Friends+Design
- Excellent build quality
- Attractive no-nonsense aluminium design, building on the traditions of Sony flagships
- Good ergonomics, comfortable in hand feel
- Water-proof design
Display
- Very good display - high maximum brightness and contrast, great in the sun, and excellent for media consumption
Software
- Sony's UI over Android takes a minimalist approach, keeping things simple, but at the same time adding some Sony goodness like the Stamina modes that helps prolong battery life, and multimedia apps that are easy to use and feature rich
Performance
- Good speed/performance backed by top-end hardware
- The Snapdragon 820 processor is a top performer in general, but the XZ isn't among the best vehicles for showcasing its prowess - giving mostly middling results in benchmarks, compared to other phones with the processor
Camera
- Good primary camera - with good dynamic range and colors in good lighting, as well as good video recording quality
- Good front facing camera - plenty of detail, good dynamic range (as long as the lighting is good)
- The cameras, while pretty good, are definitely not the best out there - especially giving uninspiring performance when light levels drop
Audio
- Good overall audio quality
- Decent front-firing loudspeakers (although volume levels could have been better)
- Decent call quality
Battery
- Good, solid battery life - comes somewhere in the middle of the pack, compared to other flagships - you should be able to get a full day’s use between charges
- Sony's new smart charging technology ('Battery Care') promises better battery longevity over the years
- Charging speed is a bit on the slow side with the included charger, especially for a flagship phone, with the phone taking up to 3 hours for a full charge
More
- The premium ALKALEIDO smooth satin finish on the phone changes hues under different lights, making it look even more attractive
