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
  • 60E
  • 03 Sep 2017

Anonymous, 03 Sep 2017You know well that Sony has gaps near the screen and rear c... moredont forget the distortion in xzp. all wide fov cameras have distortion, and sony has more.

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • 60E
    • 03 Sep 2017

    Anonymous, 03 Sep 2017XZ Premium never shuts down. It can record 4K video until f... moreouch.. that distortion.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • Q}4
      • 03 Sep 2017

      Anonymous, 03 Sep 2017But Sony has more faults than any other brand. Plus Sony ju... moreif something wrong happens to samsung phone, the service center will fix it in less than 4 days.
      but if the same thing happens to sony phone, the service center will fix it in less than 1 month (sometimes more)

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • 6XU
        • 03 Sep 2017

        Anonymous, 03 Sep 2017But Sony has more faults than any other brand. Plus Sony ju... moreXZ Premium never shuts down. It can record 4K video until full memory without any issues.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • tAT
          • 03 Sep 2017

          Tann Hauser, 03 Sep 2017Glad to see people realising all phones have qc issues....b... moreBut Sony has more faults than any other brand. Plus Sony just rolls over the same problems for years without a fix. Still overheating and shutting down. Still has the worst low light photography, terrible battery life, failed updates, worst warranty service, high percentage of water failures, etc, etc..... Would you like 20 links to prove this ? or perhaps 50 links ?

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            • AnonD-519805
            • nZ0
            • 03 Sep 2017

            Florin, 03 Sep 2017Hello, i got myself a Sony xzp and it has that camera disto... moreFor some years now there isn´t a real progress anymore. It´s all about design, materials and the look of the OS, not about better solutions and innovations. The "new" models of nearly all manufacturers are only new labeled ones with some newer components. But nobody really needs curved designs and 4K displays. That´s only better from a marketing point of view. In camera department it´s really disappointing. Nearly all companies use Sony sensors, but even there their best one for mobile devices has a tiny size. Years (!) ago we´ve seen 1" sensors, nice lenses and xenon flash in some smartphones! With such fitting many people would use their phones much longer. But nearly all those online magazines always push the hypes and fakes without being critical and detailed enough. Many praised f.e. S8 and U11 for their "fantastic" cameras. In reality those cameras are ridiculous in so many aspects, the one of the S8 even in daylight. Same for XZP, Pixel, G6, P10 ... Even alternatives like attachable lenses (Sony QX, DxO One) have not been developed further.

              Anonymous, 03 Sep 2017You know well that Sony has gaps near the screen and rear c... moreGlad to see people realising all phones have qc issues....but some always keep mentioning this or that manufacturer better at it than Sony company....
              And that is just fboy nonsens.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • xu$
                • 03 Sep 2017

                Tann Hauser, 03 Sep 2017Last time I checked, professional camera reviewers put ipho... moreYou know more about subjective than anyone here too. That's all you do all day is throw subjective ideas all over the place

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • nmM
                  • 03 Sep 2017

                  Tann Hauser, 03 Sep 2017And Xperias seem to be best android devices for gaming...eq... moreYou know well that Sony has gaps near the screen and rear camera (Z2 for example), screen popping off the body (Z5), overheating phones (Z-series for example), self-cracking back glass (Z2 for example)... There is a ton of these more, just search. Like every other manufacturer out there, Sony has the same quality-faults as well.

                    • F
                    • Florin
                    • srr
                    • 03 Sep 2017

                    Hello, i got myself a Sony xzp and it has that camera distorsion. I got a brand new unit for replacement and it is the same. I hope in the future Gsm Arena will make tests for camera distorsions when reviewing future phones. I also think that there is craziness with all these phones that keep on coming twice a year. I think there must be some sort of gentelmen's agreement that will limit this huge and useless hype and also will limit the use of precious resources. Flagships released every two years instead almost twice a year will do us some good because it will force the hardware and software to be more resilient and better optimized. A word of advice for those who want to buy a phone. Do not base your decision only on reviews, go to the store and check yourself if it does what it says. Don't get my wrong, my XZP runs superbly. It is smooth in operation, the battery has good autonomy an the phone itself it's a beautiful thing. Only the camera distortion brings a negative point hers. Sony must remedy this unacceptable screw up.

                      Anonymous, 03 Sep 2017Sony camera sensor works more for iphones than Sony though... moreLast time I checked, professional camera reviewers put iphone camera performance below Sonys.

                      And imx 400 Motion eye camera has not been even proffesionaly tested yet to be susceptable to any compares, but only subjective preference opinions.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • tZj
                        • 03 Sep 2017

                        Anonymous, 03 Sep 2017Only Sony made part in Sony phones is the Sony sensor. But... moreWhich is terrible? see here:

                        http://m.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xz_premium_vs_iphone_7_plus_quick_camera_comparison-news-24773.php

                        PPLEASE look at the 1st and 2nd image comparison, the deck of the ship is very detail on XZP (1st image), but when you see the iphone the deck of the ship is blur r r r r r r r r (2nd image), CAN'T YOU SEE?

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • tAT
                          • 03 Sep 2017

                          Anonymous, 03 Sep 2017Sony camera sensor works more for iphones than Sony though... moreOnly Sony made part in Sony phones is the Sony sensor. But then Sony messes up all the photography quality with its terrible camera software.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • XPp
                            • 03 Sep 2017

                            Anonymous, 03 Sep 2017IMX400 stacked Dram camera sensor only work for Xperia flap... moreSony camera sensor works more for iphones than Sony though.... They will probably get this sensor for next one anyways...

                              Anonymous, 03 Sep 2017apple sells not only phone, but also services. their device... moreAnd Xperias seem to be best android devices for gaming...equals iphone in game performance, as measured by graphic benchmarks.
                              exynos doesnt unfortunately come close to snapdragons performance in onscreen graphics.
                              Funny you mention Samsung devices and QC too...just google S8 overheating, self cracking screens, red tinted screen, screen burn in, camera app lag, not working wireless charge, wifi dropping, and on and on...those are serious qc issues.
                              Quite more numerous than on Sony devices when put side by side.
                              And More features is such a vague statement....what more? Wireless charging is a feature, but so is stereo sound, iris scanner is a feature, but so is 3D Creator here...so please, number them all out.

                              Research a bit before you comment this laimly.

                                • D
                                • AnonD-519805
                                • nZ0
                                • 03 Sep 2017

                                When they would just use 5, 6, 7 years old camera solutions of some phones from this time. But again and again a tiny sensor with tiny pixels and here with no OIS and nothing better than F2.0 Why there´s no real progress anymore?

                                  • P
                                  • Primark
                                  • IW@
                                  • 03 Sep 2017

                                  Anonymous, 03 Sep 2017apple sells not only phone, but also services. their device... moreThat's your opinion though.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • tZ0
                                    • 03 Sep 2017

                                    Anonymous, 03 Sep 2017iOS also works for iphones only. Please tell Sony to use that....IMX400 stacked Dram camera sensor only work for Xperia flapships, iphone is lag behind.

                                      • L
                                      • Lex79
                                      • pL%
                                      • 03 Sep 2017

                                      mir, 03 Sep 2017Seems to be working for the iphone though...What works for Apple, will not work for others.

                                      Apple are in a completely different category, their sales are driven in large part by brand recognition, and their customers just want an Apple device (coupled with the iOS eco system).

                                      If you take a look on Amazon you'll see smartphones made by Leagoo selling for £8000. These devices have specs similar to a £200 android device.

                                      You really think whoever ends up buying such a phone cares about the specs, no of course they don't, other factors are at play in such a purchase.

                                      Similar factors also apply to Apple, and it would be better if people consider them more in the Leagoo category than with Sony/HTC/Samsung etc.

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • XPp
                                        • 03 Sep 2017

                                        mir, 03 Sep 2017Seems to be working for the iphone though...iOS also works for iphones only. Please tell Sony to use that....

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