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Hands-on: Sony Xperia Z1

Sony announced its newest flagship phone, the Xperia Z1, in Germany, last night. And today, Sony Mobile South Africa gave the local press some hands-on time with its new 5-inch full HD handset – not a bad turnaround time for an international announcement.

While it’s all good and well reading the technical specifications on a sheet, going hands on is the only way to tell how that 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, 20-megapixel camera, and all-new 5-inch full HD display work in the real world. The answer: superbly.

z1_4The most noticeable difference between January’s flagship Xperia Z, and the new Z1, is that the latter has softer corners. Sony toned down the design from the Z’s overtly square edges, and the new devices sits more comfortably in hand. It’s also heftier, but not in a bad way. It’s still stupidly thin, but the added weight makes it feel like a solid, premium device rather than a brick.

Still on the exterior, Sony’s gone for a newer implementation of its now-standard watch, shock, and dust-proof  protection. The result is that the Z1 now has a permanently-exposed headphone jack while still being completely usable in all conditions – a little splash of water won’t hurt the jack, and Sony even says the phone can be used underwater.

So, it feels different to the Z, but does it operate differently? On the surface, it’s still Sony’s standard skin on an Android 4.2.2 base operating system. Everything is incredibly smooth, helped along by that blazingly fast Snapdragon 800 processor and the gorgeous display. Speaking, the LCD in the Z1 is a new TriLuminos panel – the same technology that Sony’s latest Bravia TVs use for a wider colour palette. It really is a treat for the eyes.

The biggest headline hardware feature – at least in terms of one that people will actively use – is the new 20-megapixel camera. Pop it into manual mode and you can control white balance as well as exposure compensation and ISO. The latter can be adjusted in standard increments: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, and a low-light ISO 6400 mode. To make sure you always get the shot you want, there’s a Timeshift camera mode that takes 60 photos in a single second. After taking a snap it’s possible to scroll through all sixty and choose the one that works best – to see it in action check out this Vine video and pay attention to the detail in the reflection on the sunglasses.

The Z1’s camera also has two other very useful features. Social Live lets users stream video directly to Facebook, letting their friends interact with a live streaming video. Rather than posting a shot of the rhino you saw in a game park, you can stream a live video of it drinking at the watering hole.

Another feature, Info Eye, will analyse photos and search for additional information online. Take a photo of a bottle of wine, as the Sony reps demonstrated, and it’ll show the wine’s origin as well as suggest food items that go well with it. In another example, a photo of the Eiffel Tower brought up additional information about the famous French landmark. How useful that’ll be to people taking photos of their friends and babies remains to be seen, but at least – thanks to the image sensor – the photos will look fantastic.

The Xperia Z1 will go on sale closer towards the end of October this year, and we’ll have a proper review up in time to help you decide whether this is the device Samsung’s Galaxy S4 should really be afraid of.

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