Hands-on: Sony Xperia Z1 Compact

Sony yesterday announced the baby sibling of their flagship Xperia Z1 smartphone and called it the Xperia Z1 Compact. That’s because it has similar hardware specs as the Z1 but in a smaller form factor. We took a quick hands-on of the device at the CES floor yesterday.

While Samsung and HTC has resorted to using “Mini” with sibling handsets, Sony used “Compact” instead.

The Z1 Compact looks and feels exactly the same as the original Z1, just a little smaller. When you hold it in your hands, you will notice the solid build and construction and the cold feel of the metal and glass materials — but none of that biting effect of the edge against the palm of your hands. That’s what the reduction in size achieved — a lighter and more comfortable grip on the handset.

The Xperia Z1 Compact also comes in a variety of colors, and very bright ones at that — black, white, pink and lime. We especially liked the look of the Lime colored Z1 Compact.

The display, while now at just 720p, the pixel density is more than eough at 341ppi. Besides, Sony is now also using an IPS LCD on the Z1 Compact.

The physical look and placements of the buttons are also identical to the Z1. With a Snapdragon 800 chip, 2GB of RAM and 20MP camera, the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact takes the title of the most powerful mid-sized (or “Mini”) smartphone yet.

The very first question I was asked by one of the reps manning the booth was about the size of the device. They were taking feedback on what people think of the smaller 4.3-inch form factor of the Z1 Compact and it looks like they have a winner here.

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact specs:
4.3-inch IPS LCD Triluminous display @ 1280×720 pixels, 342ppi
Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 2.2 GHz quad-core CPU
2GB RAM
1/2.3-inch 20.7MP Exmor RS CMOS image sensor
27mm wide angle and bright F2.0 aperture
BIONZ for mobile image processing engine
16GB of internal storage
up to 64GB via microSD
HSPA+, LTE 150Mbps
WiFi a/b/g/n, WiFi Hotspot
NFC
ANT+ support
Bluetooth 4.0
aGPS
DLNA
GLONASS
MHL support
IP55/58 dust and water resistance
2,300mAh battery
9.5mm
137 grams
Android 4.3 Jellybean

Aside from the downgrade to 720p display, the battery capacity was also reduced to just 2,300mAh. That’s the same as the one on the Xperia Z so we think the performance should be the same or better with the Z1 Compact.

We don’t have any details on the retail price and the release date of the Xperia Z1 Compact yet but we’ll update once we get them.

You can read our full review of the Sony Xperia Z1 here.