Sony didn’t waste much time in launching the Xperia Z1 in India after its global launch. The phone has been priced at Rs 44,990, and will land in a market already loaded with powerful flagship phones. There is the small matter of dealing with the massive Xperia Z Ultra, the smartphone it succeeds as the flagship from Sony. Plus, you have the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S4, the HTC One, and also the LG G2. While the G2 has not been launched in India yet, we expect it to arrive within these shores fairly soon.
The Z1 packs in a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad core processor clocking at 2.2GHz, with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot for memory expansion. The device comes preloaded with Android 4.2, and packs in a 3000mAh battery.
| Table 1: Sony Xperia Z1 against the latest Android flagships | ||||
| Sony Xperia Z1 | Samsung Galaxy S4 | HTC One | LG Optimus G2 | |
| Processor | Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 quad core 2.2GHz | Exynos 5 Octa 5410 (Quad-core 1.6 GHz & quad-core 1.2 GHz) | Qualcomm APQ8064T Snapdragon 600 quad core 1.7GHz | Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 quad core 2.2GHz |
| RAM | 2GB | 2GB | 2GB | 2GB |
| Display Size | 5-inch Triluminos | 5-inch Super AMOLED | 4.7-inch Super LCD3 | 5.2-inch IPS LCD |
| Display Resolution | 1080p | 1080p | 1080p | 1080p |
| Graphics | Adreno 330 | PowerVR SGX 544MP3 | Adreno 320 | Adreno 330 |
| Internal Storage | 16GB | 16GB | 32GB | 16GB / 32GB |
| Expandable memory | Y | Y | N | N |
| Weight | 170g | 130g | 143g | 143g |
| Battery | 3000mAh | 2600mAh | 2300mAh | 3000mAh |
| Price (Rs.) | 44990 | 41500 | 40500 | N.A. |
One of the highlights of the Xperia Z1 is the fact that it builds on the same legacy that the Xperia Z and the Xperia Z Ultra seem to be building, complete with the entire water and dust resistance capabilities. Critically, the Z1 packs in the very powerful specs that the Z Ultra was launched with.
The Xperia Z1 carries forward the Dust and water resistant (IP55 & IP58) ratings seen in the Xperia Z Ultra, as well as the the single piece aluminum frame and the tempered glass layer on the back.
The Z1 also features the “G Lens” with a 27mm wide angle and bright F2.0 aperture, 1/2.3-type CMOS image sensor Exmor RS with 20.7MP and a BIONZ chip for mobile image processing engine.
To give you a better idea of how the evolution has happened, we give you a specifications comparison between the Xperia Z1 and the Xperia Z Ultra, as well as the predecessor, the Xperia Z.
| Table 2: Sony Xperia Z1 evolution over the previous Xperia flagships | |||
| Sony Xperia Z1 | Sony Xperia Z | Sony Xperia Z Ultra | |
| Processor | Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 quad core 2.2GHz | Qualcomm APQ8064 dual core 1.5GHz | Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 quad core 2.2GHz |
| RAM | 2GB | 2GB | 2GB |
| Display Size | 5-inch Triluminos | 5-inch TFT | 6.4-inch Triluminos |
| Display Resolution | 1080p | 1080p | 1080p |
| Graphics | Adreno 330 | Adreno 320 | Adreno 330 |
| Internal Storage | 16GB | 16GB | 16GB |
| Expandable memory | Y | Y | |
| Weight | 170g | 146g | 212g |
| Battery | 3000mAh | 2330mAh | 3050mAh |
We will have a detailed review of the Xperia Z1 soon.