Xperia Z1 clever as they come

The Sony Xperia Z1 is a new flagship smart phone from Sony that features a 20.7 megapixel camera using the same image sensor found in most compact digital cameras as well as sharp and clear 5-inch Full HD display and slim and water-resistant design.

Z1 is powered by 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdradon 800 Quad-Core processor with Adrena 330 GPU for graphics processor. 

It has 2 Gigabytes of RAM or working memory and 16 GB storage and it runs on Android 4.2 operating system.

Z1 is compliant to waterproof and dust resistant to IP55/IP58 standards and it comes in an aluminium frame and durable tempered glass on both sides. Its 8.5mm slim profile and tempered glass make the phone look very sleek.

Its 5-inch display with 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution is very good for viewing photos and videos. It uses Triluminos Display for mobile and X-reality for mobile technologies for enhancing colour shades.

Z1 supports HSPA+ 3G connection in both 850MHz and 900 MHz as well as the standard 2100MHz and it also comes with LTE 4G connection.

I had no chance to visit the Siam Square or nearby areas where a 4G connection is available so I tested Z1 on TrueMove H’s 3G connection.

The connection was fast. Downloading and installing of applications were fast. I managed to check in to various places using the Foursquare app without problem. I took snapshots and posted them on my Facebook wall fast. Mail checking and Facebook updating were done at impressive speed.

Z1 has good performance. The touch screen and menus were very responsive and HD video clips flew. Most apps did not slow down the phone.

You can carry Z1 to a water park or a swimming pool to read web pages and watch YouTube clips while in the water. You can also take photos underwater as the phone can be 1.5 metres deep for 30 minutes.

But before dipping your Z1 into the water, you must make sure that you have tightly closed the three ports – micro SIM card port, USB port and microSD card slot – with the attached covers or else you could damage your phone. 

And you must make sure that you will not violate the 1.5-metre and 30-minute limit. So using the phone in the rain and during the Songkran festival is fine.

Sony G Lens with bright F/2.0 aperture and 27mm equivalent focal length as well as 3-inch Exmor RS for mobile image sensor allow Z1 to capture good-quality photos in most lighting environment. It uses BIONZ for mobile engine for fast processing of the camera’s functions.

The image sensor is larger than 1/3-inch sensors that are used in most smart phones. The 20.7-megapixel resolution allows most shots lo look great when viewed in normal sizes. 

The 3-inch sensor is the same size used in most consumer level compact cameras.

And DxOMark.com, a well-known mobile image quality assessment web site, has reported that Z1 takes the number two spot in the DxO smart phone rankings, above Apple iPhone 5s and Samsung Galaxy S4 and below Nokia 808.

The 27mm equivalent focal-length lens allows Z1 to capture beautiful landscape photos.

You can use Superior auto mode to let the camera automatically select scene mode that is optimised to the current lighting and scene environment. Or you may select the programmed scene modes on your own as well as changing other camera’s settings by using the Manual shooting mode.

When using Manual mode, you can select scene mode on your own and the scene modes include Night portrait, Hand-held twilight, Soft skin, Landscape, Backlight correction HDR, Gourmet and Pet. 

But you can choose the scene modes in the Manual option only if you select the photo resolution of 8 megapixel or lower.

In Manual mode, you can also set the value of exposure compensation and select the white balance modes on your own.

You can also have fun shooting in other shooting modes, including Timeshift burst, Picture effect, Sweep Panorama and Info-eye as well as AR effect and Social live.

In Timeshift burst mode, the camera fires 61 shots in two seconds and lets you select the best one. This mode is useful for capturing fast action.

The Info-eye mode is useful when you visit popular sight-seeing places or spots. You can take photos of the places and Z1 will perform online search for the places’ information by comparing the snapshots with photos of popular places and by using GPS information of your current location.

In AR effect, the camera provides virtual scenes and characters for you to take photos with.

When you use the Picture effect mode, you will find several fun picture effects to select, such as Sketch, Miniature, Partial Colour, Vivid and Fisheye. For example, the Sketch turns your snapshots into drawing.

The Social live by Bambuser is fun to use. It allows you to capture video clip and post it live to your Facebook wall easily.

During the test, I found that Z1 captured pleasing quality photos in most environments especially when correct scene modes were selected. The Superior auto mode may not properly select scene modes in some environments, so you are advised to use the Manual shooting mode and select the scenes on your own in certain situation.

The camera also provides a lot of settings for you to select to further enhance image quality, including ISO, Focus mode, and Metering.

Z1 is also capable of recording good quality Full HD video clips.

Z1 can also function as an excellent Walkman MP3 player with the preinstalled Walkman app that sounded very good during the test.

Sony Xperia Z1 has a suggested retail price of Bt20,990 and is available in black, white and purple colours.

 

 

Key specs

_ Networks: UMTS HSPA+ 850 (Band V), 900 (Band VIII), 1700 (Band IV), 1900 (Band II), 2100 (Band I) MHz, GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz, LTE (Bands I, II, III, IV, V, VII, VIII, XX)

_ Platform: Google Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)

_ Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with 2.2 GHz MSM8974 quad-core CPUs

_ Display: 5-inch Triluminos Display for mobile with 1080 x 1920 pixels

_ RAM: 2 GB

_ Storage: 16 GB expandable with microSD card, up to 64 GB

_ Camera: 20.7 megapixel camera, Front-facing camera: 2 MP 1080p, Geo-tagging, HD video recording (1080p)

_ Size:  144 x 74 x 8.5 mm

_ Weight: 170 grams