As I’ve noted a few times, the Xperia X family is a completely new way for Sony to look at mobile. It’s certainly been a divisive one for Sony Mobile fans, but it’s for a good reason: the long term stability and outlook of Sony’s mobile efforts. Chris Barraclough writing for recombu:

 this new mobile range represents a fresh mantra for Sony Mobile, namely ‘if it ain’t essential, drop it’. By keeping the premium features that consumers demand and trimming the less popular stuff, Sony has managed to cut the price of the Xperia X to make it cheaper than most other flagship mobiles, including last year’s Xperia Z5. 

Now I’m certainly guilty of not having really looked at Sony’s pricing for the Xperia X in comparison to the Z5 but for the time being, I’ll take Chris’s word on the matter. Certainly the Xperia X isn’t being considered a radically cheaper phone and that’s apparent in places like India where the Xperia X carries a price tag that’s similar or higher than that of iPhone 6s or Galaxy S7. Pricing aside, Chris takes a look at the core difference between last year’s flagship phone and this year’s.

 Flip to the back and the Xperia X also sports a metallic rear, a change from last year’s frosted glass. That’s a good thing in our book, as the Z5 ended up with a pretty impressive crack across the back end after a rather pathetic drop onto carpeted flooring. The X is definitely hardier, and seems resistant to scratches.

However, the Xperia Z5 is fully water-resistant, able to survive a swim in a pool or an undignified dunking in the toilet. Sony culled the water resistance from the X in order to trim the price, although it’ll still survive a pretty nasty rainstorm. 

This is an important thing to note and plays into the “if it ain’t essential, drop it” mentality that I’m sure Sony is pushing hard with. Is it nice to have a full water- and dust-proof phone? Of course it is. Will most consumers not buy one based on that? Of course not. Apple has never offered it and they continue to sell boatloads of phones. Incidentally, with iPhone 6s, Apple quietly moved to a design that offers a water-resistant housing though it’s not something they’re advertising.

So how about performance?

 For the Xperia X, Sony chose not to use the most powerful Snapdragon SoC (the 820), instead opting for the Snapdragon 650. Despite this, the Xperia X is still very nippy, and in fact boasts better performance if the benchmark testing is to be believed. In our AnTuTu testing, the Xperia Z5 scored a modest 70691 while the Xperia X impressed with a solid 78325. 

As Mac and iOS users will tell, so much more goes into a device than pure GHz or RAM. The above numbers should point out that, while on paper the Xperia X isn’t getting the latest Snapdragon processor, it doesn’t actually matter. What does matter is if there is a year-over-year improvement and there clearly is. Of course, compromises are always made and a thinner body design does have its limitations.

 As for battery life, both phones will last between 24 and 36 hours with regular use, which is solid enough for a modern mobile. The Z5’s battery life is slightly better, and you can expect around 7.5 hours of video streaming per charge, compared with the Xperia X’s 7 hours. 

So what do consumers care about on their phones? Camera technology. From the non-scientific survey I’ve taken from friends and family, the number one reason they upgrade from one phone to the next is because of improvements to the camera. After all, we’re capturing more of our lives every day and the majority of us use nothing but our smartphone to do it.

 Both phones here boast a 23-megapixel rear camera and can capture beautifully detailed and colourful shots, which look great on a big-screen telly. However, the Xperia X boasts some new camera features that Sony has been beavering away on, including predictive focus to keep active subjects nice and sharp. And the Xperia Z5 can shoot 4K footage, something missing in the Xperia X 

You know what consumers care about? Good photos that they can use as wallpapers and share on Facebook and Instagram. You know what they potentially have little use for as it’s hardly supported anywhere outside of their living room? 4K.

 When it comes to the selfie cam, the Xperia X is a clear winner with its 13-megapixel snapper versus the Xperia Z5’s 5.1-megapixel effort. Shots are crisper and cleaner and in low light the Xperia X shines, cutting down on grain while capturing impressively natural skin tones. 

Again, I keep coming back to

 if it ain’t essential, drop it 

It’s not to say that for some of us, a water-proof body isn’t nice to have or 4K video isn’t useful. It’s instead that Sony has done simple math – would sales be higher if those features were brought to the Xperia X at the expense of a higher costing device, or would they be better off dropping some things in order to be able to offer a better priced phone? It’s quite obvious the answer Sony came to, but it will be a matter of time to see if it was the right one.

Discuss:

Do you think Sony made the right choice?