Sony focuses on camera excellence with new Xperia XZ flagship, and premium Xperia X Compact

Sony has unveiled its new flagship smartphone, the Xperia XZ, along with a smaller premium device, the Xperia X Compact. The company is placing a strong emphasis on the imaging capabilities of both handsets, promising "blur-free images day or night, and with true to life colours thanks to our new triple image sensing technology".

Both handsets share the same 23-megapixel rear camera, featuring 'Predictive Hybrid Autofocus' and a Laser Autofocus sensor with distance-sensing technology. Sony says that this offers superior performance even in low-light conditions, and helps to reduce blur.

There's also an advanced RGB sensor, which the company says offers more faithful colour reproduction, with improved white balance based on lighting conditions - and you'll even get a dedicated shutter button.

The camera features five-axis stabilization for video recording too, but this is one area where the two handsets differ: the Xperia XZ can record up to 4K resolution, while the X Compact is limited to Full HD. On the front-facing side of things, the XZ has a 13MP selfie cam, but the X Compact gets a 5MP shooter.

There are other differences between the two devices too, the most obvious of which is their size. The flagship gets a 5.2-inch Full HD display and Snapdragon 820 SoC; that compares with a 4.6-inch 720p screen and Snapdragon 650 chip on the Compact.

The Compact is only available with single SIM support and 32GB of storage, but its larger sibling comes in single-SIM/32GB and dual-SIM/64GB flavours. Both handsets get microSD card support up to 256GB, along with 3GB of RAM, USB Type-C port, and an integrated fingerprint sensor.

Their batteries are similar in size too; you'll get 2900mAh on the XZ, and 2700mAh on the X Compact.

But one major difference between the new handsets is that the XZ is "water-resistant and protected against dust." Sony says that "the device has been tested under Ingress Protection rating IP65/68".

The Xperia X Compact will go on sale next month around the world, followed by the Xperia XZ in October. Pricing details have not yet been announced. Both devices will launch with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow onboard, and it's not yet clear when an upgrade to Android 7.0 Nougat will be made available.

You can find out more about the camera technology in the new handsets on Sony's site here.