Sony Xperia XZ Premium vs HTC U11 – Two Unique Phones With Great Features

Both the Sony Xperia XZ Premium and the HTC U11 are unquestionably flagship smartphones. They offer great specs and each of them is unique. While the Sony Xperia XZ Premium has an almost unbeatable screen quality and is able to capture great videos, the HTC U11 embraces artificial intelligence like no other smartphone does. Choosing one or the other can prove to be quite difficult, especially because their most important features are quite similar. The difference between these two handsets is definitely given by their extra features. Users just need to decide what they can live without or simply what they prefer.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium is without a doubt an impressive smartphone. While its design may not be to everyone's liking, it is quite a unique one. Of course, the pointy corners have been around in other Sony handsets too, but we must admit, this is quite a specific design for Xperia smartphones. The majority of other smartphone manufacturers seem to prefer rounded corners instead of the bold corners of Sony's handsets. Even though many Sony fans prefer these smartphones exactly because of their specific design, it starts to feel dated. Maybe a change in looks would have been welcomed. Due to its corners and its almost perfectly rectangular shape, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium also feels rather unnatural in your hand. Then again, this is a subjective opinion, and I'm sure other people would disagree.

One of the best features of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium is its amazing display. The 5.5-inch screen has an amazing 3840 x 2160 pixels resolution. This means the handset offers 807 ppi pixel density, which is quite high. The resulting images are not only clear and detailed, the colors are also quite accurate and vivid. Shortly, it's really hard to compete with this screen. The visual experience is almost perfect with the Sony Xperia XZ Premium. The side bezels are not really thick, but those on the top and the bottom of the handset are somewhat disappointing. The tendency nowadays is to deliver almost bezel-less smartphones. Sony is quite far away from this. However, it seems to compensate with the HDR10 compliant, triluminous display.

Under the hood, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium houses the best chipset available at this point on the market. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, together with the Adreno 540 GPU turn this handset into a really powerful one. The 4GB of RAM only add to this speed. As for the storage, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium includes 64GB of native storage. The single SIM version has a dedicated microSD card slot that supports 256GB of additional storage, while the dual-SIM version uses the second SIM slot for the same purposes. The 3,230mAh battery is not necessarily an impressive one, but it is able to do the job it's required to. The handset also supports fast charging, so pumping it up with juice is as easy as it gets.

It's hard to decide whether the selling point of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium is its display or its cameras. We already spoke of the display which is just amazing. The cameras are equally astonishing. Even though Sony did not pack its handset with a dual rear camera setup, like many other smartphone manufacturers did recently, it did equip it with one of the best smartphone cameras available right now. The 19MP primary camera is quite unique, due to its ability to capture 960-frames-per-second slow-motion videos. Naturally, it is also quite capable of snapping really high-quality images in almost any conditions. On the front, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium has a 13MP selfie camera, which is also quite surprising as the majority of other smartphones only don 8MP or even 5MP selfie snappers.

Just like any other self-respecting flagship smartphone, the Sony Xperia offers a fingerprint sensor, for added security, WiFi connectivity, GPS, and a USB Type-C reversible connector. Another great thing about the Sony Xperia XZ Premium is that it offers Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. Yes, all smartphones nowadays feature Bluetooth connectivity, but Bluetooth 5.0 is faster and more impressive than the previous versions were. It is truly a flagship feature. As for the pricing, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium doesn't come cheap. The international unlocked version of the handset will set customers back $899.

Specs

– 5.5-inch 3840 x 2160 pixels resolution display

– octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor

– 4 Gb RAM

– 64 GB storage

– 19 MP rear camera, 13MP secondary camera

– 3,230 mAh battery

HTC U11

The brand new HTC U11 is, in my humble opinion the better looking smartphone out of these two. Even though it has the same screen size, HTC managed to squeeze it into a slightly smaller body, so the HTC U11 has a higher screen-to-body ratio than the Sony Xperia XZ Premium. The bezels on this smartphone are also a little slimmer, which can also be a plus for many people. The rounded corners also help in creating a more pleasant look. Just like the Sony Xperia XZ Premium, the HTC U11 is made of glass and metal, both of which confer a premium look and feel to the handset. One minus of the HTC U11 is that it is only IP67 certified, while the Xperia XZ Premium has an IP68 water resistance.

The display of the HTC U11 is the same size as the one on the Xperia XZ Premium. However, it offers a lower, 1440 x 2560 pixels resolution. Although on paper the difference seems to be more impressive, the HTC U11's display is in fact almost as great as the Sony smartphone's. Actually, the screen of the HTC U11 is brighter, which makes it more appealing to some. However, it lacks the HDR10 support offered by the Sony Xperia XZ Premium. Even so, this display is definitely able to ensure a terrific visual experience and all your games and videos will look amazing on it. After all, the vast majority of smartphones still come with 1080p resolution or even lower ones.

When it comes to processing power, there is no real difference between the HTC U11 and the Sony Xperia XZ Premium. Just like the Sony flagship, the HTC smartphones is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset which is paired with an Adreno 540 GPU. There is one difference, though. The HTC U11 is available in two different storage and memory variants. While the 64GB storage version comes with the same 4GB of RAM as the Sony handset, there is also a 128GB storage version that offers 6GB of RAM. If you are in the USA, don't get too excited. On that market, the HTC U11 will reportedly only be available in the 64GB + 4GB version. Naturally, the HTC U11 also supports additional storage. The U11 comes with a 3,000mAh battery.

Even though the HTC U11's back snapper is not able to record 720p@960fps slow motion videos, it compensates with its speed. Out of the two, the primary camera of the U1 is without a doubt the faster one. It has a 12MP sensor with f/1.7 aperture and optical image stabilization. This camera might not be as impressive as the 19MP lens of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium, but it gets pretty close to it. It captures great quality images, and just like the Sony flagship, it does this in almost any conditions. When it comes to the front-facing cameras, the HTC U11 actually seems to be the winner. It sports a 16MP selfie snapper, which will certainly impress those who really like to take pictures of themselves.

The HTC U11 features a front-mounted fingerprint sensor, almost all the other sensors the Sony Xperia XZ Premium has to offer, and a USB Type-C reversible connector. Unfortunately, it doesn't feature Bluetooth 5.0. Instead, users will have to settle for the same old Bluetooth 4.2 version. The HTC U11 will start shipping this month. Customers can already pre-order it on Amazon, HTC U11 price is only $649.00. Naturally, this is the price for the 64GB storage version of the handset.

Specs

– 5.5-inch 1440 x 2560 pixels resolution display

– octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor

– 4GB or 6GB RAM

– up to 128GB storage

– 12 MP rear camera, 16MP secondary camera

– 3,000 mAh battery

Bottom line

It's really hard to choose one model over the other. As you can see, some of the most important features of the smartphones are identical. They share the same processor and GPU, and they even offer the same amount of memory and storage. At least in one version of the HTC U11. What will really make customers decide between them are the details. The design is one major aspect. Those who just don't like the way the Sony Xperia XZ Premium looks will most likely give up on the possibility to shoot great slow motion videos and go for the HTC U11 instead. However, if the bold design doesn't turn you off, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium could win due to the possibilities its display opens and the quality of its cameras. The Bluetooth 5.0 is also a plus. Even so, if I would have to choose between the two, I would prefer to own the HTC U11.

Source: Sony Xperia XZ Premium vs HTC U11 – Two Unique Phones With Great Features