Sony Xperia Z1 Compact hands-on: First look

Introduction

We recently had the chance to get some hands-on time with Sony's new flagship in miniature, the Xperia Z1 Compact. The little fella packs flagship-grade specs into a much smaller footprint than most of today's premium smartphones.

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact official photos

The concept is nothing new really, with most top-tier manufacturers having downsized versions of their top flagships - the HTC One mini and Samsung Galaxy S4 mini being the most prominent in the bunch. But Sony hopes to get ahead of the pack with a supermini that has no less horsepower under the hood than the industry's top performers.

Let's take a look at exactly what the Xperia Z1 Compact brings to the table:

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact at a glance

• Dimensions: 127 x 64.9 x 9.5 mm, 137g
• Display: 4.3" Triluminous display of 720p resolution, 341ppi
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 800; quad-core Krait 400 at 2.2GHz, Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB RAM
• OS: Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (planned upgrade to 4.4 KitKat shortly after launch)
• Camera: 20.7 MP, Sony G Lens, autofocus, LED flash, 2MP front-facing
• Video camera: 1080p @ 30fps video capture with both cameras
• Storage: 16GB built-in, microSD card slot with support of up to 64GB
• Connectivity: NFC, A-GPS+GLONASS, WLAN (2.4/5Ghz) a/b/g/n/ac, microUSB 2.0 (MHL), BlueTooth 4.0 LE
• Battery: 2,300 mAh
• Misc: IP55/58 water and dust resistance, FM Radio, built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor
• Colors: Black, White, Pink, Lime, Yellow

The Z1 Compact has managed to retain not only the impressive Snapdragon 800 CPU, the 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of expandable storage, but also the Z1's 20.7MP shooter capable of 1080p video recording. You'll also find the same connectivity features, water resistance rating, and even a promised Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade. The only thing Sony didn't manage to bring over was the Full-HD screen resolution and 3000mAh battery (the Z1 Compact will have a 2300 mAh unit instead, the same as on the previous Xperia Z flagship).

Sony has done well to deliver where many top manufacturers have more or less failed, by squeezing in the truly impressive specs of the Xperia Z1 flagship into a considerably smaller package with minimal sacrifices. Even the Compact moniker was carefully chosen, based on Sony's own case studies suggesting the "Mini" suffix carries overtones of inferiority.

Up next we've got more live photos of the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, as well as our first impressions.