Sony Xperia Z5 Premium Pro Reviews

Sony has done it – here's the first phone to ever have a 4K display and it's unsurprisingly stunning. But in the search for a headline feature, Sony has managed to miss the mark on a few of the basics that could have made this a fantastic phone.

The Z5 Premium is a well-rounded smartphone that performs well in a variety of different conditions, but, as is often the case with smartphones, is best used in good, daylight conditions. Whether you invest in this camera compared with the standard Z5 depends very much on your opinion of having the ultra high resolution screen - you’ll pay around an extra £100 for the better screen, which you may deem to be worth it if you spend a lot of time looking at photos and other media on the screen.

4K aside, judging the phone as your expensive, top-tier phablet, we'd have to say we are a bit underwhelmed. The Xperia Z5 Premium has the same high price tag as its fierce competitors, but strikes us as just an OK smartphone. Its software needs a rehash to make the user experience feel fresh and modern. Its camera may be quick to focus, but a noticeable shutter lag negates this and picture quality is below the class average. The form factor doesn't translate too well to the big size, all the while Sony have done nothing with the UI to capitalize on the larger screen. On the good side, battery life is excellent, call quality is great, and the interface is mostly snappy and clean, not to mention that the handset is water-resistant. And the camera as a whole gets the job done if you are just a casual photographer. In fact, if Sony managed to remedy the small user experience issues that are littered throughout the interface with the promised Marshmallow update, the Xperia Z5 Premium might stand a better chance against its rivals. At the moment, if you are not a devout Sony fan, we'd recommend you take a look at Samsung's Galaxy Note 5 or LG's V10 and see if they would suit your phablet needs better.