Sony Xperia Z1 Review by MI5

[MI5]

My Xperia Z1 Review.

First off I’ll get the specs out the way:

Weight 169 grams

Dimensions 144.4 x 73.9 x 8.5 mm

Camera 20.7 megapixel camera with Sony Exmor RS® for mobile image sensor

Display 5.0 inch Full HD TRILUMINOS™ Display for mobile with X-Reality™ for mobile picture engine

16,777,216 colours, 1920x1080 pixels

 On the inside Google Android 4.4 (Kitkat)

2.2 GHz Qualcomm MSM8974 Quad Core

Durability Waterproof (IP55 and IP58) Dust-resistant (IP55)

Battery Talk time: Up to 14 hours Standby time: Up to 880 hours Music listening time: Up to 110 hours Video playback time: Up to 6.6 hours Battery: 3000 mAh minimum

Now that’s done I’ll attempt to translate that into real world usage….

As I own an Xperia SP I had a certain expectation with this phone and I wasn’t disappointed. Setup is standard Android fair and once I’d got my core apps installed I set about putting it through it’s paces.

Calling:  Standard contacts app but no instant search from the keypad (typical Sony). Call quality was nothing special but not naff either. Call clarity was not as good as my SP (surprisingly) but no issues hearing or been heard so that’s a tick.

Texting: Just standard but functions as expected. Tick.

Internet browsing: Again standard affair. However, I tried both the stock browser and Chrome and I could not get either to text flow when zooming. My HTC & SP does this perfectly and I don’t know why the Z1 refused point blank to play….

I tested browsing and app connectivity on 2G, 3G & 4G and all performed up to expectations. Even 2G didn’t seem too slow so I’d be confident to say this phone offers good strong data connectivity. Overall a tick.

Battery life: This I found to be exceptional. I did not use any power saving modes and the battery went 2 full days easily. Definitely best in class and considering the specs an astonishing performance. Big tick.

Feel: Again, this phone was a delight in this area. The front and back are Gorilla glass and very shiny. I thought this might show up smudges and fingerprints, which it did, but nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. It also looks flippin gorgeous Big tick.

Camera: Excellent outdoors but poor indoors. Unfortunately this seems typical of Sony phones these days. When I say poor I don’t mean bad, I just mean poor in comparison to its outdoor ability. For many users it will be fine. There are so many modes to choose from I could write a whole page on the camera and video alone, but I’ll leave them for you to find out for yourselves….. Overall a big tick, mainly due to the many modes and effects you can apply.

Outdoor

Indoor

Screen: Simply gorgeous. Always vibrant and bright. Images rendered with the clarity that only a high end device can deliver. Images were never pixilated no matter how much I zoomed and even in the brightest sunlight I could find at this time of year, the screen never washed out. Big tick.

Water proofing: Not tested, but I believe the claims

Apps: Biggest let-down of all. So much Sony bloatware that I would never use (and I doubt many others either). I just don’t see the point of yet another music/video/book/magazine/social network or feed. Esp when many Android users already use the featured Google services or have their own favourites. No tick.

Music: On board speaker wasn’t too bad for a phone and pairing up with my Skullcandy headphones was an extremely pleasurable experience. Tick.

Verdict: Anyone owning this phone will not be disappointed. The price is now very reasonable too esp considering that the Z2 has just been launched (If the Z2 builds on this it will be an amazing device too).

I liked the look, the feel, the screen, the battery life, the camera/video modes and the strong connectivity.

I disliked the indoor camera performance and the sheer amount of useless apps that Sony pedal with the phone. If I owned it, rooting and removing the Sony bloatware alone would be mandatory.

However, when all said and done, I have genuinely enjoyed this phone. It’s a perfect size for me (as a phone), build quality is excellent, it’s sexy to look at and feels gorgeous in your hand. You can take a call in the rain without worrying that it will go bang and even read the screen in bright sunlight (bonus).

I wouldn’t buy one though…. Why not, you ask???

Well the Z2 will be even better (tick), the HTC One M8 is getting great reviews and the Samsung GS5 is just around the corner…. So many phones…. So few hands