Flashback: Sony Xperia Z1 Compact was the first to rebel against the phablet craze

20 September 2020
Or at least the first phone not to lose its flagship status by going small - unlike the Galaxy S4 mini, HTC One mini and countless others.

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  • p
  • pt020
  • ncr
  • 20 Sep 2020

Still have it and the Z3 compact too, great phones and still working and look as new.

    Really though, I owned a Galaxy Note 3 and my friend/roommate owned a Z2. Triluminous was just a bunch of hooplah about nothing. My note 3 had better sunlight legibility, better contrast, superior viewing experience, and was overall a better display. I would say that the whites were a little better on the Triluminous LCD, but that's about it when it comes to rral-world usage.

      Sony z1c was really great size. I have been using it for 2 years, but as there were no real improvemwnts foe z3c, I have decided for honor 8. After almost 2years of use, I have swapped over xz2c. Lovely device too, but will try pixel 4a now. Well, once it is delivered..

      Overall, I really liked all 3 recent phones, but there is no way to get bigger device than pixel. I hope it will last few years to come.

        • p
        • pan
        • sxs
        • 20 Sep 2020

        Jovitoreya, 20 Sep 2020Yeah agree it is somewhat a niche market. Most of us only h... moreagreed... perhaps one of the reasons why many people buy phones with large display (not necessarily footprints) is that they discovered that they can watch *orn there... ha ha...
        kidding aside, there are a lot of cases where a large display is ideal with the smaller one... same thing with small display over larger one...
        like in my case, if i am out and about i bring my z1 compact - at least i can bring with me a phone with decent camera, can connect to 4g, etc... (replacing it with xz2 compact)...
        but at home, for media consumption i have z3... and as a workphone where i do some serious job, simpling media editing and office productivity apps i have the z5 premium (replacing both z3 and z5 premium with 1 ii)
        but, i guess, for some people having one smartphone, larger phone is better or at least something near 6 inches with the modern aspect ratios

          • p
          • pan
          • sxs
          • 20 Sep 2020

          L.O.R.D, 20 Sep 2020I'd buy this, if only I can find one that's still... morei must say... do not expect... its already difficult to cram the goodies into small footprint... perhaps that is why sony pushed the 21:9 aspect ratio since it can still be "hand friendly"... though not so pocket friendly... xperia 1 ii still looks good on hand based on comparison on youtube - i havent received my order yet...
          thinking about such sad future of compact phones, i recently bought a used xz2 compact, might be the last flagship compact ever...

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • 8u8
            • 20 Sep 2020

            BB, 20 Sep 2020"The phone’s body was machined out of a single block o... moreFrame was metal back was plastic, z3 was reverse

              • X
              • Xperia x uber
              • fFA
              • 20 Sep 2020

              I owned 1 but frankly display too small as mostly im using google maps daily. I hope sony can produce xz1 design with trimmer bezel, sd 765g , 6gb ram, xperia 1 camera sensor. Or a shorter 16:9 version of xperia 5 ii.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • HJD
                • 20 Sep 2020

                I had this phone and I loved it. It just felt great in the hand and the software was close to stock with useful additions.

                  • M
                  • MrGrumpy
                  • nHA
                  • 20 Sep 2020

                  As great as the Z1 and Z3 were, I reckon the Z5C was where the compact series really hit the mark.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • 0xi
                    • 20 Sep 2020

                    Why we cant have full screen phone in that size?

                      • K
                      • Kroom
                      • nwU
                      • 20 Sep 2020

                      Nirmal, 20 Sep 2020In my opinion Xperia ZR was the first compact flagship in t... moreIndeed, ZR was compact Z without compact name. And even before was Neo, which was Arc in smaller body - that was the first true no compromises compact.

                        • B
                        • BB
                        • 0BW
                        • 20 Sep 2020

                        "The phone’s body was machined out of a single block of aluminum, which was sandwiched between two sheets of tempered glass."

                        Pretty sure the body bas plastic and the glass was very weak as mine broke very easily.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • m2J
                          • 20 Sep 2020

                          Anonymous, 20 Sep 2020I have a big question... If small screen is good. If al... moreSmall screens problem was that they were still flagship phones with price and hardware or they were to low hardware that it didnt make sense. There was no middle class hardware and price for them where camera is ok too. People dont have money to buy flagship phones and when they have money then they rather buy the flagship then a compact. For the low end they just were too low end to make sense. There are even now very low end compact phones with names like melrose, k-touch and so on that cost under 100 euro and are pretty useless but still people buy them cause they need a phone that fits in your pockets

                            • h
                            • hmm
                            • m2J
                            • 20 Sep 2020

                            Problem with the market with the compact phones was that not a lot of people bought them. Main reason was flagship specs and flagship price. I like compact phones, but for my needs it makes 0 sense to get flagship specs. All i need out of compact phone is to get to use it as a phone and occasionally take few pictures. I have desktop pc at home and laptop for work so i can do all the social media and gaming on them. Today even the so called compact phones are phablets with there 5.7-6.1 inch screens that make the phone still over 140mm tall.

                            5 inch screen fits in a body of 120mm tall and something 65mm wide for sure and it be more then enough screen to play even few games. Something SD6xx or MTK G80 cpu be enough with some decent dual camera or 3 cameras on the back. And wont cost over 250 euro. Better be if it was like at max 150 euro and it would sell like hot cakes as i am sure there are lots of people who want a phone for a phone function first and dont want to have a tablet in the bag cause you cant have these modern day phones in the pocket anymore if you dont buy cloths you wear considering your phone size

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • 0p}
                              • 20 Sep 2020

                              Thanks to sony to all z family mini.
                              Gambatte

                                • D
                                • AnonD-762416
                                • JGv
                                • 20 Sep 2020

                                ...and it sold like hotcakes!


                                Oh wait, it didn't.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • 8Kf
                                  • 20 Sep 2020

                                  justjey, 20 Sep 2020Indeed when Sony launched the compact series, lots of peopl... moreYou cannot have 5G with metal back.

                                    This needs a new version with new flagship specs and full screen for this body,
                                    We will see this in 100 years when they realize what people need.

                                      • h
                                      • hmm
                                      • m2J
                                      • 20 Sep 2020

                                      Whaa ? It's from the time when there was no phablet phones or at least when 150mm tall was considered as one of the biggest phones available even tough didnt have even 6 inch screen in it. And Sony compact have always been flagship specs so it didnt rebel with anything with it. That time we had all types of phones that were small and compact on every hardware specs. For most people it was too expensive. Compact phone point isnt to have the best hardware. It's point is to be compact

                                        Indeed when Sony launched the compact series, lots of people did overwhelmed but bloody hell, spec wise there’s a bit hold back.

                                        My kinda spec;

                                        5-5.5” full screen
                                        Metal chassis
                                        High end processor
                                        8-12gb ram
                                        64/128 storage with sd support
                                        12-48mp cams x 3
                                        sapphire camera lens
                                        Side finger sensors
                                        Face recognition
                                        Type c

                                        Possible vanilla os.😬