By Alex Dobie | Feb 14 2014 | 12:12 pm | 69 Comments
Sony’s downsized Z1 might just be the best small Android phone you can buy
For the past several years, high-end Android phones have followed the mantra of “go big or go home.” Five-plus-inch displays, once considered comically large, are now the standard for top-level Android handsets. And big screens definitely have their advantages, giving us more room to browse the web, play games and view photos and movies. But the transition to large displays has left a gap in the market between the 4-inch iPhone and the bulk of the high-end Android space. And that’s precisely where Sony wants to place its latest handset, the Xperia Z1 Compact.Sony has packed all the major hardware features of the Z1 into a smaller chassis. The Z1 Compact is in essence a shrunk-down version of the Xperia Z1, Sony’s current 5-inch, 1080p flagship. We’ve been familiarising ourselves with the Z1 since it launched late last year, and we recently reflected on our time with the phone in a three-month look-back feature. It’s one of the better Android phones out there, excelling in battery life and camera quality. But usually when a high-end handset gets a “mini” version there are compromises to be made — with the processor, camera and storage usually being first for the chop. That’s not the case with the Z1 Compact, and that’s actually the reason it’s a “Compact” and not a “Mini” — Sony tells us the “Mini” monicker has been tainted by cheaper, lower-end handsets. “Compact,” on the other hand, implies it’s the same phone in a smaller space.
Instead of cutting down specs along with the device’s footprint, Sony has packed all the major hardware features of the Z1 into a smaller chassis with a 4.3-inch 720p screen. You’ve got the same Snapdragon 800 CPU, 2GB of RAM and 20.7-megapixel rear camera found on the Z1, in a substantially reduced footprint. For that reason it offers much the same experience as its big brother, along with a few unique quirks of its own.
Join us after the break for a closer look, in our full review of the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact.
Source: Android Central
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