LittleKey: Xperia Z1 Review

Xperia Z1 Review

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Running a small company while being very hands on with projects such as Mirai Suenaga, Smart Doll & running events around the world means that I need to constantly seek ways to optimise my time. I do so through trying to use technology and gadgets to enable me to do things faster and more efficiently.
Okay, enough of the excuses-to-buy-new-gear and on with the review of our spanking new Sony Xperia Z1 ^^;

But before we move on, check out the official video below.

Some of the specs for the Xperia Z1 below.

4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Quad Core (MSM8974)
16GB Flash Memory
1920 x 1080 pixels
16,777,216 colour TFT, Full HD TRILUMINOS™ Display with X-Reality for mobile
HDMI via MHL supported microUSB port
Power button, volume up & down, dedicated camera button
20.7 Megapixels
8 x digital zoom, Front-facing camera (1080p for video 2MP for image capture), HD video recording (1080p), Sony Exmor RS® for mobile image sensor, HDR for both pictures and movies
Near Field Communication
3000mAh Battery
Dimensions = 144.4 x 73.9 x 8.5 mm
Weight 170g

Some folks asked why I ordered the Xperia from the UK - its not out in Japan yet and even if it was it would be tied to Docomo and be SIM Locked ><

I picked up the HTC ONE hoping that it would replace my flaky Samsung Galaxy S3 .While the HTC ONE is a really nice study n snappy unit, the camera quality seemed to get worse the more I used it up to a point where it started to affect my work - for example when I was at a factory inspecting parts for Smart Doll that had air pockets on the surface - I needed to send photos off to another location so that the mold could be inspected but the HTC ONE camera was so grainy that it was difficult to tell where the air pockets were.

Regular readers will also know that I like to document my life through photos and the camera on the HTC ONE wasn't really helping me to capture those moments in life - only a wall of grain ><

The 20 megapixel camera on the Xperia Z1 however is pretty good and you can find a load of untouched samples towards the middle of this post.

And as for why I didn't go back to iOS and get the iPhone 5S? - all the reasons are listed up here.

Comparison with the other Android devices that we now use for development and QA - Samsung Galaxy Note 1, Samsung S3, Xperia Z1 and HTC ONE.

One of the reasons why I went for the HTC ONE instead of the Xperia Z at the time was mainly because of the reviews that I read about the Xperia screen - it fades depending on the angle you look at it and the same issue exists with the Xperia Z1.
After thinking about it - I personally don't have any need to look at the screen from an angle - I usually look at it directly and I'm guessing that the majority of mobile users do the same - I could be wrong though ^^;
I do wonder if the screen fading out at an angle is a "feature" of the Xperia which is an immensely popular phone in Japan. Most of us use the trains in Japan to commute and being all squashed up in a small space, you are going to end up looking at somebody's phone screen.
For this reason, many folks purposely buy privacy filters to make the screen fade away when looked at from an angle - a bit like these ones which helps hide the ecchi stuff.
BUT! One thing I did discover when out n about on a bright sunny day was that you can still see the screen very clearly under the sun - like most displays - the HTC ONE or S3 would end up being so dark that you would have to put your hand over the screen to shade it from the sun before you could see anything.

Boosted the built in 16GB of flash memory by another 64GB with the Micro SD card slot.

Need to remove the waterproof flappy things before the unit can be charged.

The SIM card sits on a tray and you don't need a sharp object to take it out - this is useful for me because...

...I often have to change the SIM when I land in various countries and don't always have sharp pointy objects handy ^^;
The SIMs here are for the countries that I visit for the most regularly for work - Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the US.
Folks who are also going to get the SIM Free Xperia Z1 and live in Japan *and* are Softbank users - you will have to punch in the following settings and create a new APN - or you won't have any data connectivity.
ＡＰＮ：smile.world
ＡＰＮ：smile.world
プロクシ：＜未設定＞
ポート：＜未設定＞
ユーザー名：dna1trop
パスワード：so2t3k3m2a サーバー：＜未設定＞
ＭＭＳＣ：http://mms/
ＭＭＳプロクシ：smilemms.softbank.ne.jp
ＭＭＳポート：8080
ＭＣＣ：440
ＭＮＣ：20
認証タイプ：CHAP
APNタイプ：default,supl,mms
APNプロトコル： IPv4
Once you have done this, you will be able to use 3G, send SMS and make calls in Japan with your Softbank SIM. I *still* have not figured out a way to make it send MMS or receive visual voicemails yet.
If you call me and leave a message - I wont get it - just send me mail or SMS.
There is one very odd thing about the Xperia Z1 - as soon as you take out the SIM it will reboot without warning and it takes ages - a few minutes. What's that all about? @.@
Does it do that on other Xperia models too?

Power button on the side with volume rocker just below it. Holding the power button down only gives power off, airplane mode and sound options unlike Cyanogenmod which gives reboot and screenshot too.

Dedicated camera button comes in handy.

Speakers are at the bottom of the Xperia - not as good as the stereo HTC ONE though.
The hole that you see at the side of the speakers is for keitai straps which are a part of the culture over here in Japan.

The 20.7 Megapixel camera - flush with the rest of the back.

Will probably get the cradle soon where it charges the phone through these two pins.

After the phone arrived, I was thinking that I should have got the white one instead ^^

Lock screen.

The Xperia is waterproof - useful for folks who need to regularly talk in the rain, below water or plan to drop it in the toilet.
While the unit is waterproof - it does not seem to be scratch proof and there is already a scratch on the screen after light usage ><
I stuck the screen protector on after to see if it would hide the scratch (it sometimes helps) but can still see it ^^;
Tried looking for some paste to fill in the scratch but only found some scammy stuff.
The best screen I've used is the iPhone though - not a single scratch on my 3GS or 4S after many years of usage.

Now onto look at the UI. The Sony Xperia UI is the only System UI I've used so far that I could actually continue to use. I previously had to replace the system on the S3 and HTC ONE with CM10.1 because they were either sluggish (S3) or user-unfriendly (HTC ONE).
The Xperia is not without its quirks however and there are a few things I miss from using Cyanogenmod.
As the Xperia is still such a new machine and not even out in many markets including Japan, there's not a lot of info about rooting and no sign of a Z1 version of Cyanogenmod yet.

This is the apps screen. Very fluid and buttery.

The Xperia has this menu that allows you to sort your apps the way you like them.

Icon of folders on the home screen. If you cant read that hiragana then you need Moekana.

Notification tray. No flashlight and you can't hold and press the icons to bring up the settings like you can with Cyanogenmod.
I did download an app that displays those settings as you can see here but it dont look too good ^^