Sony has today finally lifted the lid on a phone which we’ve known under many guises over the past few months. Many of you will have heard of the Honami, the i1 or the Z1, a phone which is now officially known as the Sony Xperia Z1.
Launched just now at a big media event over in Berlin at the IFA 2013 show, the Z1 is Sony’s answer to the Nokia Lumia 1020; a phone with a whopping rear camera sensor of 20.7 megapixels and plenty of power inside to boot.
As we learned long ago thanks to some hands-on snaps of a Z1 prototype, there’s plenty of high-end specifications on offer, but the area Sony is focusing on (pardon the pun) is the camera department. A 20.7 megapixel camera adorns the back of the phone, offering Full HD video recording, high resolution snaps and a huge number of snazzy features. There’s also a 2 megapixel camera up front which is capable of recording Full HD video as well.
The rear camera really is the star of the show, featuring a large 20.7 megapixel 1/2.3-type CMOS image sensor, which is akin to the sort of thing you’d find in a decent point-and-shoot camera. The sensor benefits from a Sony G Lens and the company’s own Bionz image processor, so results should be tip-top. Sony has also built in a number of cool features including the ability to broadcast images and videos live to Facebook, and some nifty augmented reality options.
Complementing the impressive camera is a 5-inch Full HD display for viewing those snaps back on, plus a powerful quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor which is clocked at a healthy 2.2GHz. Finally, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable (via micro SD) storage provide the memory and there’s also NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS connectivity.
Finally, the phone runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with a view to upgrading to 4.3 in the near future. Like the other Xperia Z devices of late, the phone is waterproof and features rubber sealed ports which make it submersible in up to 1 metre of water for 30 minutes.
Black, white and purple versions of the Xperia Z1 will be available globally from September. Clove UK has already priced up the SIM-free version at £564.