Sony has joined Samsung in debuting new high-end smartphones using Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 845 processor. The new phones, with rounded styling, mark a big (and arguably long overdue) change in the Japanese consumer electronic giant’s previous design ethos.

The XZ2 is the star of the show here, with a a 5.7-inch high-dynamic range display in 18:9 format. But the 5-inch XZ2 Compact, also in the tall 18:9 format, is now slouch either, also featuring the snappy 845 chip.

Both phones’ screens have full HD+ resolution — presumably to save battery life, Sony opted not to go for a 2K or 4K display in the XZ2, despite the screen’s size. The two phones’ rear cameras can shoot full-HD video at 960 frames a second at 1080p for “super slow motion” captures.

They play back HDR video and upscale non-HDR content to “near HDR” quality, too. The XZ2 has a new haptic feedback system, which Sony says adds “the perceptual sense of touch so you can feel your viewing experience”.

This uses the company’s new “dynamic vibration system”, which analyses audio data and “lets you feel the action in your hands, bringing your movies, games and videos to life”.

In keeping with the content-consumption theme, Sony has added stereo speakers, which it claims are the loudest ever included in an Xperia smartphone. The phone offers high-resolution audio and something called DSEE HX technology for audio upscaling.

The most noticeable difference, though, is the redesign of the handsets: they’ve lost the “boxy” feel of previous flagship Sony models for a more rounded and curved feel. The new phones are built with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and feature metal frames.

Other features of the new models include X20 LTE (offering speeds of up to 1.2Gbit/s, though don’t expect anything near that on South Africa’s mobile networks).