Sony Xperia XZ Premium brings 960fps video, 4K HDR display

The Mobile World Congress (MWC) announcements keep on coming and Sony may have just won the show with its Xperia XZ Premium handset.

The Japanese firm’s new smartphone features a 5.5-inch 4K HDR screen, with Sony specifically citing Amazon Prime Video as viewable in 4K HDR.

But another big feature is the super slow-motion capabilities, shooting a ridiculous 960 frames per second at 720p (four times slower than the Pixel, iPhone and Galaxy flagships). And it seems like this isn’t software trickery, akin to the Lenovo ZUK Z2, with Sony saying it’s the real deal.

Speaking of camera capabilities, Sony has opted for a 19MP camera with a “memory stacked sensor”, with the company adding Predictive Autofocus and Predictive Capture to the fray. The latter buffers “images one second before you press the shutter button”, giving you four captured shots to choose from.

The Sony Xperia XZ Premium looks to stand out thanks to the 960fps slow-motion option and 4K HDR display

On the front, you’re looking at a 13MP camera, with a wide-angle lens for those group selfies.

This is all powered by a Snapdragon 835 processor and 4GB of RAM, with 64GB of storage at your disposal. In other words, it’s more powerful than the LG G6, but it won’t be launching before the rival handset. But more on that in a bit…

In a return to form for the company, Sony is also bringing water-resistance to the XZ Premium, in the form of “IP65/68” resistance.

Other specs include a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, High Resolution Audio support, Xperia Actions for context-sensitive prompts (such as map downloads based on your location), 3230mAh battery and USB Type-C.

As for a launch date? Well, Sony Mobile says you’re looking at a global launch in “late spring 2017“. What about South Africa though?

“Availability, RRP and colours for the Xperia XZ Premium in South Africa is yet to be confirmed,” Sony Mobile’s local representatives wrote.