Sony Xperia Z5 Premium with world's first 4K screen unveiled

Capturing and displaying true to live images has long been close to Sony's heart and today they revitalized that passion. The Sony Xperia Z5 Premium is the first to reach the next benchmark in display smartphone technology – 4K resolution – and comes with a much-improved camera to match.

The 4K Triluminos display is an IPS panel has 3,840 x 2,160px resolution, that's four times 1080p or just over 8MP. It puts 806ppi pixel density in the palm of your hand for crystal clarity of 4K footage from Netflix, YouTube or some that you've shot yourself.

You can do that with the brand new camera, the first major upgrade since the Z1. The Xperia Z5 Premium packs a new 1/2.3" Exmor RS sensor with 23MP resolution (shared with the other Z5s). The sensor sits behind a Sony G Lens with an f/2.0 aperture and tech borrowed from Sony's α line of lenses.

The camera captures 4K videos with improved Intelligent Active Mode and SteadyShot technology for smooth, sharp videos at day and at night. ISO for videos goes up to 3,200, for photos the maximum jumps to 12,800.

The new camera locks focus faster than you can blink – it needs just 0.03 seconds so it gets perfect focus even in spontaneous action-packed moments. The upgraded sensor and lens also promise clear night photos and 5x digital zoom with minimal quality loss.

Selfie photography is handled by a 5MP shooter with an Exmor R sensor. It features a 25mm wide-angle lens to fit more in the frame and can record 1080p video with the same software magic as the main camera.

Audio also focuses on quality and resolution. High-Res Audio handles playback of high frequency sound for a "studio quality experience" while DSEE HX takes regular audio and upscales it to near High-Res levels. For the full experience you'll need a compatible headset – Sony's MDR-NC750 (€93) supports High-Res and its noise cancellation snuffs out up to 98% of the noise around you.

For Bluetooth headsets the LDAC codec promises a 3-fold improvement over the basic audio streaming. Finally, the phone has a good pair of speakers on its face if you want to share the music with those around you.

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium

The Sony Xperia Z5 Premium has a stainless steel frame (unlike the other Z5s, which are made from aluminum). It's painted in Black, Gold or the unique Chrome option (a mirror finish). The body is IP65/68 rated – dust-tight and waterproof with a cap-less USB port.

A new addition to the Z family is the fingerprint sensor on the redesigned Power key. Things naturally flow from waking the phone with the key to unlocking it with the sensor, which also supports the FIDO standard for online payment services.

The phone runs Sony-flavored Android 5.1, naturally, powered by a Snapdragon 810 chipset with 3GB of RAM. You get 32GB of storage out of the box and can add up to 200GB more with a microSD card if you need extra room for those 4K videos.

The Sony Xperia Z5 Premium will launch globally in November, pricing will be revealed around that time. It will come in single and dual-SIM versions, both of which support Cat. 6 LTE.