Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
- g
- gastritis
- th2
- 07 Mar 2023
I think this device is the best compact phone ever.
Build quality is superb, the metal plates on the top and bottom parts help a lot with angled impacts. The reinforced plastic body is sturdy. I got mine scrape the concrete, fell a couple of times, and dunked accidentally in water and it all survived those, the screen is intact and I don't use a case. I like its angular design, mine is the black colorway and I like that the screen is hidden when it's off.
The buttons are solid and very clicky, I like the side-mounted fingerprint reader, I saved my left and right thumb and middle fingers, and all were naturally in place when I hold the phone or when I reach for it on a desk or bed. The bad is that it sometimes cannot read my sweaty Filipino fingers, just a quick wipe on the scanner or wiping my fingertips clean solves that problem. The camera button is helpful to snap quick pictures when my fingers are wet or dirty and I don't want to interact with the screen.
The 3.5mm audio jack is very much welcome and works great, sometimes it doesn't work only to find out that lint got stuck inside, same with the USB-C port, it needs cleaning at times. The speaker sounds full and I think this is the best placement of stereo speakers, not one at the bottom and the other at the earpiece. On the downside, the speaker's loudness can be better. I didn't have any problems with the microphone performance. The SIM and MicroSD slot can be easily accessed but I sometimes hate it when I have to change SIMs and the phone has to reboot, only the SD Card slot is hot-swappable.
The screen is small, yes, but it is bright under the sun and dims enough for me during nighttime 9gag browsing. It is very one-handed-friendly, I use Smart launcher to customize the looks and to fully customize how I interact with it, I like how it automatically groups the icons on tabs, and I just leave some often-used icons on the home screen. The blacks are really deep but a very dim bluish-grey glow can be noticeable in pitch-black environments. It is 720p but it is plenty sharp for me, I don't use magnifying glasses on it.
The battery is still good these days even if I had the phone for about 4 years now, I am getting 5+ hours on screen-on time and battery charging speeds are quick, I often face my computer anyway. I only charge my phone when it is at 20% and remove the plug after it reaches 80-85%, I am faithful not to overcharge it and I do not leave it charging overnight as there are no original replacement batteries for this device anymore so I am trying to preserve it as much as I can.
The performance is great for me, I use it for calls, messaging, SNS, shopping apps, emails, and browsing the internet using Chrome, I play Mobile Legends on it sometimes in max settings. The phone heats up with extensive use but is not too hot to handle. SD835 is still snappy in my case and it was able to handle my day-to-day tasks, 4GB RAM is ok for me. One disadvantage though is the lack of storage, it only has 32GB, on the upside, I can use my 128GB SD card with no problems.
The back camera is great when taking pictures in broad daylight but abysmal by today's standards during nighttime photography, and the flash is not so helpful either. I cannot reliably use the flash as a torch even. The front camera is great is it is a wide-angle lens, it is good for video calls, and it lets you fit more on the frame, albeit with some distortions. The video capture is nice, again in daylight, stabilization is on point. overall the camera experience is just OK, I don't take lots of pics and videos anyway.
That is my take on this phone, it is superb for me, in my lifestyle, in how I use it. Others might digress. It may look dated compared to a lot of phones but it performed well beyond my expectations.
I no longer think that sony will have a Compact reboot but until now I never found a good replacement for this phone, I want a small phone, I tried bigger ones with this like Nubia X, iPhone 8 plus, LG V50 and Sammy note 10 but they are just too big and cumbersome for me that I kept going back and inserting my personal SIM in this device. Some said to get a Zenphone 8/9, but they look like a plasticky toy, I like a more angular phone, like a brick or something.
Have a great day everyone! Sorry for the long read.
Here is a potato (*).
- d
- davisrases
- utf
- 04 Mar 2023
Shah, 04 Mar 2023It get hot while using data on for a whileNeeds a battery change mate
- S
- Shah
- PZK
- 04 Mar 2023
manul, 23 Feb 2023I have this phone and it gets way too hot, anyone with same... moreIt get hot while using data on for a while
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- newflesh
- 8ut
- 24 Feb 2023
manul, 23 Feb 2023I have this phone and it gets way too hot, anyone with same... moreDo you play games a lot on it or use the camera in 4K
- c
- clod
- 3RR
- 23 Feb 2023
Dumi, 13 Feb 2023Same here, GPS seems unusable and the battery can't ho... moreI also have an XZ1 compact for almost 6 years. It still works without problems, the battery really doesn't last as long as it did at the beginning and I'll probably have to look for another phone soon. I don't understand why Sony no longer produces phones in compact format. 4.6' is the perfect size for a smartphone.
- ?
- Anonymous
- 7Xc
- 19 Feb 2023
Sarath7, 17 Feb 2023Can anyone please tell me how to unlock sim in docomo model... moreYour fault buying without confirming from seller if it is sim unlocked or instead getting Global Variant & not DOCOMO Japan.
Now you gotta pay for it to be sim unlocked.
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- Sarath7
- rKj
- 17 Feb 2023
Can anyone please tell me how to unlock sim in docomo model and install custom ware
- D
- Dumi
- SHb
- 13 Feb 2023
Clogg , 28 Jan 2023As far as I know it's the only small android phone sti... moreSame here, GPS seems unusable and the battery can't hold like it used to. 5 years no complaints, I hope for 2 more years of usage untill another similar compact jewel comes to market.
- D
- Diru
- tA$
- 10 Feb 2023
Jason , 05 Dec 2022I hope they make a compact phone again I love my xperia xz1... moreYou can use adoptable storage method, activate it with PC through adb and you can use your sdcard as internal
- A
- Allblue
- gQT
- 07 Feb 2023
Clogg , 28 Jan 2023As far as I know it's the only small android phone sti... moreIf you bootloader can be unlocked, install Lineage OS 17.1 with MicroG addon, it will be much better than new.
- A
- Allblue
- gQT
- 07 Feb 2023
This is my little Godzilla, works near to perfect in Lineage OS 17.1 (android 10), i de-googeled it with MicroG addon, on this OS, as far as i tested, only the brightness handling is some inaccurate.
Camera is not awesome, it has too much megapixel (19) so pixel size is tiny (1,1um) and exposures must be long to take good pictures in medium and low light enviroments, take note guys that if you reduce the pixel number to the half, you have an area per pixel by 2x, and the exposure time also can be reduced to the half to take a picture in the same light conditions. I would say is perfect for me if would have rounded corners (this would add a big big difference to single hand handling), no more than 8mp rear camera and better lens.
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- Clogg
- 3p7
- 28 Jan 2023
As far as I know it's the only small android phone still able to keep up. And I'm dreading the moment it's gonna die on me and I'll have to switch over either to one of the new phones that fit nowhere or over to Apple as it's the only manufacturer who seems to remember what mobile in mobile phone stands for.
I'm already having some issues with GPS (loosing signal), microphone (quiet) and Bluetooth (breaking off), even SD card sometimes decides to be unsupported until restart. So the end is near :(
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- sexyscientist
- bEK
- 28 Jan 2023
Anonymous, 13 Jan 2023Why so thick with such a piddly battery size?The battery life is good. 4.6" 720p screen does not require much battery.
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- aldebaran
- S4r
- 14 Jan 2023
my phone for the past 4 years...still a beast!
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- Anonymous
- HDx
- 13 Jan 2023
Why so thick with such a piddly battery size?
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- newflesh
- 8ut
- 11 Jan 2023
And here it is. The best Android really compact phone ever in design/ease of use/features/size/weight/build quality, you name it. Which also happened to be the last one. Xz2c is just not the same
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- sexyscientist
- bEK
- 31 Dec 2022
Krishna , 27 Dec 2022How can We use jio sim in itCheck my response from Sep 29, 2022
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- Bavan
- IWS
- 31 Dec 2022
Do xz1, had esim??