Gadgetory

for one phone in men Sony's come back to the top tier smartphone game and for the other it meant the perfecting of what the first one started H Josh Vergara from Android auto what's going on everybody and this is the Sony Xperia z1 versus the Sony Xperia Z one of the main ways of looking at this comparison is that the Xperia z1 was a further perfecting of what was started in the Xperia Z essentially this means both phones share many similarities what was at one point considered the comeback phone for Sony into the high-end smartphone game came with a look we didn't and still don't often see in the markets a very rigid look with sharper edges and corners almost like a rectangular block what we also got with the Z was the beginning of a new trope for Sony smartphones the big silver metal power button on the side atop the volume rockers having water and dust resistance meant that all of the ports and slots on either of these phones had to be covered up with small plastic pieces I used to think that they would eventually break but actually they never have so that's good nonetheless they dangle from the phone when opened up and aren't the most attractive parts of the phone despite having an important function overall the very decisive look of the phone gets a pretty lightweight giving the Xperia Z a nimble ability despite feeling sharp due to those edges the Xperia z1 is the Xperia Z grown-up in a way as the phone has not only gotten a little bit bigger but is also improved upon the general design philosophy of it older brother what it was once a plastic frame and chassis is now metallic and though the rest of the phone is similar leaking cased in completely glass and some plastic it unsurprisingly gets heavier as a result in the hand this just feels like a more premium device whose added weight may or may not be a problem the lighter Xperia Z might be easier to carry but the weight also somewhat grounds this z1 the black slate look returns along with the same button layouts the various small covers and finally the addition of a two-stage camera button on the same side as the buttons its edges were also smoothed out with very subtle curves that lower the rigidity of the feel the result is a softer overall feel despite this phone being so similar to the original Xperia Z when it comes to design there are real differences between these two phones even if they aren't easily recognizable first glance if you liked the look of the Xperia Z the z1 isn't hard to enjoy either it's definitely worth noting the added weight in size as well as those subtle curves that soften the feel but I know I didn't have any problem with the sharper edges of the Xperia Z admittedly it might be an eyesore for some people to see that the bezels on both of these phones are rather thick we have been somewhat spoiled by thin bezels and other offerings and that is simply something you won't get here nonetheless sony has been hard at work trying to improve their display game since the Xperia Z which came with a capacitive TFT screen backed by the Bravia Engine especially one head-on does 1080p display capable of 441 PPI brought a great experience akin to a tiny Sony TV yes the viewing angles were highly publicized for not being great and they really aren't on those standards the screen might not truly fit into the top-tier but it is still good at producing a nice enjoyable experience the Xperia z1 did improve on all of this as Sony created the triluminos display this time backed by the ex reality engine it is still capable of the same 1080p resolution and 441 PPI from a cursory glance you can notice that the z1 screen has darker blacks and as a result it has better contrast it definitely handles the darker Timescape UI very well it does somewhat improve on those viewing angles a little though the certain hue does still cast over everything and that times you do notice that the backlight bleeds out of the edges of the screen which doesn't really kill the experience but it's definitely still worth mentioning dead-on however this is definitely a better execution of the display experience originally found in the Z and that is a good plus for the experiencing one even if it isn't leaps and bounds better leaps and bounds do describe the upgrade in the performance Department some thought that a top-tier offering like the Xperia Z did miss the mark somewhat by having the then somewhat aging snapdragon s4 pro clocked in at 1.5 gigahertz and backed by the Adreno 320 partially due to the more simplistic Timescape UI the experience was quite snappy and smooth without really any big slowdowns even months after its inception I can still rely on it to get work and play done however the recently released Xperia z1 does benefit from getting the newer and very powerful Snapdragon 800 the 2.2 gigahertz beast with the audrina 330 this is the current top dog in the processing department and definitely makes the z1 a grey package while I would stress that the Xperia Z is still a good performing phone you may want to have a more sustained future-ready processing package and admittedly that is definitely available in the Xperia z1 in hardware there is actually not too much that differentiates these two phones both offer very similar features like expandable memory via microSD cards and fixed batteries you do get a pretty massive increase in the battery capacity as the 3000 milliamp hour unit in the z1 Trump's the 23 30 milliamp hour one in the Z as a result you will definitely get much better longevity from the z1 as it is able to handle a full day's work with no issues at all power saving features definitely help with this as well and despite both phones being flagship devices I find it odd that features found on other iterations of the Xperia Z line don't make it on either of these phones like the IR blaster from the ZL or the ability to make any metallic surfaces stylus from the Z ultra the biggest change in hardware however is definitely in the camera the experience he came with a 13 megapixel shooter powered by an app that was pretty simplistic it did come with the superior auto that calls back to Sony cyber-shot cameras and for the most part it does its job pretty well you can always go into a normal mode with some manual control and there were some other modes available like sweeping panorama picture quality was decent but it was held back by its noise levels and darker spots and low-light situations color reproduction left a little bit to be desired ultimately it got the job done but it didn't do it by truly excelling with a great digital photography background Sony wanted to fully instill its prowess into the z1 what we get in the z1 optics is a sensor that is larger than typical smartphone cameras usually come with and a massive increase to 20 point 7 megapixels while that's definitely awesome it was unfortunate to find that the megapixel drop immediately went from 20 to 8 megapixels in the settings not only that there are no steps for 16 by 9 shooting in between those which is a big bummer for anyone who wanted a larger size in their favorite aspect ratio the app does get a boost with a more open eco system allowing for downloadable add-ons and new functionality and when it comes to picture quality the color reproduction and saturation was very much improved making well-lit shots all look very good your focal point will get a very high level of detail but when you move away from it the story starts to change areas with blur or noise basically anything from black spot to low light areas to even sometimes the bouquet in the background have a smudgy look making grain that much more unattractive you will still get a lot of great shots out of the Xperia z1 and it should be commended for that especially in highly lit situations but when you put these pictures under the looking glass these issues happen to become clear in the end you are seeing a good increase in camera performance from the z2 the z1 but both still suffer from the same overly aggressive noise reduction that makes the darker areas harder to capture well finally in software we don't see a whole lot of changes as the Timescape UI has not really evolved that much you get a pretty simplistic user interface overall that does somewhat mimic stock Android with the home screens the doc app drawer and the power widget in the notification drop-down these phones do bring the modernized version of Sony's media experience like the Walkman app which is a nice and attractive music player that I still like to use very much the main addition that differentiates Timescape is the small apps feature which can be accessed in the recent apps screen these are small overlays that allow for small and quick multitasking over whatever you're already doing in the end you're getting the same overall experience with either phone honestly it's a bummer that Sony phones don't really make it to US carriers though they are quite popular in plenty of other countries that being said the Xperia Z is found on t-mobile for their program of $20 a month over 24 month period unlocked it does now come in at around $500 we don't know what the roadmap for the Xperia z1 is for US carriers but when unlocked it does come in at around $700 and so there you have it the Xperia z1 is undoubtedly the next step from the Z and that's a good thing the design does bring a much more premium feeling phone and continues the design that we've come to expect and honestly love from the Xperia line plus the faster processing really elevates the performance aspect despite its other improvements however the z1 still suffers from issues that plagued the Z even if to a lesser extent the screen better handles its colors and contrast though its viewing angles and backlight bleeds or detractors the camera is a massive spec improvement but it's very selective in allowing you to harness that power and it's picture quality while improved it's still rather uneven ultimately the z1 feels like the phone the Z could have been and that may or may not mean it is enough to justify the extra costs if you were able to look past these issues in the Xperia Z know that they do somewhat remain in the newest iteration and this is a notion that might mean the Xperia Z is still the better value as always thank you guys very much for watching this edition of versus if you want to see the full reviews for either of these phones you can see them in links right over on the side stay tuned to android authority for all of the best coverage we have everything from reviews to weekly shows like weekly and google play weekly so drop us a like on our videos don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already and as always when you're done with all that make sure you head on over to android authority comm because we're your source for all things Android