Sony Xperia Z1 Compact review: Mini gone big

28 January 2014
Sony is the first to deliver a smartphone, which wouldn’t let size get in the way of performance or screen quality. It’s no accident that it’s called the Compact version of Xperia Z1 rather than a mini...

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  • D
  • AnonD-183132
  • tVj
  • 31 Jan 2014

Anonymous, 31 Jan 2014The Z1 can't match the Z1 Compact..because of the size..eve... morenot every1 like same phones, to me 4.3 is way too small, I'd prefer >=5", there's many others like me who prefer big screen.

    • a
    • ashish
    • rA2
    • 31 Jan 2014

    Its rightly ain't Z1 mini...the price corroborates is name..!!

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • 4QS
      • 31 Jan 2014

      M and M, 31 Jan 2014Hahahaha, half the comments on this site are yours, praisin... moreNow making accusations to fit your own point..
      You are the one that came in with something to prove, yet you talk about others calming down.

      yes Android uses more ram, but it can do more with it too...And when you have 1gb, 2gb, and 3gb ram that is not really an issue...And again that is restriction. And there are less optimized Androids. Does not mean that it is not optimized. Or that manufacturers do not optimize it well on many. Especially on flagships.
      You only have an idea of what you are talking about and rant and rave off the rest.

      And technically WP has been around long enough for that. And is the evolution of WM which predates all the common smart phone OS's.

        Anonymous, 31 Jan 2014Future proofing "more value for the money with the ope... moreHahahaha, half the comments on this site are yours, praising unconditionally android and your xperia and you call people fanboys. You should really cool down and think before you talk, because I am just a user who has used all sorts of systems and have been working in the tech press for years, so I know what I am talking about; Android uses about 250 MB of RAM just for the bare system while WP uses just 100, will you argue against that too?
        Now all systems support multitasking and pretty much the same stuff, it's just that android is a more mature system and has a larger ecosystem, but that does not mean it has to use that much resourses. The strength about being an open system is that it developed fast and diverse, but this means it also has the drawback of being less optimized, and it's not something new. What you should focus on is real performance, not useless specs, and the fact is that this phone will probably never need those specs with all the updates it might get.

          • g
          • guri_bains
          • wiU
          • 31 Jan 2014

          Anonymous, 30 Jan 2014All in all Samsung fanboys arent that bad, try some Nokia f... moreever ever ever any fone company thinks of putting 41mpx camera in cell fones except nokia lolz
          ever ever ever Samsung can think about the designs of nokia fones
          ever ever ever any fone company has great maps offline navigation maps as nokias here maps
          ever ever any company thinks about the mobile os having all the functional running on minimum hardware except nokia Symbian belle

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • gy%
            • 31 Jan 2014

            Anonymous, 31 Jan 2014Really??? Seriously? 1. It has been done. 2.Do you know... more1. On just 1 phone - S4 Active. However it's bigger and arguably more expensive. I'm not sure if it was also IP57 instead of 58 correct me if I'm wrong.
            2. Oh yes, dear sir, I have. And I see that 2300mah battery and the aluminium on the sides.
            3. On screen buttons are cheaper and Sony won't go against Z1's design when clearly the name of this phone is Z1 Compact. Other buttons are also clearly preferential and don't depend on the people's opinion but the manufacturer and mainly on the design. So please stop whining even on your dreams it won't have capacitive buttons. (and as I said earlier I actually prefer them but have nothing against them) Peace :)

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • 4QS
              • 31 Jan 2014

              Ravi, 31 Jan 2014The best OS is Blackberry 10.2.1 by a long shot compared to... moreSure...

                • i
                • iDiots
                • GAd
                • 31 Jan 2014

                Z1 beats all the minis. Including crappy iPhones.

                1. excellent design
                2. waterproofing
                3. s800 unlike other minis
                4. 5000 caliber dual machine gun
                5. 60-ton Nuke missle
                6. NSA control centre for your Tomahawk Missle

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • 4QS
                  • 31 Jan 2014

                  M and M, 31 Jan 2014You don't really answer what you need that hardware for, be... moreFuture proofing "more value for the money with the opertunity of lasting you longer as well" is pointing because not everyone keeps the same phone for a long time...So instead they should use less value for money and charge you the same and let it become obsolete faster...that makes sense...And you cannot even argue the whole thing with WP either because they have strict requirements and guide lines and we have seen what happens to older devices that "followed guide lines".

                  And now you call it tablet hardware jusr because it's powerful? What a foolish thing to say and you actually say others do not get it. Phones and tablets mainly run off the same hardware anywhere. Just large screens and lesser cameras on tablets. And these are advanced Snapdragon chips that are upgraded phone cpu's and were first in phones.....

                  And you have shown you do not understand the first thing about how os's work or anything about past updates.....And you never get the same experience because IOS and WP cannot do what Android can. And Android ran very well on that dual core 1.5GHz, but if it can run better, multi task better, and have faster gpu and ram then why not? And as Os's and apps grow so does their weight. Ie have you seen what happened to Iphone 4? And Even Lumias can lag too and all OS's have had a fair share of crashes...
                  Oh my...You can scroll a few frames better...You life is complete and the OS is now the best ever.....You biased fanboys in denial never get that right there is your logic...

                    • R
                    • Ravi
                    • Kif
                    • 31 Jan 2014

                    Anonymous, 31 Jan 2014Lg Venice on single core 1GHz cortex A5 chip with adreno 20... moreThe best OS is Blackberry 10.2.1 by a long shot compared to Mr Google spyware

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • 4QS
                      • 31 Jan 2014

                      Anonymous, 30 Jan 20141. Waterproofing and removable battery? Aren't you a bit ov... moreReally??? Seriously?

                      1. It has been done.
                      2.Do you know how thick the device is? And you actually claim they could not fit a normal led in it?????
                      3. Physical and capacitive buttons in this day and age have many more practicality than virtual ones.

                      And then you call them the troll....When you are the one who got hurt and jealous over it and had to make a ridiculous reply that contradicts reality to appease your own fanboyism....the irony.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • 4QS
                        • 31 Jan 2014

                        M and M, 30 Jan 2014Depends on your needs; I would chose the Lumia 1020 over th... moreLg Venice on single core 1GHz cortex A5 chip with adreno 200 and half a gig of ram running stock jelly bean is an overall great running device. You have no clue what you are talking about when it comes to OS's. Those chips mean the phone will work for a long time, they are energy effiecient, and have very fast/powerful memory speed and GPU. Why does Lumia 1520 have S800?

                        There is a difference between IOS and WP using system wide restriction and lack of functionality as an illusion to perfection"the truth" as compared to jealous fanboy trolls saying IOS and WP are perfect and Android is heavy and laggy "the jealous lies".

                        All os's and technology are imperfect. All are flawed. All have some crash and lag. Android is no where near this slapped together project say it is. It is only a little heavier, but offers many many many more function compared to a couple more hiccups than something can barely do anything.
                        At least WP is nicer compared to IOS and offers some choice in devices and hardware...plus they have Nokia.

                          • p
                          • prince
                          • GRZ
                          • 31 Jan 2014

                          sony displays are always bad will not buy this phone.

                            • s
                            • samn
                            • tV3
                            • 31 Jan 2014

                            M and M, 30 Jan 2014Depends on your needs; I would chose the Lumia 1020 over th... moredamn you are correct , they should really put 144p screen on it .

                              • x
                              • xperia
                              • tV3
                              • 31 Jan 2014

                              M and M, 31 Jan 2014You don't really answer what you need that hardware for, be... moreNope its like to have a bath tube or a simple pipe with hose . Of course i will choose bath tube . When you cant even have quad core suport ( ahem some pass year windows phone ) the system is not smart , no matter how magical it is , if it cant bluetooh doesnt have a proper file manager , need to copy even other platform livewallpaper its call dumb .

                                Anonymous, 31 Jan 2014These specs aren't just nice. They're killer specs - the ki... moreYou don't really answer what you need that hardware for, because futureproof in an age when people change phones every year is not much of a deal. Does Sony deserve a special price for packing tablet hardware into a 4.3" phone,.. maybe, but that does not mean you need them more than you need a bicycle to go to the bathroom. I like this phone, but just because of the camera and compact size, and I like android just as much as I appreciate ios and wp for their strengths, but I don't understand the enthusiasm of many android fans to boast with specs they simply can not use. If you need a 2.6 ghz quadcore to get the same experience wp and ios give with a 1.5GHz dual core, it means that the system you are using is very dumb, not that the phone is very smart ;)
                                Software update is not really a point. Most android users complain because they don't get the updates too; the phone has not sufficient power/specs, you don't get the update, it's the same all around. How many android phones of 2013 got kitkat? Not that many; all lumias since end of 2012 are scheduled for WP 8.1 this year.

                                  • D
                                  • AnonD-27961
                                  • fvG
                                  • 31 Jan 2014

                                  Sony Xperia Z1.
                                  Great technology, takes amazing pictures and you can carry your videos, pictures and movies with you. It tends to get very hot when using it in video games for long periods of time.http://goo.gl/vbGhEu

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-3678
                                    • vfx
                                    • 31 Jan 2014

                                    Non removable battery and on screen button reduce production cost.

                                      • S
                                      • SEXperia
                                      • QY3
                                      • 31 Jan 2014

                                      Competiton = no match... Game over

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • JL9
                                        • 31 Jan 2014

                                        AnonD-142950, 30 Jan 2014That's easy Sony actual flagship device. Xperia Z1The Z1 can't match the Z1 Compact..because of the size..every one belongs to its class...when you say a phone to match this beast...consider the size..actually there's no phone that can match this..obviously...no competitors here