Sony Xperia XZ1 hands-on review: First impressions

31 August 2017
There's a new top Sony dog in town and its name is the Xperia XZ1. So, it's official: Sony is persisting with its, let's say, questionable naming convention. To be fair, we do see the consistency in it all, but it is still a rather silly title. Plus, we do have to complain about some aspect of the XZ1, since, frankly, after spending a bit of time with it, our initial impressions are really positive.

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Anonymous, 01 Sep 2017The thing is, yes, with tiny phone speakers, there is no so... moreI actually enjoy ocassional music listening on my stereo speaker phone. Of course its better to stream over a real hi fi stereo soundsystem, but...for ocassional music listening, and media watching Sonys miniature stereo sound system is miles better than those others mono sound system. Its like comparing mini stereo system decks to radio enabled alarm clocks...
Humans have two ears to use them to listen to stereo sound. Mono speakers is just not flagship worthy IMO.

    Anonymous, 01 Sep 2017The thing is, yes, with tiny phone speakers, there is no so... morelmfao :-d

      Anonymous, 01 Sep 20173D enabled phones..... Sharp 2002 Samsung 2007 Motor... moreLOL :-D
      Oh, your nonsens...overwhelming. :-D

      Here then...Sony 2000
      http://m.gsmarena.com/sony_cmd_j5-201.php
      First phone with 3D launcher....
      All copied Sony

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • nmM
        • 01 Sep 2017

        Anonymous, 01 Sep 2017Wrong, if speakers are facing straight ahead, you are miss... moreThe thing is, yes, with tiny phone speakers, there is no sound experience at all. Simply the physics tell you, you will miss plenty of the songs (deep bass, for which you need a good, bigger speaker or a dedicated subwoofer). Or at least I won't listen to music on my phone speakers. They are only meant for notifications/ringtones, not actually listening to music.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • tAT
          • 01 Sep 2017

          Tann Hauser, 01 Sep 2017Just LOL for you. :-D If speakers are facing straight ahead, you are missing out on the two key parts of the listening experience: soundstage and imaging. Speakers needs to be at angles for the best results.

          With Sony's miniature speakers that have low volume with tinny sound and incorrect angles, the claimed sound experience is totally ruined. In fact, some other brands with single speakers outperform Sony's dual speakers.

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            • Anonymous
            • tAT
            • 01 Sep 2017

            Tann Hauser, 01 Sep 2017LOL :-D From whome exactly? 3D enabled phones.....

            Sharp 2002
            Samsung 2007
            Motorola 2010
            LG, HTC 2011
            Micromax 2014
            Google has Project Tango 3D in 2014
            Amazon 3D fire phone in 2014
            ZTE 2016
            Sony in 2017.

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              • AnonD-552127
              • m25
              • 01 Sep 2017

              taghack, 01 Sep 2017Hi, The point here isn't that any of these technologies is... moreDo you think the audio features are any different from the Z5C? I am very certain it is not. The very same technology; same goodees, new wrapping :)
              Volume-wise on the phones speakers it might be slightly different, but since XZ1C and Z5C are more or less similar sizes, I really doubt you will hear any difference.

              But thanks for reply and thanks for very good reviews, previews, first-look etc :)

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                • Anonymous
                • LQs
                • 01 Sep 2017

                Anonymous, 01 Sep 2017Sony has copied this so called 3D innovation...as usual.AR has been used since 2013..
                Way before Project Tango or iphone 8

                  AnonD-552127, 01 Sep 2017Hello GSMarena. Why do you find the audio settings to be... moreHi,
                  The point here isn't that any of these technologies is new, nor is that stated anywhere in the text. We are just curious to see how well Sony has executed its stereo setup this time around. Especially on the smaller XZ1 Compact, which potentially has less internal volume for the speakers to work with. That, however, is all pending until we get a review unit at the office for proper testing.

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                    • AnonD-552127
                    • m25
                    • 01 Sep 2017

                    Hello GSMarena.

                    Why do you find the audio settings to be especially interesting on this device?
                    ("We also can't wait to play around with the slew of included Sony audio enhancements, like the DSEE HX upsampling engine, High-Resolution Audio and the Clear Audio+ equalizer. )

                    These functions have been available on most Sony Xperia devices since Z5.
                    For instance, You mention these functions in your review of Z5 Compact:
                    ("The Walkman player offers a variety of audio settings - ClearAudio+ option is here, which determines the best audio quality settings depending on the song you're listening to. We liked how it changed the music and carefully accentuated various details.

                    Dynamic normalizer evens out the differences in the volume between tracks, which is great if you've mixed multiple albums from multiple sources.

                    The Sound enhancements contain yet more settings. There's an equalizer with presets and manual settings (including tweaking Clear Bass). Then there's Surround sound mode, which imitates the Studio, Club or Concert Hall experience.

                    Then there's DSEE HX, which uses an almost wizardly algorithm on compressed music files, like MP3s and restores or rather extrapolates high range sound. According to Sony, the result is near Hi-Res Audio Quality. We aren't quite sure about that, but the processing does seem to boost quality quite noticeably. Also, it only works with wired headphones.")

                      Anonymous, 01 Sep 2017Sony has copied this so called 3D innovation...as usual.LOL :-D
                      From whome exactly?

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                        • Anonymous
                        • vgM
                        • 01 Sep 2017

                        AnonD-407841, 01 Sep 2017While I laud everything about this phone it has the one fau... moreIm recommend you Xperia Z3. iya has 80H+ endurance Time on GSMArena

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                          • Anonymous
                          • krW
                          • 01 Sep 2017

                          Anonymous, 01 Sep 2017Next year Sony will go bezel less screens and use Oled scre... moreThey were playing the catch up game in some aspects, but not all. And it's not like others are.
                          And it was mostly in SoC in the past. That's not an issue. Larger pixels, louder speakers, only ram stacked camera. And as far as the design goes they are not playing catch up. They are staying true to their image instead of needlessly conforming and giving up their uniqueness and brand image.

                            Anonymous, 01 Sep 2017Wrong, if speakers are facing straight ahead, you are miss... moreJust LOL for you. :-D

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                              • Anonymous
                              • krW
                              • 01 Sep 2017

                              AnonD-670091, 01 Sep 2017Plastic phones prone to overheating inside, while metal pho... moreNow with the metal thing. A few years back those metal phone were just containing a lot more heat.

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                                • Anonymous
                                • tAT
                                • 01 Sep 2017

                                Tann Hauser, 31 Aug 2017Oh right, Smartie... Design with Antenna lines will boost ... moreNext year Sony will go bezel less screens and use Oled screen technology and OIS camera technology. Sony is always playing the catch up game with the competition.

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                                  • Anonymous
                                  • tAT
                                  • 01 Sep 2017

                                  Tann Hauser, 31 Aug 2017But I dont like slimming, and camera protruding too. I a... moreSony has copied this so called 3D innovation...as usual.

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                                    • AnonD-407841
                                    • pI{
                                    • 01 Sep 2017

                                    While I laud everything about this phone it has the one fault that Sony seems oblivious to. The battery is too small. I gave my last Sony away after 3 months, I need a phone that will do a 16 hour day, with emails, messages and messengers social networks and browsing the Web. My phones are rarely used for phone calls, rarely used for sms or mms. In a high tech society the old phone functions of calls and sms and mms are a stand-by used only if necessary. Phones go on-line from first set up and stay that way, so battery usage based on phone calls and standby in not a measure that is relative to today yet Sony seems to base their phones on this. My Sony phones barely made it through to mid afternoon! Sony... Battery test should be based on three email accounts open facebook, an hour of messenger/WhatsApp etc. An hour of Web browsing in places like Amazon, YouTube, etc. Perhaps 30 minutes of something like Twodots. Not phone calls and standby that is history and not relevant today. I gave up on Sony and gave my Sony phones away. Even the xperia z5 premium on stamina mode was little improvement as too many pixels to shift just drained the battery.

                                    Please Sony make 4000mah the minimum for all phones and make a top spec phone with a battery that will do 16 hours of most peoples days without the panic of trying to charge late in the day. Just doing (16 hours) it is not good enough - easily doing it is a necessity today.

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                                      • AnonD-670091
                                      • 5L%
                                      • 01 Sep 2017

                                      Tann Hauser, 31 Aug 2017Nylon plastic is more durable on phones than glass, isnt it... morePlastic phones prone to overheating inside, while metal phones might feel hotter but protects inside from overheating. For me the most important factor is how good material against overheating. External durability less of concern

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                                        • Anonymous
                                        • tAT
                                        • 01 Sep 2017

                                        Tann Hauser, 31 Aug 2017Dual stereo peakers are useless if not techically ballanced... moreWrong, if speakers are facing straight ahead, you are missing out on the two key parts of the listening experience: soundstage and imaging. Speakers needs to be at angles for the best results.

                                        With Sony's miniature speakers that have low volume with tinny sound and incorrect angles, the claimed sound experience is totally ruined. In fact, some other brands with single speakers outperform Sony's dual speakers.

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