The Japanese giant has
been going all strong in the market for a while now. They launched the powerful
and durable Xperia Z and ZR a while back and now they have come up with even
better devices. As soon as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 came out, they launched
the Xperia Z Ultra. It was a large phablet with 6.44 inch display. This new
device, the Xperia Z1 is a powerful mobile device with an amazing camera. This
device has been long rumored because it was going to improve upon the already
very potent Xperia Z.
This device might be
confused for the previous flagship Xperia Z but they have made significant
design changes. It retains the waterproof and dustproof properties of the Z and
makes some new additions. It is priced close to the recently launched LG G2 and
it has got a superb camera to lure enthusiast photographers. We give you a
better idea of what this new Sony flagship is like.
Design
It looks largely like the
Xperia Z which isn’t a bad thing at all. The Z is a great looking device and
this one is similar with that sharp rectangular design. The material used gives
it a premium feel and it is comfortable to hold. There are a few visible
differences though. The Z1 is slightly fatter but many would fail to notice
that. What you would notice is the aluminum stripe that runs around the device.
It looks great and helps with handling of the device.
You will also notice the
large silver power key on the right spine of this device like some other Xperia
devices. There is a physical camera key too which would make life easier for
many. The device is comfortable to hold but unless you have got really large
hands, one handed operations are still tough. While the device is waterproof
and dustproof like the Xperia Z, they have made another change to improve upon
that. Here they have used a waterproof headphone jack. That means you don’t
have to uncover the jack every time you want to plug in your headphones. The
device can survive in fresh water for 30 minutes upto a depth of 1.5 meters.
Display
This phone has got a 5
inch full HD TFT display. It is essentially the same display we saw on the
Xperia Z with minor tweaks. It has a superb pixel density of 441 ppi. It is a
surprise though that they haven’t gone for IPS or AMOLED display as the
competition is using them and they are considerably better. It uses Sony’s
Triluminous tech which uses ‘quantum dots’ to reproduce colours better. Though
the gamma is not very good and some details are lost because the highlights are
bright. The brightness is decent for using the device outdoors but viewing
angles are not good at all. You might complain about the contrast ratios if you
are used to AMOLED displays, otherwise it is good. Overall the display is
decent except for the viewing angles.
Hardware
The device is powered by
Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 which is the most powerful chipset we have seen on
mobiles yet. It has got a quad core processor that can reach maximum clock
speed of 2.2 GHz. It is complemented by an Adreno 330 GPU and 2 GB of RAM. It
can handle any app or game with ease and you would never feel that you need a
powerful device, well at least for another year. App launches have a sense of
urgency and they open really fast. Everything about this phone is immediate and
there is no way you can slow this device down. It gets all the connectivity
options you find on any other high end device and it is powered by a 3000 mAh
battery. It easily outperforms Samsung Galaxy S4; let it be performance scores
or actual app performance.
Software/
Interface
It runs the Jelly Bean
4.2.2 which has been around for a while now. Though it doesn’t come with the
latest version, we aren’t worried because the differences are minor and there
is no way Sony won’t update their flagship device. Sooner or later you will be
running a newer version of android on this device for sure. The interface is
heavily modified and they have made changes to quite a number of apps. The app
launcher is highly customizable and has a lot more features over the stock
android launcher. The stock apps like gallery, music player and camera have
been replaced to put in Sony’s own version of these apps.
Camera
Apart from the powerful
processor, this is the highlight of this phone. It gets a 20.7 megapixel camera
with large 1/2.3 inch sensor. A 27 mm f/2.0 G wide angle lens is used to allow
light onto the processor. It gets the Bionz image processor to minimize noise
when used in low light. And the results are just superb. Low light photos are
way better than much point and shoot cameras.
The camera app has also
been modified and you can load third party camera apps directly into it. This
allows you to access them faster and you don’t have to switch apps like you
used to. There is another smart feature which you might use when you go to live
music shows. This phone can stream live video to your Facebook account for your
friends to watch.
Verdict
Sony Xperia Z1 is really a great device
and it stands strong against the competition. It is priced close to most of its
rivals while carrying some features to edge them out. The display is a bit dull
but that is the only drawback with this device. It is waterproof, dustproof and
has a superb camera to make it a better buy than the competition.
About the author
The article has been written by Kundan Kumar, who is
passionate about technology and how its changing everyone's life by making it
easier. He's working at 91mobiles.com and writes about the latest in the tech domain,
right from devices to innovations.
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