After weeks of speculation and rumours surrounding Sony’s 'Honami' project, not to mention a fair few leaks, Sony have finally unveiled the Xperia Z1 at the IFA trade show in Berlin. Sony have made some great strides in the smartphone market since their partnership with Ericsson came to an end and the buzz surrounding this announcement is testament to that progress.
So, now all the hype has died down, what have they actually given us? The Xperia Z1 is a natural successor to the excellent Xperia Z: the styling has evolved and the lines are a little softer, but it’s still a strikingly stylish-looking device. Processor-wise, the Z1 gets a significant performance bump over its predecessor, moving from a 1.5GHz to a 2.2GHz Quadcore processor, which sould be able to handle anything you care to throw at it.
Speaking of throwing things at it, the Xperia Z1 sports improved water-resistance; its certified IP-58, which means it's classed as waterproof rather than just water-resistant like the Xperia Z. Great news if you have a selfie-obsessed goldfish. As you’d expect from Sony there’s an excellent 5” screen using the Triluminous display technology that features in their latest televisions. However, what really stands out as you run through the spec sheet is the 20.7 megapixel camera.
Cameras have been somewhat neglected in the past couple of years as manufacturers have gone all out with 'screen wars', bombarding us with screen-sizes and pixel counts. However, with the Xperia Z1 joining devices like the Galaxy Zoom and Nokia Lumia 1020, it looks like the theme for the next few months may well be 'camera wars'!
Sony do have a reputation for producing great cameraphones. I’m sure some of you will remember the excellent Sony Ericsson K850i, and the Xperia Z1 should be a worthy torch bearer in this respect. The photography buffs amongst you will be keen to know that it’s built round a custom Exmor RS sensor, the same technology you’ll find in Sony’s Cybershot cameras, with a 27mm Sony G Lens and F/2.0 aperture, which should ensure good low-light performance. The camera software has a variety of options, including an augmented reality setting if you don’t feel there are quite enough dinosaurs in your life! The preset options should make it fairly easy to get great results no matter the conditions, but those that know their way round a DSLR can take full manual control to ensure they get the shot they want.
The Xperia Z1 looks to be an improvement on the Z in all aspects. It’s an impressive-looking smartphone that we’re certainly looking forward to getting to grips with here at Geek Squad HQ. And rest assured we’ll have a full hands-on review for you as soon as we get said hands on it!
Cyber-shot QX100 and QX10
Speaking of camera wars, Sony also debuted their eagerly anticipated Cyber-shot lenses. Smartphone cameras are generally a compromise: if you want to keep your phone thin, light and generally phone-shaped it’s impossible to fit the components required to take a really good picture into it. Lenses and image sensors need to be smaller and usable zoom functions go right out of the window. Now, manufacturers have tried to tackle this problem in various ways, admittedly mainly by hoping people wouldn’t notice that the camera in their phone wasn’t all that great... For example, we have the functional, if rather bulky and ugly, Samsung Galaxy Zoom, which is pretty much an S4 Mini stuck to a camera with an optical zoom lens, whilst Nokia are releasing the Lumia 1020 with a staggering 4-megapixel camera.
Sony have approached the problem from a different angle though, and the solution is surprisingly simple. If you have a smartphone then you already have a powerful device capable of processing an image - plus a screen to see what you’re trying to shoot. What you’re missing is a decent lens and image sensor, but with wireless technology there’s no actual need for those things to be physically connected to the other bits. So that’s exactly what Sony have given us with the Cyber-shot QX100 and QX10.
Both devices work on the same principle, using wireless to stream a live feed of what they can see to your smartphone. This gives you the ability to take high quality photos without giving up your nice, slim smartphone. The QX100 in particular isn’t exactly small, but it’s still preferable to carrying a camera around with you. The lenses can be clamped to a phone for a more natural point-and-shoot experience, but equally you can just leave it sat on a table nearby or hold it in your hand and point at things. I’m really hoping the concept catches on as it does address a particular pet hate of mine – I’m sick to the back teeth of seeing nothing but a load of phone screens in the air in front of me at concerts! People holding lenses like these up would be far less intrusive: an elegant solution for a more civilised age.
The lenses aren't restricted to use with Sony products either. The PlayMemories app that connects them is available for any Android device and also iOS. Whilst they’re not cheap, it’s important to keep in mind that these are aimed at the serious photographer: they’re effectively stripped down Cyber-shot cameras with the now-redundant components removed. However, it’s likely we’ll see cheaper models and copycat devices in the future should the concept prove popular.
The QX100 is expected to retail at £399 and comprises a ZEISS Vario-Sonar T* lens with F/1.8 aperture, optical image stabilization and 3.6x zoom, with a 1" 20.2MP Exmor R sensor.
The QX10 is cheaper at £179 and features a Sony G Lens with F/2.0 aperture, optical image stabilization and 10x zoom, with 1/2.3" 18.2MP Exmor R sensor