As they say, bad habits die hard and for Sony, they are once again doing the 6 month flagship refresh cycle. Earlier this year, Sony revealed that they will be retiring the Xperia Z series in favor of the new Xperia X series. Currently, there are 4 devices in the Xperia X family and at IFA 2016 today, Sony is adding another two more to the Xperia X family.

The new Xperia XZ will be replacing the Xperia X Performance as Sony's flagship grade smartphone. The Xperia XZ is made out of aluminium and the fingerprint scanning lock key is still here but the biggest change to the design is ALKALEIDO aluminium that Sony is using to construct the rear panel of the Xperia XZ.

Other than that, the Xperia XZ is also Sony's first smartphone to adopt the UBS Type-C port. Also, Sony is also introducing their new 23MP IMX 300 sensor on the Xperia XZ which will supposedly produce excellent photos. In terms of video, Sony says they have thrown in a 5-axis stabilization system that they use with their handycam but the caveat is that it will only work with 1080P recording.

Beyond that, the Xperia XZ looks to be a pretty decent smartphone. There's also a new shade of blue like the one pictured below.

Moving on to the second smartphone that Sony is showing off at IFA 2016 and that is the Xperia X Compact. In a lot of ways, the Xperia X Compact is a lot like the Xperia Z Compact from yesteryear. But Sony is mixing things up a bit with the Xperia X Compact, it does feature the same 23MP IMX 300 sensor that the Xperia XZ has but that's about it.

Everything else is a little bit of a downgrade. The screen is a mere 720P and the Xperia X Compact is constructed out of plastic. But, Sony did retain some of the good features like front facing speakers and the fingerprint sensor on the lock key.

Right now, Sony isn't disclosing any information or pricing of the Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact.

Sony Xperia XZ Key Specifications

— 5.2-inch 1080P IPS LCD display
— Snapdragon 820 SoC
— 3GB RAM
— 32/64GB expandable memory
— 23MP f2.0 rear camera
— 13MP front camera
— 2,900mAh battery w/QC3.0
— Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
— 146 x 72 x 8.1mm
— 161g
— Black, Platinum, Blue, Pink
— IP68 rating

Sony Xperia X Compact Key Specifications