We got our hands on the brand, spanking new Z1 today - the latest phablet from Sony kept under tight wraps until just this minute - and it’s an impressive beast. You can hear a full review on The Right Hook next Monday night, but here’s our first thoughts:
Dive in!
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The Z1 is the first fully waterproof phone that doesn’t look anything like a waterproof phone. Unlike The Xperia Z, the headphones socket is sealed internally so you would never be able to tell that the phone can spend up to 30 mins in depths of up to 2m with ease. Great for snorkeling videos or shots in the pool/beach, and of course the accidental toilet drop.
Screen
Every time we hear about a new phone, there’s always some new stat about the vibrance of the colour and the crispness of the image. It’s no different this time, where Sony are touting their TriLuminous technology that supposedly allows you to see colours that aren’t even there. In fairness, it’s a stunning colour screen that delivers incredible details across its 5 inch screen, with really crisp lines, warm and popping colours.
Aesthetics
Sony have stayed with the classic black Xperia style, but the Z1 has a slightly more premium feel, with scratchproof glass front and rear and metal sides
Camera
Here’s where the hype starts. Every phone in the last 3 years has promised high-quality photos in low light. None, in my humble opinion, have managed to meet the superlatives of a press release. I didn’t get a chance to really test the camera out, but at first glance, there are a couple of design flaws. The camera seems to take a bit too long to start and the manual settings – which are always appreciated by someone like me who wants to get the most out of a camera – could be a lot easier to access. Nokia’s 1020 shows how it’s done when it comes to manual focus. That said, with an aperture of 2.0 and a 20.7mp resolution using Sony’s G lens, daytime photos and videos will probably look amazing.
Battery
Finally, somebody listened to me (and every other smartphone user out there). The Z1 battery is not only a whopping 3000mAh, the phone has a number of smart, easy to use battery saving functions. I would be surprised if a heavy user using battery save mode wouldn’t get at least a day and a half, which puts some of its current rivals to shame.
Gimmicks:
No new phone comes without a few bells and whistles. Most exclusive features tend to be a disappointment and it will be interesting to see if anyone (including the kids it’s aimed at) uses the AR mode, which overlays what is essentially fancy clip art onto photos. Social Live is a video streaming app so that you can broadcast straight on to Facebook and the audience online can comment live, which could be useful for people who feel compelled to endlessly foist their personal moments upon the rest of the world. But info-eye might end up being a stroke of genius: The app uses image recognition tied to various service providers to give you relevant information on things like wines, book covers, famous monuments, album covers and so on, providing things like links to online retailers, reviews, historical and geographical data.
Entertainment:
Sony, like all phone manufacturers, is persisting with its proprietary entertainment service which provides music from the cloud as part of a subscription service with movies and tv coming soon. The more appealing cloud service, in my opinion, is the free 50gb for life that you get as a Sony customer from Dropbox rival supplier Box.com. Although it’s only for video and pictures, it’s more than other providers have provided in terms of cloud space so far without expecting you to fork out after a year has passed.
Lots more to discuss, like the intriguing series of accessories including detachable NFC lenses that look AWESOME and a robotic rotating stand which seems pointless, but we’ll get into more depth on The Right Hook next Monday night once we’ve had a proper look.
