Sony Xperia z1 - a stylish smartphone with a great camera and performance

In pursuit of the consumer, companies playing on the mobile device market constantly offer new models. The brand favorite by many has not become an exception. Sony Xperia z1 received a new stylish design, several changes in the class of protection (general and interfaces). He has an interesting concept of a transmit-receive antenna. And of course, a unique and recognizable appearance. Learn more about all the features in the Sony Xperia z1 review.

Specifications

The following table lists the main technical specifications of the Sony Xperia z1 (c6903).

CPU	Snapdragon 800 quad-core (Krait400, frequency limit 2200 MHz)
GP	Adreno330
Display	5 inches FullHD, 440 ppi, TriLuminous TFT
RAM / ROM	2 GB / 16 GB
Mobile communications standards	GSM, HSDPA
Data transfer protocols	EDGE, GPRS, 3G, 4G
Wireless protocols	Bluetooth, NFC, Wi-Fi (Direct, Point)
Cameras	2Mp front, 20.7 megapixel main (autofocus)
Options	DNLA, MHL, OTG, IP55 / 58 isolation from water, dust
Battery	3000 mAh

The device has dimensions of 144x74x8.5 mm, a body of glass and aluminum, is offered in three colors and weighs 170 g.

Sony xperia z1

Design and ergonomics

The first thing that attracts the attention of Sony Xperia Z1 - new bezel design. Now the frame is made of a single piece of aluminum. The surface of its edges matte shiny and got a new convex shape. This makes the model look aristocratic, serious. The back panel is made of tempered glass. Both on the front screen and on the back cover, protective films are pasted on delivery of the product. They are rather fragile, so most owners of the device unstick them immediately.

Increased ease of use. Now the smartphone Sony Xperia z1 does not need to constantly rub off the fingerprints on the glass inserts, as it was with previous models. On the front and rear windows oleophobic layer. Silky roughness of brushed metal, the ability not to collect dirt - all this is very pleased with consumers. This is not just Sony’s marketing statement, but also feedback from actual product owners.

On the edges of the phone accommodated the following items.

1. At the top left - a slot for a memory card and a microUSB charger interface. In the center is located a block of contacts to connect with the docking station.
   

2. Right almost in the center - a dedicated, round metal power button and volume change rocker. Almost at the bottom - the camera button, on top of the SIM card installation compartment.
   
3. Upstairs in splendid isolation is 3.5 minijack for wired headsets and headphones.
   
4. Below almost the entire edge is occupied by the dynamics of the lattice. As evidenced by reviews on the phone Sony Xperia z1, it does not set volume records. However, to block the flow of air is very difficult. Here is a conversational microphone.
   

On the front panel - the expected set of elements.

1. The conversational speaker, next to which the indicator of the missed event is placed, a block of sensors in the composition of the illumination, the approximations are located on the upper band.
2. There is nothing in the bottom lane. Navigation in the phone is done with on-screen buttons.

The side of the display frame in the off state is almost imperceptible. They do not catch the eye and when working due to the convex surfaces of the frame frame.However, some users are puzzled by the size of the upper and especially the lower bands in the front - they take more than a centimeter.

On the back cover, in the upper left corner of the camera is the eye, next to the LED flash. Right next to this functional block there is an inscription with the characteristics of the sensor. Slightly lower in the middle is the NFC sensor unit. Almost in the geometric center of the cover - the manufacturer's logo.

The phone fits well in the hand, but you can't call it compact.. The smartphone Sony Sony Ericsson z1 rightly bears the proud name of a shovel. Fragile girls with a small brush can be difficult to control such an overall device. For example, men note that the power button is located exactly under the thumb. Girls can not boast of such a review. In addition, the proximity of the rocker causes management errors and some inconvenience.

Protection class

A very popular option is to protect the device from water and dust. Protection class IP58 directly shows that the mobile phone Sony Xperia z1 cannot have open interfaces. In practice, the covers insulate all slots and sockets, except for the 3.5 mm mini jack of the headphones.Everything moves easily and does not give users trouble. As for the headphone jack, the Sony Xperia z1 phone has received a new interface design: neither water nor dust can break the connection or get inside the case.

1. Sony Xperia z1 can be under a continuous stream of water.
2. It is allowed to dive to a depth of 1.5 m for a period of 30 minutes.
3. The camera start button allows you to use the device as a camera for underwater shooting.

Important! Data on the time spent under water are referred to freshwater liquids. In salty, the seal may be impaired. Naturally, with this protection against water and dust, Sony Xperia z1 is perfectly controlled with wet fingers.

Screen

Sony Xperia z1 got a display with trade name TriLuminous. It is made according to the technology that completely eliminates the air gap and the formation of undesirable optical effects. The diagonal of the display is 5 inches, with a pixel density of 440 per inch, it has a FullHD resolution of 1920x1080 pixels.

The minimum backlight rate is 34 cd per square meter, and the maximum is 460 cd per square meter. Such characteristics directly say that the Sony Xperia z1 can be used comfortably under any conditions. Information on the display will vary in bright sunshine, and the minimum light does not overload the eyes in the dark.

Brightness can be adjusted both manually and automatically, according to the readings of the light sensor. It is worth noting the features of the system. Adaptive brightness reacts quickly and adequately. However, in complete darkness, the minimum backlight rate is 97 cd per square meter. This is quite a lot, given the minimum possible value.

As mentioned above, a factory film is stuck on the screen when the Sony Xperia z1 is shipped. It can cause double vision effects at maximum viewing angles. In general, the characteristics of the Sony Xperia z1 in relation to the display show continuous advantages:

• maximum viewing angles, colors shift very slightly;
• gray color is neutral;
• response time when changing black and white colors is 10 ms;
• The gamma level is 1.9.

Important! Matrix technology is different from standard IPS. There is a slight shift in color balance. However, the Sony Xperia z1 has an image processing system for displaying the Sony X-Reality display. It allows even with a moderate contrast ratio of 600: 1 to get authentic colors and excellent picture quality.

Hardware platform

The heart of the Sony Xperia z1 is a single-chip SoC Snapdragon 800 from Qualcomm.It has 4 cores with a maximum operating frequency of 2.2 GHz. Such a platform shows enough high performance with predictable power consumption. The price at which Sony Xperia z1 is offered implies excellent performance in demanding applications. Adreno330, a high-performance and economical video accelerator, is used for graphics processing in games.

In the device 2 GB of RAM, 11 GB of free space for data storage and installation of applications. This is all that remains of the stated 16 after the deployment of the operating system. However, the phone supports memory cards up to 64 GB, so there is no shortage of users in the storage size.

Check in games shows a good level of performance. The challenging Epic Citadel test showed 59.7 frames in high performance mode. This is the average figure for almost all modern smartphones. However, to the credit of the Sony Xperia z1, he demonstrated the class where others are dropping. In Ultra High Quality mode, the model demonstrated 55.1 frames per second.

Important! It is worth noting one device flaw. The processor platform with a high load significantly generates heat.

Radio module features

It is worth noting the possibility of the radio module. The case is not assembled around the aluminum frame. A plate is made of a single piece of metal, which is shaped into a complex shape by means of milling. It is she who acts as the force skeleton of the model, pretending to be a thin frame with a convex surface. This detail performs not only the role of the base of the hull structure. The receiving and transmitting communication circuits are connected to it. As a result, Sony Xperia z1 shows excellent results in all conditions. Mobile communication works at 100%, there are no problems with other exchange protocols.

The use of such an approach to the receiving-transmitting antenna allowed Sony engineers to create several accessories that would not be offered, for example, for the Compact model. This is, first of all, separate camera DSC-QX100, a device with impressive specifications. It connects wirelessly to the Sony Xperia z1 and can be controlled by smartphone software, transfer photos directly to its data store.

Autonomy

The Sony Xperia z1 has a non-removable 3000 mAh lithium-ion battery. Device works confidently all day, without limiting the use of programs and communications.

Important! The phone has a separate battery saving mode. Stamina disables all unused applications if the device goes into lockout mode. When the owner turns on the screen - the programs are loaded again into memory. If the display mode is set to “always on”, the power saving option stops working.

User-conducted tests show the following picture:

• reading mode up to 12 hours;
• high-quality video playback from the Internet, with a comfortable brightness - 8 hours;
• demanding games at maximum load - up to 4.5 hours.

The results are not revolutionary, but quite acceptable. In general, for its size, Sony Xperia z1 shows good autonomy, even with constant display activity.

Cameras

Front-camera Sony Xperia z1 does not show anything revolutionary. This is a high quality 2Mp sensor and a sophisticated data processing system that allows you to get good pictures. In addition to selfies, a camera with acceptable results photographs, for example, a view from the window of a house. The resulting image is quite detailed.

Important! The rear camera has a sensor with a physical pixel number of 20.7 MP.But you can get such a picture quality only after switching to manual mode. By default, the super-auto option is activated and the image resolution is set to 8Mp with a widescreen aspect ratio.

At full resolution, the camera shows the following results:

• low noise levels are achieved in virtually any light levels;
• the flash shows a uniform distribution of the color range over the entire field of the photo;
• acceptable shots even in low light conditions;
• in complete darkness, a bunch of flash-camera show almost uniform illumination of the entire field of photography and correct adjustment of the photosensitivity.

It is worth noting several unique options Sony Xperia z1.

1. In InfoEye mode, you can add service information to objects in a frame, for example, to pull up data about the Eiffel Tower at the time of its photographing.
2. Using TimeShiftBurst takes up to 61 photos per second.
3. There are options for fans of social networks. In SocialLife mode, Sony Xperia z1 can immediately upload photos and videos to Facebook.
4. An interesting option SmartAR augmented reality is able to combine the captured images with animation. This unusual sight will appeal to children most of all.

In addition, the camera service system offers face detection, automatic red-eye removal. Quick start mode is supported: the user can instantly take pictures by pressing the hardware button on the case. In this case, the reaction to the action is configured.

Buy or not

Perhaps the only thing that spoils the impression of the Sony Xperia z1 - support for only one SIM card. In modern conditions, this may be inconvenient. The rest of the phone is very good. Guaranteed stable connection, excellent screen, autonomy, reasonable price and unique appearance - all this clearly indicates that the model is worth buying. Naturally, if in the usual mode the owner uses the services of only one mobile operator.

Sony xperia z1