CES 2014 - Sony Xperia Z1 Compact: Flagship Specs with a Smaller Display

There have been many complaints that recent Android phones with flagship hardware almost always meant a very large screen too, and that all smaller smartphones, save for the iPhone, were mid-range phones that were severely underspecced compared to their flagship counterparts, so there isn't really an option for who wants an Android smartphone with a smaller screen, with high-end specs. Sony will attempt to fill in that gap with its Xperia Z1 Compact smartphone. Unvieled at CES 2014, the Xperia Z1 Compact features almost identical specs to the 5" Xperia Z1 flagship, but in a much smaller 4.3" package.

	Xperia Z1 Compact
Body	127 x 65 x 9.5mm, 137g
Display	4.3" TFT Triluminos Display 1280 x 720 (342ppi) with X-Reality engine
Connectivity	GSM (2G), HSDPA (3G), LTE (4G)
Storage	16 GB (microSD expandable), 2 GB RAM
Camera (Rear)	20.7 MP with Exmor RS image sensor, LED flash, face detection, image stabilization, HDR and 1080p video with video stabilization and HDR
Camera (Front)	2 MP with 1080p video
OS	Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 (Quad-core Krait 400 @ 2.2GHz + Adreno 330 @ 450MHz)
Battery	2,300 mAh  - 18 hours talk time  - 670 hours standby  - 12 hours video playback
Notes	- IP58 certification (Waterproof and dust-proof)

Most of the Z1 Compact's spec list is unchanged from the original Z1, save for the display size and resolution, and of cours the dimensions. This is the first Android smartphone in recent history that we can really call a small-sized flagship. 

Design

Along with the rest of the Xperia Z1 Compact's specs, its design is very reminiscent of the larger Xperia Z1, but, you know, smaller. The Z1 Compact will be offered in various colors, including black, white, yellow and a very unusual pink.

The Z1 Compact isn't among the thinnest high-end smartphones around, actually it's 1mm thicker than the Xperia Z1. Still, considering it packs a pretty large battery and that 20.7 MP rear camera (without the camera protruding from the chassis) more than justifies the thickness, and it's not exactly thick at all.  It also weighs 137 grams, which is pretty heavy for its size, but then again, the large battery and the superb rear camera make the weight justice. 

The back of the device is made from a slightly glossy polycarbonate, just like the Xperia Z1 which doesn't look cheap at all. On the back cover there is only a centered Sony logo. On the bottom there's an Xperia logo, and on the top left corner is the 20.7 MP Exmor RS camera, and beside it is an LED flash. 

The front of the device is mostly clean, with the bottom bezel completely bare, and the top bezel accommodating the front-facing 2 MP camera and the ambient light and proximity sensors.

Overall, the Xperia Z1 Compact's design is superb. The white and black versions are very simple and understated, while the yellow and pink versions have a Lumia-esque quality to them. 

Display

Here's the only thing about the Z1 Compact that's really different from the Xperia Z1. The display size does down from a large 5" size to a more portable 4.3" size, and the resolution goes from 1080p to 720p. That means that the pixel density goes down from 441 in the Xperia Z1 to 342 in the Z1 Compact, but you'd have a very hard time trying to notice the difference in sharpness between the two smartphones. The 4.3" screen is still larger than the latest iPhone, but it's still much easier to handle than this year's 5" flagships. The Triluminos display technology used in the display helps it reproduce bright colors, and the X-Reality engine adds an extra pop to images and videos. For it's size, it's a very good display with no compromises. 

Processor and OS

The Xperia Z1 Compact, much like the Z1 and most recent flagships, is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset, currently one of the fastest SoCs available, if not the fastest. This SoC is built on a 28nm HPM process, and consists of four Krait 400 cores clocked at up to 2.2GHz plus a monstrous Adreno 330 GPU. Considering that the Adreno 330 already performs exquisitely at 1080p, I imagine that at 720p there would be nothing in the entire Play Store that can even utilize its full power. 

Conclusion

The Xperia Z1 Compact is expected to come out within the next few months. I expect its price to be lower than the Xperia Z1, but given its flagship specs the price may still be pretty high, maybe slightly below the flagship range, but definitely much above mid-range prices. 

I'm very happy to see Sony produce a flagship device with a relatively compact screen, during this age of ever larger flagships, and I hope other Android OEMs follow suit. With the Xperia Z1 Compact you get a flagship-grade processor, a very impressive camera that borrows from Sony's  successful digital camera technologies, and a large 2,300 mAh battery with a smaller display that makes for a very compact flagship. If you've been looking for a flagship Android smartphone, but never quite enjoyed the size of the usual flagships and wanted something that was more similar to the iPhone in size, the Xperia Z1 Compact is the best phone for you.

Sony Xperia Z1 Review

As good camera quality has become a trend in smartphones this year, it was only a matter of time for some manufacturers to take this new trend very seriously, for example, Nokia with its Lumia 1020 and its monstrous 40 MP camera. Sony is the next OEM to ship a smartphone with a gorgeous camera, in this case, the Xperia Z1. Very similar to the Xperia Z we've seen at the beginning of the year, the Z1 is a refresher that adds a faster processor, an impressive 20.7 MP rear camera and a larger battery to the flagship smartphone.

	Sony Xperia Z1	Sony Xperia Z
Body	144 x 74 x 8.5mm, 169g  IP58 certified (dust-proof and water-proof for up to 1 meter for 30 minutes)	139 x 71 x 7.9mm, 146g  IP58 certified (dust-proof and water-proof for up to 1 meter for 30 minutes)
Display	5" 1920 x 1080 (441ppi) Triluminos with X-Reality engine	5" 1920 x 1080 (441ppi) with Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2
Connectivity	GSM, HSDPA, LTE	GSM, HSDPA, LTE
Storage	16 GB, 2 GB RAM	16 GB, 2 GB RAM
Ports	microSD (up to 64 GB), microUSB	microSD (up to 64 GB), microUSB
Camera (Rear)	20.7 MP with Sony Exmor RS image processor, 1080p video + LED flash	13.1 MP,1080p video + LED flash
Camera (Front)	2 MP, 1080p video	2.2 MP, 1080p video
Battery	Non-removable 3000 mAh Talk time: 14 hours Standby time: 880 hours	Non-removable 2330 mAh, Talk time: 14h Standby time: 530 hours
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 (Quad-core Krait 400 @ 2.2GHz + Adreno 330)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 APQ8064 (Quad-core Krait 300 @ 1.5GHz + Adreno 320)
OS	Android 4.2 Jelly Bean	Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

Design

The Xperia Z1 follows the same design language used in all 2013 Xperia devices. The shape of the device is plainly rectangular and is slightly thicker and heavier than the Xperia Z, no doubt due to the monstrous camera and the larger battery, measuring 8.5mm thick and weighing 169g. Comparing to other 5" flagships the Xperia Z1 is pretty hefty, but that doesn't mean it's uncomfortable to hold.

As with the norm for 2013 Xperia smartphones, the Z1 has a rather stylish-looking glossy polycarbonate back, available in black, white or purple colors. The top left edge of the back houses that beastly 20.7 MP rear camera, and just under it is the LED flash. The only complaint I have with the Xperia Z1's design is that the bezels, especially the top and bottom bezels, are considerably wider than what other manufacturers have achieved (recalling the LG G2 and its almost bezel-less design). The thicker-than-normal left and right bezels make the phone wider and less comfortable to hold. Large bezels and heftiness aside, I still consider Sony's new design concept one of the most stylish designs this year. 

Display

Much like the Xperia Z and most of 2013's flagships, the Xperia Z1 has a large 5" display with a crisp 1920 x 1080 resolution (441ppi). What's different in the Z1 is that is packs some new display technologies, specifically, TRILUMINOS display technology, which enhances the color reproduction spectrum and producing bright, colorful images, and an X-Reality picture processing engine, which analyses the content of pictures, videos, and games and makes them clearer, sharper and more colorful. So while the basic specs of the display remain unchanged, Sony has included some new display technologies to bring clearer, more colorful content into the screen. 

Camera

The biggest selling point of the Xperia Z1 is, no doubt, its camera, and it does impress. Sure, the camera doesn't protrude from the device like the Lumia 1020, and the rather small camera lens would make you think its another boring old 13 MP shooter, but don't judge this 20.7 MP beast just by its minimalism. Aside from the higher pixel count, Sony is also borrowing from its compact digital camera technology, integrating a large 1/2.3" image sensor with Exmor RS technology, ensuring excellent low-light shots with little grain and vibrant colors. The Xperia Z1 also utilizes Sony's excellent G Lens of F/2.0 aperture, and to back up these powerful optical instruments is a BIONZ image processing engine, which enables noise reduction, as well as intelligence exposure and white balance adjustments automatically, Motion Detection, which alters the camera shutter speed to greatly reduce motion blur other visual treats.

The result is a nearly perfect camera on your smartphone. Not only is the 20.7 MP a very high resolution, per-pixel quality is the best due to the G Lens' F/2.0 aperture and the Exmor RS image sensor, both of which help more light to pass through the camera, enhancing low-light shots, reducing noise in low-light situations and greatly aiding color reproduction, creating the most vibrant shots. Like that wasn't already enough, the BIONZ ISP takes digital image processing to its best, eliminating motion blur, and ensuring the best exposure and white balance settings for every shot. All that comes without having a bulbous camera lens protruding from the device, like in the Lumia 1020 or, even worse, in the Samsung Galaxy Camera. Many of you might just not care about this, but if you want a smartphone with an excellent camera without sacrificing portability, the Xperia Z1 is the perfect phone for you.

Performance

Like many flagship refreshers coming out this quarter, the Xperia Z1 upgrades its processor to a monstrous Snapdragon 800 SoC. While this isn't the highest binned Snapdragon 800, it still packs a lot of power. The Xperia Z1's Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 consists of four Krait 400 CPU cores clocked at 2.2 GHz plus an Adreno 330 GPU at 450 MHz. That puts it in line with the absolute fastest smartphones available.

Conclusion

The Xperia Z1 is, no more, no less, than a refresher of the Xperia Z. It builds upon the already proven smartphone solution with a new processor, a better display, a larger battery, and it gives it something to distinguish itself from other flagships: an excellent camera, which incorporates years of development in compact camera technology into a smartphone camera that not only has a high pixel count, but also boasts excellent per-pixel quality and takes advantage of advanced image signal processing, without making the sensor itself too large and without adding too much girth to the device.

If you're on the market for a flagship device, the Xperia Z1 should be near the top of your list. Personally, I have no big complaints about it, and I would recommend it to anyone unless you're particularly sensitive about a smartphone's size and weight. Without any major deficiencies, this smartphone is easily one of the best available, and if you consider camera quality an important factor, then look no further. 

PlayStation 4 vs Xbox One: Which Is Better?

It's been eight years since a new generation of game consoles arose, and now we see the two companies that dominated the console industry during the last 8 years at it again. Sony's next-gen PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One are both excellent consoles, each with their advantages and disadvantages. Despite the fact that the Xbox One initially received very negative reactions due to certain policies, among other things, many of these are no longer concerns since Microsoft addressed the issues. 

Design

The Xbox One's is a big departure from its predecessor. While the Xbox 360 had a more curved structure, the One's much more...rectangular. In my opinion, the One looks very futuristic. Its all black design is very stylish, and the white Xbox logo contrasts nicely with the black body. The One doesn't appear to have any buttons on the front, and since the front now apparently only houses the slot for the Blu-ray/DVD player, it gives the console a very, very clean look. The included Kinect 2.0 sensor follows the same design language: and all-black design with a white Xbox logo on the right side. So does the controller, whose paintjob is also back, and the Xbox button, also white. The physical dimensions and ergonomics of the controller are very reminiscent of the Xbox 360's controller. The button setup is also the same. Basically, a beautiful, uniform, clean and futuristic design.

While the Xbox One's design is an overhaul from its predecessors, Sony has somewhat kept the design language of the PS4 similar to its PS3 parent. I've even heard people joking that the PS4 looks like two PS3s (Slim version) sticked together. The PS4 maintains the stylish jet black paintjob that dates back to the PS2. The console follows a very rectangular look, but has a recess across the console's length (vertically) on the middle, making it somewhat reminiscent of a double-tower building. Another thinner line running across the console horizontally emanates a blueish light on one of the sides when the console is on. Very stylish!

The DualShock 4 controller is ergonomically similar to its predecessors, and also presents a black design and the very same button configuration. The big changes here are a touchpad located at the top center of the controller and a six-axis gyro-sensor built into the console. I believe the touchpad won't be very useful, and it looks like it's a bit awkward to reach while holding the controller, but the gyro sensor could prove to be a very welcome addition.

Performance

Since 2005 graphics processors have made astounding progress (Moore's Law, anyone?), so the Xbox One obviously gets an equally large leap from its predecessor. Microsoft, as well as Sony, have decided not to use extremely powerful CPUs in their consoles' SoCs. The Xbox One is powered by eight AMD Jaguar x86-64 cores @ 1.6GHz. If you follow AMD's APU roadmap, you should be asking yourself "Wait, Jaguar?", and that is because Jaguar is an APU aimed at being ultra-mobile and power efficient, the kind that ends up in tablets. So it suffices to say it doesn't offer a lot of performance, so why use it in a gaming console? Well, virtually no games require a lot of CPU performance, and the smaller cores also help drive the product's price down. But the CPU isn't that weak anyways. Think of it like this: its performance should be similar to an octa-core Cortex-A15. But still, it could limit developers' abilities to produce more complex AI.

The GPU, unlike the CPU, is very powerful. It's a derivative from AMD's GCN architecture, and it features 768 unified shader cores, 48 Texture Mapping Units and 16 Render Output Units at a clock speed that originally was 800 MHz, but Microsoft has changed it to 853 MHz. At this clock rate, the GPU should give 1.31 TFLOPS of compute power. For comparison, this GPU should yield performance similar to a desktop GeForce GTX 650 Ti or a notebook GTX 765M. 

Microsoft did a rather unusual thing with the Xbox One's memory subsystem. Instead of simply throwing the fastest bus type/width (256-bit GDDR5 in this case), and frequency available for its time, Microsoft opted for a rather weak 256-bit wide DDR3 @ 2133 MHz memory controller. This results in 68.2 GB/s peak memory bandwidth, and that is really not much for today's standards. But, like I said, Microsoft did something unusual. They included a 32 MB large eSRAM memory into the SoC. In a properly optimized game, the eSRAM would unload tasks from the main memory controller, thus extending the effective memory bandwidth an extra (theoretical) 102 GB/s. So, despite having a much weaker memory subsystem than the PS4, the Xbox One will still offer similar memory bandwidth.

Sony also has a very similar approach for its internals. The SoC that powers the PS4 is also based on eight AMD x86-64 Jaguar CPU cores clocked at 1.6 GHz. Sony also uses an AMD GCN-derived GPU to drive its graphics. While architecturally, the PS4's GPU is identical to the Xbox One's, the spec sheet clearly reveals that Sony's GPU solution packs more power, and that is because the PS4's GPU packs 1152 shader cores, 72 Texture Mapping Units and 32 Render Output Units. At its max 800 MHz clock rate, this GPU has 1.84 TFLOPS of peak compute power, and that is significantly more than the Xbox One's 1.31 TFLOPS. Also, the PS4 has a much more developer-friendly approach to delivering its peak memory bandwidth capability. Sony simply opted for a powerful 256-bit wide GDDR5 @ 5.5 GHz solution, resulting in 176 GB/s peak memory bandwidth. Basically, Sony's GPU architecture choice is exactly the same as the Xbox One's, but simply has more execution resources at its disposal, and the PS4's memory subsystem doesn't require code optimizations to be fully utilized, which isn't quite the case with the Xbox One.

While the PS4 has significantly more GPU compute power than the Xbox One, the fact that both consoles use SoCs that are architectually almost identical means it is very easy for developers to port games from one platform to the other. Also, the fact that both consoles moved to an x86 CPU architecture means there's no chance of backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 and PS3 games, but it also means that porting a game to PCs won't be hard at all.

Software Features

This generation of game consoles isn't investing as much in hardware (there are many high-end PC GPUs that are much more powerful than the PS4's and the Xbox One's GPUs), but is emphasizing software a lot. Specifically, Microsoft and Sony tried hard to make their new consoles not only for video-games, but also for entertainment in general. The Xbox One, for instance, uses something Microsoft calls HDMI Pass-thru, which basically means you can connect your cable or satellite box to your Xbox One and watch TV on it. Microsoft made the Xbox One a sort of Dual OS machine. It contains the OS in which the games are run, and along with it a custom Windows OS, both running simultaneously. While the two OSes running simultaneously means there may be less CPU/Memory resources for games, it opens many doors for entertainment in these systems. For instance, the Xbox One allows you to video chat on Skype while you play a game. In this case, the screen will be split between the two applications (Much like in Windows 8), so that the bigger part of the screen is occupied by the game and a small portion of screen estate beside it will display the Skype app.

The Kinect 2.0 sensor is also a nifty addition that comes included with the console. It's now considerably more precise than the 1st-gen Kinect, and Microsoft claims it's now able to detect even the slightest wrist movements. 

Sony is also trying to move the capabilities of the PS4 beyond just gaming. For instance, there's a Share button located on the PS4's controller which allows you to seamlessly record a video of some of your gameplay and then upload it to any social network, all this without interrupting your game. 

Conclusion

We can observe a clear path that each of the consoles are taking. The Xbox One is more focused in delivering much more than just gaming. It's trying to be your video game console, and well as your TV receiver and your social networking machine, and Microsoft's choice for a lighter GPU and memory subsystem reflect that. Sony, while making some effort to deliver entertainment beyond just gaming, is still investing a lot on its gaming capabilities, with their choice for a more powerful GPU and memory bandwidth. So ultimately, the choice of which console is better will depend on what you want from the console. If you want an entertainment center, and think that a console should do more than just running games, go with the Xbox One, but if you'll use your console mainly for just gaming, the PS4 appears to be the better option. There's the difference in pricing, too. While the Xbox One, which will be available in November 22, will sell for $499 (Kinect 2.0 included), the PS4 will be available as of November 15, for a more affordable $399. 

Sony Xperia Z Ultra Review: Ultra Large, Ultra Fast

No one can deny it. Sony has made huge strides in the smartphone department, going from being a minor smartphone vendor to one of the market's biggest players. Having successfully taken on the smartphone competition with the rugged Xperia Z, and also produced quite a good tablet with the Xperia Tablet Z, Sony is now extending the Z-series' reach to include phablets. Enter Xperia Z Ultra. The new flagship device touts an already proven design with a beautiful, enormous screen and industry leading performance.

The design is where Sony has become extremely successful this year, and it shows in the Xperia Z Ultra. To put it simply, the Ultra is SLIM. Measuring 6.5 mm, the phablet is thinner than just about every major smartphone available. It's quite heavy, weighing 212g, but when you think about its size you realize it's pretty light. Despite being so thin, and despite having such a classy design, Sony managed to make this device as rugged as it can get. The Ultra has IP58 certification, which basically means it's dust proof, and also waterproof, for up to 30 minutes under one meter of water (given that all the ports are covered), so, despite how fragile this device looks, it can take a lot of damage.

The back of the device, much like the Xperia Z and the Tablet Z, is beautiful. Very simplistic and very stylish, the back is covered by a layer of glass, which gives the device a slightly reflective effect. The phablet is available in black, white, and purple (?). The bottom of the back contains an Xperia logo, and on the center there's a Sony logo. On the top, there's a very good 8 MP camera, capable of 1080p video and HDR, but without an LED flash. The general cleanness of the back, together with the glass-induced reflectiveness, results in a very premium, expensive look for the Ultra. 

The front of the device is almost 100% display, which has become common in large screen devices. The left and right bezels are very slim, but unfortunately the top and bottom bezels could be slimmer. Granted, though, the top bezel needs space for the Sony logo, the proximity and ambient light sensor and the front-facing 2 MP camera, also capable of shooting 1080p video (a bit pointless really, in my opinion), and the bottom bezel is probably as large as the top one to induce symmetry in the design.

Honestly, I think that the Xperia Z Ultra is too close to tablet territory in terms of screen size. Measuring 6.4 inches diagonally, it begs for more comparison to the Nexus 7 than, say, the Galaxy S4 or Note II. Many people will probably like it, but personally, I think the display size isn't ideal for neither tablet-like nor smartphone-like use. 6.4 inches means it's probably too big to fit into your pocket (and the added weight also makes that more difficult) and it could be awkward to stick that to your face and talk on the phone, so I find it inadequate for use as a smartphone. So the only reason why you'd want that device, other advantages aside, is either if you think the Nexus 7 is too large (you probably don't, except perhaps if you have tiny hands) or if you want something almost Nexus 7-sized that can make calls (a question from the Galaxy Tab 7.0 time, when it was often discussed how weird it is to talk on the phone with such a big device). You might have other reasons, and if you feel the screen size is good, you can't possibly be disappointed by the Xperia Z Ultra.

Odd screen size aside, the display is gorgeous. Sony is introducing the new Triluminos display technology with X-Reality enhancement, which is the successor to the already proven Mobile BRAVIA Engine. Basically, X-Reality will boost the color saturation of images, video, games, etc. significantly, making everything pop out more. The 1920 x 1080 resolution results in a pixel density of 344ppi (lower than 5" 1080p smartphones' 441ppi, but unless you're using a microscope you won't notice the difference), ensuring razor-sharp text and clear images. Combine the enhanced colors of the display, thanks to X-Reality, with the very crisp pixel density, and you have a near-perfect display in your hands. 

Under the hood is where the Xperia Z Ultra impresses the most. That would be because the Ultra is one of the first products to launch with the brand new Snapdragon 800 SoC paired with 2 GB of RAM. For a recap, the Snapdragon 800 is a 28nm SoC consisting of four Krait 400 cores ticking at a monster 2.3GHz, plus a brand new Adreno 330 GPU, which, as benchmarks show, is by far better than any of the competition, even NVIDIA's recently launched Tegra 4. The Xperia Z Ultra can therefore handle, and I say literally, anything. UI performance will definitely be flawless, and it'll be a monstrous mobile gaming machine (it's faster than the NVIDIA Shield. Period). The Ultra's SoC will only disappoint you when OpenGL ES 4.0 becomes the norm in games, and would happen around 2018-2020. To put it simply, whether you want a device to do some simple web browsing, reading and watching videos, or if you're a hardcore mobile gamer, the Xperia Z Ultra won't disappoint you.

Other specs include Android 4.2 out of the box and a non-removable, beefy 3050 mAh battery, but ironically, Sony claims 16 hours of talk time and up to 7 hours of video playback, which is good, but not as good as the battery size might suggest. Well, I suppose that's the price for such a large display.

The device was already released, although it hasn't arrived in the US yet, but you can find it in a retailer or two for $799. This is, I think, the same price as the Galaxy S4 without a contract, so it's not unaffordable, and it works perfectly as a phone, touting 4G LTE connectivity. If you're not bothered by the screen size, you're basically getting a near-perfect device. It offers a beautiful, yet very durable design and spotless performance, and I definitely recommend the device if the screen size is OK for you.