Sony Xperia Z1: A specifications review

The long wait has finally come to the end. Sony
pulled the wraps off its imaging-centric
smartphone, the Xperia Z1, yesterday. With the
new device, Sony continues its trend of coming
up with compact, water-and-dustproof
smartphones. This time around, though, the
company has also thrown in a range of new
features for a better camera experience. The
latest Sony flagship builds on the existing
platform made by the Xperia Z and the Z Ultra.
Now let’s take a closer look at the specifications
it will come with:
OS- Android 4.3
As expected, the Xperia Z1 comes with the latest
Android build in the market, Android 4.3 Jelly
Bean. The smartphone comes with enough
display real estate for users to easily switch
between multiple home screens. In addition, the
Xperia Z1 allows users to easily change the order
of their app icons in the menu to offer quick
access to the most-used apps or any custom
order that they prefer. The Xperia Z1 comes with
a slightly tweaked image and video gallery, with
Sony packing in its Music and Video Unlimited
streaming apps as well. Users who opt for these
paid services can get 60 days of free music
streaming as well as six free recent movie
releases. Users who missed out on Elysium, for
example, can watch the same on the Xperia Z1,
as soon as it comes up as an official digital
download.
Cellular connectivity: LTE, GPRS, HSDPA
As with most other top-of-the-line smartphone
offerings this year, the Xperia Z1 comes with
LTE connectivity. The smartphone comes with
4G support for a range of networks, and also
adds in GPRS and HSDPA for areas where 4G
cannot reach.
Display: 5-inch Triluminos capacitive
touchscreen with 1080p
The display, in terms of size, is definitely a step
down from the company’s earlier offering, the
6.4-inch Xperia Z Ultra. That being said, the
Xperia Z1 comes in with a good looking 5-inch
full HD Triluminos capacitive display with a pixel
resolution of 1080 x 1920 and a pixel density of
441ppi. This is similar to what was earlier seen
in the Xperia Z.
The display, like most other smartphones this
year, comes with multi-touch as well as shatter
proof and scratch resistant glass. Sony, apart
from its patent Triluminos technology, has also
added its Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 to the Xperia
Z1. The company has claimed that the addition
will give the Xperia Z1 rich colours, deep
contrast and pin-sharp clarity. It is hoped that
the company does not repeat the slight washed
out TFT LCD seen in the Xperia Z, which also
came with rather poor viewing angles.
Form factor: Slim, smart, weather-proof
The resemblance between the Xperia Z1 and the
Xperia Z is unmistakable. The Xperia Z1 comes
with an all-glass front and back, strikingly
similar to its older sibling. The Xperia branding
on the back, the camera lens in the top-left
corner and the large power button on the right-
hand edge further heighten the similarities
between the two.
That is where the similarities end, though. The
first difference is the aluminium band that is
seen around the edges of the phones. The band
is made from a single piece of metal that the
company believes will help increase the
sturdiness of the smartphone. And unlike its
predecessor, which sported rather sharp edges,
the Xperia Z1 comes with a rounded metal edge
that should be easier on the hand. While the
Xperia Z1 comes with roughly the same
dimensions as the Xperia Z, the former is slightly
thicker.
Like most other recent Sony smartphone
offerings, the Xperia Z1 is completely waterproof.
That means that the more adventurous among
us will be able to drop it in a puddle of water,
make calls in the rain and even take it to the
shower (the reasons need not be specified).
Unlike the earlier Sony model, which placed a
flap over the headphone jack, the new
smartphone comes with a waterproof jack itself,
meaning that you will not need to pull out the
flap every time you want to plug your
headphones in.
Wi-Fi-All the usual suspects
Being the current flagship of the company, the
Xperia Z1 comes with the very best in Wi-Fi
connectivity. This includes all the usual 2013
suspects going up to the ac band. Apart from
that, the smartphone also comes with Wi-Fi
Direct and DLNA for content sharing. As with
most other current smartphones, Wi-Fi hotspot
is also present.
SoC-Snapdragon 800
The Sony Xperia Z1 comes with Qualcomm’s
latest Snapdragon 800 SoC. Packed into the CPU
are four Krait 400 cores clocked at 2.2GHz. In
addition, the smartphone comes with an Adreno
330 GPU and 2GB of RAM. The Xperia Z1 will
definitely not lack in sheer processing power. The
latest processor, apart from coming with
improving performance, also brings in native
always-on voice command support and an
updated version of Qualcomm’s power
management solution.
Internal storage-16GB with microSD slot
The Xperia Z1 comes with 16GB of internal
memory. In addition, the smartphone also sports
a microSD slot on its water and dustproof form
that allows for expansion up to 64GB. That
should definitely be more than enough to store
all the full HD videos that you may want to see
on-the-move.
Camera-20.7MP Exmor RS, BIONZ for
mobile”sensor, 2MP front facing
Pride of place goes to the new camera that the
Xperia Z1 comes to the market with. The
smartphone houses a massive 20.7-megapixel
camera. This is a huge step up from the 13-
megapixel camera sported by its predecessor,
but the company has said that this is just the
tip of the iceberg.
The sensor size in the new smartphone, at
1/2.3-inch is much bigger than what is normally
seen, and is similar to what Samsung’s other
camera-centric smartphone, the Galaxy S4 Zoom
comes with. So far, the only other smartphone
that comes with a bigger sensor is the Nokia
Lumia 1020, which comes with a 1/1.5-inch
sensor. In addition, the Z1 makes use of a wide
angle 27mm f/2.0 G Lens along with a Bionz
image processor. The company has claimed that
the latter has considerably been tweaked to
minimise the noise in low-light environments.
Added to the package is a 2 megapixel front
facing shooter that can take videos at 1080p.
The company has added a bunch of smart
applications for the Z1. The first on the list is
Social Live, for broadcasting videos live from the
smartphone to Facebook and the likes. Also seen
is Info-eye, to help with information on
landmarks or books or food after they have been
captured. Timeshift burst will allow users to take
61 images with just one click of the shutter.
Users have the option of scrolling back and forth
to find the image of their choice. The last on the
list is AR effect, which gives a selection of
customisable animations to create pictures using
the company's Smart AR augmented reality
technology. The company has also built in an
open SDK for the smartphone's camera for other
developers to use its features in third-party
apps.
Sensors: Accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity
sensor, compass
The smartphone comes with all the usual
suspects seen in recent models. An
Accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor and a
compass are featured in the Z1.
GPS: A-GPS, GLONASS
Just like all other high-end devices in the market
today, the smartphone comes with both A-GPS
and GLONASS support thrown in. The latter
should significantly reduce the location lock time
for users.
Extras-NFC, Bluetooth 4.0
The Z1 comes with One-touch NFC support as
well as Bluetooth 4.0. This should ensure that
data transfer while using the Z1 should not be
an issue.
Battery:
Looking at the camera and display the Z1 packs,
a competent battery is necessary. Addressing
that need, Sony has packed in a 3000 mAh
battery for catering to all the applications and
features on the smartphone.
The bottom line:
All-in-all, the Xperia Z1 looks like a good
smartphone. With a form factor similar to the
Xperia Z, the new offering definitely looks good.
The massive camera and latest processor will
ensure that users should not have any
complaints with the smartphone. The Xperia Z1
reflects the increasing focus that smartphone
manufacturers are bringing to bear on imaging-
centric smartphones. And the 20.7 megapixel
sensor will ensure that the Xperia Z1 will stand
firmly in the race for smartphones with good
cameras.