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Hey guys, I'm Basil. This is the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact and you're watching our video review.
Now the Z1 Compact announced at CES 2013 is already in our hands, with its smaller body
but all the power of a flagship. How is it after a couple of weeks of using it?
We're going to start off by talking about that design and as you can see we've got the
yellow / lime green version.
It's available in a range of colours, you've also got a really cool hot pink one which
we were quite partial to as well. Not only does it look fun and cool though, it can also
look demure in black and white and it feels very very solid.
This thing has an aluminium frame, glass front and back and it looks classically styled,
just like Sony's Xperia Z1 and Z before it.
Now, our design highlight has to be the waterproofing. You can drop this thing in water / leave it
under water for half an hour, it's IP58 certified so that's immediately, off the bat going to
set it apart from the mini competition.
Our, probably least favourite design feature's going to be that camera button.While we love
having a camera button on here, which means you can power up the camera from anywhere
using that button, it is fiddly, it's small and I have massive hands - so that's probably
why it's my personal gripe.
But if that's our biggest gripe with the entirety of the design of this phone, then it is definitely
doing something right.
If we look at the screen you've got a 720p IPS panel. Now what that means is you haven't
got as many pixels per-inch i.e. it's not as sharp as the Xperia Z1, though the fact
you've got an IPS panel means you've got better viewing angles, richer colours as well as
better colour accuracy. And you've got very nice, deep blacks too, by comparison to those
found on the Xperia Z1 before it.
All in all therefore we think it is a worthwhile compromise as a phone that's 4.3-inches isn't
going to be a multimedia powerhouse that you need oodles and oodles of sharpness for - plus
- it's still sharper than an iPhone 5S for example.
Inside that screen it's Android 4.3 and it's Sony's take on Android which is always very
clean, very simple. It's the traditional pull down notifications bar / applications tray
system, but it is done in a very elegant way.
One thing we would like Sony to do is advance it a little bit - we've seen this UI on a
few devices now. It's pretty much unchanged since the Xperia Z Ultra and even that was
a minor change when compared to the Xperia Z before it.
If you pull down the notifications bar for example you can't long press any of the quick
toggles like you can in stock Android for example to go straight into the menu settings
for them. So just little things like this are actually inferior to stock Android whereas
they weren't before - and that's why we want Sony to update everything come MWC.
Multimedia-wise, the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact kind of wipes the floor with the competition
a little bit - well, at least the HTC One mini and the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini - not
least of all thanks to its 20.7-megapixel camera.
Now this is an f/2.0 camera - that's the aperture of the lens - so it's going to let loads of
light in, it's got a really colour accurate flash.
Pictures have great amounts of detail, even when you're not taking 20.7-megapixel pictures,
because this thing shoots 8-megapixel pictures in full automatic mode by doing something
called oversampling.
Grabbing a load of pixels and squishing them into a smaller file-size picture that is ultimately
more accurate - well, that's the plan. We have to attest to the fact that it kind of
does work on this phone.
We've done a camera comparison with the iPhone 5S - link below - and this little critter
won-out even though it's significantly cheaper.
So what's so good about it in terms of the camera? The extensive range of shooting modes
to start off with. But when it comes to picture quality, it also delivers a really good amount
of detail and a very colour accurate flash as well. Macro performance is second to very
few smartphones and all in all, for the price and for the size, you aren't going to do much
better.
Video is recorded in Full HD 1080p and digital image stabilisation on it is very good so
we can't be anything but impressed with the Z1 Compact on an imaging front.
As far as multimedia goes on it, you've got all of Sony's standard services - Music and
Video unlimited for example. And if you're not subscribed to them, Android offers a plethora
of ways to get video and music on here such as Spotify, Netflix, BBC iPlayer if you're
in the UK etc. So yeah - generally, a very good phone.
If you watch loads and loads of movies and videos on your phone then it might be a little
bit small for you - and if you're a complete gadget fiend then the Xperia Z Ultra is definitely
better, though the camera on this thing is definitely top-notch along with the Xperia
Z1.
Now we benchmarked the Xperia Z1 Compact along with all the other key players on the market
including its bigger brother and including the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - and we titled
the Compact "the most powerful phone on the market" - head over to Btekt and you can read
the article.
It's kind of true and it kind of isn't. The reason it isn't true is because it's got a
lot of the same specs as found on a lot of other phones out there - Qualcomm Snapdragon
800 processor clocked at 2.23 GHz and it's also got 2GB RAM.
What makes it so powerful on paper is the fact you've only got a 720p screen, thereby
putting less pressure on that processor and using less of that RAM.So that's why it actually
beats the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in a shed load of benchmarks.
Impressive stuff? We think so, making it perfect for someone who wants power but doesn't want
all that size.
As far as connections go, it's also incredibly well connected with everything bar an infrared
blaster. What does that all stack up to? Well you've got LTE, you've got Wi-Fi obviously,
Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth LE / 4.0, you've got NFC round the back for Sony's One Touch pairing
system.
All the key ports are under flaps save for the 3.5mm headphone jack - that's to ensure
the waterproofing. So you're going to get everything you want on here and excellent
battery life as well.
At CES we weren't convinced the 2300mAh battery in this thing would see us through a full
day. Fortunately, we were completely, completely wrong, because we got through more than just
a full day.
The fact this thing has Battery Stamina mode - means when the screen's off, you won't be
using applications unless they're white-listed. Without that even switched on we could definitely
use this phone from morning to night and we're relatively heavy power users.
In a nutshell, the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact is our favourite Android phone out now. Not
only does it couple great looks with a really good fit in the hand and a fantastic camera,
it also has stacks and stacks of personality with all the power and connectivity options
you could want.
Hopefully you've enjoyed our review, we've certainly enjoyed reviewing this phone. If
you have any questions about the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact fire them in the comments section
below if you're watching this on YouTube. If you've enjoyed the video click the like
button and subscribe to the channel as well.
Make sure you head over to Btekt.com where you can find the latest news, reviews and
some really cool deals as well. Thanks for watching.
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