Sony Mobile held its IFA 2017 press conference yesterday, with the Japanese manufacturer unveiling a trio of new Xperia smartphones. The devices include two flagship offerings in the form of the Xperia XZ1 and Xperia XZ1 Compact, as well as the Xperia XA1 Plus for the mid-range market.

At this stage, the XZ1 is confirmed for a South African release in October, with the XA1 Plus also set to arrive then, but no word on the XZ1 Compact's availability for now.

As such, let's touch on the two devices that will be making their way to SA. First the flagship XZ1, which features a 5.2" Full HD display and HDR compatibility. Added to this is an IP68 waterproofness and dust resistance rating, as well as a fingerprint sensor on the side-mounted power button. On the rear is a 19 MP camera, which we saw in the new XZ Premium at MWC 17, with the noteworthy 960 fps slow-mo video capabilities added as well. Other elements from the Premium found in the XZ1 are the octa-core Snapdragon 835, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of onboard storage (microSD slot for up to 256 GB).

Interestingly, the XZ1 is listed to sell for R10 999 on 1 October, making a fair bit cheaper than the XZ Premium (R14 999), but featuring many of its elements.

Moving onto the mid-range XA1 Plus, it's a slightly smaller version of the XA1 Ultra, with a 5.5" edge-to-edge Full HD (1080p) screen. Apart from its dimensions and display size, everything else is the same as the XA1 Ultra. To that end there's a 23 MP camera on the rear, an octa-core MediaTek Helio P20 processor, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal memory. A sizeable battery also features, with the 3430 mAh option likely yielding a full day and then some worth of battery life.

When the XA1 Plus lands in South Africa on 1 October, it will have a very enticing R3 999 price tag, which should appeal to savvy mid-range phone users.