Sony RX100 tops our best high-end compacts test

Sony RX100
We believe Sony's RX100 to be the best high-end compact available

The Sony RX100 has won pride of place in our group test of the best premium compact cameras.

Announced in 2012, the RX100 features a large, one-inch CMOS sensor. Other cameras in the test included the Nikon P7700, Olympus XZ-2, Fuji X20, Canon G15 and Panasonic LX7.

The RX100 is notable for having a larger sensor than the others on test, which seems to have borne out in the resulting images.

Last year, the RX100 scored an impressive 4.5 stars in our individual review.

Our group test of premium compact cameras last year put the Fuji X10 on top. While the X20, that camera's successor, has performed well, it hasn't been able to topple the Sony's results.

Quality

In the group test, we say this about the winning camera: "Super-slim yet power-packed and rich in features, the Sony RX100 makes the most of its oversized 20.2MP image sensor to deliver sublime image quality, and is one jump ahead of the other compact cameras here."

Premium compact cameras are generally distinguished from their point-and-shoot counterparts by the ability to take full manual control over shooting parameters and the capability to shoot in raw format.

Amy Davies

Amy has been writing about cameras, photography and associated tech since 2009. Amy was once part of the photography testing team for Future Publishing working across TechRadar, Digital Camera, PhotoPlus, N Photo and Photography Week. For her photography, she has won awards and has been exhibited. She often partakes in unusual projects - including one intense year where she used a different camera every single day. Amy is currently the Features Editor at Amateur Photographer magazine, and in her increasingly little spare time works across a number of high-profile publications including Wired, Stuff, Digital Camera World, Expert Reviews, and just a little off-tangent, PetsRadar.