The Xperia Z4 Receives No Applause

The 2015 flagship was announced only in Japan, and honestly, it’s not really that impressive.

On Monday, Sony debuted its last flagship, the Xperia Z4, and basically only Japan knew about it.

Recent rumors have been swirling that Sony is intending to shut down its mobile department, and although that hasn’t happened yet, it’s clearly losing its press coverage. The 2015 flagship was announced only in Japan, and honestly, it’s not really that impressive.

A clear successor to the much more popular Z3, which I’ll have you recall was released during a major press conference in Berlin back in September of 2014, the latest from Sony has the same 5.2-inch, 1,080 x 1,920 pixel screen. It also has the same glass/metallic design, and the same 20.7 megapixel camera. To be fair, though, the front camera now sports 25mm, wide-angle, 5.1 megapixel which is pretty impressive.

To be fair, though, the front camera now sports 25mm, wide-angle, 5.1 megapixel which is pretty impressive.

The handset is also much thinner and lighter, 6.9mm (the same as the iPhone 6) and 144 grams, as compared to the Z3’s 7.3mm and 152 grams.

The new octa-core Snapdragon 810 64 bit processor has received enough press - basically, every 2015 flagship will have it. Also on deck is 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, which is very decent. As always, Sony brings her dustproof and waterproof.

The internet is already a-buzz, suggesting that this can’t be Sony’s true 2015 flagship. But really, there is nothing wrong with any of these specs - in fact, they’re all great, flagship-worthy specs. The issue is that there is nothing particularly new and innovative about that. To Sony’s credit, since Samsung has stopped manufacturing waterproof handsets, the Xperia Z4 is now the only waterproof flagship.

The Xperia Z4 will make its appearance in Japan this summer in four colors: white, black, copper and aqua green. As to when it will become available worldwide, Sony still hasn’t mentioned it.