Sony Xperia Z1 review

The Xperia Z1 has a camera with a headline-grabbing 20.7-megapixel sensor. The only phone we’ve seen capable of capturing more pixels is the amazing Nokia Lumia 1020, but Nokia’s handset has a bulge on the back to hold the camera assembly. Also, while the 1020’s sensor is a big 1/1.5in model, the Z1’s is a compact camera-style 1/2.3in. This is still bigger than the sensors in most smartphones, including the iPhone 5S.

The Z1 doesn’t take 20-megapixel photos by default. During our testing, we found that if we left the phone in Superior Auto mode, it would always produce 8-megapixel images. This is because, like the Lumia 1020, the Z1 uses oversampling. This is the process where the phone uses the large amount of information from the sensor to pick what it feels are the most accurate pixels, discarding those it deems inaccurate to form a smaller 8-megapixel image.

Unfortunately, we weren’t particularly impressed with the camera. Even with oversampling turned on, our low-light photo test was noisy with blurred details; images were significantly worse quality than the LG G2’s photos, and a world away from those we saw from the Nokia Lumia 1020.

In low light the Xperia Z1’s photos (above) show blurry details and excessive noise, and compare poorly to the LG G2’s images (bottom) – click to enlarge

In daylight, we weren’t blown away by either the full-size or oversampled images. Full-size images resisted pixilation for longer as we zoomed in, but as the image descended into a blurry, noisy mess, this was hardly an advantage. Images showed accurate colours and resisted the overexposure so common to smartphone cameras, but blurry edges and fuzzy details are not something we’d expect to see from a high-end smartphone.

Things aren’t much better in daylight. The Z1’s photos (top) look flat and indistinct compared to the competition, and when you zoom in, they descend into a mass of noise – click to enlarge

The Sony Xperia Z1 is a definite improvement over the Sony Xperia Z, but smartphones are still improving rapidly and it’s actually lost ground to the competition. It has a great screen and a fast processer, while the arrival of Android 4.4 KitKat has improved things markedly. The camera on the Z1 is hugely dissapointing and lets the phone down badly, especially compared to the amazing cameras on the HTC One (m8) and Samsung Galaxy S5.

Sony was still a step behind its rivals with the Z1, something that was only partially addressed by its successor the Xperia Z2. The likes of Samsung, HTC and now even LG all make better Android phones and despite some great plus points both the Z1 and Z2 fail to tick all the boxes. This is now a very old phone and deals are hard to come by. It was a decent handset at the time but is no longer worth considering.