This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
It's got a super-fast processor, excellent build quality, 64GB of onboard storage with room to expand, a gorgeous display and Android 8.0 Oreo for an operating system, but it lacks a fingerprint reader found in the UK version.
This Android phone from Sony is impressive. It's water-resistant, has an aluminum back and gorilla glass display. The ability to take 3D pictures of people, food and other objects, and then either have them printed or used in AR is a novelty that works with this phone. The cameras (both rear and forward facing) are excellent in bright light, but images suffer a bit (becoming grainy) in low light. Video and audio quality is excellent and the ability to take slow-motion video in 920 fps is incredible, but only for 6-second bursts.
The phone is thin but boxy. It's not going to win any awards for a new exterior design, but the hardware is solid even if Oreo 8.0 is still a little buggy. The phone has locked up on me a few times and I've had to do a hard reset (restart) the phone to get it back.
This phone is a GSM phone with (2) SIM card slots and a spot to add a micro SD card for added storage. Getting to the SIM slots is somewhat difficult and you have to really be careful not to break anything while doing it. The door to the SIM slots must be seated correctly or the 'water-resistance' of the phone will be kaput!
Wifi calling - something I wanted in a phone - is an area of mystery. On the Sony website the specs indicate this phone has the capability, however, the carrier I used (Cricket) apparently doesn't support it so at the time of this writing I can't say if it works or not.
The biggest selling points of this phone are the gorgeous 5.2" HD HDR display, high-resolution slo-mo video, 3D imaging, snappy processor and up to 19MP forward facing and 13MP rear-facing cameras. It's decidedly high-end in its build-quality and functionality, however, the lack of fingerprint security or facial recognition makes the high price tag seem too high when compared to recent Apple products and the Pixel.
