Sony’s answers questions about the 4K resolution fiasco in the Xperia Z5 Premium, makes the situation worse

Sometimes, it’s better to leave some things unsaid, or unspoken. It would have been fortunate if Sony would have taken this into account when responding about its latest flagship smartphone, the Xperia Z5 Premium (the Xperia Z5 and Z5 Compact are the popular smartphone lines, while the Z5 Premium is the flagship).

Sony, coming off the 4K resolution fiasco of its Xperia Z5 Premium, took to an interview in order to answer some pertinent questions about the device whose 4K screen resolution has been called into question. When asked, “why is the 4K display only used for Sony’s Album/Movie apps and everything else (home screen, apps, browsing, etc.) is rendered in Full HD 1080P?,” Sony responded in the following manner:

“There’s a few reasons – first up, after extensive user research and testing we found that rendering entertainment content in 4K, but still being able to access and use all the other great Sony smartphone features as normal without compromising on battery life, was an absolute priority for users…Secondly, many third-party apps are not designed or capable of running at 4K resolution (yet).”

Let’s assess Sony’s argument. First, users want to enjoy video playback in 4K but could care less about 4K resolution on the main desktop where the UI is, for example. It’s good that Sony took to “extensive user research and testing” to arrive at this decision, but why not give users the ability within their own devices to decide whether or not to lower their resolution? If users want a 4K experience all throughout the smartphone experience, why should Sony not give them the option to choose that? For some individuals, having 2-day battery life takes a backseat to getting the 4K resolution they’ve paid for. After all, Sony did market the Xperia Z5 Premium as “the world’s first 4K smartphone,” did it not?

Next, it’s interesting that Sony would point out that there aren’t too many third-party apps available that provide content in 4K for the Xperia Z5 Premium. If this was the case, why even make a smartphone with a 4K resolution (if just for video playback and a few other things) in the first place? If “third-party manufacturers don’t have many 4K apps available” is the excuse to tone down 4K, why not tone down the entire experience, even video playback, and just provide a uniform, Full HD 1080p experience throughout? It makes no sense to argue the lack of apps now when Sony crafted the 4K to market its 4KUHD resolution. To argue this at this point undermines the Xperia Z5 Premium’s appeal and purpose, making it a phone crafted for nothing more than marketing hype.

These answers may appeal to some, and some consumers may prefer 4K resolution for videos only, but there are other tech enthusiasts who want a true, 4K resolution experience with a smartphone. The Xperia Z5 Premium was designed to warrant “ooohhhs” and “aaahhhs” because of 4K, but Sony’s latest responses don’t help the situation. Marketing “the world’s first 4K smartphone” slogan while limiting the 4K resolution is to undermine the point of having crafted the Xperia Z5 Premium smartphone in the first place. In one answer, Sony undermined everything it intended the company’s latest flagship to be.

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