Sony Z1 Review
User friendly Specs
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
With the Specs out of the way, here is my review on the Sony Z1.
I will start by commenting on the specs above and then give you my perception as a user.
So, the weight, 169g…it’s not a lot is it? Given the size of the phone I would expect it to feel a lot heavier , specially when you know the frame is made of aluminium . Very Comfortable to hold and very pleasant to look at, looks wise the Z1 doesn’t disappoint, It’s actually quite stylish!
The screen resolution is not as impressive as I expected but still superior to a wide variety of handsets currently being sold, and if I’m being fair I would rate it as very good.
Now, the best part of this phone… You guessed it! The camera! Well done Sony! Standing ovation for this one! Not only It’s got an impressive 20.07 megapixel (must not forget the .7)but also the technology to go with it. It combines a large 1/2.3″, 20.7 MP Exmor RS™ for mobile image sensor, G Lens and intelligent BIONZ™ for mobile image-processing engine. Translation? It’s almost impossible to take a bad picture with this phone. If you have small children that never stand still and you always end up with blurry pictures, say no more! Sony has answered your prayers!
As for the water proof claims I decided to skip it just in case…
Now on to the second most impressive thing this phone has to offer: the battery! Nearly 4 days without charging it?? And as usual with a lot of browsing over wifi involved so that the battery could impress or disappoint (It impressed)! And was not even using the stamina mode, that allows you to, according to Sony, make your battery last up to 4x more!
And now, for me, the worst thing about this phone, and I’ll be honest, I still don’t understand why… the processor and the screen… Even if your not an computer or mobile expert you look at Sony’s description of the screen, for example, “The same screen technology as our high-end BRAVIA® TVs” and the description of the processor is even better, “The world’s fastest smartphone processor” and u think responsive and fast ,right? Wrong! Noticed several times the screen doesn’t always respond fast and don’t even think about having multiple things opened at the same time…so disappointing!!
The apps are you typical Android apps with nothing new that would impress you and make you want to buy the phone just to have that! I though it was funny though, that they kept the Walkman facility after all this years, I guess if you use your phone to listen to music it can be handy. The sound quality is good but could be a bit louder
To sum it all up, in my opinion, the Sony Z1 is not a bad phone, but falls a bit short if you got all excited with the claims Sony makes that make it sound like it’s the best phone ever built.
So, would I recommend it? Yes and no. I Know, I know …what kind of answer is that? Let me elaborate: if you are into technology and like your gadgets, I would say… NO! But if you want a phone to play music, videos, long battery life…then Yes! (with the added bonus that it looks good!)
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