Sony Xperia Z1, 5-inch Full HD quad-core phone with 20mp camera and 3000mAh battery

Sony just unveiled their latest flagship smartphone, the 5-inch Xperia Z1 which is what happens when you marry their two previous flagship devices, the  Xperia Z Ultra and the Xperia Z. Basically it’s the Xperia Z Ultra but in a smaller pocket-friendly body.

The Sony Xperia Z1 has the same IP58-certified waterproof rating as that of the Xperia Z Ultra, which means it can go deep up to 1.5m for 30 minutes. The  chassis is made of a single block of aluminum protected by a scratch-resistant tempered glass at the front and back, just like their previous premium Xperia devices. It feels good and pretty solid in the hand which is how a premium device should feel.

There are covered flaps for the microSD, microSIM, and microUSB ports. The only exposed areas would be the 3.5mm audio port and the magnetic contact points for the charging dock.

At 8.5mm thin, the Xperia Z1 is a little thicker than the Xperia Z and the curved sides makes it chunkier but easier to handle. Comparing to the Xperia Z, the Xperia Z1 feels more solid although a tad heavier. It’s still pretty slim for a phone which has the same 1/2.3″ camera sensor (bigger than before) as that of the Samsung Galaxy Zoom but without any protruding part on the lens module, and still able to cram a 3000mAh battery at that. For comparison, the bigger Xperia Z Ultra has a 3050mAh battery.

The 5-inch display on the Xperia Z1 has a 1080p resolution backed by their Triluminous technology for a wider range of color reproduction. The viewing angles is actually quite good here. The screen is also enhanced by Sony’s X-Reality Engine for sharper images with better contrast plus the OptiContrast design for better readability under direct sunlight.

Inside, the Xperia Z almost has the same specs as that of the Z Ultra. It is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core chip with 2.2GHz powering each core. It gets 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage with a slot for microSD. It also supports LTE, NFC, and MHL.

Want to see some benchmark scores?

Sony Xperia Z1 Antutu score ““ 35,554

Sony Xperia Z1 Quadrant Score ““ 21,620

The phone scored insanely high on both Antutu and Quadrant benchmarks, even higher than fellow Snapdragon 800 devices. In Antutu, it’s at par with the LG G2 while the Quadrant score (21620) is way higher than the LG G2 and even the Xperia Z Ultra.

One of the cool features here is the camera module and the Xperia Z1 is the first Sony device to have it. It has a large 20.7-megapixel 1/2.3″ Sony Exmor RS sensor with an f/2.0 27mm wide angle Sony G Lens (first in mobile), and a Sony BIONZ image processor (first Xperia to have this processor). Initial tests show that it’s quick to focus, shoot and save images. Actually, it can take 61 images in 2 seconds when you use the Timeshift Burst mode.

The Timeshift Burse mode in action

Sony gave the Xperia Z1 some built-in camera apps and a favorite of mine would be the AR effect which lets you put funny overlay graphics to any scene. And even if you pan your phone, the overlay will follow and move around as well.

Here’s a live demo of how the AR effect work.

According to Sony Philippines, the Xperia Z1 is expected to arrive in the country around mid-October but the SRP is yet to be known. It may look like just another 5-inch Full HD phone but the Sony Xperia Z1 gets a really good camera to go with its large battery and excellent display in one beautiful package.