keep in mind if you plan
on buying the Xperia XZ2.
The burn test is next, which I guarantee has
probably happened to someone somewhere at
some point.
So for that one person, it's good to know
that the 5.7 IPS LCD of the XZ2 can last 13
seconds under direct flame from a lighter.
The screen went black and the pixels turned
off completely, but did end up recovering.
Try to avoid doing this though.
To test the structural integrity of the redesign,
we commence the bend test.
Very much unlike it's flexible predecessors,
this new XZ2 is as rigid as smartphones get.
Zero flex, and zero kinks done to the frame
of the phone.
Also no cracks in the glass.
Huge thumbs up to Sony for the build quality
on this one.
The Xperia XZ2 passes my durability test and
is more than capable of handling every day
abuse.
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