We were privileged enough to attend a very classy event hosted by Sony Mobile Africa, held at the Mall of Africa’s Center Court (Opposite Ster Kinekor). With display stands decked out with the Latest Models joining the Sony Xperia Collection, one thing was for certain from the start: We were going to “Xperience” something very Unique and Special.

Be Our Guest

The setting was very elegant, the food and drinks were in abundance and the entertainment was literally surrounding us with pillars of technology on display. The Mobile Devices on display were the Sony Xperia L1, Xperia XA, Xperia XA1 Ultra, Xperia XZ and the latest big boy, the Xperia XZ Premium, and all of these were available for members of the media to get some hands-on experience with. Each station had a Sony Mobile Assistant or two ready to answer any questions that we had and to demonstrate the new features that come packaged with these new family members.

We made our way through each station, systematically comparing what was on display with what is currently available from cellular retailers, and were exceptionally impressed with what we saw. Ranging from the “Wallet Saver” Xperia L1 to the Xperia XA1 Ultra that comes with a free cover in the box, we are not afraid to admit that we spent most of our evening marveling at the Xperia XZ Premium Drawing Card Station: It’s 19 MegaPixel Super Slow Motion Camera, that records and slows down video to 960fps (Frames Per Second)! At that speed, you will be able to see a Bee flap it’s wings. What impressed even more, was the crystal clarity that the slow motion video was captured at, there was not blurring or ghosting, it was crisp.

We then moved onto the last two stations that were home to the Sony PSVR Headset which transported many members of the media into a fully Interactive Virtual World for the first time. Leaving the last device as a grand finale, we were introduced to the Sony Xperia Touch. This device is roughly the size of a Small Dictionary or a three quarter box of Romany Creams (Im hungry okay!), but seriously look at the image and you can picture it’s scale according to the hand in the frame. The Xperia Touch is a Sim Card Ready, “Tablet-Type” Device that projects it’s screen onto any flat surface, allowing you to either Skype with relatives on the go (on a wall), project a recipe onto your preparation table, draw or paint little secret notes for your loved ones or even watch a movie and is controlled by simply touching the surface you are projecting onto. It comes loaded with Android 7.0 Nougat and has a memory card slot. The Xperia Touch will only be available in South Africa late 2017.

A Word From The Representatives

[miptheme_quote author=”said Christian Haghofer, Country Manager of Sony Mobile” style=”pull-right”]The Sony Xperia XZ Premium won the Best Smartphone 2017 Award at the Mobile World Congress, something that has not happened since the Sony Ericsson W800.[/miptheme_quote]After allowing the media to experience as much as we could handle, we were greeted by Christian Haghofer, Country Manager of Sony Mobile, who welcomed us to the ribbon-cutting of the Sony Xperia Mall Activation, which will run over the next two months and will be traveling to a few other malls as well. Starting at the Mall of Africa the “Touch-Point for Consumers” will then move to Northgate, Menlyn and lastly Key West every second week.

Christian encouraged consumers to go and experience the showcase for themselves, and revolutionize the way they perceive premium technologies that have been compacted into handheld devices. During the presentation, Christian confirmed that the Sony Xperia XZ Premium won the Best Smartphone 2017 Award at the Mobile World Congress, something that has not happened since the Sony Ericsson W800. (I am proud to say, I had one of those when I was younger!) Christian also explained that it is due to the Memory Stack in the Camera that the Super Slow Motion can be achieved at 960fps on the Xperia XZ Premium’s 4K HDR Screen using the native Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Processor.

We were then joined by James Munn, Vice President of Business Development at Qualcomm Technologies who discussed the hardware of the Xperia XZ Premium, boasting that the Processor Combination in the Xperia XZ Premium makes it the World’s First Gigabit Class Capable Device. James also blew our minds by explaining that the Processor can easily handle immersive VR Applications, and facilitates a Fast Charge Rate where you can gain 5 Hours of Talk Time with just 5 Minutes of Charge Time. When asked what his two favorite features were on the Xperia XZ Premium, James did not hesitate when responding with, “The Speed of the Device and the High Quality Camera”.

Lastly we were joined by Jason Smith, Middle East and Africa Vice President from Sony Mobile who chatted with us about the role that Sony Mobile has decided to play in the South African sector, how they decide which handsets reach our market, and when. Jason explained that locally available products are positioned to compliment the Active Price Segments, even though we are a technologically active region. With the fluctuating economical markets, Sony Mobile are poised to remain seen as a Premium Brand but offer High End Products at below Premium Prices, not to say that the quality or features are compromised to achieve this. This is where the Xperia L1 was confirmed as the Budget Beater of the new family, and the Xperia XA1 Ultra was classified as the “Selfie Hero” of the range, which would position it as the middle child in the new family.

A Short Interview

During a short interview with Christian, James and Jason, I asked Christian how Sony Mobile would approach changing the mindset of the “Brand Loyalists” in hopes of gaining their support with the new devices, specifically the Xperia XZ Premium, and he quickly responded with, “Waiting for the consumer to come to the device will not work, therefor we want to bring the device to the consumer through engaging with them at opportunities like the Mall Activation”. Jason complimented what Christian said very nicely with his closing statement to me, “With a strong brand such as Sony, pushing boundaries with technologies in Television, Camera, High Resolution Audio, at Sony Mobile we are able to leverage those components and present them all together in a Single Device.”

We would like to Thank Sony Mobile for this amazing #ItsASony Experience, for our epic Sony Extra Bass Headphone Gifts and for treating us all to an exclusive Pre-Screening of the new Spiderman: Homecoming movie! It was a night to remember! We had an absolutely awe-inspiring time, learnt a lot and look forward to keeping an eye on the future developments that Sony Mobile and Xperia will bring into our homes.

Our #ItsASony Experience Video

Watch to the end to see our 960 FPS Slow Motion Video Shinanigans!