Sony Xperia Z1

Key Features: Quad-core Snapdragon 800 2.2GHz processor; 2GB RAM; 20.7 MP camera; Full-HD 5-inch screen; 3000mhA battery; 16GB on board storage; microSD slot

Sony Xperia Z1 review

First reviewed: 20/09/2013

What is the Sony Xperia Z1?

Previously going by the codename Honami, the Sony Xperia Z1 is the follow up to the waterproof Sony Xperia Z smartphone launched last year and is the big brother of the more recently released Xperia Z1 Compact.

Hoping to provide some stiff competition for the iPhone 5S, the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One, Sony is ramping up the camera credentials of the Xperia Z1 by adding a 20.7-megapixel camera sensor. Sony also announced the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth supported QX10 and QX100 lens accessories to turn give the Z1 even greater snapping prowess.

Watch the Sony Xperia Z1 video

The Xperia Z1 also makes some welcome design changes and adds a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor making it one of the most powerful phones around.

It improves on an already great smartphone and has the new features to keep it fighting for the title of best Android phone.

Sony  Xperia Z1 - Design & Features

Put the Sony Xperia Z1 side-by-side with the Xperia Z, and there are some minor, yet crucial, differences between the two Sony smartphones. The Z1 features the same glass front and back but now uses a two tone aluminium frame to join the two together.

The Z1 weighs 169g making it considerably heavier than the Galaxy S4 (130g) and the HTC One (143g). At 8.5mm thick, it is slimmer than the One (9.3mm) but not quite as slender as the S4 (7.9mm).  It’s actually taller than the Xperia Z (139mm) jumping up to 144.4mm and is thicker than the Z jumping from 7.9mm to 8.5mm.

Some changes have been made to the positioning of ports and connections protected by those flimsy plastic latches. The headphone jack up top is no longer covered by one of those little latches. The wireless charging port, microSD, micro USB ports remain on the left side of the body.


Over on the right, the microSIM slot, smaller on/off button and volume rocker are now joined by a dedicated camera button. There’s a speaker grill on the bottom of the phone, while one of the corners has a hole drilled through it for the addition of a wrist strap.
The good news is that with the flaps all closed the Xperia Z1 is dust-proof is water resistant with a IP58 certification. This means it can survive being fully submerged in more than 1m of water for more than 30 minutes. The addition of the camera button means you can now take photos and shoot video under water.
Despite the overall jump in dimensions, the Sony Xperia Z1 feels much nicer to hold than the Z. The corners are curvier and slightly more pronounced. It seems like a small change, but it makes a world of difference. This is a still a big phone, but there’s no doubting the Z1 is a more elegant 5-inch smartphone than the Galaxy S4.

Sony Xperia Z1 - Screen

Sony has kept faith with the full HD 1080 resolution 5-inch capacitive screen. Tapping into the technology from its Bravia TV range the Xperia Z1 now benefits from Triluminos and X-Reality support. You can switch off the X-Reality for mobile feature which should help conserve battery life.




The aim of packing the Sony TV tech in to the Z1 is to produce sharper images and more accurate colour reproduction. Like the Z, the Z1 also features a scratch-proof screen protector covering the entire front of the phone.

With 441ppi and 16 million colour contrast ratio images are well-detailed, the Xperia Z1 makes the most of the 1920 x 1080p high resolution display. It does lack the colour depth and top level brightness you get on the S4 but it is still a great place to watch full HD content and play games on.
The screen protector has its advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, it will help defend the display against keys and loose change, although it does scuff quite easily. The down side is that it does have an impact on viewing angles, particularly from acute viewing points. Video can look washed out and dull. It doesn’t drastically ruin the viewing experience, but the most eagle eyed will notice it.

The Z1 screen supports 10-finger multi-touch and for getting around the homescreens, pinching and zooming images, browsing the web and typing on the keyboard, it’s offers a good response all round.

Sony Xperia Z1 Apps and Performance

Sony Xperia Z1 - Software

The Xperia Z1 runs on Android 4.2.2 so no Android 4.3 love just yet, but you still get plenty of the Jelly Bean experience. Like Samsung and HTC, Sony has put its own spin on the Google OS adding Sony branded native applications, software and widgets.  

You can still do all the things you’d expect from an Android phone like download apps from Google Play, navigate around five customizable screens, create folders, re-size widgets and access Google Now.

Alongside the usual Google suspects, Sony has packed the Xperia Z1 with plenty of apps. The most interesting new additions include the Dropbox-style Box, the TV SideView app to view EPGs and extra content, the Google Keep-like Notes and Track ID and Track ID TV to detect music and TV programmes.

It’s definitely a mix bag of apps. Some will save you from dipping into Google Play, others you will definitely want to replace. The Walkman and Movies apps are still great and, largely, the entertainment focused apps are the most useful.

Productivity tools like OfficeSuite require a Pro account to really make best use of it and thankfully Google is now making this free to use. The Sociallife app, Sony's take on Blinkfeed is not as well executed as it is in the HTC Sense UI.

What’s most interesting is the widget integration. When you listen to a song, take a photo or use Track ID to detect a song, a widget is automatically created letting you quickly view and launch the most recent content.

Helping you manage apps without jumping into the settings, you can swipe left inside the app launcher to access a menu pane. Here you can organize applications alphabetically, pick your own order, or even put them in order of how much you use them.

Sony’s take on the Android OS on the whole is still very slick and matches Samsung and HTC for intuitiveness and for newcomers to the platform is very straightforward to get to grips with.

Sony Xperia Z1 - Performance

The Z1 joins the Sony Xperia Z Ultra and the LG G2 in getting a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor clocked at 2.2GHZ with Areno 330 graphics and it really impresses. It's accompanied by 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage (12GB available to use) and can be expanded by a further 64GB via microSD.

It doesn't take long to realise that the Z1 is a seriously powerful smartphone. It's actually one of the most impressive we’ve ever used. It comfortably runs Real Racing 3, and graphics look polished on the full HD display. Likewise, streaming HD content is handled with ease. Browsing the web and swiping through homescreens show no signs of lag or a delayed response.

The benchmarks fully back the Z1's power credentials. In the Geekbench 3 benchmark test, the Z1 scores a 2797 putting it well above the S4 (2076) and the HTC One (1716) in terms of performance according. In the 3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited test the Z1 scores a 17258 putting it up with the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, which makes sense considering they share the same processor. On the web browsing front, the Peacekeeper benchmark delivers a 721 points score putting just below the iPhone 5.

Sony Xperia Z1 Camera

Sony Xperia Z1 - Camera Quality

The Z1 camera on paper, is the star of the show here. Jumping up from a 13-megapixel sensor to a 20.7 camera sensor, the Z1 also benefits from having a bigger 1/ 2.3-inch sensor putting it on par with most compact cameras and the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom.


Photo taken in Manual mode at 20.7-megapixel resolution

It also means the sensor is bigger than the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 (both 1/ 3.0inch) and has the ability to let more light in. This should help deliver better, much clearer photos in low-light conditions and keep image noise to a minimum.

Photo taken in manual mode at 20-megapixel resolution

There’s an LED flash and f/2.0 G lens combined with the sensor as well. There's no optical image stabilisation, but you do get Sony's BIONZ for mobile. This is an imaging processing engine adapted from Sony's range of cameras to generate a faster autofocus, more stable images and prevent shots from looking blurred.

To get things started there’s a transparent menu overlay to access the various camera modes including Superior auto, where picture settings are automatically adjusted. There’s also a manual mode, the ability to take sweeping panorama shots and a burst mode to take 30 shots continuously. The Xperia Z1 is initially set up to take 8-megapixel quality photos so you’ll need to go into manual mode to adjust the settings to take higher 20-megapixel stills.

Photo taken in Superior auto mode at 8-megapixel resolution

The snapping performance is good but we were perhaps hoping for more. Using the Superior Auto Mode images are sharp and detailed with accurate colours. Manual mode improves things and the menu overlay makes it easy to quickly adjust settings like exposure levels and white balance. The camera can take some time to focus and the lack of image stabilization means capturing images without some blur can be tricky.

The low-light performance is on par with most smartphones in this department. Flash or no flash, images struggle to deliver truly sharp, detailed images compared to when you are in well-lit environments.

Taking the Z1 underwater (or into a bath tub), it offers surprisingly decent results. With the flash on, the photos are reasonably clear. It struggles without the flash, but as a makeshift underwater camera goes, it serves up decent snaps.


Underwater shot taken in Superior auto mode at 8-megapixel resolution

When it comes to camera extras, Samsung has that department well sewn up but Sony does a pretty good job of it with the Z1 as well. Sony follows suit with a host of feature to enhance the use of the main camera.

First up is Social Live which lets you stream live video straight to Facebook. By simply connecting your Facebook account you can begin recording and let friends see the streaming footage.

Info Eye uses the camera to scan items like landmarks or book to generate information about the object. It sounds like a glorified Red Laser-like scanner app and that's pretty much what it is except we didn't have much luck getting it to pick out the books we tried to scan.

There’s also Picture Effect to add borders, filters, Fisheye look and AR Effect to add virtual scenes like a moving dinosaurs or masquerade masks.

Within the camera app you can actually add additional app content from Google Play and once downloaded appears alongside the pre-loaded content letting you select it straight from the screen

The Social Live is certainly the most interesting out of the bunch, but whether you would get much long term fun or use out of them we are not so sure.



Photo taken in Nostalgia Picture Effect mode



Photo taken with AR effect mode

Sony Xperia Z1 - Front-facing camera 

The Z1 features a 2-megapixel front-facing camera matching the Galaxy S4 for resolution. It’s just slightly less than the 2.1-megapixel packed onto the front of the HTC One. The image and video quality is above average and the ability to stream and record 1080p video at 30fps is impressive if you are planning to use it for video conversations.

Sony Xperia Z1 - Video quality

The Z1 actually manages to shoot great full HD video at 30fps. Footage is clear and the audio capture particularly impresses. What it lacks in vibrancy it does make up for with clarity, and it’s some of the better video recording we’ve seen when compared to its rivals. You can of course shoot video underwater adding another dimension to the Z1’s filming capabilities.

Sony Xperia Z1 battery life and call quality

Sony Xperia Z1 - Call & Sound Quality 

The Xperia Z1 offers strong call quality and has a few features to help keep things loud and clear. In the call settings you can activate the microphone noise suppression to reduce background noise, use the speaker voice enhancement feature for richer listening experience and a Slow talk mode to slow down the speaker on the other end of the call.

We didn’t notice any issues of calls dropping out and the Z1 manages to do a good job of isolating the sound when you are in a noisy environment like being in a train station.

Sony Xperia Z1 - Music and Sound Quality

In the audio department, the speaker grill on the bottom of the phone is better positioned than it is on the Z and less susceptible to being cupped when held in portrait and landscape mode. For music and watching video, the speaker is loud but lacks richness when the volume is cranked up. If you have to listen to music or watch a film, you are best sticking to a pair of headphones.

Sony Xperia Z1 - Battery Life

The Xperia Z1 packs a massive 3,000mAh battery up almost 30% on the Xperia Z and 400mAh bigger than the battery nestled inside the Samsung Galaxy S4. You still have access to Sony’s power management tools including Stamina mode to disable data when the screen is off and a low battery mode to conserve power when you have reached critical battery life levels.



On full charge and in general use playing games, browsing the web, and using Twitter and Facebook, the battery manages to get us comfortably through a day dropping down to 60% by 11pm having been on full charge at 9.30am. That's without tapping into the stamina and low battery modes. You can actually get a around a day and a half of proper use, if you are not using it excessively, for example with hours of gaming or keeping loads of apps running. 

In more extreme testing conditions, streaming a full HD video for 30 minutes the battery dropped to 78% from 100%. From a critical battery level the Z1 manages to add 15% of charge in 30 minutes making it ideal if you have forgotten to charge it the night before.

Should I buy the Sony Xperia Z1?

The Sony Xperia Z1 is a phone that addresses the key issue that plagued its predecessor, the design. The curvy look is a subtle change and makes the 5-inch smartphone so much more comfortable to hold and operate, but that's not to say it's not big. Adding a camera button makes having a waterproof design more useful now that you can actually take pictures and shoot video underwater.

It’s one of the most powerful smartphones we’ve had the pleasure to test. The camera is not as ground-breaking as the Nokia Lumia 1020, but it's still a great performer. Throw in the option of the QX100 and QX10 lens accessories and you can get something closer to a high end compact camera.

Putting it up against its 5-inch rivals it more than matches the Galaxy S4 and the HTC One it in terms of performance and design. Sony’s take on Android is a great alternative to Samsung's TouchWiz and HTC's Sense UI once you get to grips with it.

Verdict

The Sony Xperia Z1 is powerful smartphone with an improved camera and elegant design to make it one of the best 5-inch smartphones to currently buy.