Huawei P20 Pro: Beautiful inside out

The new P20 Pro smartphone is an upgrade to the higher end of Huawei's flagship smartphones. — Bloomberg

The Huawei P20 Pro is catered to photography enthusiasts with other features that many can appreciate.

I FOUND myself really popular over the last two weeks, being asked to parties and events. At first, I thought that it was due to my dazzling personality, but my friends brought me back to reality quite bluntly. “We just want you to take photos using the Huawei P20 Pro.” They are not my friends anymore.

The P20 Pro has a stunning 6.1in screen that takes up almost the entire front. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star

Hey good lookin’

This is by far the prettiest ­smartphone I have reviewed. Named Twilight, the colour is inspired by the Northern Lights, and one is supposed to see purple fading to blue and then green on the panel. Don’t worry, I don’t always see the green either.

The P20 Pro in Twilight has to be one of the prettiest smartphones in the market right now. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star

The aluminium finish gives it a sleek and gorgeous feel, but I ­seriously cannot handle the amount of fingerprints it attracts. Don’t get me started on how slippery it is. If I don’t lay it flat on a flat surface, it will slide, threaten to fall and give me mini heart attacks.

And then there’s the notch, which unfortunately is an OCD freak’s nightmare in this case because it’s uneven. Gasp! So how did I deal with it? I just opted to hide the notch.

The P20 Pro has a 6.1in OLED (organic light emitting diode) screen, slightly bigger than the 5.8in LCD screen sported by its ­sibling, the P20, and both have an aspect ratio of 18.7:9 for an ­immersive viewing experience.

As someone who could watch an entire movie and more on a ­smartphone, I love its vivid colours and the brightness is just right.

If you don't like the notch on the P20 Pro, you can opt to hide it. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star

Because I didn’t have the ­earphones with a USB Type-C jack that were supposed to come with the review set, I had to watch my shows with the speakers on blast – but only when I was alone, and the stereo speakers at the bottom ­deliver clear and rich audio even from a few metres away.

What makes it work

The device runs on Android 8.1 with Huawei’s EMUI 8.1 user ­interface, and is powered by the company’s Kirin 970 processor.

The P20 Pro has a 4,000mAh ­battery while the P20 has a 3,400mAh one.

I used the P20 Pro while ­covering the GE14 nomination day, and I was so worried that the phone would run out of battery.

The standard earphone jack is gone so you will need Type-C earphones. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star

Well, I Wazed my way to and from the nomination centre while listening to Spotify in the car, took hundreds of photos and videos of the candidates, recorded ­interviews, wrote articles, WhatsApped bosses, checked social media accounts, made phone calls, and still didn’t have to charge the phone till the next day.

And when I needed to charge the phone, the SuperCharge capability brought the battery from 1% to 100% in about 60 minutes or so. Unfortunately, the P20 Pro doesn’t support wireless charging.

With 128GB memory and 6GB RAM, I didn’t have to worry about running out of space or even ­dealing with a lagging phone.

Smile for the camera

If you haven’t heard the hoopla surrounding the three rear ­cameras on the P20 Pro, then ­welcome back from the year you spent in a cave.

The phone is equipped with three cameras – 40-megapixel RGB sensor, 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and 8-megapixel sensor with 5x hybrid zoom telephoto lens.

The P20 Pro has three rear cameras: 40-megapixel RGB sensor, 20- megapixel monochrome sensor and 8-megapixel sensor with 5x hybrid zoom telephoto lens. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star

I am not great at taking ­photographs, so I let someone who knows cameras test out this ­feature. One of the outstanding results was the crisp and clear night time images taken without a tripod. Even when you zoom into your subject, with slightly shaky hands, the photo doesn’t turn out blurry.

If you’re a photography ­enthusiast, be sure to check out the Pro mode where you can play around with the shutter speed, aperture and ISO level (which goes up to 6,400, by the way).

I particularly like the Ultra Snapshot feature which lets you take a quick snapshot even when the screen is off. Just double-press the down volume button and voila! You get a picture.

And of course, selfie fans will love the 24-megapixel front-facing camera that takes impressive ­portrait shots and even throws in dramatic blurred backgrounds.

The special Twilight colour is only available for the P20 Pro. — Bloomberg

You don’t have to worry about the lighting as the 3D lighting effect automatically adjusts the setting to make sure that you get a great ­selfie each time.

Conclusion

The Huawei P20 Pro is absolutely worth the hype. This device gives everything you possibly want from a smartphone – amazing photos, fast performance and a long-lasting battery.

The P20 Pro is priced at RM3,299 while the P20 goes for RM2,599. They come in Black, Midnight Blue and Pink Gold. The special Twilight edition is only available for the P20 Pro.

PROS: Excellent cameras; fast performance; sleek design. 

CONS: No wireless charging; slippery.

P20 Pro
(Huawei)
Android smartphone
NETWORK: 4G
OPERATING SYSTEM: Android 8.1 Oreo
DISPLAY: 6.1in (1,080 x 2,240 pixels)
PROCESSOR: Hisilicon Kirin 970
CAMERA: 40-megapixel RGB + 20-megapixel monochrome + 8-megapixel (rear); 24-megapixel (front)
MEMORY: 128GB storage, 6GB RAM
CONNECTIVITY: WiFi 802.11, Bluetooth, NFC
BATTERY: 4,000mAh
DIMENSIONS (W x D x H): 73.9 x 7.8 x 155mm
WEIGHT: 180g
RATING: 4 stars

Huawei Honor 8 Pro

Huawei has combined butter-smooth performance, premium looks and an enjoyable camera to come up with a ‘flagship killer’

It would take quite a phone to offer some competition to the popular ‘flagship killer’ OnePlus 5. But Huawei’s Honor 8 Pro seems to be that quite-a-phone. Huawei has tried to give as much as they could manage within a rather attractive price of ₹29,999 — and really, they’ve succeeded just fine.

The Honor 8 Pro looks great. On the front, curved glass gives way to blue glass bezels that glint beautifully in the light. The navy blue matte-finish back is all smooth metal with two overly thick antenna lines running through. The only other things that break the smoothness are a no-bulge dual camera setup and a fingerprint sensor.

The 8 Pro has a huge 4,000mAh battery so it isn’t on the light side. Added to the smoothness of the metal edges, the phone is a bit slippery. It’s very solidly built, so it doesn’t look like it would suffer any damage from a light drop on a softer surface, but who knows what would happen if it fell on hard concrete, for example. Since the phone is not too broad, you can find and maintain a good grip on it. It’s only if you have extra small hands that you would have to be extra careful. Overall, it’s a great looking phone that looks more expensive than it is.

On the design front, the 8 Pro beats the OnePlus 5 in looks and originality as well as sturdiness, but the OnePlus 5 is biscuit-thin, lighter and easier to hold. It’s a bigger phone than the OnePlus with its 5.7-inch display but somehow doesn’t feel it. The 2560 x 1440 or 2K LCD display is really nice, offering pleasing colours and legibility. It’s rare to get a 2K screen within this price — and One Plus 5 doesn’t have one.

Nothing says OnePlus 5-competitor more than 6 GB of RAM, which is what Huawei has put in the Honor 8 Pro. That’s coupled with Huawei’s own HiSilicon Kirin 960 2.36GH processor and ensures the phone works smooth.

Blazing fast

With some smartphones, you can tell straight off that this is a no-stutter no-lag device and that’s the feeling you get as you first use this phone and feel that buttery fluidity. The 8 Pro matches OnePlus’ 8 GB model for space because it has 128 GB of internal storage and comes with the memory card slot.

I’ve never been overly fond of Huawei’s EMUI interface, but in this version and on this phone, it’s been integrated and optimised to work beautifully. Other than a lot of under-the-hood changes to make it smoother, Huawei says machine learning is being used to adapt to what apps are used and allocate resources accordingly.

EMUI is absolutely stuffed with features so it’s all the more surprising that the phone works as fast as it does. When you look into Settings, you’ll find all sorts of customisations such as enabling an app drawer, which is most welcome, and a floating dock for quick actions. There are also some rather unnatural ones such as using your knuckles to get a screenshot. Huawei could still do something to reduce its preloaded apps.

A fun camera

Huawei has been very early to the game with dual cameras and it’s used them to get one lens to shoot monochrome images, adding depth when combined with the other. Shooting black and whites, specially when you select from the many filters available on board, is one of the most enjoyable aspects of using the Honor 8 Pro’s cameras.

The 12 MP rear camera set with f/2.2 aperture focuses and shoots fast enough and you can adjust the aperture too. The camera app is as feature-filled as the rest of the phone. A quick swipe to the right will pull out a whole bunch of shooting modes, some of them not easily found on other phones. That includes document scanning, a 3D creator, watermark, an interesting night mode, a Pro mode for photos and one for video, time lapse, audio note, light painting, etc. This is a camera you won’t get bored of. It also does 4K video recording. The one thing it lacks, however, is optical image stabilisation. Its low light performance isn’t bad but noise creeps in sometimes. The front camera is pretty good even in indoor light.

The Honor 8 Pro is a surprise competitor to the OnePlus 5. On several counts, it beats it, while the OnePlus 5 has raw speed on its side and an equally good camera. The purer form of Android on the OnePlus 5 may also be a draw for many. But the Honor 8 Pro certainly holds its own and in fact, when asked for recommendations in the 30k category, I will no longer be limited to a choice of one.

Conclusion

The Honor 8 Pro is a solid smartphone with good features. It pretty much has something for everyone – a decent camera for casual photographers, stunning display for video fiends, and ­powerful performance for ­gamers.

PROS: Sleek and stylish design, vivid display, powerful performance.

CONS: Slippery without a casing, battery takes a long time to charge.

Honor 8 Pro

(Huawei)

Android smartphone

NETWORK: 4G

OPERATING SYSTEM: Android 7.0 Nougat

DISPLAY: 5.7in (1440 x 2560 ­pixels)

PROCESSOR: HiSilicon Kirin 960 octa-core processor

CAMERA: 12-megapixels ­monochrome + 12-megapixels RGB (rear); 8-megapixels (front)

MEMORY: 64GB internal storage, 6GB RAM

CONNECTIVITY: Bluetooth 4.2, WiFi, GPS, USB Type-C

BATTERY: 4,000mAh

DIMENSIONS (W x D x H): 77.5 x 7 x 157mm

WEIGHT: 184g

RATING: Four stars

What's new in Android Nougat

After its first presentation in May 2016 at the Google I/0 conference, summer brings more news on the latest version of Android – version 7.0, also known as Nougat – ahead of its official launch this fall. 

Virus detection blocks system booting
Android is the world's most popular mobile operating system (84.1% market share for Q1 2016, according to Gartner), and also the OS most at risk from malware attacks. Android Nougat will help combat viruses by analyzing mobile devices each time they restart. The OS can then prevent a device from booting if a virus is detected or restrict access to a limited-use mode, like the "safe mode" in Windows PCs. 

Split-screen mode
The main new feature landing in Android Nougat is the split-screen mode for using two applications simultaneously, open side by side (tablet) or one above the other (smartphone). This function is all the more hotly awaited since it already features in several third-party Android user interfaces, like those from Samsung and LG, as well as in competitor systems, iOS and Windows.

Updated notifications
Android Nougat brings revamped notifications, promising a faster and easier-to-use system no matter what applications are open. Launcher shortcuts also let users create custom shortcuts to specific features in certain applications. This could, for example, be a shortcut to message a particular contact or to access a specific folder in an email inbox. 

Video watching
The "picture in picture" (PIP) mode lets users keep videos running while using other applications. The video will play in a separate window in the corner of the screen, which could be useful for following live streams while working or surfing in other apps. 

Improved battery saving
The new version of Doze – the Android battery saving function – will now kick in whenever the screen goes off rather than only when the system is inactive. What's more, Android Nougat will bring options for limiting data use by reducing the quality of images and video streams, which could prove handy for users with limited data packages. 

Seamless integration for VR
Finally, there's no doubt that the latest version of Android will be optimised for Daydream, Google's new virtual reality platform set to land this fall. However, it's as yet unclear what exactly Google has in store.  

Watch the Android Nougat statue being unveiled in Mountain View, California here.

— AFP Relaxnews

Huawei Honor 5C

Deciding what phone to buy is never easy because there are so many choices at almost every price point. 

And the latest contender in the budget category is the Honor 5C which boasts a full metal body, ­fingerprint sensor and motion co-processor for just under RM800.

The beautiful 5.2in screen is of the IPS (in-plane switching) variety, which has better viewing angles and colours – something not ­commonly found on a budget phone.

It has no physical buttons for navigation – instead you get virtual buttons that are configurable. You can reposition the back, home and review buttons to suit your style but lose out on tactile feedback.

Sharp shooter

Images taken with the 13-­megapixel main camera turned out pretty good and sharp which is a surprise given that the Honor 5C is an affordable smartphone.

You just have to ensure your hands are steady as the camera lacks OIS (optical image ­stabilisation).

The 13-megapixel camera shoots decent pictures but doesn’t feature OIS.

 

It also has many camera modes such as Pro photo and Pro video which give you manual control over exposure, white balance and ISO.

Other modes include Beauty (for souping up your selfies), Good Food, Slow-mo and Light Painting (long exposure mode for capturing light trails from cars).

The front-facing camera has also been improved – it’s 8 megapixels now and gets most things right but is still a little grainy.

Power play

The Honor 5C runs on Huawei’s latest in-house processor, the HiSilicon Kirin 650 octa-core. The processor was manufactured on 16nm process, which the company claims makes it more energy- ­efficient.

The smartphone could easily last a full day when it was used heavily for social media (such as accessing Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) and shooting photos, as well as casual gaming.

It also has a co-processor for tracking motion – this allows it to count the steps you have taken without impacting battery life much.

The only downside is the ­charging time. As it doesn’t feature fast charging, it take a little longer to charge.

The smartphone is also a capable gaming device – it was able to ­handle graphics-intensive games such as This War Of Mine, Dead Run and Need For Speed: Most Wanted without any performance issues.

The 5C comes with a dedicated motion tracking processor to track your daily activities without greatly affecting battery life. — LOW LAY PHOON/ The Star

 

Sadly, it doesn’t shine in the audio department – sound quality was below par for both games and music.

Android 6.0

The Honor 5C runs on the latest Android (Marshmallow) which offers better security and app ­management.

It’s also one of the first Honor smartphones to run on Huawei’s EMUI 4.1 user interface which has a few new cool features.

For instance, you can have ­hidden apps on the homescreen, which can be revealed by making a pinching-out motion.

A feature called Scrollshot allows you to take a screenshot of an entire webpage, even if it is longer than your screen.

The fingerprint sensor was very fast and accurate – it rarely failed to recognise our fingers and unlocked the smartphone almost instantaneously.

The sensor can also be used for navigation. You can, for example, use it for scrolling webpages and viewing your photo gallery which is handy.

Conclusion

The Honor 5C is a budget phone that offers more for less. For RM799, you are getting a smartphone that looks great, has a fingerpint sensor and decent cameras.

Even the battery life is great which is really important if you are planning to playPokemon Go when (and if) it arrives here.

Definitely a smartphone you should check out if you are looking for an affordable Android.

Pros: Excellent battery life; good performance; improved user interface; beautiful display; fast fingerprint sensor; decent cameras.
Cons: Lacks fast charging feature; so-so speakers.

Honor 5C
(Huawei)
Android smartphone
OPERATING SYSTEM: Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with EMUI 4.1
NETWORK: 4G LTE
DISPLAY: 5.2in (1,080 x 1,920 pixels)
PROCESSOR: Octa-core Kirin 650 (4 x 2.0GHz A53 + 4 x 1.7GHz A53)
CAMERA: 13 megapixels camera (rear); 8 megapixels (front)
MEMORY: 16GB internal ­memory
CONNECTIVITY: Bluetooth 4.1 WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
OTHER FEATURES: Fingerprint sensor
BATTERY: 3,000mAh lithium-ion
SIZE (W x D x H): 73.8 x 8.3 x 147.1mm
WEIGHT: 156g
PRICE: RM799 (inclusive of GST)
RATING: ★★★★✩

Review unit courtesy of Honor Malaysia, 1800-22-3366

- LEE KAH LENG, The Star

Huawei P9

Huawei’s flagship phone is an unexpected surprise.

I’M the type of person who picks the same flavour of ice-cream every time – pralines and cream – because it’s my favourite. I use a bag until it is well-worn, seams splitting at the sides, before I am forced to get a new one. I have lived in the same house for the last 16 years, and I have clothes dating back to the 1980s. Why change if you’re happy with what you’ve got, I ask? And so for the last three years I had been content using my iPhone 5. Though battered and bruised (not to mention, ghastly out of date), I never had the urge to run out – let alone queue up – for the next big thing on the mobile phone market.

But here I am now with the new Huawei P9 nestled comfortably in the palm of my right hand. And I am astonishingly happy.

The Huawei P9 is nice and slim at 0.28in. — KAMARUL ARIFFIN/The Star

I wasn’t expecting much, truth be told. This is, after all, a China-made handphone.

But right off the bat – or out of the box, to be more precise – I was surprised. Even the packaging has a minimalist chic to it – the P9 comes in an elegant white textured box with both Huawei and Leica branding on it.

And once I got to the phone – neatly fitted in a protective wrap – again I was bowled over. The mobile phone’s Titanium Grey body is instantly captivating. And Huawei has very thoughtfully included a clear phone case along with the other usual suspects – headset, charger, a high speed USB cable, eject tool and quick start guide – all very compactly ­packaged, and is easy to unbox and setup.

The phone is made up of what looks like just glass and metal, much like modernist architecture, and its curved edges add to this appeal.

It’s a snap

You’ll have heard of how the P9 is set to “reinvent photography”. The phone is co-­engineered with German camera company Leica and features two cameras, its main ­selling point.

The Huawei P9 carries the German Leica camera branding on the top right hand corner. — KAMARUL ARIFFIN/The Star

The camera reputedly captures more light because it has two sensors, one RGB and one monochrome, that work together to create higher detail. I especially like the fact that these sensors are flush with the phone’s back – not just so grime doesn’t get in, but that it adds to the overall sophistication of design.

I like taking photos with my phone camera and the P9 gives you all the confidence you need to take great photos. The phone comes with pro features, but I am content using the auto-mode. Night-time photography turned out fine, and the colours in the day are super vibrant. Even the black and white photographs look much sharper.

Check out the one I took of my cat Bobby – you can see his whiskers in all their glory and even trace out the cornea of his eye.

A photo of my cat Bobby taken using the monochrome mode indoors, at night. — ANN MARIE CHANDY/The Star

There’s also a range of modes and filters to mess around with, and a really cool wide aperture feature which allows you to take a photo with a shallow depth of field (the object must be at least within 2m of you and, more importantly, must be clearly defined). What this feature does is it blurs out everything else in the background. Then there’s the 8-megapixel selfie shooter, which you can also trigger from the back of the phone, but more on that in a little while.

Speaking of selfies, I’m not sure I enjoy the beauty tips the camera suggests (make your face thinner, smoothen out that rough skin, darken this bit or that – the phone actually identifies a “beauty level” that suits you if you let it!) – I like my face as is, thank you very much.

Fit for a spy

Okay, so fingerprint sensors on phones may have been around for the last three years, but this is the first time I have had the pleasure of testing one out. Did I feel like James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever? Well yes and no. Yes, because after a quick six touches to recognise my pointer finger, the P9 now calls me master and is happy to do my bidding. (No, because I didn’t have to resort to chopping someone’s finger off.)

At the bottom of the P9, you’ll find the Type C connector, loudspeaker, jack and microphone. — KAMARUL ARIFFIN/The Star

The pattern or pincode method works just as well, so if the phone is lying on its back, fret not, you can resort to less ­spy-like tactics to unlock your device.

Oh and yes, I can even take photos using this function which makes it a cinch, ­especially for selfies.

Does size really matter?

I am just barely over five feet and so I’ve never ever liked to think that if something were bigger, it would equate to it being ­better. But I have to say, the 5.2in full HD screen on the P9 has made a convert out of me. If this review came with background music, you’d be hearing Johnny Nash’s I Can See Clearly Now.

Reading messages, watching YouTube videos, playing Candy Crush (the Jelly Version) have all just become so much more breezy on the P9. — AFP

Reading messages, watching YouTube videos, playing Candy Crush (the Jelly Version) have all just become so much more breezy. And while I previously used to gawk at people who used such LARGE ­handsets, in just three days I’ve grown so accustomed to lugging the P9 around. Of course, there will be those more used to a 6in screen who find this too small!

It’s a wrap

The battery life seems good enough – it lasts me throughout the day, and takes about an hour and a half to fully charge up at night. The phone also comes equipped with a large range of free downloadable themes which are quick to install.

The P9 is not just sleek, it's got Leica on its side when it comes to taking photos. — Huawei

There are lots of cool details which I find very helpful – for instance, the volume rocker comes with individual settings so you can ­customise different sound levels for ringtone, media, alarm and calls. Also the power button is textured which makes it easy to identify, even while it’s buried in your handbag.

Enough gushing then. Is there anything I don’t like about this phone? There are a few minor niggling details here and there.

No. 1 is that the phone comes with its fair share of bloatware – there are just so many apps here that I would never use, and I thought they could easily have been left out.

I also wasn’t a fan of the Huawei keypad, and kept hitting all the wrong buttons. But it was easy enough for me to switch to Google.

The home buttons appear on the screen rather than the body, and this takes a bit of getting used to. — AFP

The home buttons also appear on the screen, rather than the body, and this takes a bit of getting used to. On WhatsApp, I find I am hitting the photo icons instead of opening messages, but that’s just me being used to how the iPhone works I think.

All in all, I’m quite smitten with the P9. And it’s fast becoming a favourite, like pralines and cream.

Pros: Camera has many modes and takes great photos; sleek design; speedy fingerprint sensor. 

Cons: Bloatware; average battery life.

P9
(Huawei)
Android smartphone
Operating system: Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
Network: 4G LTE
Display: 5.2in (1,080 x 1,920 pixels)
Processor: Octa-core (4 x 2.5GHz A72+ 4 x 1.8GHz A53) Kirin 955
Camera: Two 12 megapixels cameras (rear); 8 megapixels (front)
Memory: 32GB internal ­memory
Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.2, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac; WiFi Direct; USB Type C
Battery: 3,000mAh lithium-ion
Size: 45 x 70.9 x 6.95mm
Weight: 144g
Price: RM2,099
Rating: 4 stars
Review unit courtesy of Huawei Technologies Malaysia, 1800-22-3366

- ANN MARIE CHANDY, The Star

Xperia Z5 Dual: Dual identity

Sony’s latest flagship smartphone houses a 23-megapixel camera.

Sony has long been one of the major players in the Android ­market but some of its newer ­flagship models have yet to see commercial success.

It now has a new strategy which may help it reach a wider audience – its latest flagship, the Z5, comes in three variants – besides the main Z5 model, there is also a more expensive Z5 Premium and a smaller Z5 Compact.

We review the Z5 Dual which, as the name suggests, is the dual SIM variant of the main Z5.

Familiar design

The Z5 has a symmetrical design that should be familiar to its fans. The metal frame gives it a premium touch while the four edges are reinforced with polycarbonate plastic for ruggedness.

A welcome change is the matte glass back panel, which feels a lot more consistent with the design language, compared to the glass back panels of its predecessors.

Having the Home button on the side makes it easy to unlock the Xperia Z5.

The right side of the device houses all the physical buttons, including the home button which also doubles up as a fingerprint sensor. Having the fingerprint sensor on the side made it easy to unlock the device with just one hand, as the sensor was fast and accurate.

The Z5 has 32GB of internal memory and has an independent microSD card slot for those requiring additional storage. (Unlike other devices on the market, the second SIM card slot is not used to double as the microSD card slot.)

One of the unique selling points of Sony’s Xperia devices has been the water and dust resistance, a tradition that the Z5 continues. It adheres to the IP68 certification – the device is water resistant for up to 30 minutes and at a depth of 1.5m.

Turning up the heat

The Z5 features uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor and has 3GB RAM which is enough firepower for lag-free operation.

It runs on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop and Sony has said it’s committed to upgrading it to Android 6 Marshmallow once it becomes available.

The Small Apps menu gives you quick access to apps and utilities.

Sony’s version of Android comes with some nifty features, such as the Small Apps menu which gives you quick access to apps and utilities such as the web browser, stopwatch and calculator.

It’s a shame that the device heats up very easily, a common issue with Androids fitted with the Snapdragon 810.

Using Google Maps, playing games and even watching YouTube videos heated the device quite a bit.

Megapixel machine

The Z5’s back camera boasts an impressive 23-megapixel sensor, which is ahead of most flagships on the market.

However, just like its predecessors, the Z5’s photo quality in auto mode is affected by poor software optimisation – pictures appeared softer around the edges more than they should.

While the photos are passable for social media usage, we were hoping that the additional megapixels would have been put to better use.

Manual mode produces much better quality photos than auto mode, but the average user may not have the time to fiddle with the manual settings to get the best out of the camera.

The Z5’s back camera boasts an impressive 23-megapixel sensor, which is way ahead of most flagships on the market.

You can access the camera at anytime by holding the physical camera shutter button even when the device is locked. The camera button has two levels of pressure – press softly to focuses and fully press it to capture a shot.

The physical camera button itself is something that we are glad to have, as hardly any of Sony’s rivals on the market have it. The button is also helpful when taking underwater shots.

While the autofocus speed was very fast, we were a little disappointed with the slight delay after capturing each photo.

We thought it was caused by the large resolution, but the same delay is there even when we lowered the resolution to 8 megapixels. There was an update during the review period that improved the speed to a more acceptable level.

Multimedia Xperience

Sony has done a very good job with the speakers on the Z5. We are great fans of devices with front facing speakers, and the Z5’s stereo speakers are perfectly placed at the top and bottom of the device, which makes perfect sense when you are watching videos in landscape mode.

The way it’s positioned is also aesthetically pleasing as it doesn’t look out of place from the overall design of the device. Audio quality is as good as it gets from smartphone speakers.

The Z5’s 5.2in screen is good for multimedia consumption. The device comes with white balance adjustments for the screen to cater to the different tastes of users, whether they want their screen to be more natural or vibrant.

The Z5 Dual has a more humble full HD resolution but is no less pretty.

Unlike the Z5 Premium which boasts a 4K resolution screen, the Z5 Dual has a more humble full HD resolution, which to us makes more practical sense.

The screen is more power efficient, and chances are you won’t be able to tell it apart from higher resolution screens with the naked eye anyway.

One area where the screen can be improved upon is visibility under the sun, as we had trouble using Google Maps outdoors even with the brightness at max.

Battery life was actually respectable and held up better than most other smartphones — it managed to easily last from morning to night on a single charge with average usage.

Battery drain was a lot faster while playing games though, which is a pity as the Z5 handled graphics intensive games like Need For Speed and Temple Run without a hitch. Game play was smooth and we enjoyed the experience with the front-facing speakers.

Conclusion

The improved design and physical camera button are among the things that we really like about the Z5 Dual. And Sony’s decision to have the home button on the side is just brilliant because unlocking the device has not been this easy before.

The 23-megapixel camera of the Z5 came with much promise, and it did deliver in a few ways, but is let down by the delay after capturing pictures. Hopefully this can be fixed with a future software update.

Where the Z5 disappoints is that it doesn’t remain cool under pressure. We understand that graphics intensive games and prolonged periods of picture taking will inevitably heat up the device, but it was surprising that it heated up even after watching YouTube videos.

Despite the Z5 Dual suffering from middle child syndrome – it’s not the most premium or affordable device in the range – it’s a good upgrade for Sony lovers.

Pros: Nice design; IP68 certification for water and dust resistance; smooth interface; memory card slot; 23-megapixel camera. 

Cons: Overheats; camera could have been better.

Xperia Z5 Dual (E6683)
(Sony)
Android smartphone
Operating system: Android 5.1.1 (Lollipop)
Network: 4G LTE
Processor: Quad-core 2GHz Cortex-A57 + quad-core 1.5GHz Cortex-A53
Camera: 23 megapixels with LED flash; 5.1-megapixel front-facing camera
Display: 5.2in (1,080 x 1,920 pixels)
Memory: 32GB Internal ­memory, 3GB RAM
Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.1, USB 2.0, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac; WiFi Direct; DLNA
Features: Fingerprint sensor; IP68 certification; physical shutter button
Battery: 2,900mAh lithium-ion
Size: 146 x 72 x 7.3mm
Weight: 154g
Price: RM2,699
Rating: 3.5 stars
Review unit courtesy of Sony Malaysia Sdn Bhd, 1300-88-1233. 

- Donovan Quek, The Star