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| Sony Xperia Z1 (Front View) |
After trying out Sony's new lens-type
strap-on smartphone
cameras, we've also gotten our hands on the company's new flagship
smartphone, the Xperia Z1.
The
next step in Sony's ambitious Z series of devices, the Xperia Z1 sounds like a
true flagship, at least on paper, and it's currently the Android market leader
in several areas, most notably with its 20.7-megapixel camera.
Add
in the 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage
and a 3,000mAh battery, and you have a device that's on par (or better) with
the likes of Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One. But how does it feel and perform in
real-life usage?
Simple
Does It
The
device's design won't surprise anyone: if you've seen the Xperia Z, the Z1 will
instantly be familiar to you. That's not a bad thing; we like the simplicity of
both devices, and the Z1's aluminum frame (which doubles as an antenna) with
curved edges makes it feel sturdier than its predecessor.
The 1080p screen,
previously a weak point of Sony smartphones, has been improved to the
Triluminos variety, already seen on the Xperia Z Ultra, which should ideally
bring more vivid colors and better sharpness and contrast. In reality, the
screen still lags behind, say, Samsung Galaxy S4's Super AMOLED display — tilt
it a little and you'll see the blacks go gray and the whites go darker — but
it's definitely sharp and beautiful to look at.
And
let's not forget that the entire thing is water-resistant. It does not feel
water-resistant, mind you, with somewhat flimsy covers for the USB port and the
SD card, but Sony says it is, and who are we to argue. Not many flagship
smartphones can claim this feat, so chalk another one up for Sony.
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| Sony Xperia Z1 (Back View) |
It's All About the Camera
In
terms of performance, the phone feels very snappy, if not lightning fast. Truth
be told, today the software makes all the difference, and the Z1 works as fast
as any Android 4.2.2 device we've seen before.
Processor
cores and gigabytes aside, what really makes the Z1 stand out is its camera. It
sports a 20.7-megapixel sensor, Sony's "G Lens" with F2.0 aperture
and a 27mm wide angle, and a BIONZ for mobile image processing engine. All this
translates to a very fast camera that takes truly amazing photos in the
daylight — better than any we've seen so far from a smartphone.
You
can check out the photo quality in our gallery — all the photos (yes, even
those of the device) were taken with the Z1. We haven't had a chance to try the
camera at night, though, and we did have some trouble with the focus, which
sometimes has a mind of its own, even after we've switched through the myriad
of focusing modes.
The camera also comes with
a bunch of different modes such as Superior auto, Panorama, Manual or Timeshift
burst. A fun mode is the AR effect, which adds some virtual reality elements
into a photo, such as dinosaurs or fish.
The
most interesting image-taking mode is the Info-eye, which integrates with
services such as Vivino or GoodReads to identify real-world objects (like wine
bottles and books) and brings you reviews and other info. Sure, you can do the
same directly from these apps (I've been using Vivino to identify wines for a
while now), but having it all integrated into the camera software makes it just
a wee bit easier.
Finally,
we've mentioned the 3000mAh battery, but we haven't had enough time to fully
test it out. What we can say, that in the first three hours of testing (that's
heavy usage, mind you) the battery went from 49% to 15%, forcing us to whip out
a portable charger.
We can't
give you our final judgment on the Z1, as we need more time to learn all the
device's quirks, but we're not sure we'd trade it for any other Android
smartphone on the market, and that's saying a lot. The design is nice (we still
prefer the HTC One's brushed aluminum frame, though), we love the camera, and
we love the fact that it's waterproof. Bar some yet-undiscovered bugs, Sony
might have a winner on its hands.
Source: Mashable
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