Gadgetory

although it seemed the companies I've figured it out smaller form factors aren't a fringe product but are in very real demand however many versions of flagships tend to lose some of what make their bigger siblings appealing in the first place well Sonya wanted to come along and buck that trend with a compact offering that literally just shrinks down their best device is this the excessively sized phone we've all been waiting for well let's find out because it's Josh regard from Android Auto what's going on everybody and this is the Sony Xperia z1 compact Sony quite literally took the shrink ray to the Xperia z1 and brought everything down to size the glass finish with an aluminum frame takes the look and very premium feel that only Sony really puts out consistently and brings it to a small easy to use and handle form factor the button layout takes on the now classic Sony motif as the big silver power button the volume rocker and the dedicated camera shutter button are on the right side now one thing I did want to mention in terms of the button layout is just in regards to that dedicated camera button it is really small and really thin given that this is a small device to begin with so when you're trying to take pictures sometimes pressing the button down easily in order to snap your shot it's not as easy as you would want it to be the opposite of the phone has the microUSB charging port the micro SD card slot and the SIM tray covered with pieces of plastic signaling the phone's IP certification for water and dust resistance now of course the main story here is the overall size of the phone as you can see in my hand right here it just fits very nicely in my hand with a 4.3 inch screen that actually does have a lot of Sony's pretty much signature girth that goes around the screen they do like their big bezels but luckily with a 4.3 inch screen it still makes this phone not too small but also not big enough for it to be difficult to handle at all as far as the handling goes I have one particularly great experience I can use as an example and it had to do with typing the already pretty great stock Sony keyboard allows for easy swipe typing but especially on the z1 compact in one hand it works so well for this smaller device that typing was really just a breeze and with one and you could get everything you needed done and I was able to really type as fast as I could now as we mentioned the 4.3 inch display brings 720p resolution to the z1 compact with 342 pixels per inch the colors are expectedly very good coming from Sony as its x-reality engine behind the triluminos tech makes this look like a very tiny Sony TV with deep blacks and very vibrant colors all around however in the past this might sound like technical talks surrounding a screen that unfortunately had pretty poor viewing angles when it comes to the z1 compact though these have actually been quite improved as you can see here the viewing angles are actually a lot better at certain angles you still get that gray hue that goes over everything but it's not at every angle like before now such a small screen does pose a couple of problems however as some programs originally made for high resolutions don't really translate as well here but in all other instances even the small stature can't keep this screen from performing very well now here is where the no compromises notion really comes into play for the z1 compact Sony quite literally took the high-powered processing package of the z1 and was able to put it into the small body of the compact the Snapdragon 800 clocked in at 2.2 gigahertz is backed by the audrina 330 and two gigabytes of RAM so performance is really no problem at all for this little ball of lightning in my hand and the very minimalistic Xperia U I does somewhat help with the user experience again I have a great experience in terms of playing games on this phone as an example I played Riptide gp2 a lot on this phone and they were all at the highest settings and there was nary a hiccup as I crashed the waves now much of what was offered in the z1 is offered here as well 16 gigabytes of on-board storage is bolstered by the always welcome addition of a micro SD card slot now the speaker on the bottom despite looking quite meaty with that large grille unfortunately still doesn't provide the kind of full and rich sound we'd like to hear and we feel like we should be able to hear from some call quality from the phone speaker on the other hand did come through expectedly well and then connectivity to t-mobile's 4G LTE network brought very nice speedy and reliable internet now battery life does get a bit of a boost as this phone comes with a 2300 milli amp hour unit side that might sound a little bit meager but a lot of power saving features are found in the Xperia U I that should be able to eke out as much power as you need however from a day's worth of work and play with somewhat heavy usage I was still able to get that solid day out of it so this phone should still be able to go the distance for you whether it is for work or for play and finally I wanted to talk about the accessories that come with the phone yes that was a USB OTG cable that was in the box but I had not used one in such a long time that it really just sort of flew over my head but it does beg the question for me though I have only seen a USB OTG cable included with this phone and maybe one other offering in Sony's camp with much larger offerings like the z1 and the Xperia Z ultra out there it makes me wonder why dual shot connectivity was a thought for the smallest in the bunch and not for the larger ones in Sony's camp and the trend continues with the z1 compact as it comes with the same G lens 20.7 megapixel shooter that made a bit of a splash with the original z1 as far as the app goes much of the same functionality remains including the superior auto that does a good job of getting the correct settings for your shot and also all the add-ons for further enhancements like augmented reality so you can really have some fun with your smartphone photography here war as the z1 camera did have some trouble with low-light shots and overall the darkened portions of pretty much any photo the processing seems to have been improved in the z1 compact noise levels remain quite high but at least those darkened areas have a little more detail and aren't nearly as smudgy aside from the trouble of easily pressing the dedicated camera button at times the easy pocket ability of the entire phone and the speedy performance of the app itself makes this powerful shooter a viable companion for all of your photography needs and finally in software there isn't too much to say about the Xperia U I which I actually would argue is probably the best part about it the mostly stock like experience of Sony's take on Android keeps the homescreen simple the app drawer is stacked with only the addition of a quick pull over on the left for some extra options and the notification drop-down with a very simple power widget Sony's media apps remain pretty great as General Apps ago with some favorites like the Walkman and also the album gallery include and of course there are the small apps which help with simple multitasking which are easily found in the recent apps area but what is best about the mostly stock Android build is simply how fast it goes as transitions and moves through pretty much everything on an absolute breeze it just goes to show you how when you keep it simple you keep it fast now an update to KitKat will definitely improve the experience even more especially if our time with the Xperia z2 is any indication and finally we make it over to price now generally when I look at a smaller device I try to see if it is really the device for the everyman in every morning and when it comes to the Xperia z1 compact it really does seem like it's too good to be true unfortunately when it comes to the price that is definitely the case this one will come in at at least $600 unlocked and thus you have to pay the price for all of the power you get in here as well as the ease of use that you have with it in one hand no compromises it really seems to be the real trope surrounding the z1 compact not only on the power to size ratio on the device itself but also on the price you have to pay for it if large devices are in your bag plenty of smaller offerings are available out there now but if you need the absolute best the cream of the crop well you have to pay the high price point here Sony undoubtedly created a little ball of lightning here and it is one hell of a device technically it might not stand alone in the smaller device space but once you get the Sony experience you want compact in your hand you're going to find that it certainly feels like it does so as always thank you guys very much for watching and I hope you enjoyed this review of the Sony Xperia z1 compact it just goes to show you that Sony is continuously improving their game not only being able to make a small device with all of this power but also improving on their camera optics we are really excited about the Xperia z2 but if the large phone is not your thing this one might be for you so keep it tuned to Android Authority for all of the best coverage don't forget to drop us likes on our videos because we'd love to see those thumbs up and also to subscribe to our channel if you haven't already and once you're done with all of that head on over to android authority comm for all of the best news and coverage because we are your source for all things Android