The Sony Xperia Z1

The Sony Xperia Z has already been on the market for half a year, and now the Xperia Z1 has become its first successor. At first glance, the two smartphones appear to be identical, but upon closer look it's clear that the outside isn't quite the same. The changes to the smartphone's inner life are even more substantial. Is it worth switching to the new device? And how does it do compared to the competition?

The competition is not only impressively broad, but also strong. The leading Android smartphones are currently head-to-head in the battle for the crown. For now, the Samsung Galaxy S4, the HTC One and the LG G2 are the devices against which Sony's new family member must measure up. But Apple's iPhone and the top devices with Windows Phone, like the Nokia Lumia 925 and 1020, are also competitors Sony has to take seriously.

Countering the current trend, the Sony Xperia Z1 has grown a little compared with its predecessor. It now measures 144 x 74 x 8.5 millimeters (5.67 x 2.91 x 0.33 inches; L x W x H), which means it's bigger on every side. In terms of weight, the Z1 now weighs 23 grams more (0.02 pounds) and comes to a total of 169 g (0.37 lbs). The main reason for the extra weight is likely the significantly larger battery. The frame around the display has also grown for the same reason.

The device feels good in your hand and gives you the sense that it'svery well-made. This impression is deepened by the high-quality materials Sony selected. The front and back sides are made ofscratch-proof mineral glass. Unlike the Xperia Z, rather than plastic, the frame is made of matte gray aluminum.

The smartphone feels very stable and is hard to twist, though it crackles audibly if you manage it. When you put pressure on the backside of the case, wave formations appear on the display. Still, the device seems solid, and we'd be more concerned about damaging the floor than the phone if we were to drop it.

The IP certification is a little broader. Along with its IP5X specification against harmful dust deposits on the inside of the device, the Z1 is also IPX8 certified. That means the phone is protected against the penetration of water no matter how long it remains immersed. The Xperia Z and the Galaxy S4 Active are only protected against brief water immersion.

Connectivity

The device's connectivity options mirror those of its predecessor. The USB 2.0 port serves both as the Sony Xperia Z1's charging port as well as video output via MHL 2.0. DLNA and Sony's MirrorLink are also supported. A Dualshock 3 controller can also be connected through the USB port. If you wirelessly transmit the display content to a compatible television, you have a pocket-sized gaming console.

Software

For their operating system, Sony selected Google's Android 4.2.2 with Sony's own UI. Useful widgets make the interface attractive, though all in all it has a modest appearance. The Japanese company's media programs, like Music and Video Unlimited, are also preinstalled. There's also some bloatware, though less than we found on the smartphone's predecessor.

As of now, Sony has not yet communicated when and whether they will release an update to anewer version of Google's operating system.

Communication & GPS 

In terms of communication features, the Sony Xperia Z1 has even more to offer and houses the most current technology. The WLAN module supports the IEEE 802.11 standards a/b/g/n/ac and transmits over the frequency bands 2.4 and 5.0 GHz. Unfortunately, the WLAN module'sreception range leaves something to be desired. Only ten meters away the signal already waned noticeably, and at a distance of 20 meters it was no longer possible to load a website.

On the go, the smartphone can connect to the internet via UMTS/HSPA+. LTE is also on board -- the newest Category 4 standard to be precise. This LTE standard allows for a downstream speed of up to 150 MBit/s. The smartphone now covers a much broader range of frequencies, so the device shouldn't have any wireless compatibility problems anywhere.

The smartphone determines its location via GPS and Glonass. It works reliably even indoors. Outdoors, the device ascertains its position very quickly. To test it further, we biked through a partially forested area with a navigation device from Garmin as our reference. We observed that the Z1 wasn't very exact in its determination of our position, and sometimes diverged significantly from our actual path. The GPS module proved to have particular difficulty with adjacent routes and inside the forest.

Telephone Function & Speech Quality

Sony only made minor modifications to the appearance of the Android telephone app, leaving it comfortably familiar. Calls can be simply made, taken or ignored. The proximity sensor works flawlessly and prevents unintended input.

When you hold the device directly to your ear, the phone's voice quality is very good for both conversation partners. The speakerphone also functions excellently, though we sounded a little quieter on the other side. The Xperia Z1's speaker performed its job perfectly. Things were a little different with the headset. While we could hear our conversation partner well, the microphone cut out several times.

Cameras & Multimedia

The main camera on the backside of the Sony Xperia Z1 has a resolution of 20.7 MP (5248x3936 pixels, 4:3). However, this resolution is only available in manual mode. If you shoot on the automatic presets, the camera uses a set resolution of 8 MP (3840x2160 pixels, 16:9.) The Exmor RS sensoris intended to produce especially high-quality images. Sony even boasts that they have the best camera in a smartphone. 

Indeed, in good lighting situations, the lens' results are very good. The color representation is excellent and the images are nice and sharp. Here the Z1 proves to have a real edge on the competition and produces the best pictures in comparison. In weak light, however, there tends to be some noise in the camera's images. Here the Nokia Lumia 920 shows off its talent, as it takes significantly better pictures in this environment.

Display

The Sony Xperia Z1 has a 5-inch Full HD panel (1920x1080 pixels). That corresponds to a format of 16:9 and a pixel density of 441 PPI. Like its predecessor, the screen image looks pin-sharp and subjectively appears to display brilliant colors. But the technology behind the glass has actually changed. Instead of the Mobile Bravia Engine 2, the new device is outfitted with a TFT screen with Triluminos technology. In direct comparison, the colors aren't as saturated as they were on the predecessor, and they appear more natural. This is especially noticeable if you run films on both devices and hold them up to each other for comparison (see the above video).

In terms of brightness, the Z1's display proves to be even brighter than that of the Xperia Z (max. 452 cd/m²) and reaches an average of 496 cd/m². No other crème de la crème smartphone reaches such a high number. Even the brightness masters, the iPhone 5 (487 cd/m²) and the HTC One (489 cd/m²) are a little bit dimmer. At an 89% similarity across the screen, the Z1's brightness distribution is fairly even.

Performance

The Sony Xperia Z1's computations are performed by Qualcomm's fastest SoC to date. The Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 clocks at up to 2.15 GHz and has four cores. The lightning-fast Adreno 330 serves as the graphics unit. 2 GB of working memory also stand at the ready.

The smartphone is wired for good results in our benchmarks, and indeed, the Z1 achieves quite respectable results in our synthetic performance evaluations. It even beats out the Xperia Z Ultra (Snapdragon 800, 2.2 GHz) and the LG G2 (Snapdragon 800, 2.3 GHz), which should be the faster models on the basis of their specs. This could be related to more effective cooling

Verdict

The Sony Xperia Z1 is a well-executed renovation of the Xperia Z. The smartphone is a little heavier and bigger, most noticeably in the area around the display, but the bulked-up device feels a little more costly and robust.

Our strongest criticism still pertains to the panel. The mediocre calibration wouldn't be too much of a problem, were it not for the comparably bad viewing angle stability, the slight blue cast and thehigh black value. The review device loses enough points in those three areas to take a significant hit in its overall grade.

Otherwise, Sony does everything right. The manufacturing quality is excellent, and theperformance is stellar. The smartphone also has a very good camera that can take great pictures. The memory space is ample and even expandable. The device is also exemplary in the broad range of wireless frequency bands it supports.

If you're looking for a high-end smartphone to call your own and would like it to be IP certified, yet elegant -- and if the limited panel quality doesn't put too much of a damper on things for you -- the Xperia Z1 is an excellent option.

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