Sony’s flagship gets miniaturized into a new, smaller form factor while keeping its high-end specs
Following months of teasing, rumors and leaks, Sony today unveiled the Xperia Z1 Compact at its CES 2014 press conference. As expected, the Z1 Compact makes waves by maintaining the same high-end internals found in its larger brethren, the 5-inch Xperia Z1; essentially it’s a version of the Z1 f, which recently launched in Japan, for global markets.
While other manufacturers’ “mini” smartphones tend to sacrifice hardware muscle in order to pack everything into a smaller, it’s impressive that Sony has managed to cram the same internals into a smaller body. The only real downgrades are the screen and battery — both understandable due to the size constraints of this 4.3-incher. You’ll get a 720p panel on the Z1 Compact versus 1080p on the regular Z1, and a 2300mAh battery instead of 3000mAh.
Elsewhere you’ll find a familiar set of specs — a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU, 2GB of RAM and Sony’s excellent 20.7-megapixel Exmor RS sensor that works so well on the Z1. The software, too, is essentially identical to that of the Z1 and Z1s — Android 4.3 Jelly Bean topped off with Sony’s customizations, including integration with the company’s content ecosystems. That means you’ve got Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited built into the movies and Walkman apps.
The Z1 Compact is also a bit more colorful than Sony’s other handsets — in addition to the standard black and white, you also get bright lime and pink color options, which keep the black trim around the display, but sport vivid tones on the outer trim and back panel.
Head on past the break for more photos and hands-on video.
