On the eve of the Xperia Z5 family debut, thanks to a massive leak, we’ve been able to learn quite a bit about the three flagship phones. Shown off in a video that was sanctioned by Sony and slipped out too early, we’ve also learned a lot of the specs that makeup the Z5 family.

With camera technology quickly helping differentiate one phone from another, the Xperia Z5 is sure to make a splash with its 23-megapixel rear-facing with 5x Clear Image Zoom and 4K video. To go along with the megapixel count, Sony is also offering a 30 milliseconds autofocus that will help keep your photos in focus. For comparison, the Xperia M5 offers a 250 milliseconds autofocus.

Powering the front-facing camera is a 8-megapixel sensor which is where things start to get strange. Lets talk after the jump.

In the past few weeks, Sony has lead an aggressive rollout for the Xperia C5 Ultra and Xperia M5. A unique feature of the two phones is their 13-megapixel front-facing camera with the C5 Ultra (pictured below) also offering an front-facing LED flash. The two units are clearly targeted at a younger demographic and will also command a lower price tag, due to their high-end design/specs yet mid-range placement.

Then comes Sony’s flagship Xperia Z5 family which will offer superior specs in nearly every category except the front-facing camera where they offer an 8-megapixel camera with no LED flash. Apple famously has a simple approach to their product lineup – good, better, and best with some products only offering better and best.

This translates to a simple line with each tear offering something over the model under it. With the Xperia Z5 family, Sony will instead make consumers choose whether the superior specs and premium finish of the Z5 is more important or a better front-facing camera. Seeing how important our photos are to us, that’s not an easy choice.

Though clearly easier said than done, to me its baffling that the Z5 isn’t an improvement over the C5 Ultra and M5 in every way, including the front-facing camera. As a comparison, it would be like the iPhone 6 offering something better than the iPhone 6+ or the BMW 3-series offering something over the BMW 5-series.

Instead as it stands, the 5-series builds upon everything the 3-series offers and the iPhone 6+ camera has image stabilization, something iPhone 6 does not. Sure it might not be a deal breaker but for Sony to create competition between its own product line is an odd engineering choice from them where instead the flagship device should always offer the most cutting edge specs, making it the clear winner. Ultimately the buyer will make the decision on which unit is right for them but if they’re able to put price aside, the flagship unit should always come out a head and in this case, it doesn’t.

Update:

It’s worth noting that the Xperia Z5, Xperia Z5 Compact and Xperia Z5 Premium have all been revealed. To make matters worse and further drive my point home, all three phones come with a 5-megapixel front-facing camera and not the reported 8-megapixel that this article alludes to. I’ve changed the title to reflect that but have kept everything else intact. But when reading, note that 8MP should in fact be 5MP.

Discuss:

Do you feel as baffled by this as me or do you not see this as a problem?