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Camera
- 19MP rear camera takes decent pictures, struggles in low light
- New 3D Creator app accurately scans objects and faces
Sony’s been really stepping things up in the camera department on their phones, and having used the Xperia XZ and then seen what the XZ Premium can do, we can attest to that. The XZ1 carries forward the camera tricks that the XZ Premium can pull off, namely slow-motion video and Predictive Capture. I’m not sure how often you’ll capture slow-motion video, and in reality it can be a bit fiddly to pull off, but when you do capture it there’s a certain sense of awe and accomplishment with it. Just make sure you’re doing so with good lighting, otherwise the video will introduce a lot of noise with it.
Photos snapped with the Xperia XZ1 tend to have a good balance of color, and photos taken outside in bright daylight tend to look great. Indoors the camera was still able to capture enough detail, though the office fluorescent lighting made photos appear with more cooler tones than we’d like.
Low-light photos were a mixed bag – while the phone was able to take a decent photo of the Dubai skyline, zooming in to the photo shows a mixed amount of detail, and some very blurry outlines. A quick snap of a table setting lit by candlelight proved to be a bit better, but again some of the details were lost in the image.
The phone does automatically detect what sort of photo you’re taking, and we found that food photography definitely got a good boost from the phone. A photo we snapped up of a mango cheesecake really captured the glistening details of the topping, and similarly a plate of scallops snapped at home were captured with a good amount of color and detail.
The front-facing camera is also great at picking up details, so fans of selfies can relax knowing that they're always going to get a great photo without too much effort. As seen in other Xperia models, you can simply raise your hand to trigger a short countdown timer to take the photo, or simply press the physical or on-screen camera trigger buttons.
Predictive Capture works perfectly as well for those moments where you’re lining up to take a photo and your subject accidentally moves or the moment has passed. You can quickly skim through some of the photos the camera has automatically captured and choose to keep those instead of the ones you’ve taken.
By far though the biggest feature that Sony is touting for the XZ1 is the new 3D Creator app that bundles with the phone. With it you can scan a person’s face, their entire head, a plate of food, or any inanimate object. Scanning a face or head requires a somewhat steady hand and plenty of patience – you’ll be instructed to line up a series of dots as you circle around your subject, and once everything is lined up, the phone does the rest. It’s a really impressive app to use, and you can certainly have plenty of fun with the created avatar.
Whether or not you’ll go around 3D-scanning your friends is another story, but the final output really does make you chuckle. There’s nothing funnier than turning your friends into a green dinosaur that’s doing sit-ups on your dining table. There are a number of other apps that can be downloaded for some more AR fun, and what’s more is that the scanned 3D model can also be sent to a 3D printer, which is equally impressive.
Sound Quality
For audio lovers who love listening to music on their smartphone, the XZ1 has a number of audio enhancing features to improve your listening experience. Firstly there’s DSEE HX, which digitally upscales audio to near High-Resolution quality. There’s also digital noise cancelling when paired with a suitable wired headset, as well as improved audio quality over Bluetooth. I’m not that much of an audio purist to be worried about listening to music with these features turned off, but if you’re looking for a slightly better listening experience, then the XZ1 has you covered.
The front-facing stereo speakers are quite decent, and the optional S-Force feature can give them a bit of boost if required. Call quality was generally quite good as well, with calls coming through clearly with no dropouts.
Battery Life
- Good battery management
- Easily get through the day with medium usage
One thing we learned from using the Xperia XZ was how the phone intelligently adapted to usage and charging pattern. The same goes for the XZ1, with the phone monitoring when we were charging the phone on a daily basis and adapting charge cycle accordingly. The 2700mAh battery may seem small, but Sony’s charging methods coupled with improvements in Android 8.0 means that you can easily last through the entire day with medium use, and go well into the next morning with lighter usage.
My average day includes plenty of picture taking for social media, watching the occasional YouTube video, and an endless stream of emails and surfing multiple tabs on Chrome. The phone did kindly remind me when certain apps were running in the background and might eat up battery life (such as WhatsApp), so that’s another plus point.
The phone does feature a Stamina and Ultra Stamina mode for the most moments when your phone is heading towards its last trickle of battery life. Both will aim to keep your phone running for as long as possible by closing down background apps and limiting Wi-Fi and Bluetooth usage, at least until you’re able to get to a charger. And even then, you can get back on track faster than ever with Sony’s optional Quick Charger.
